PASS AmeriCorps Newsletter

Transcription

1 AmeriCorps Newsletter Vista Unified School District V I S T A U N I F I E D S C H O O L D I S T R I C T I N S I D E T H I S Program Updates Partner Spotlight I S S U E : VUSD Schools Casita Center Olive Elementary Madison Middle Rancho Minerva Middle VIDA 3 Vista High 3 Alta Vista High 4 General Murray High About Us/ Contact Us 4 5 Calendar 5 V O L U M E 7, I S S U E 7 Along with service to our youth and communities, the Ameri- Corps Program is dedicated to contributing to the professional growth and development of our Service Members. On April 17, 017, hosted a Resume Workshop. First, we had a presentation on how to build an effective resume, with time to update and constructively critique each other s resumes. Then we learned tips on translating this year of service with AmeriCorps onto our resumes, and had a little time to incorporate recommendations to make our resumes as job-market ready as possible. Global Youth Service Day was established in 1988 to celebrate and mobilize young people to serve their community. For this National Day of Service, the Ameri- Corps took part in a community clean up on April nd, also honoring Earth Day. Thirty-eight Ameri- Corps Members, the leadership team, and a few dedicated students served and connected with our different communities through I Love a Clean San Diego s Creek to Bay Cleanup. We cleaned creeks, parks, and streets to prevent ocean pollution. AmeriCorps students also participated, with one Vista student noting that we were cleaning the neighborhood where his grandparents lived. The Creek to Bay Cleanup is held twice a year and the AmeriCorps Program participates every spring. We want to thank SDCOE Program Specialist, Sal Garcia for presenting on Technology Trends, Privacy Settings, and Protecting Your Personal Brand ; SDCOE Human Resources Project Specialist, Jessica Glover for presenting on Interview/Resume Strategies and EdJoin, and giving us some tips from HR about how to make ourselves competitive; Ameri- Corps Support Supervisors, Yaneen Gutierrez for presenting on Resume Building and Teenie Le for presenting on Interview Tips ; AmeriCorps Service Members, Corey Bishop for presenting on Social Media Networking: LinkedIn and Jonathan Spicer for presenting on Professional Etiquette in the Workplace. A P R I L AmeriCorps Joins the Creek to Bay Cleanup VCPUSD Team cleaned and made friends with spiders and snakes at Dixon Lake 15th Annual Creek to Bay Stats: 6,500 volunteers (county-wide) AmeriCorps Resume Workshop 11 locations OUSD Team cleaned Loma Alta Creek at Union Plaza SDUSD Team cleaned Cesar Chavez Park VUSD Team cleaned at the Vista Street Sweep near S. Santa Fe Ave. SMUSD Team cleaned at Dixon Lake Over 170,000 lbs. of trash removed Ameri- Corps Service Members presenting at the Resume Workshop We wrapped up the day by practicing our answers to possible interview questions in mock interview breakout groups, facilitated by our guest speakers and Support Supervisors. We hope that the day was useful and informative, helping our AmeriCorps Service Members as they begin transitioning into the end of their Term of Service with.

2 P A G E students Belen and Bella holding up the giant bunch of grapes honoring Cesar Chavez Casita Center for Science and Technology Great excitement has been buzzing at Casita, from our Annual Carnival to our upcoming 5th Grade Exhibition, we ve been busy making the best of spring. students have also kept busy, with Angelina and Brianna leading the charge at their book club s first meeting. 5th graders are preparing for their Exhibition Showcase, since less than a month is left to present. As a volunteer mentor for the exhibition, I have spent a great amount of time searching for ways to connect my group to primary sources. In addition, has been actively trying to engage students with history. To honor the memory of Cesar Chavez, students created a giant grape with Daisy Gallardo, AmeriCorps Member balloons to have participants write thank you messages to Cesar for his commitment to equality. For Earth Day, students were challenged to consider the impact they have on Earth by completing an obstacle course while carrying the weight of our daily waste, about 5 pounds. May our hard work yield great rewards! The Appreciation Tree is a work in progress Olive Elementary School Olive Elementary's fourth graders went on two study trips. Since they had been learning about California's history, the students went to Mission San Juan Capistrano to learn about the history and people. Their second study trip was to Agua Hedionda where they learned about fossils, volcanos, earthquakes, and climate. For example, stu- dents learned that Earth tends to change due to natural causes. April brought an Earth Day celebration and students participated by providing leaves to a tree decoration in the room. On the leaves, they wrote comments about what they appreciated about the earth. Olive also celebrated Ability Awareness Week. Students explored how it would Madison Middle School Diego Bautista, be like to have difficulty seeing, or perhaps not being able to use their legs. They were challenged with the task of operating their way through obstacles which allowed them to put themselves in the shoes of others. We hope students gained awareness through these activities. Rosalba Rocha, Students picking up litter on the Madison Campus On April 18th, AmeriCorps at Madison Middle began Project AWARE after school. The 8 week program focuses on educating students in taking responsibility for their thoughts and actions. Students who chose to participate have commented on how excited they are to start Project AWARE. It is so great to see students willing to come after school to talk to one another about their experience with various topics. On April 1st, AmeriCorps teamed up with Garden Club to complete a campus-wide beautification project. The projects included placing the tiles (that students had created for Cesar Chavez Day) in the garden, picking up trash, pulling weeds, and planting succulents. Also, the end of the year is almost here! There is still time to enjoy school and pick up classroom grades. If help is needed, is continuing to offer homework help before school everyday (Mondays 8:30-9:30am,Tuesday - Friday 7:30-8:30am) and after school Mondays and Thursdays (3:15-4:15pm). P A S S A M E R I C O R P S N E W S L E T T E R

