CalSERVES CAN!

Kristen Mowers, Nutrition Coordinator for CalSERVES

The CalSERVES Can Creation!

February is Canned Food Month and to honor/celebrate this CalSERVES joined with the Network for a Healthy CA to host a month long event. It started with a field trip to Food Maxx where the 3rd and 4th grade students got to take a tour of the store, do some exercises inspired by fruits and vegetables, and help prepare a healthy snack. CalSERVES also participated in the “Can Creation” project and built a 3D book out of donated canned food. All of the cans used were then donated to the Redwood Empire Food Bank. Our grand finale was a Fun Family night at Sheppard Elementary where families got to come play some games, learn Capowara and Zumba, and receive nutrition information.

School of Rock

Annette Zucconi, Program Coordinator for CalSERVES


They came in mass, 120 strong, on an unseasonably beautiful January morning like a tidal wave of gray AmeriCorps shirts. Instead of sleeping in, our dedicated service members, representing 8 school sites, converged on the Chop’s Teen Center in Santa Rosa to enjoy a morning conference, affectionately titled “School of Rock”. Developed and implemented by a phenomenal group of AmeriCorps Team Leaders and Promise Fellows, the conference served as a mid-year “booster shot” for the CalSERVES ’08-’09 corps.


The day began with an amazing keynote address by Jim Nevill of Go Adventure, http://www.lifeschooladventures.org. Jim laid out the statistics facing youth today, and hammered home the message that this group of members, in this time of challenge and turmoil, is needed like no other time in American history. They were charged with the responsibility of giving youth the message “There is Hope, and you can achieve your Dreams”, and the skills to make it happen. It was evident, as they poured out of the main hall toward their workshops, that they understood the mission they were on.


The CalSERVES vision of Passion, Power and Potential was sprinkled throughout all of the morning’s workshops. Topics included classroom management for lower and upper grades, literacy instructions, communication, and prioritizing & lesson planning. To top it off, the participants enjoyed a delicious lunch catered by the Chop’s staff.


After all was said & done, our amazing Team Leaders and Promise Fellows came together for a Fishbowl reflection, sharing all they had learned about identifying needs, designing & developing training, and yes, just how challenging it is to sync up logistics, with content, with participants! It was a day to remember, a first time event, initiated by the CalSERVES “Larry” Staff Tribe, supported by the entire staff…….and in the words of Larry the Cable Guy we “Gitter Done!”.

Imagine Bus Comes to Sheppard!

Betsy Jones, Supervising Teacher at Sheppard Elementary/RAMS

Sheppard Students, 4-6 grade, create on the Imagine Bus

The Sheppard After School program has a special visitor every week—the Imagine Art Bus. Each week, Jane Lang and her volunteers come to the site to lead exciting and engaging art projects. The bus holds 10 students at a time but we’re able to send 20-25 students each visit. Students work at specially designed workstations, dabbling in a variety of forms, mediums, and styles. From mandalas to wooden sculptures, our students bring home beautiful works of art each Tuesday. We’re looking forward to all the amazing lessons and creations the Imagine Art Bus brings this spring!

Claudia

Rufus

Books, Books, and more Books!

Katie O'Looney, Supervising Teacher at Wright Elementary

This month, CalSERVES was fortunate enough to receive over 1,600 books from BORDERS Bookstore customers.




One of the managers at BORDERS heard about our programs and decided to set up a book drive all throughout the month of December. He had his employees ask each customer if they wanted to donate books to CalSERVES and made an announcement every 30 minutes asking customers to donate books. Since then, we've received so many books, we divided them all up amongst our 6 other school sites in Southwest Santa Rosa.




Our children are extremely fortunate to have so many NEW books to choose from on our bookshelves, rather than having some books held together by masking tape and staples. THANK YOU BORDERS! We're extremely thankful for all of the generous people who donated books during the holiday season!

Life as a Literacy Team Leader

Bethany D'Andrade, AmeriCorps Team Leader at Wright Elementary



Ahhh, the sweet life of a CalSERVES Leadership Team member. Team Leaders have it made. The work is light and the hours few. All things go according to plan. There is just enough time to finish everything on your "to-do" list and then sit back with your hands folded casually behind your head and your feet resting upon your desk to survey all that you have accomplished. All things are in there place. Life is good - nay - grande.

