CalSERVES Blogs

Did you know that there are 3 CalSERVES blogs? Come check them out!


CalSERVES Volunteer Infrastructure Project

This blog features the work done by AmeriCorps VIP members all over the state of California. The blog includes tips and ideas for recruiting and supporting volunteers, making a difference in the community, and highlights the great work being done by members.

CalSERVES Direct

Written by the CalSERVES Program Director, Julie McClure, this blog focuses on her unique perspective about the work being done in CalSERVES. From site visits to news about service days, this blog is a great place see what our programs are all about.

And of course, there is the CalSERVES blog, where you are right now! Here we feature a little of everything - news from school sites and partners, service days, AmeriCorps members, and much more!

If you would like to contribute to any of these blogs, please contact Emily: emily.mann@calserves.org.

A Passion for COOL Sports

 COOL Sports has always been one of my favorite aspects of the CalSERVES programs. As a mentor at Sheppard Elementary, I coached every Challenge during the school year. I enjoyed watching my students’ faces light up with joy when they arrived at the Challenge and saw all the other students in their COOL Sports shirts. When I became a Program Assistant, I took over the responsibilities of organizing the Challenges. Now in my third year as COOL Sports “Cruise Director”, I found myself wondering if I would still have the same passion for COOL Sports as I did as a mentor. My concern quickly vanished after our last Challenge.

It has been a few years since volleyball was the focus for a Challenge. As mentors reported struggles our students had with this sport, we changed the rules accordingly to give them a better chance at being successful. As we started the Challenge, I quickly learned that the rules were going to go straight out the window. The students had trouble serving the ball over the net and passing to each other. Standing there reffing the matches, I adjusted the rules as best as I could in the moment. I saw mentors who had spent weeks teaching their students the fundamentals of the game cheering to the top of their lungs when a student was able to hit the ball over the net.

Looking around the gym, I saw that every person in the gym had huge smiles on their faces. The students, mentors, Super T’s, and parents were so proud of the hard work that had gone into this Challenge, no matter how the students performed. I thought about the purpose for which COOL Sports was created: it is a chance for students to participate in new sports that they might not have access to and it doesn’t matter how great of an athlete they are. What matters is that they showed up and did their best.

As I swept the gymnasium floor after the Challenge had ended, I heard a student shout out to her mentor “Good night Ms. Hunt. Thanks for being the best coach ever!” Watching the mentors cheer when they saw their kids return a serve, score a point, or simply get the ball over the net reminded me why COOL Sports will always be a passion of mine. These events allow the kids to realize their potential and have the power to change lives, including my own.

by Taylor Ford, CalSERVES Supervising Teacher at Wright Charter
and COOL Sports Coordinator

Happy Valentines Day from CalSERVES!

Happy Valentine's Day.

As you celebrate with family and friends, take a moment to think about ways you take care of your heart. Maybe its taking a walk on your lunch break, or spending time with a favorite pet. It might be digging in the garden, or volunteering to help a child. Whatever it is that brings you joy, take time to do it - it's good for you!

Volunteers Make All the Difference

Christina, CalSERVES Volunteer at Wright

This is my first year working with CalSERVES as a VIP Fellow. Coming into this position I knew that it was my responsibility to bring extra help into our classrooms. With this in mind, I worked under the assumption that people would come and go, essentially becoming transient volunteers. After all, people have school, friends, family, and lives of their own. Why would they spend an extra couple days a week helping our kids? They're strangers and have no relationship to them. What I found within the first few weeks, however, was that like the CalSERVES Team, our volunteers have fallen in love with the Wright kids.

I don't know how to thank those who have sacrificed their time to be here. I always tell volunteers when they come in for an orientation that even if they are unsure of themselves right away, the fact that they are here and sitting next to our kids means the world. It shows the kids that they are important and that others care for them and want to be here.

One volunteer in particular took my advice so seriously that she made sure to stay until each student was picked up. To Christina volunteering isn't just a requirement for class or an activity to beef up her resume; it is something that she did because she enjoys kids. Each day in the second grade she is as good as a third mentor. Drawing pictures for the kids when they land at the top of the clip chart and playing the keyboard during song and dance club makes her one of our best recruits.