3 V O L U M E 7, I S S U E 7 P A G E 3 Rancho Minerva Middle School Chelsea Kozikis, April absolutely flew by, but it has been a fantastic month for. One of my favorite projects AmeriCorps participated in was repainting the school tables for Earth Day. We went out and chose the tables that had the most graffiti and started to work, one in the seventh grade quad and one in the eighth. The seventh grade quad now has a purple and blue table decorated in the students' hand prints. The eighth graders have a purple and orange table to brighten things up! I was so proud of the students for coming up with beautiful ideas to help make the campus look and feel more positive. It was so successful that students who were unable to participate asked when we were going to do it again so they could help! This project in particular showed me how much these students have grown over the year. They were respectful, responsible, creative, and worked together to make their school a brighter, happier place. Seventh Grade Table Repainted! Vista Innovation and Design Academy (VIDA) Vanessa Acosta, The eighth graders in Ms. Palmer s and Mr. Kellish s Language Arts classes focused on various topics presented in the Vista community, including homelessness, students with special needs, and LGBTQ students. Students in have received additional help writing their reflective essays on their volunteer experience. The 8th graders are also receiving help writing an essay on how immigration has shaped them and will soon be starting presentations on their topics. Seventh grade students completed their reading of "Monster" and created arguments for Steve and whether students believed he was guilty or innocent of the story's crime. There have been a lot of writing assignments completed in the room! Earth Day was celebrated as well. Students were encouraged to recycle and be earth friendly by participating in a book swap to bring in books they had read in exchange for new, unread books. This helped promote the idea of reusing and encouraged reading. Seventh graders, Jose and Trevor, having their period outside. Vista High School Skyler Vanderhye and Brighid Morse, s The year is quickly winding down here at Vista High School! This month started off with a trip for our sophomores to the Museum of Tolerance in Los Angeles. The trip was a great opportunity for our students to learn about various human rights challenges facing our global community. April s service project focused on creating bird feeders out of recycled materials. The project was a celebration of both Earth Day and Global Youth Service Day, which fell on April 1-3rd. On Earth Day, April nd, we participated in the Creek to Bay Clean-up, put on by I Love a Clean San Diego, to pick up trash in the neighborhood surrounding Vista High School. At the end of the month, National Volunteer Week occurred from April 4-9. Addi- tionally, April 14th was the end of the second grading period of the second semester, marking the last progress report before final grades come out at the end of the school year. We will be working with students to finish the school year Anthony strong! and Edgar make bird feeders for Earth Day.

4 P A G E 4 Alta Vista High School Corey Bishop, Earth Day Project- Students are making custom Earths using paint and shaving cream The school year is almost over and the primary focus for is helping students with life after high school. invited ACCESS and Learn4Life to present to groups of students. These two programs help young adults find internships, guide career paths, and teach life skills. A few students are already taking advantage of the opportunity. A main focus for students in the remainder of the year is to earn credits. I have been pushing into classrooms more often to help students accomplish this goal. A large amount of my students have improved their grades within the last few months. Service this month revolved around Earth Day and students made custom planets and we discussed the importance of the respect and perseveration of the Earth. AmeriCorps also continues to be involved in sports. The Alta Vista soccer team won the Continuation Soccer Tournament held Friday, April 1st. They were our second winning team this year. Students at the Vista Creek to Bay Cleanup with Mentor, Jennifer Garritson Major General Murray High School We only have about six weeks left of school, I really can t believe it! Graduation is on everyone s mind as we are in the home stretch. Students are looking forward to the future by enrolling at Palomar or Mira Costa Colleges and completing their FASFA. In April, we encouraged students to participate in Global Youth Service Day and was able to offer students elective credits for community service. The Creek to Bay Cleanup was hosted by I Love A Clean San Diego and was located at North County Lifeline. The event was open to the community and participants were able to clean up pounds of trash off the streets of Vista. April 4th was the first Jennifer Garritson and Dana Tsoutsoudakis, s day of hexmester six and will be going over graduation plans next week as transcripts will be updated. This marks the last chance for students to set goals for this school year and we are looking forward to the finish line! There is only one thing that makes a dream impossible to achieve: the fear of failure. Paulo Coelho, The Alchemist, provided by VHS student RMMS students finished AmeriCorps poster Above: Casita students posing outside the library after a successful book club sign-up Left: Earth Day sign created by Madison Middle School student and mentor P A S S A M E R I C O R P S N E W S L E T T E R

5 San Diego County Office of Education AmeriCorps Program 6401 Linda Vista Road - Room 41 San Diego, CA Phone: Fax: mquiroz@sdcoe.net Website: The AmeriCorps Program serves students in grades 3 through 1 at 9 school sites across San Diego County, including campuses in San Diego, Oceanside, Vista, San Marcos, and Valley Center. Each AmeriCorps member provides support for 30 targeted students through individual and group mentoring, academic support, grades and attendance reviews, leadership development, guest speakers, service learning projects, and parent outreach. Through their service with, our Ameri- Corps members are able to create positive change in our schools and communities. AmeriCorps Program Upcoming Month s Calendar May