Better than Coffee in the Morning

Jessica Pardue, AmeriCorps Mentor at Wright Elementary

Waking up at 7am has always been difficult for me. I arrive at Wright Elementary at 8am every morning to start a busy day of full-time mentoring. Not being a morning person, I may be guilty of being just a bit cranky and lethargic. Pulling out my tutoring box and setting up today’s Sound Partner’s lesson seems to take ten years. If only it would be brighter outside when I get up…if only it wasn’t so cold…grumble grumble grumble. At 8:20am, I go outside with the other three full time mentors to collect our 1st grade tutees. All the first grade classes line up together to be greeted by their teachers and checked in for the day. Sometimes they sing a “good morning” song that starts with “cloudy good morning” or “sunny good morning” depending on the weather.

On one particular morning, I came to pick up Eduardo. As usual, he was hiding behind one of his friends and giggling like mad. I told him it was time to go, and he came trotting out of line. I happened to be wearing eye-makeup that day, (not common for me) and Eduardo looked up at me and asked “Why are your eyeballs so crazy Ms. P?”. Naturally this was a very honest and serious question, but it cracked me up. I explained that I just felt like wearing makeup today and he took a minute to think about it. I asked him if he liked it, and he scrunched up his face and shook his head. “It looks too crazy” he replied. I accepted his opinion and walked to tutoring with a giant grin on my face. Thanks Eduardo, for being so much better than coffee in the morning.

KAWANA PRESENTS... Christian!

Cyndie Granato, Team Leader at Kawana Elementary

Christian Lugo, CalSERVES Tutoring and After School Student

Kawana has decided to profile one amazing student each month in a special section called KAWANA PRESENTS. And who better to choose for our first article than one of our star tutoring kids? So, Kawana is proud to present: Christian Avina Lugo.

Why Christian? Christian has been in CalSERVES Literacy Tutoring and After School programs for several years. Mr. Nyholm, Christian’s tutor, notes that he is “polite and down to earth; he’s a very clean cut and stylish kid.” He was known in After School all last year as one of the most polite kids in his class, and, just as importantly, for his style and dance skills. He is also a skilled poet, having performed his poetry live in the Martin Luther King Jr. Celebration, with an audience of hundreds. Christian dreams of being an NFL player when he’s older, but right now, his favorite things are math and cheeseburgers. Finally, Mr. Nyholm recalls, Christian “was the first kid to say hello to me at this school.”

Polite, funny, outgoing, smart, and friendly: these are just a few of the many things Kawana loves about Christian.

Christian and his mentor, Mr. Nyholm

No Place We Would Rather Be

Patrick McGrath, Full-time Mentor at Wright Elementary

Patrick McGrath and Emily Nagel, Mentors at Wright Elementary

The first two weeks of tutoring are done and I cannot begin to describe our excitement for this year. At times the planning seemed to be overwhelming, but our training and on-site support has proven to be more than helpful in preparing us to do our best.

All the students are great and have the chance to get out of class to do some one on one tutoring with us. It is a rewarding feeling to see smiles on the students' faces and know that we are making a positive impact on their lives.

Our After School program is beginning and our excitement has been raised to higher levels. With our own classes we can plan activities (whether it is lessons, literacy, group time, or games) and know we are keeping the students safe, educated, and entertained.

An additional perk in being part of CalSERVES is knowing that the site is full of committed mentors from all over the United States that want to help students learn. All mentors and students have been wonderful and there is no place we would rather be right now.

Joining the AmeriCorps Team

Jeremy King, CalSERVES Program Assistant

During the past few weeks, all the Leadership Team members and CalSERVES Program Assistants have been busy recruiting some great mentors for this year. Many professors at Sonoma State University and the Santa Rosa Junior College welcomed us to make brief presentations in their classes. We had many college students and staff come visit our table on campus and express their support for the work we are doing.

One day the JC team was even able to convince a student to play his saxophone near our table to attract more attention! I have seen the enthusiasm of our AmeriCorps Leadership Team members and am excited for the coming year!

Yesterday, the newly recruited half-time members joined in their first training - AmeriCorps 101. We are excited to have everyone on our team!

A Sweet Treat

Tasha Hruska, Supervising Teacher at Roseland Elementary

Roseland is excited to present a watermelon from our very own school garden. Ms. Nina Borokhim, After School Team Leader at Roseland, prepared slices of watermelon as a snack for our leaders of After School. The rewards of gardening are sweet!

Ms. Borokhim going to town serving up the tastes of summer!

Looks AMAZING!

A New Year

Emily Mann, Regional Program Coordinator

The new team of AmeriCorps members are getting started in their year of service. It has been exciting to see everyone joining the CalSERVES team and jumping right in to serving! We are still recruiting members, so if you or anyone you know is interested in joining our team, please contact us at 888-560-SERV (7378) or americorps@calserves.org.

Check out the cool video made by Sheppard Elementary AmeriCorps members last year to see what we do!

The Human Race!

Julie McClure, CalSERVES Program Director


What a beautiful day for a walk….100 of us joined together in the early hours of Saturday morning to walk in support of our kids and CalSERVES. We mixed into the group of thousands making the walk for their favorite program or cause. It is so wonderful to be among such caring and dedicated folks, taking the time out of their weekend to say “This is important and I am going to put my money and my time behind it.” It is very heartening for me. Many of us walked the shorter route, some ran, and some took the long stroll around Spring Lake. I think it is safe to say, all of us took away a great experience from the day! And yes…we have raised over $14,000!


If you would like to join in our fundraising efforts, you can make an on-line donation at our Human Race Page.