All Are Welcome at Wright "The Farm"

An AmeriCorps member reads to a child as part of the CalSERVES program.

If I’ve learned anything at CalSERVES, it’s how to be “inclusive.” Deriving, undoubtedly from the Tribes curriculum, it’s one of our favorite buzzwords. The word encourages not only students but also adults to make one another feel comfortable in a group setting. For new comers, it’s always awkward to insert themselves into an established group. “Inclusion” efforts take the stress and anxiety out of this equation. Why in the world does this matter? Is this even relevant to our year at CalSERVES? I would like to take a minute to thank each and every member of Wright's CalSERVES (#thefarm’s) team for putting this into practice.

 A few months ago, we were lucky enough to gain two new members. Prior to that, in October we adopted another new member. During both of these occasions, I was so gratified to see the rest of the team rally around our new members. They introduced themselves, participated in their training, allowed the new girls to shadow them, anything! At a point where it seemed that one extra thing would break us, these new additions made us stronger. The girls added energy. They kept everyone on their toes.

Thank you, Wright team. You’ve all impressed me to no end. It’s incredible to see, even though you’re stretched to your limits, you all still extend a hand. Wherever you all end up, never forget the power of kindness.

by Lauren Loeffler, AmeriCorps Team Leader at Wright Charter School

Plenty of Reasons to Celebrate

We’re getting excited for our 15th Anniversary Celebration – just one week away!

With a decade and a half under the CalSERVES belt, we’ve gone through a handful of name changes, have seen programs grow, change, and develop, and have watched our dedicated AmeriCorps and staff alumni move on to be game-changers in the social, public, and education sectors.

As we as a staff look back on our history, we’re filled with a deep sense of all that we have to celebrate. Jacqueline Rocha, a former AmeriCorps team member recently shared a heart-warming story story with us that demonstrates the many aspects of our program that we’re celebrating this year. Take a look:

“I began as a part-time mentor at Taylor Mountain in 2010. I was assigned the fourth grade cool school class and a partner named Kim. My first year I made amazing friends and got to know some incredible kids. I fell in love with those fourth graders. They were so hard to handle but absolutely worth it. Kim and I became friends too. We shared our frustrations and our successes. I followed my students into fifth grade the following year and got to work one-on-one with many of them as a tutor. It never got easy, but the rewards keep on coming. I still visit Taylor Mountain as often as I can. My students still get excited to see me, tell me about the books they are reading and ask if I am coming back for good. I will be volunteering with those once-fourth-graders at their sixth grade camp in just a few weeks. Next month I will attending Kim's wedding with many other past mentors. I could not have predicted how rich my experience with CalSERVES would be and I am so grateful for it.”

We’re proud of the impact and connections we make in our programs. Thank you, Jacqueline, for sharing your great story – we’re excited to celebrate the achievements of program alumni like you Arlene Francis Center next Friday!

If you haven’t yet purchased tickets to our event, it’s not too late! We have just a couple of tickets left. You can register online at www.calserves.org. 

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

15 Years of CalSERVES Programs

CalSERVES is gearing up to celebrate our 15th Anniversary. That's a lot of AmeriCorps members who have served in our programs. We would love to hear your stories of service! The first 10 people who share their stories through completing an online survey will recieve a FREE ticket to our 15th Anniversary Event. Share your story here.

For more details about the event and to register, visit our website: www.calserves.org. Information is on the home page.

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!

Cool Sports Challenge – Always a Success!

RL Stevens students had a BALL at the Cool Sports Basketball Challenge in March. Coaches Mr. Rockey and Ms. Kladar couldn’t stop smiling the entire time! They were so proud of their team who had worked so hard during practice. RL students cheered on not only their team, but the other schools as well, leading to RL receiving the Sportsmanship Trophy for the day.

The students had an amazing time and are truly looking forward to the next event!

RL Stevens team gets ready to play!

Canstruction: Reading Around the Camp Fire

This past weekend, several of CalSERVES AmeriCorps members gathered at Coddingtown Mall to participate in this year’s Canstruction event.

 Canstruction is a design and build competition where participants create structures made out of canned food. The mission of Canstruction is to bring awareness about and canned foods to, the men, women, and children in our community who need food assistance.

Wanting to stay true to the CalSERVES vision and mission, our team built a structure that displayed four children sitting around a camp fire reading books.

 
In total, over 700 cans (480 of which were donated by Whole Foods Market) were used to build our structure.

 The structures will be on display at Cooddingtown Mall until April 27. All the canned food used in building the structures will be donated to the Redwood Empire Food Bank.

By: Jacquelene Bennett, AmeriCorps Literacy Content Leader