Garden Day At Meadow View

Becky Fein, AmeriCorps Promise Fellow at Meadow View Elementary

What's Cookin'? Tuesday

Kristen Mowers, CalSERVES Nutrition Program Coordinator

Our students are learning how to make healthy choices. This includes trying new fruits and vegetables as well as learning how to cook healthy meals. Harvest of the Month is a program that highlights seasonal produce that is grown locally in California. We focus on a new fruit and vegetable each month and try to use them in our cooking classes that are offered at our sites. This month we are learning about oranges and broccoli.

Try out this flavorful recipe:

From cachampionsforchange.net

Check back each Tuesday for a new healthy recipe. Enjoy!

A State Wide Training

Sara Sitch, Program Manager, CalSERVES

The AmeriCorps Volunteer Infrastructure Program and California’s PROMISE came together in mid-October for a statewide conference. Hosted at Asilomar Conference Center in Pacific Grove, the training offered multiple tracks for members and supervisors.

The conference kicked off on October 14, with keynote speaker Dr. Seth Pollack, Director of the Service Learning Institute at CSU Monterey Bay. As a Peace Corps volunteer in Mali in his twenties, Dr. Pollack learned first hand what it is to serve. Last year, while on a Fullbright Scholarship, Dr. Pollack reconnected with old friends and became reinvigorated by the power of service and learning to change the world. His address, “Elephants and Dung Beetles—Doing the Heavy Lifting Through Service for Social Change” was the perfect beginning to an exciting and educational three days.

The conference continued with trainings centered around volunteer management, event planning and facilitation, national service days, and on-the-job workshops. To underline the importance of service, AmeriCorps members also had the opportunity to participate in a beach clean-up and a greenhouse service project.

 On October 16, the conference culminated with a fantastic send-off by the Monterey Bay Aquarium, which offered AmeriCorps members and supervisors free admission for the afternoon. There, eighty conference attendees go to take in exhibits at one of the best aquariums in the world. Attendees were treated to the new seahorse exhibit and were able to catch a rare glimpse of a young white shark. But, even with the two new attractions, the jelly-fish display continued to be an all-time favorite.

Cheering for RL Stevens

Melissa Moore, Supervising Teacher at RL Stevens

Kylie, getting ready to perform

RL Stevens cheerleading girls had a truly wonderful time at the Cool Sports Challenge at Sheppard last month! They practiced for weeks before the big day and arrived to each practice with enthusiasm to learn new moves and perfect the one's they already knew. The girls performed a crowd favorite dance to Michael Jackson's song "Thriller", complete with white painted faces. They returned to RL Stevens that night with huge smiles and the "Most Spirited Dance" award!

CalSERVES Celebrates Martin Luther King Jr.

Jerry Noviello, CalSERVES Program Coordinator 

Artwork by the talented Kathleen Chosa

Our Martin Luther King Jr. Celebration Night was once again a great success! Hundreds of kids from our program came to Meadow View Elementary School to present their poems, songs, speeches, and skits. Everyone of our schools had students who performed at the event. It was wonderful watching their enthusiasm on stage as they showed their passion for equality and the dreams of Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. I can’t wait to see the pictures and videos of the event taken by our mentors!

Thank you to everyone involved in the planning and preparation of this great event!

Martin Luther King Jr Celebration Night

Join us for the Annual 

Martin Luther King Jr. Celebration Night!

Friday, January 15, 2010 from 6-8:30pm

Meadow View Elementary School

2665 Dutton Meadow, Santa Rosa, CA

Click Here for a map 

Students from the CalSERVES programs will be sharing original poetry, songs, speeches, and skits to share their views on Dr. King's life and values. This celebration highlights the work of students in learning about diversity, equality, opportunity, and passion. With the help of their AmeriCorps mentors, they will shine!

Awesome Presenters at Roseland

Leah Everett, AmeriCorps Team Leader at Roseland Elementary
 

Roseland has had some amazing presenters come to share unique information with our students. Presenters are such an important part of our program as they expose students to new ideas and allow for topics that might not be a central theme without their support.

Canine Companions for Independence came to Roseland, and their helper Bonnie Lapolla did excellent presentations for our kids. She is so great at accommodating different age groups with information and different approaches to cater to their needs and attention spans. She shared examples of people who needed the dogs for different reasons, various jobs the organization has for people, and let each student pet her dog, OMSI. It was an incredible experience and we truly appreciate their help as we discuss tolerance and acceptance in the coming months.

Julie from Wildlife Fawn Rescue came to present information regarding the natural world to our 4th and 5th graders. For such a potentially generic topic, she kept the kids engaged for the entire hour, giving them a break down of concepts and important facts. The taxidermy animals were also helpful in gaining their attention. We were thrilled to have this organization come to our school and teach the kids about another service provided locally to enhance our community and protect important animals.

We are so thankful that these presenters could come to Roseland to educate our students and enrich our program with the wonderful volunteer efforts our community can offer!

Crocodile Dentist!

Melissa Whitehead, Supervising Teacher at RL Stevens Elementary

  Gerry, a 2nd Grader, takes a turn brushing Snappy's teeth

On Wednesday, December 2nd, RL Stevens After School students got a visit from Snappy, the Crocodile Dentist. This toothy reptile reminded us how important it is to brush and floss each day! Snappy and his partner talked about good dental hygiene and even read a tooth book story. Students were excited to see Snappy and loved the presentation. They even took home healthy teeth kits complete with brushes, floss, timers and toothpaste.