I am continually amazed by each of our long-term volunteer's consistency. These are the kinds of people who enhance our program. Without them, each mentor and team leader would have a harder time tying up loose ends. I will forever respect and admire their kindness and generosity. I hope that this semester will find Wright with even more positive people coming through our doors.

Lauren Loeffler, AmeriCorps VIP at Wright Charter School

Making Sure Our Students Voices are Heard!

Coming in as a second year Team Leader at Wright Charter, I had thought a lot about how to make the 2011-2012 school year even better than the previous academic year. I knew that my best brainstorming came through collaboration. If I could find out students needs, wants and grand ideas, then I could help make things happen! I wanted students to be more involved and be a community in our after school and for them to know that their voices are crucial to our program. I realized that a great way for this to occur was through the creation of student council.

After School Student Council consists of 2-3 student representatives from our 5th, 6th, 7th and 7th/8th classrooms! We meet once a week for 30 minutes and discuss the items on our agenda. Opinions are always requested on every topic. Representatives have the responsibility of taking information back to their classroom. They are in charge of announcing upcoming events, collecting feedback about past activities and taking class votes in order to represent a larger class opinion on a particular topic. Every meeting, we go over the class responses and discuss how smoothly the transfer of information went. Providing information and conducting a voting session are not the easiest things to do with a classroom full of your peers!

The representatives have gained a lot of experience through their new position. They have done a spectacular job and have helped create and run successful events and activities. We have come up with class mascots, activities and awards to include in our upper grade assemblies, how to improve our fitness centers, and more. Our first big event was an after school dance for grades 5th through 8th. Representatives helped brainstorm themes, decorations, and music recommendations, as well as help things run smoothly during the dance and help clean up afterwards. Students and mentors alike had a wonderful time and many requested to have more dances!

Student Council Members at the dance they helped to create.

I am thrilled to be a part of After School Student Council at Wright Charter. I cannot wait to see what else we will improve and create during this second half of the year! I believe that the council’s success comes from our students’ drive to help make after school the best it can be and from the support that our fantastic mentors give to their students and staff on a daily basis.

By Jenna Rafalow, AmeriCorps Team Leader at Wright Charter School

Tales of Wright Charter Tutoring

Ms. Peek and her tutoring student.

When pairing a student with a mentor for tutoring, you try your best to find a perfect match. However, not knowing every student makes matching more arbitrary and thus, the result can at times be more problematic. This was the case with one particular duo, Ms. Peek and a student I'll call *Trey. I knew that Ms. Peek was a very experienced tutor, but neither of us quite understood how challenging Trey would prove to be. Every day for the first month, Trey would loudly complain and hide when Ms. Peek would pick him up, he wouldn’t respond to her attempts at conversation, or if he did respond it was in a tone that one would think only an angry teenager could have mastered. In short, he hated tutoring and made sure everyone and anyone around him was aware of it.

After some of the usual suggestions for challenging students had failed, I decided to team up with his teacher, his tutor, our supervising teacher, his Cool School mentors and anyone else who had some sort of close relationship with him. We all started brainstorming ideas together and ended up with a fantastic solution. We incorporated physical activities, gave him control by allowing him to pick and choose his own agenda, set up a unique reward system. We also sat down and had an honest one-on-one conversation letting him know that we cared about him and wanted to all work together to make tutoring a success.

Fast forward a few weeks, and Trey has not only done a full 180 on his behavior but his reading is now at his grade level and he enjoys both tutoring and his tutor. Now when Ms. Peek and Trey walk to our tutoring classroom, instead of an angry silence he tells her about his weekend, even including his heartbreaking defeat at his basketball game. Reflecting back on the situation, I am so proud of Ms. Peek who never gave up regardless of so many initial failed attempts; so grateful for the community people who came together to help; and proud of Trey who also never gave up and was able to become a positive, productive student.

By Melissa Boni, AmeriCorps Team Leader at Wright Charter School

*Name was changed to protect the student.