Giving Back to the School that Shaped Me

Grecia and STEM Students working together.

My name is Grecia Barboza, and I am a STEM (Science, Technology, Engineering, and Math) tutor at Shearer Elementary School. As a Shearer alumnus, it gives me great pride to give back to the school that helped shape me into who I am today. At Shearer, it was the passionate teachers who were the most memorable. Looking back now, it is evident how big of an impact they had on my education and drive to succeed academically.

 Being an AmeriCorps Service Scholar is more than what the job description might lead you to believe. When I replied to the advertisement, I knew I would be tutoring kids and assisting the after school staff. I saw this as a way to build valuable experience for the future and was immediately intrigued by the prospect. However, AmeriCorps has turned out to be much more than that. I see around 25 kids a day in small group tutoring sessions. Yet, I am not just a tutor. I am also a counselor, a mentor, an older sister, a confidant, a friend. Throughout the year, I have shown them that I am not only here to teach them a math lesson, but also here to listen to what they have to say. Although most of what they say is random kid talk, they know that in tutoring groups there exists an environment where their questions, ideas, and opinions are respected and valued.

There is nothing more satisfying than a kid’s “a-ha” moment and knowing that it is you who made their understanding possible. Serving with AmeriCorps in Napa has given me and all Service Scholars the opportunity to foster the minds of the future of America and give them the extra attention and support they do not receive in class. The value of this experience is one that I will cherish and hope to expand in the future.

Wright Charter Celebrates Martin Luther King, Jr.

-->

8^th grade students share facts about MLK’s early life with the 4^th graders

When planning how to celebrate the life of MLK this year, it was a goal of mine that every staff member on our team would have the chance to participate in helping share his story. That can be a very difficult task when you are attempting to incorporate MLK into Healthy Behaviors or STEM (Science, Technology, Engineering, and Math) tutoring. With the help of my trusty Team Leader, Megan Waring, we went about brainstorming a plan. What ended up transpiring was a truly unforgettable day.

--> The 3^rd grade STEM tutoring groups MLK decorations.
We came up with the plan that each of the after school classes would participate in a mini “March on Wright.” Our HB tutor took her students around the school and mapped out 0.8 miles, the exact distance of MLK’s “March on Washington.” Our 7th and 8th grade students planned out stops along the walk that were major points of MLK’s life: early life, pastor years, Montgomery Bus Boycott, March on Washington, Voting Rights Law and assassination. The after school classes walked the March and stopped at each station to learn a little something about his life. The March ended at our school cafeteria that had been decorated with “Paint by Numbers” posters created by the STEM tutoring students. Parents awaited the students’ arrival where we all enjoyed songs and poems inspired by the life of MLK.

--> A Dream Catcher created by our CalPREP mentor, Cherilyn Smail, and her 5^th and 6^th grade students complete with feathers of each students dream for their future.
Once the final applause had died down, a parent approached us and said “Thank you for all that you do. We’re so lucky to have such a wonderful program like yours.” It was the perfect cap to an incredible afternoon at #thefarm.

-->

The 2^nd graders perform “Martin Luther had a Dream”.

by Taylor Ford, Site Supervisor at Wright Charter

Time to Say Goodbye

It’s the end of the service year for the 2012-13 CalSERVES AmeriCorps Service Scholars. Our members are leaving the program with many fond memories, and have a few tips to share with next year’s Scholars.

 Flexibility is key, say our graduating members, and they encourage our new staff to best serve their students by being able to go with the flow, embrace change, be adaptable and open to fresh ideas while making every possible moment a learning opportunity.

The members also expressed some motivational advice for the future CalSERVES tutors:

“Don’t be afraid to expose your failures to the kids – let them know that you’re human too and that it’s okay to make mistakes.”

“Don’t sell your self short with any excuses – there is always room for more patience, positivity, and productivity. See the power of your own effectiveness.”

“Believe in yourself and know that even when times are hard or stressful, that you are still making a difference in the lives of the kids.”