Of course, I'm being sarcastic.

In reality, life as a Literacy Team Leader is...varied. Nothing quite stays the same. The beginning days are hectic and involve rather large amounts of paperwork, but eventually (December) things settle into a routine.

As a Literacy Team Leader, I am a data collector, communicator, listener, scheduler, tutor, and, above all, a helper. I help teachers by accommodating their class schedules. I help mentors by answering questions, recommending literacy resources, and tutoring extra students when I am needed.

My position brings me into contact with a lot of paperwork and a lot of people. The people make this job amazing. The adults (teachers, aides, mentors, staff, supervisors) are supportive, creative, and hard working. The kids are even better. They are the most important people in the world. They bring a smile to my face EVERY, SINGLE day and there is nothing - nothing! - better than seeing a student enjoy tutoring. When I see the relationships that form between mentors and their students, I see how important our program is and I realize that all of the hours I work are worthwhile. We provide a steadiness and consistency to children who experience turmoil in their academic and daily lives. Despite any negative messages they may receive, we are there to tell them they are important. They are important to us; they are important to the world. They can succeed.

So...my life as a Leader is as scattered as this entry. I run around doing paperwork and meeting deadlines, but the kids bring me home, in a sense. They keep me grounded. They remind me why I signed on for a second year. They are absolutely, without a doubt, what this is all about. They are the stars of the show.

Happy Holidays!

'Twas the Night Before... CalSERVES Style
Kathleen Chosa, CalSERVES Staff

'Twas the week before holiday and at our school sites
AmeriCorps members were all busy,
Finishing their work for the night.

Literacy assessments were due,
So was after school attendance.
Tracking fifteen hundred students daily
Is a feat, quite stupendous.

In the very beginning
Project SCHOLARS tutoring was our game,
Then the next year came COOL After School
To add to our fame.

We started out simple,
Tim and Deb - the office crew,
With Julie as Director
And six AmeriCorps VISTAS,
Brand new.

We made a commitment
To teach struggling children to read;
With the motto "Making a Difference",
We were fulfilling a community need.

With one-on-one tutoring
or in a small group with KidzMath,
We help students build TRIBES
And follow an educational path.

There's Homework! And Reading!
Just so much to do!
Yea for COOL Sports! And Friday Clubs!
I love them - don't you?

There's Nutrition and Science,
Sometimes even Art;
Now don't forget Family Lit,
And that's just a start!

We've partnered with school districts,
Written grants to expand and keep going;
Ten years we've succeeded
And we hope to keep growing.

Mendocino and Napa
Regional Projects are great.
Now we're a Demonstration Program,
One of just nine in the state!

We host conferences and trainings,
Sit on a panel or two.
We're not stopping there,
There's still plenty to do.

Promise Fellows and Team Leaders,
Part of our two hundred super stars;
A staff of twenty-two to assist them,
They're sure to go far.

Then there's our AmeriCorps mentors,
Too many to name:
They're our real heroes,
Our claim to fame.

They come from all over our nation
With one goal in sight -
To give all that they have
To make one child's world bright.

In a world full of "me" they think mainly of others,
Serving our community well,
Treating all men as brothers.

They've done it with pride
And for very little pay.
They're doing it right,
The AmeriCorps way.

As a Team we look forward
To the New Year with delight.
Happy Holidays from CalSERVES
And to all a Good Night!

The Bulldog Challenge

Katie Stone, AmeriCorps Promise Fellow at Bellevue Elementary

One of my favorite components of our after school program at Bellevue is our weekly Bulldog Challenge. Every Wednesday, our students are in after school for two extra hours. With part of this extra time, we have a program-wide physical challenge we call the Bulldog Challenge. Every class is divided into two teams, blue and white (our school colors). During recess, mentors help our students put either blue or white face paint on. When recess ends, we divide all of our students, 1st through 6th, into the two teams and announce the game(s) we then play for 45 minutes. We have had track and field center, crab soccer, basketball drills, and even Pumpkin Olympics after Halloween. 6th graders cheer on 1st graders. Students look forward to physical activity. Mentors get pumped up. The Bulldog Challenge brings everyone in after school closer together.