CalSERVES Students learn to Go Green

During the week of April 15th, our STEM tutoring groups took part in a national week of Greening STEM. We partnered with the National Environmental Education Foundation for resources, ideas, and support. The National Environmental Education Week  focuses on hands-on environmental education through enriched STEM projects. Several CalSERVES students were able to expand their STEM knowledge while learning about important environmental issues. The week was a complete success and each of us is ready to live greener!

Taylor Mountain explored vampire appliances and how to save energy.

Bellevue helped the students learn how to reduce, reuse, and recycle.

Also, Team Bellevue spent some time in their school garden learning
about composting and soil.

Kawana ventured through their school garden looking for insects and other living things.

Meadow View’s older students learned about different forms of energy
and how to conserve each type.

The students at Meadow View were awarded with the
Greening STEM Week Certificate of Participation.

 by Katie Gill, CalSERVES AmeriCorps STEM Content Leader

The Golden Bell Visits Meadow View

CalSERVES recently received the Golden Bell Award, a national recognition of exemplary programs in 22 major categories, which are essential to support teaching and learning. Our award is for our efforts in nutrition promotion and physical activity.

The Golden Bell went on tour to our local programs, during a fitness week where students participate in a variety of sports and games, nutrition art activities, a mile run, wear pedometers, and engage in various nutritional discussions. Perfect timing!

On December 6th, the Golden Bell came to Meadow View Elementary. Students learned about our award, posed for a picture, and each got a chance to ring the large, golden, trophy bell. Students commented, “Wow, it’s heavy!” “Do we get to keep it?” “That is a loud award.” One fourth grade boy told me, “Congratulations on the award, Ms. Kim. That is really special.” What a fitting end to our fitness week!

 By Kimberly Copperberg, Site Supervisor at Meadow View Elementary

Make a Difference Day Part 2: Kawana, Taylor Mountain, and Meadow View Schools

Make a Difference Day, October 27th, 2012, saw some amazing projects around the CalSERVES school sites as AmeriCorps members joined together to provide a day of service. What follows is the second post in series of 3 outlining the projects competed by CalSERVES AmeriCorps members. Each post is written by a Team Leader who worked on that specific project.

There were three different projects that were completed at Kawana Elementary School. AmeriCorps members and volunteers broke up into different groups to complete a given task. Based on the different project, one could immediately see the various talents of the group.

The first project was to turn the boring, grey-colored “Wall Ball” courts into something more dynamic and visually stimulating. Unfortunately, Kawana has been plagued with graffiti and “tagging”, so emphasis was placed on painting images that could be easily fixed, if such an event were to occur. This project attracted the more creative, artistically gifted.

Classroom Leader at Taylor Mountain, Crystal Ruiz, shows off her artistic skills by painting abstract art
on the wallball walls at Kawana.

The second project was the construction of a tire obstacle course, such as might be seen on a football field. This project involved laying mulch for a solid foundation, drilling holes into each tire, bolting them together and painting the tires. This project was an attraction for those more skilled at construction, and also unafraid of manual labor. Shoveling mulch in the sun is no easy task!

AmeriCorps members from Kawana and MeadowView Elementary take some time from painting the
obstacle course to flash the camera a pretty smile!

 The last project was perhaps the least savory: removing invasive, prickly, Himalayan Blackberry bushes from the Kawana garden. For the task, we were given heavy-duty gloves, loppers, trimmers and shovels, in an effort to eradicate the thorny nuisance. This project was an attraction for all of the gardeners, and similar to the construction crew, individuals not afraid of a little manual labor.

AmeriCorps members stand with pride behind the immense amount of blackberry bushes they tackled.

Although the weather was perhaps a little warm, it was nevertheless a wonderful day to be outside and serve the community. Nearly everyone agreed that the time flew by rather quickly. One of the supervisors of the project, Kristen Mowers, noted how “This is a project where everyone worked the entire time!” The work was very rewarding and the results were stunning. This project is yet another testament to the positive and beneficial works undertaken by CalSERVES and AmeriCorps members in the Santa Rosa and Sonoma County community.