“Don’t get bogged down. Change won’t happen immediately. You might not even see it during your service term. Instead consider that that you are a piece of the greater puzzle. Sooner or later, we’ll see a prettier picture.”

This school year would not have been as fun or successful without the hard work from each and every one of our AmeriCorps members! Thank you for all that you did this year; you truly made a difference in the lives of so many students!

by Jacky Bennett, CalSERVES AmeriCorps Literacy Content Leader

Literacy Tutoring Theme Week

Ms. Martin and students get in to the spirit of Spring!

In March we had a Theme Week at R.L. Stevens Elementary and we incorporated Spring! Everyone  really got into the spirit. Ms. Martin is taught lyrics and showing off her dance moves with her second grade group. Not only did these little ones learn about the joys of memorizing stanzas, but they also built their singing voice and learned about the splendid sensation of Springtime silliness!

It was a week of hidden literacy, masked by fun activities and cool games, with the kids practicing their reading skills without noticing it was work. It was just a lot of fun!

Science is Cool!

My students were hiding their noses behind any piece of cloth available and making dramatic fanning motions when I realized I probably should have refrigerated the cabbage juice. It must be STEM theme week at R.L Stevens!

Ms. Gold and her tutoring students

 Let me back up. I was demonstrating how red cabbage juice changes color according to whether the chemical it’s put in is an acid or a base. The table outside was set with various substances, and the students had learned where to place them on the pH scale according to the color they turned when we added the cabbage juice. A typical vinegar and baking soda reaction was suddenly a lot more interesting, though by day three, the cabbage juice had gone decidedly off. In spite of this, the students really got into the active experimentation part of the lesson, and unleashed their inner scientists.

The last lesson of the week involved Diet Coke and Mentos, (with a strong nutrition-related disclaimer) but before we got to the explosive fun, first we had to figure out why the reaction happened in the first place. My fourth grade group had used a K’nex set and rubber bands to learn about ways that potential energy can be stored (and released – quickly!), and my third graders had had endless fun learning about the phenomenon of lift and making and testing different types of paper airplanes. Each time I gave my kids a challenge or scientific problem to solve, they responded with boundless enthusiasm, ingenuity, and solutions that I hadn’t thought of.

 My students love STEM theme weeks. I can practically guarantee that every time I pick up my first group of third graders from class, I get the question “Are we doing science today?” During our first STEM theme week, they’d played a dry version of Marco Polo in order to learn about echolocation, and expanded that knowledge to learn about other special adaptations of plants and animals. I’ve discovered the trick to making Science, Technology, Engineering and Math irresistible subjects to students: make the scientific challenges so fun to solve that they don’t even realize they’re excelling at a subject so many people find complex. This play-to-learn approach is perfect for the After School environment, and by the time theme weeks are done, students who before had little to no confidence in their math and science skills are whooping, cheering, and saying that “Science is cool!”

by Sarah Gold, CalSERVES AmeriCorps Member at RL Stevens

Bellevue Principal honors CalSERVES AmeriCorps Program

I can't imagine my school without the CalSERVESAmeriCorps staff here--it would be too quiet, too boring, almost lifeless! The mentors are all over the school, all day long--we call them all mentors because they are role models for all the students in the myriad of positions they fill: as tutors, as afterschool teachers, as volunteer coordinators, garden project leaders, p.e. champions, marquee sign creators, cheerleaders, promoters of reading, etc.

The mentors are ready to take on any task and do it with zest. We have murals on our school walls thanks to the mentors, murals about eating healthy, and about the resiliency skills taught to all students. Mentors went to the sixth grade outdoor ed program, and we needed them for supervision and kp!

We have the garden looking its best ever because of AmeriCorps. And 40 of our students have made great gains in the tutoring program, reading four times a week with their special tutor to raise their scores to grade level.

That's what I see as a result of the positive energy CalSERVES AmeriCorps brings to Bellevue.

