Passion, Potential, Power

At CalSERVES, our Vision is

To provide opportunities to

discover passions,

realize potential,

and express power

We serve thousands of students each year, with this vision in mind. We have hundreds of AmeriCorps volunteers who are trained and supported through this vision.

Why do we do what we do? Because we know we are

making a difference!

Lisseth, Sesen and Jacara - 2nd/3rd Grade

Amador, 6th grade

Photos taken by Emily Nagel

Roseland Literacy Tutoring Party!

Leah Everett, AmeriCorps Team Leader at Roseland Elementary School

Roseland’s tutoring party was a great success! As a reward system for excellent tutoring behavior, hard work with reading, spelling, and phonetics, we have a sticker chart on our classroom door. With 1200 spaces, it only took students until mid-November to fill it up after reading passages with their mentors! We decided on a party, which was held the Monday before Thanksgiving Break. Our mentors came together to decide on literacy based activities with certain stories the kids would love. We had two separate parties, one for lower grades and one for upper.


It was important to us that our party had a literary focus.Younger grades listened to a dramatic reading of Cloudy with a Chance of Meatballs by our very own Mr. Ruda, while eating some kettle corn and popcorn. Next, the students made spaghetti and meatball hats with yarn, paper scraps, and paper plates. They glued an amazing display of multi colored “noodles and meatballs” onto their plates, and had a blast with the concept. It was a really fun beginning to the afternoon.




Next, the upper grade students came into our room for their party. They were able to choose between Cloudy with a Chance of Meatballs and a book entitled Giving Thanks, a Native American tale. Students could either make a collage of their desired food weather, or they could make a thank you card for someone they care about that has helped make a difference in their life. The students were very excited about the activities, rummaging through magazines to find the perfect dish they wished would rain down from the sky. Those who chose to write a card were very detailed with their personal descriptions of why they appreciated loved ones.


We are so proud of our tutoring students and their tremendous improvement as readers and writers, and although their current sticker chart has 1800 spaces, we are sure it will take them no time at all to earn another party!