By: NightSnow Vogt, Team Leader at Meadow View Elementary

Meet the Team Leaders: NightSnow Vogt

NightSnow Vogt, AmeriCorps Team Leader at Meadow View Elementary

Originating from the horse capital of the world, Lexington, Kentucky native NightSnow Vogt is the Team Leader at Meadow View Elementary School. With a degree in International Studies from Humboldt State University, a long history of volunteering, and a passion for working with kids, this is NightSnow’s first year in the CalSERVES program.


During his time at CalSERVES, NightSnow hopes to learn how to be an effective leader and mentor to both his students and team members and wants to use his own story to inspire the children he works with. He also wants to bring more creativity and fun to the learning process and help his students cultivate a passion for learning and school.

 As a team leader, NightSnow enjoys the multi-faceted nature of his position; he gets to manage the AmeriCorps Service Scholars, tutor students himself, and has a first-hand look and a helping hand into how the entire CalSERVES program is ran and operated. But he says that the best thing about his position as a team leader is witnessing that moment when the “light bulb turns on” in a child’s mind when they are learning something new or when they suddenly understand a lesson with which they were struggling.

Another aspect of AmeriCorps service that NightSnow appreciates is the team and school administration staff that he works with at Meadow View Elementary. Parents, the school administration, classroom leaders, AmeriCorps members, and the Site Supervisor are all putting in hard work and trying to make this year fantastic for the students in the program. NightSnow says he is looking forward to seeing how the chemistry and dynamics of the entire team evolve and strengthen as the year progresses.

Having just very recently passed the CBEST (California Basic Educational Skills Test), after his time is up at CalSERVES, NightSnow wants to continue onto a career in classroom education. He will first start out as substitute teacher and then eventually, after completing a Teaching Credential program, a full time teacher. As for advice for future Team Leaders or Service Scholars, NightSnow says that you should be ready to take initiative and lead by example. The best leaders are the ones who can both identify the strengths of a group and find areas for improvement; and as a leader, your function is to be the vehicle for the collective improvement and growth of your group.

By Jacquelene Bennett, AmeriCorps Content Leader
and NightSnow Vogt, AmeriCorps Team Leader, Meadow View Elementary

Meadow VIew Summer Gardening

We’ve finally reached the end of the year but the Meadow View garden will still be in action all summer, thanks to the help of several dedicated families who have agreed to continue volunteering over the summer.

Since the beginning of the year, Meadow View has hosted monthly garden workdays where families were invited to come out and help in the garden while we entertained their children with fun gardening projects. Things have gone so well that we decided to see if any parents would be on board to help over the summer and to our surprise, many said “Yes!” Currently, we have about twelve families that are helping in various capacities.

For example, one parent has been instrumental in getting our irrigation system up and running. He’s installed drip systems in our new beds and programmed a brand new irrigation timer that was purchased using grant money. Another parent brings out his weed eater and clears out the masses of weeds Meadow View seems to attract every few months. Some parents have adopted one or more of our six beds, which are all organized according to themes, and they are responsible for planting the seeds and maintaining the space. Any produce is up for grabs for all the families.

We never thought the garden would grow into such a successful project and know that it would not have been possible without the help of several dedicated mentors and families. Although we’re still in the beginning phases and there is still a ton to do, we have a good, solid start to a productive summer.

Holly Cumbie, AmeriCorps VIP Fellow

Our Garden is Growing!

Since starting the garden project at Meadow View Elementary School last fall, the CalSERVES crew has accomplished a number of projects and are excited with the progress.

We have completed six new 4 ft X 4 ft X 8 ft planter boxes. To fill the beds, we used existing soil with a donation from Sonoma County Compost. We have begun repairing the irrigation system in the garden. New pipe has been laid underground and all beds have a brand-new drip system with a timer. The next step will be to find and repair a leak in one of the pipes.

We have begun work on our habitat garden, a designated space for native trees, plants, and butterfly friendly flowers. We have planted several species of plants that will attract different insects and animals. This project will be continued over summer.

Finally, we have created a new three-part compost system that can be utilized over summer and during the school year. Summer projects include restoring the outdoor classroom and creating new flower beds from existing cinder blocks. In addition, we have recruited eleven families at our school to help build a bench and support the planting and maintenance of our garden over summer.