Beth Wilson
Bellevue Elementary Principal

Kindergarten Superstars

For kindergarteners, their first school experience is a time of intense learning, and there are some that need a little extra help to master the curriculum. Kindergarten is a huge foundation and starting point for every student going into the academic K-12 institution and it’s crucial that a student is successful. The skills learned, confidence gained, and the love of learning that is created are necessary so that the rest of their schooling can continue in a positive upwards progression.

At Wright Charter, we bring Kindergarteners into the CalSERVES program in January and even though they are only tutored for half a year, the leaps of academic progress that they can make are comparable to any of our other tutored students. Most of the kindergarteners who come for tutoring are having difficulty mastering the kindergarten skills. And no matter their skill level, all students benefit from a positive relationship that instills the confidence they need to succeed.

This was the case with two specific kindergarteners. They both entered our program as two shy little girls who did not yet know their ABCs. They scored low on their initial assessments and their tutors, Ms. Moran and Ms. Hammer, knew their work was cut out for them. Before any academic progress had even been made, the tutors started creating a strong bond with their students. Soon tutoring became happy, fun, and most importantly a place where they knew they could succeed. With their new motivation, these girls were able to build confidence within themselves, score incredibly well on their final assessments, and start reading their first books. 

I also tutor a couple kindergarteners, and the knowledge that I am able to set this little person on a pathway to success that can hopefully carry them for the rest of their lives, is one of the most rewarding feelings I have ever felt. Ms. Hammer and Ms. Moran agree.

Melissa Boni

Literacy Team Leader

Today was good. Today was fun. Tomorrow is another one.

While the motto “Passion. Potential. Power” may be emblazoned on our t-shirts, “The more that you read, the more things you will know. The more that you learn, the more places you'll go,” is the dictum to which I truly subscribe. Reading is the foundation of building knowledge, and the acquisition of knowledge is what enables us to achieve success in its many forms. By signing on to be a mentor, each CalSERVES member demonstrates their belief that every child deserves the opportunity to become a successful reader, and a successful citizen of the community and the world.

            

Most days, mentors work one on one with their assigned reading buddy, modeling prosodic reading, and monitoring students own reading journeys. However, on Friday, March 2^nd, mentors and students took a break from their tutoring routines to celebrate a certain literary hero. This great writer and thinker, who also espoused the belief that the ability to read will carry an individual far in all endeavors, was none other than Theodore Geisel, better known as Dr. Seuss. In honor of Seuss’s birthday, literacy specialist Mallori Thompson selected Seuss’s best work, which she had the full time R.L. mentors read aloud to small groups of students through out the day. Thompson also planned an activity to correspond to each book, which all mentors helped to facilitate.     

Highlights of the themed activities included a rhyme sort, with spell patterns found in the story The Sneetches printed on green stars. The green star cards were modeled after the ones on the Star-Bellied Sneetches, of course! Another game played, this one to accompany One Fish, Two Fish, Red Fish Blue Fish, was a version of Go Fish, where students fished for digraph matches. A third activity had students writing and illustrating an alternate scene to And to Think that I Saw It On Mulberry Street featuring themselves as characters.

            

Overall Dr. Seuss’s birthday party was a merry celebration. The theme day was enjoyed by all who participated in the day’s events. We know Dr. Seuss would be proud!

~ Rachel Socia

Literacy Tutoring Team Leader at R.L. Stevens 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

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.

Pictures are Worth a Thousand Words

To get the most complete idea of what the CalSERVES After School and Tutoring programs are all about, you need to see it. Here are a few pictures submitted by AmeriCorps members about their year of service.

Wright's Tutoring Students Go Green

Kara Shelton, AmeriCorps Team Leader at Wright Elementary

Students and mentors in CalSERVES tutoring program had a break from the ordinary to spend some time celebrating the Earth. First, students were invited to choose a book about environmental issues for their tutors to read to them. Some favorites were Michael Recycle Meets Litterbug Doug, The Great Kapok Tree, The Lorax, and a number of nonfiction books about reducing, reusing, and recycling.

