Calistoga Afterschool Programs Honor Community Volunteers: Americorps Promise Fellows in Action

Cherri Alcantara & Sonia Ayala, AmeriCorps PROMISE Fellows in Calistoga, CA

Community volunteers are essential to our after school programs at Calistoga Elementary and Calistoga Junior Senior High Schools. Volunteers play various roles in order to support our students—they provide one-on-one tutoring, lead sports activities, lead a variety of clubs, and mentor our youth. In order to show gratitude and appreciation to our volunteers, the Americorps Promise Fellows at Calistoga schools—Sonia Ayala and Cherri Alcantara—coordinated a Volunteer Appreciation Dinner on Friday, May 14. 

 Volunteer receives certificate from PF Sonia Ayala

The Volunteer Appreciation was incorporated in the Calistoga After School Programs’ Think Tank and 8th Period & Beyond Annual Pot Luck Dinner. Families, staff, school administration, teachers, students, and volunteers were invited to the dinner. Families brought in delicious main course dishes such as tamales, enchiladas, pasta, salad, and pozole. The event started with a slide show of Calistoga After School activities this year. Sonia and Cherri gave a short welcome telling about their pleasure and enjoyment working with the volunteers. After the speeches, the volunteers received certificates of gratitude. Each volunteer also received a gift bag that included a personalized mug and a constructed wooden sculpture both made and decorated by the After School students. The Pot Luck Volunteer Appreciation Dinner culminated with desserts, raffles and door prizes. Children’s raffle prizes included a goody bag of books, games and various activities for summer activities.

A Volunteer shows an appreciation she received.

The event was truly a community collaboration. Sonia and other community members donated raffle items that helped fundraise money for the Volunteer Appreciation Dinner. Local businesses donated items from their stores as door prizes to our families. In addition, two local restaurants provided us discounts on the food purchased for the dinner. The Family and Volunteer Appreciation Dinner not only demonstrated the importance of community involvement and volunteerism for our after school programs, but also our ability to come together as a group. This shows our commitment to our community and brings together a vast representation of the cultures of Calistoga–Latino families, worldly retired intellectuals, leadership of both our schools, and our town.

PF Cherri Alcantera and a Calistoga Volunteer

What's Cookin? Tuesday - Mexican Rice

Kristen Mowers, CalSERVES Nutrition Coordinator

Some Pea History

• Peas were a dietary winter staple of both peasants and royalty in medieval Europe.
• In 1492, Christopher Columbus planted peas in Santo Domingo, where they were quickly adopted by indigenous peoples.
• Easy to grow, peas were commonly planted by early American colonists and later by pioneers traveling west.

Mexican Rice

Serving Size: 1 cup

Yield: 6 servings

Ingredients:

1 cup rice

1 medium chopped yellow onion

1 chopped garlic clove

2 hot water

2 chicken bouillon cubes, low sodium

1 can (8 ounces) tomato sauce

3 1/3 cups frozen vegetables (peas and carrots)

2 Tablespoons chopped fresh cilantro

Instructions:

1. Lightly spray a large saucepan with nonstick cooking spray.
2. Add rice to saucepan. Cook over medium heat, stirring occasionally, until lightly browned. Stir in onion and garlic. Cook for 2 to 3 minutes. Add hot water, bouillon cubes and tomato sauce, stirring until bouillon cubes are dissolved. Reduce heat to low. Cover and simmer for 20 minutes.
3. Add frozen vegetables. Cover and simmer for an additional 10 minutes or until all moisture is absorbed.
4. Sprinkle cilantro on top of cooked rice. Serve.

Calories 180, Fat 1g, Sugar 3g, Protein 6g

The Best of Summer -Melons!

Kristen Mowers, CalSERVES Nutrition Coordinator

Just the Facts

• On average, it takes about 10 to 15 bee visits for proper pollination to grow melons.
• By weight, the watermelon is the most common melon consumed in America, followed by the cantaloupe and honeydew melon.
• There are many varieties of the “western shipping type” cantaloupe, but since consumers cannot differentiate between them, they are marketed under the general name as “cantaloupe.”
• There are four main varieties of watermelon: allsweet, ice-box, seedless, and yellow flesh. 