Meadow View Makes a Difference!

 The AmeriCorps mentors of CalSERVES Meadow View recently spent 90 minutes making the biggest difference they could in our community. Many of our members paired off to do creative projects to help make a difference and contribute to the cleanliness, safety, and overall support of our Santa Rosa neighborhood. We then reconvened to share our stories. Mentors were nominated for specific awards for their efforts. Our challenge winners include:

Furthest Traveled Difference: Olivia and Julianna, who baked snacks to honor employees at Chops, the Redwood Empire Food Bank, and the Boys & Girls Club of Santa Rosa.

Most Creative Difference: Nick and Jovanna, who gave burritos out to homeless folks, cleaned up trash at Julliard Park in downtown Santa Rosa, and helped create a display at the Santa Rosa Library.

Most Meaningful Difference: Gualberto, who completed a special slideshow to share with our students and mentors to remember this amazing year.

Above and Beyond Difference: Kim S. and Maritza, who brought paint and offered to cover up graffiti on private property and businesses.

To honor their efforts and continue the spirit of giving back, the Site Supervisor arranged for each mentor to receive a $25 certificate for Kiva, a non-profit internet-based organization dedicated to finding resources to combat poverty. With painting, appreciations, feeding homeless, organizing libraries, making donations, supporting peers, and giving back to the community…it was a successful 90 minutes of making a difference!

Meadow View Volunteer Spotlight

This month Meadow View would like to shine the spotlight on siblings Alifonzo and Karina Sanchez. Both siblings have been dedicated volunteers since the beginning of the year and now have a solid fan base of mentors and students in after-school. Karina, who is a Kinder volunteer, likes working with the kids especially because “the kids come up and hug you and are so sweet and adorable.”  

Kim Sylvester, Kinder mentor describes Karina as, “amazing; she never lets us down and she is natural with the kids. She’s not afraid to go out there and just play with them.” Maritza Garcia, another Kinder mentor says, “Karina is a dedicated volunteer and you can always rely on her to come through.” Karina helps in all aspects of the Kinder program and often leads reading circles with the kids. Her most recent project is painting a planter box with the kids in front of Room 27. Meadow View is truly lucky to have a volunteer with such natural talent for working with kids. 

Her brother, Alifonzo, is a first grade volunteer and is also a natural at working with kids. The first graders love Thursdays because they know he’ll be there to help with homework and read to them. He fits in well in this tight-knit classroom and is like a second mentor to the kids. Olivia, first grade mentor says, “Alifonzo is the ideal volunteer-he’s reliable and I have complete confidence in him. I hope he continues to volunteer until he’s old and gray.”

            

Both Karina and Alifonzo have been with us since the beginning of the year and have grown considerably in their confidence and skills while working with the students. It’s evident that they truly care about the students of Meadow View and will undoubtedly succeed in any future endeavors they should take on because of their dedication. We wish Karina and Alifonzo the best of luck and hope they come back and volunteer with us again next year! 

Global Youth Service Day 2012

This past Saturday, Meadow View teamed up to tackle trash in sunny Spring Lake Park in honor of Global Youth Service Day. Everyone was excited to be off-site and doing something different for the day, especially in a location as beautiful as Spring Lake. We knew the weather would be sunny and hot, a welcome change after what seemed like eons of cold and rain. As it turns out, picking up trash is quite the entertaining task, especially when your teammates are as hilarious as the mentors and TL’s at Meadow View. There were definitely a lot of jokes and a lot of laughter to be had which made the day seem like nothing more than a walk in the park, literally.

Spring Lake is actually a very clean space compared to other heavily-trafficked parks in Santa Rosa. We all felt that although this made our job quite simple, the park-goers who put their trash into one of the park’s multiple trash cans deserve some major kudos for taking care of the environment. Even though there wasn’t a ton of trash, we still got a lot accomplished and walked about three miles in the sun. Nobody minded the heat, though, we were all just happy to be out of the house and getting some exercise on such a lovely day. Everyone enjoyed seeing the other groups who dedicated their Saturday to making a difference such as the March of Dimers and the Boy Scouts. Many park-goers thanked us for what were doing. It really felt like we were all in it together, and that even though had our weekends to be getting to, the day turned out to be productive and a great team-building experience for all who attended.  