Students then engaged in several activities that combined the Earth Day theme with literacy skills. All students helped to clean up the classroom environment at the Garbage Sight Word Pick-up and Sorting Station. Students found sight word "trash" strewn about the room, before bringing them back to read and to "sort" the words into the correct color-coded "recycling" bins. Upper-grade students had more difficult multi-syllable words to sound out.

At the SSPTU station, students practiced their decoding skills while creating words with tiles about the Earth. Students also created globes to hang on our Reading Tree, describing one thing that they love about the Earth. To better show their appreciation, students put their knowledge of the three R's to the test by reading and writing short examples of how they can reduce, reuse, and recycle in their everyday lives. Finally, students had the opportunity to start sprouting seeds, which they can later plant in a garden.

All in all, the Earth Day theme day was a success. Wright tutoring students worked on their reading and writing skills while learning what it means to "go green."

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

Volunteering with CalSERVES at Kawana Elementary School

Christine Mendoza, CalSERVES Volunteer at Kawana Elementary

Christine Mendoza, CalSERVES Volunteer, tutors Luis, a 5th Grade student at Kawana Elementary School.

I went into volunteering at CalServes with the belief that this was going to be a short-term work-like relationship with the organization. The main reason I chose to volunteer at CalServes was primarily to gain experience for future resumes and applications for graduate schools. Now I find myself investing more time volunteering than at my part-time job and as many people point out, I don’t even get paid to do this! I guess that’s what helps me realize my time volunteering is so well spent. CalSERVES provided me with an inside look of the state of California’s public school system that I have never experienced.

I have never felt so privileged until I began tutoring and helping out the children in the program. When I go to volunteer at Kawana Elementary, I don’t wonder why I don’t do this for money because I’ve never felt like going in was a job. It’s truly a pleasure to work with a team so dedicated to making a positive influence in the lives of children.

Students are Learning to Love Reading

Mia Petersen, AmeriCorps Team Leader at RL Stevens

The time of year when the leaves are changing is just like our students attitudes toward reading. “I don’t want to read! It’s too hard,” was a complaint heard far too often in September. However, after months of practice and with the support and motivation of their mentor, students now ask, “How many books can I read today?”

Although in Sonoma County, the leaves are golden and the sun is shining, newfound enthusiasm for reading is most exciting and beautiful change I have witnessed this autumn for the students at R.L. Stevens.

Making a Difference One Child at a Time

If you were to ask our AmeriCorps members why they give hundreds of hours of their time in service to the community, you might expect to hear:

• to build my resume, and gain experience,
• to earn an AmeriCorps Education Award (a full-time award is $5,300.00), or
• to get student loan forbearance.

And those are good reasons. But when it gets right down to it, the things that keep you going during a rigorous year of service are the moments with children that let you know you've made a difference in the life of a child. Here's what some of this year's AmeriCorps mentors had to say:

One of my second grade tutees was having a lot of trouble saying the word “asked”. So one day we kept repeating it back and forth for a minute or two. She finally got it down, but still felt a little unsure. The next day when she was reading aloud she read the word perfectly without hesitation. Instantly she realized what she’d just done and looked at me with a huge smile on her face. It was very triumphant.

A 4th grader asked me what “puke” meant. I told him it was the same as throwing up. He asked if it was a bad word. I said I didn’t think so. I told him “vomit” was the technical word, so he started saying, “This makes me want to vomit”. “ I am going to vomit”.

I had a very discouraged tutee who usually hates to read. After reading a book together, he told me “I thought this story was goanna be boring. But after we read it, it's good! It’s exciting!”

I have the best tutees!!! They are all great kids and look forward to seeing them everyday. They have all been improving and it makes me feel good to see them trying so hard. My hardest kid to tutor (who really isn’t that hard) has made the most improvement.

One girl I’m tutoring is graduating from the program because she has improved so much. When I told her, she was sad to go and started messing up her words on purpose and said she was doing it so she could stay in tutoring with me. It was nice to hear that she has fun and she’s learned a lot too.