Melon Salsa

Serving Size: 1/4 cup Yield: 12 servings

Ingredients:

2 cups seeded and chopped fresh melon, honeydew, cantaloupe or watermelon, (use one kind or a combination)

1 cup peeled, seeded and chopped cucumber

1/4 cup chopped onion, red or white

2 Tablespoons fresh, chopped cilantro or mint (optional)

1/2 - 1 seeded and finely chopped jalapeño or hot sauce to taste

1/4 cup lime juice or lemon juice

1 Tablespoon sugar, white or brown

Instructions:

1. In a medium size bowl, stir together all ingredients.
2. Taste and season with more lemon or lime juice, sugar if needed.
3. Cover and chill for at least 30 minutes. Serve with grilled or broiled fish or chicken.

Caution: When handling hot peppers, the oils can cause burning and skin irritation. You can wear clean kitchen gloves or wash hands thoroughly after preparing. KEEP HANDS AWAY FROM EYES.

Calories 15, Fat 0g, Sodium 0g, Sugar 3g, Protein 0g

Roseland Nutition Olympics Carnival

Leah Everett, AmeriCorps Promise Fellow at Roseland Elementary

During TV Turn Off Week this year, Roseland had our Nutrition Olympics Carnival. Once postponed due to bad weather, we kept our fingers crossed on the big day for sunshine. The day arrived, and it was time to celebrate our nutrition education efforts over the year in a fun way!

We had a variety of different centers for kids to take part in, almost all of which were reflected in the TV Turn Off binder or the ever-dependable Power Play curriculum. All of the students were encouraged to try each and every station at least once, then pick their favorites to revisit. This way they were exposed to various types of nutrition and physical education activities, but still had the freedom to revisit the stations they wanted to go to the most. There was no system of rotation; we trusted our kids to visit the centers at their own pace, in their own order.

This was such a great way for us to celebrate TV turn off week, in addition to teaching students about rethinking their drinks and reviewing fruit and vegetable information. We had so much fun on that sunny afternoon and it was a great bonding experience for our students.

 Our kids had such a wonderful time and it helped them relax after weeks of STAR testing. We were happy to comply with this necessary use of curriculum in honor of a way to celebrate the weather, give our kids a fun range of activities, and promote healthy living.

Kindness Counts!

Every Wednesday, After School students at Kawana Elementary School engage in lessons called “Kindness Counts”, which focus on helping their community and the world around them. Throughout the year, Promise Fellow Katie Brooks has put together many lessons, some which allowed students to send warm wishes to the elderly, and encouraging others to engage in physical activity. 

This past month, third and fourth grade Cool School students were given a WHALE of a lesson! The children learned that whales were endangered, and got to be outdoors to measure how long a blue whale actually is! They also got the chance to save their own whale! By donation and saving their pennies, students in both grades raised enough money to adopt two blue whales! 

Students will get pictures of their whales, but want to know…where will we put them?

Learning through Service

Kara Shelton, AmeriCorps Mentor at Wright Charter School

This Spring at Wright Charter's After-School Program, the students are preparing Service Learning Projects. Students actively engage in organizing a community service project that integrates academic learning.

The 1st/2nd grade class is holding a recycled can and bottle drive in the school. The students are in charge of advertising the drive and adding the cans.

The 2nd/3rd grade class is hosting a clothing drive to help Sonoma County families in need.

The 4th grade class are hosting a car wash during Wright School's Open House to raise money for the local animal shelter.

The 4th/5th grade class are organizing a movie night to support the local animal shelter.

The 6th/7th grade class have reached out to local businesses to be able to throw an Ice Cream Social, also in support of the local animal shelter.

All the classes are actively involved in choosing, preparing and running their projects. All the students are excited to help out their larger community!

Nutrition Olympics in the Rain

Bellevue Elementary School

Our wonderful day of Nutritional Olympics, a day filled with physical activities that concurrently educate our students about healthy choices, almost came to a screeching halt when it began to pour down rain. Nevertheless, our Bellevue Bulldog crew came together to figure out a quick solution. We packed up the activities into transportable crates, and each mentor rotated through all six grades. We played Berry Relay Races, Pepper Toss, Carrot Hop and all sorts of games. Nayeli, a first grader, said that her favorite activity was learning about tropical foods while playing Coconut Bowling. 

This day was really important because many of our kids are overweight. By teaching them about healthier choices to make with their food, we could potentially be saving their lives. I’m so excited for our next day of Nutritional Olympics (hopefully it’s outside next time)!