Amazing Gardens at Meadow View

Earlier this month, Meadow View mentors, families, teachers and a professional landscaper dedicated their Saturday morning to build six new wooden garden boxes as part of a major plan to renovate and beautify the school garden. The day was a success-we were able to build all six boxes from scratch in three hours thanks to the help of several dedicated families and mentors. We also completed a substantial amount of weeding in the area that will be set aside for our habitat garden.

This year has seen several successes with the garden, beginning with a total of $1500 awarded to our gardening program thanks to Suburu and the City of Santa Rosa. Not only do we finally have the funds to be able to make this project a reality, we have had amazing support from families and mentors who have donated their Saturdays to make the garden a wonderful place of learning for students.

Currently, students will be focusing on making plans for the garden and planting seeds indoors to be ready for spring planting. Future projects include planting a habitat garden featuring flowers and shrubs that attract a host of insects and animals so that students can learn about garden ecology. In addition, we will be constructing an ADA-approved bed.

We are truly lucky at Meadow View to have such a wonderful community to support our vision for an integrative and inclusive gardening program in the after-school program!

by Holly Cumbie, VIP Fellow at Meadow View Elementary

Rewards of being a Tutor

It is without a doubt difficult to pick one time that tutoring has been rewarding. Almost everyday with each bit of growth you see in your students you feel a sense of accomplishment for your student and yourself. I think the overall comprehensive change I've seen since day one in every single one of my students has been the most rewarding thing of my life.

My third grade tutee, Michelle, has been a great example of this. Michelle began with me reading at a first grade level with little to no writing and grammar skills. Her reading has improved tremendously and she is now nearing grade level expectations. She can read short chapter books not to mention use basic comprehension skills with her reading. Michelle's knowledge of the English language has seen incredible growth as well. When presented with grammar challenges she is able to identify nouns, verbs, direct objects, indirect objects, parenthetical phrases, sentence types, etc.

Michelle has been such a blessing to have in tutoring everyday. Her quiet and unsure nature can be challenging at times, but I continually see her rise to the occasion. I have no doubt by the end of this year she will be reading at her grade level, if not higher than her grade level. I know her writing will continue to improve with time as well. Seeing Michelle as well as my other tutee's skills grow has been such a blessing, and I will always remember this time of my life fondly.

by Julianna Curtin, AmeriCorps Tutoring Specialist at Meadow View Elementary

Making a BIG Difference - the AmeriCorps way!

Meadow View Team Report - Christa Fox, AmeriCorps Team Leader

This year for Make a Difference Day, the CalSERVES Meadow View team  partnered with the Volunteer Center of Sonoma County and produced over 50 volunteers to beautify the campus of Helen Lehman Elementary. The projects at hand included organizing the school’s library, repainting lines, numbers and hopscotch squares on the black top, and, the most daunting of tasks, a complete overhaul of the garden!

Amongst the free bagels and coffee, we were greeted in the morning by Helen Lehman’s principal, Beverly Jones. After the initial introduction, our large group dispersed into three smaller groups and started on our projects. It was a beautiful day to be outside painting and gardening!

The amount of student and parent volunteers was very impressive! Entire families arrived with their own tools and went straight to work. Many hands were engrossed in the garden, as it required the most attention. The Meadow View team helped to pull weeds, organize the tool shed, and lay cardboard, compost and mulch. Needless to say, there was a lot of shoveling involved!

The painting committee revamped the entire blacktop to appear brand new! Paint was reapplied on benches, hopscotch squares, basketball hoop backboards, perimeter lines, etc. Once again, the blacktop has been restored to a wonderful place for students to play.

The overall atmosphere at Helen Lehman was incredibly positive! Thank you so much to all who came out to lend a hand!

RL Stevens Team Report - Richelle Andre, AmeriCorps VIP Fellow

On Saturday, October 22nd, the R.L. Stevens CalSERVES staff and a handful of fantastic volunteers teamed up for Make a Difference Day. During the course of the morning, we were able to put bark mulch over many of the bare-dirt areas around the school, as well as on the margins of the playground. This bark mulch helps keep weeds down and make the school look great!