My tutee Jackie has finally come out of her shy shell, and even her teacher has noticed improvement. She told me she reads books at home, and sometimes during tutoring read-aloud, she gets really excited and tells me she knows what’s going to happen next. Then she recalls the entire story in detail. I’m SO proud she’s reading on her own.

Making Great Strides in Tutoring

Ruby Willmann, AmeriCorps Team Leader at Bellevue Elementary

As the Team Leader for the Bellevue Tutoring Program, I have been collecting all of our end of the year data. Getting feedback from teachers can be intimidating, but I have really enjoyed reading all of their notes. Comments like “what an effective program” and “the mentors are great role models for our students!” are wonderful to read. We also had one teacher share a success story about one of our tutees. It read:

"Jennifer has made great strides with her tutor. She is so excited when she returns from tutoring and always shares with me what she did and her newest book. Her level of self-confidence has increased immensely since the beginning of the school year, which I attribute in part to her improvement in reading."

When I showed Jennifer’s tutor, Ms. Jenkins, the note she was extraordinarily touched. It is always amazing to see a mentor’s hard work validated in such a clear way.

Roseland Reads!

The time has finally come, our students worked their hardest to earn stickers for months by reading passages during tutoring! One by one, two by two, they placed stickers on the door at Roseland’s room 37, waiting for the magical day to come. Finally, it was time. Mentors joined a committee to plan the glorious activities for the day, which included read-alouds and art crafts for younger and old. 

 The lower graders were picked up first, in the early afternoon, and entered the room amazed to see the beautiful butterflies covering the ceiling that they had made in tutoring the previous weeks by folding paper with paint. As they took their seats, they were thrilled to learn that the book chosen to share with them was the ever-popular “The Hungry Caterpillar” by Eric Carle. After the dramatic reading by the brilliant Ben Browning, students made sequence necklaces: coloring in the fruits the caterpillar ate and marking his steps toward transformation until at least he was a beautiful butterfly! It was a great success and the students felt very rewarded for their hard work. 

Upper graders were next in line for the festivities. Our mentors chose a wonderful social studies book for the students, “If the world were a village” which explored the different demographics of the world on condensed scale. This book highlights what the world would look like if the entire globe population were reduced proportionately to 100 people. Read by the ever-eloquent Tracy Petroski, the tale highlighted age groups, religions, races, languages and geography on our planet, and made the information about world resources and valuables approachable and understandable for young readers. Students were each given packets discussing one of the different categories and illustrated their understandings of what the section discussed on a poster, which was shared with the large group. The students were intrigued and engaged, interested to learn about the different aspects of global society on such a simplified scale. Round two, another great success! 

Tutoring parties are always a super fun day filled with anticipation, excitement, and celebration here at Roseland. We are all ecstatic to plan our next and final party at the end of the year, and know it will be just as promising thanks to our amazing students!

Pie Day for Bellevue Literacy Students

Ruby Willmann, AmeriCorps Team Leader at Bellevue Elementary

After six weeks of reading to collect pie tickets, our After School students were finally able to experience the Bellevue Pie Day! Students were able to turn in their pie tickets for whip cream pies, and one after the other the students slammed their pies into their mentor of choice. One first grader read so much she got to pie seven mentors! The day was so much fun and the kids loved it. They especially loved it when they got to pie our Principal! After making hundreds of pies, Pie Day proved to be a fantastic success.

Tutoring Success!

Ruby Willmann, AmeriCorps Team Leader at Bellevue Elementary

I’ve been tutoring the same kid for almost two years now, and he’s absolutely amazing. He’s a wonderful kid, and having worked with him one-on-one for so long, I feel like I’ve been able to learn how to relate to him. Today was amazing. Lately, we’ve been working on focusing and not wasting time by complaining, and today he sat down and just got straight to work. He read, we worked on our curriculum, and practiced our reading fluency. We had a whole ten minutes for me to read him The Trumpet of the Swan (which is his incentive to finish his work quickly). Walking back to class we talked about Pokemon and Digimon – his two favorite cartoons – and we tried to describe them using some adjectives from our “Word of the Day” activity. Overall, best tutoring session ever!