We were also able to clean out the school’s garden, which was full of truckloads of old weeds as well as garbage. Everyone worked really hard and had a great attitude the whole time. Thank you to everyone who came out!

Wright Charter Team Report - Stacey  Krywaruczenko, AmeriCorps Team Leader

This past Saturday, I joined the fabulous team at Wright Charter as we picked up trash and pulled weeds at Cook Middle School. These are both things that I have done numerous times at different locations, but there is just something very special about completing these tasks with people that I see everyday, with whom I know that I am already making a difference.

I mostly picked up trash around the school and conversed with my team members, one in particular that I didn’t even know very well, but through this experience I was able to get to know her at a different level. We had some good laughs, not just from our conversations, but also by some of the strange things that we found all throughout Cook. While doing all of these things, there were also members of the community who were practicing their favorite sport, or watching a soccer game.

Seeing the community interact in that manner allowed me to feel a sense of accomplishment. Through our actions of beautifying Cook Middle School, it is now a place where not only just the students can enjoy themselves, but the community can as well.

Thoughts from Meadow View as Programs Start

August 31, 2011
We have just finished organizing the bookshelves for the hundredth time, or so it feels. The room is starting to come together and look like a usable place. The energy level is rising as we come closer to getting students with us. It’s exciting and we are all eager to put these long hours of training to good use. We are also coming together as a group and as team members. 

There is a sense of helping and caring. I genuinely love the feel of us all working together. I am enjoying my experience and the people here at Meadow View work very well together. Our group here does not get bogged down with drama. We have fun and we enjoy our time together. But we work hard when we need to, and we keep each other grounded.
-Olivia Jessen, Full Time Mentor, 2nd year

September 8, 2011
My team here at Meadow View has an inspiring amount of energy and enthusiasm for the programs and students. I am already impressed with each mentor and their unique contributions to the team. We have returners who were once quiet and reserved speaking out and being a mentor to their newer peers. We have first year mentors contributing creative new ideas, specifically with our kindergarten students, new to the After School Program this year. 

The mentors planned and hosted a successful teacher meet-and-greet lunchtime event, which included a delicious potluck, mentor photo and stats board, and conversation starting fun facts about our mentors and team. I am also grateful for my Leadership Team that takes charge in supporting me and our efforts. They make my job just a little bit easier but a whole lot more enjoyable. 

Cheers to a strong beginning to another great year of youth services at Meadow View Elementary!
-Kimberly Copperberg, Site Supervisor

Volunteers Make a Difference!

Kimberly Copperberg, Site Supervisor at Meadow View Elementary

The third grade class at Meadow View has three teen volunteers who come consistently each week. The volunteers are students at Elsie Allen High School and have been extremely helpful. They aren’t afraid to ask mentors for help and interact well with students. These volunteers have served as role models for some of the third grade girls, as they have someone of their same ethnicity to teach and inspire them. “I feel like having the volunteers in the class is really helpful for the girls because they have someone to look up to and keep them on track,” reflected third grade mentor Ms. G. They have shown students that even if you come from a touch background, you can focus on education and staying involved in positive activities.

The sixth grade volunteers are very helpful, especially when it is time for doing homework. Mary, a teen volunteer, has been helping students with their homework when mentors are with other students. Another volunteer, Sam, has been connecting with the sixth grade boys. Sam is willing to play, do homework, sit and chat, read, and do whatever interests the students. He has connected and offered more one-on-one support to an intelligent but reserved student who was in need of positive connections. Sixth grade mentor Mr. V comments on the importance of volunteers in his classroom. “I believe that the students get into a routine of seeing their mentors’ every day, so it’s great to have other people that can also be mentors for the children.”

News from Meadow View

Tutoring Testimonial
Ms. Webb, Literacy Tutoring Specialist

“When I first tutored Javier, a first grader, he was using level one readers and he often didn’t speak to me in fully developed sentences. He and I spent about five to ten minutes daily reviewing his sight words. During that time, he and I would alternate turns coming up with silly or serious sentences involving the respective words. [Now on level six, Javier’s growth is seen in reading comprehension and in communication skills.] I think the activity increased his comfort level with language and it was a traceable method for him to see his growth. The stack we have is broken up in groups of about fifteen words, so Javier is passes one level by correctly identifying the words in the current section. It is an empowering activity and can add a little fun to every lesson.”


Graffiti Education Presentation
Mr. Sparks, Fourth Grade Mentor

“Graffiti is done without permission and is not art.” This was the core message Georgia Pedgriff, of the Santa Rosa Police Department spread to the upper grader students at Meadow View Elementary. The kids played an exciting trivia game that taught them the negative impacts that graffiti has in our community. The students walked away in support of eliminating graffiti by reporting known tags and helping to clean up existing ones within 24-48 hours. The overlying message was to keep our school campus and community a safe, clean environment.


Nutrition Olympics
Ms. I, Third Grade Mentor and Nutrition Specialist

In the week of April 11th-15th, Meadow View students experienced the combination of nutrition and physical education in the form of “Nutrition Olympics.” What is that exactly? Nutrition Olympics is kid friendly “Olympic” sporting events that involve fruit and vegetables in lieu of balls or pucks to help test their motor skills. Events include the Berry Relay, Apple Toss, Cucumber Javelin, Potato Sack Races, and the particularly popular Pepper Toss.

During the events, the kids learned about different facts of the fruit or vegetable of that station. The variety of events helped keep the kids entertained and engaged while they were educated about the importance of nutrition and making healthy choices. Was it successful? Let’s see what the students said.

“That was so much fun!” –Morelia, 3rd grade

“I don’t want to stop!” –Justin, 5th grade

Garden Clean Up Day at Meadow View

Christa Fox, AmeriCorps Mentor at Meadow View Elementary
  

The BEFORE Shot of Meadow View's Garden

On Saturday April 2nd, Meadow View mentors, students, family members, and volunteers spent some quality time in the garden pulling weeds, turning the soil, cleaning and organizing the shed, and prepping the garden for planting. With the weather improving, we are making the revamping of our garden a priority.

Meadow View has a fairly large garden and because of the success of the Garden Clean-up Day, we were able to clear the majority of weeds from the flowerbeds and walkways, as well as organize the tool shed. Many volunteers brought their own tools and gloves and got right to work.

Since April 2nd, volunteers have been working in the garden almost on a daily basis. Fruits and vegetables such as, onions, watermelon, peppers, and cantaloupe, have since then been planted and tended to by Meadow View’s Garden Club and Garden Specialist.

Volunteers Make a DIfference Tutoring!

Lisa Navarra, AmeriCorps Team Leader at Meadow View Elementary

Meadow View is proud to be the first of CalSERVES sites to establish a volunteer tutoring program. In the past month or so we have welcomed several volunteers to work one-on-one with students, with guidance of mentor partners and Literacy Team Leader. We are excited to have volunteers to be a part of our program and provide a link from CalSERVES to the community. Thank you Kim, Tara, and Michelle!

Group Learning about Cesar Chavez!

Lisa  Navarra, AmeriCorps Team Leader, Meadow View Elementary School

All week we had been learning about Cesar Chavez, a great inspirational social leader and Mexican American activist. Throughout the week students had been reading about Cesar’s life and discussing the values he stood for. Each tutoring student wrote about one important value and we compiled these into a ‘house of values’ (below). On Friday everything came together when both lower grades and upper grades had group tutoring sessions to celebrate and do activities, admiring what this man taught us.

While the older students heard a passionate piece of Chavez’ Grape Boycott speech the lower grades participated in an alphabet read aloud about Mexican culture and nature. All students also illustrated a favorite fruit or vegetable and wrote notes to the farmers who help to get this food to us; thus creating a ‘garden of thanks’ (also in photo above). To end our session of thanks and celebration, students planted seeds with their mentors to symbolize new life and the spring. A wonderful theme day enjoyed by all…the tutoring display is located in the Multi-Purpose Room to show off our students’ work.

Garden Day At Meadow View

Becky Fein, AmeriCorps Promise Fellow at Meadow View Elementary

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!