Success!

Thank you SO much to all who attended our incredible conference on the 11th. We hope you left feeling connected, reenergized, fulfilled and ready to complete your term of service witha bang!

At the AmeriCorps Week Conference we watched a short video starring AmeriCorps members across many different AmeriCorps programs all over the State!

Click on the link below to see what your fellow AmeriCorps members believe.

This I Believe AmeriCorps Video: http://blip.tv/file/3619549

Special Thanks, again, to: Editor Chris Nordenson and the InterCorps Council’s Education and Training Committee

And another THANK YOU to all who participated. Congratulations on Getting Things Done!

What do YOU believe?

Just a reminder that all This I Believe submissions are due THIS Friday! Now is the time to put into words what you believe in and why.

Submit here: http://thisibelieve.org/submission/?radioID=33 to ensure your submission goes towards the AmeriCorps project.

28 days to AmeriCorps Week! See you there!

AmeriCorps Week-Are you ready?

Hello fellow AmeriCorps members!

AmeriCorps week is quickly approaching, are you ready? This is a fantastic week filled with service, socialization, communication, networking, and spreading the word about the wonderful service we do! AmeriCorps week this year falls on the week of May 8-15. This is a national event, so be sure to find ways to be involved in your community.

In MN, there is plenty happening and we’re gearing up for what looks to be a great week. From kickball tournaments, service projects in all areas of MN, a day-long conference and a networking/social event to follow, you’re set to find a way to celebrate your service and thank those who have contributed along the way.

Talk to your program director for more information on all the upcoming activities.

We look forward to seeing you there!

making connections in a connected world

Our stories have talked a lot about bridging gaps and making differences through things like tutoring, youth development and academics. This story takes a different, yet equally powerful approach to bridging gaps between those around us. Laura is an AmeriCorps member serving with the Community Technology Empowerment Project, which is a great program. We live in such a technology-saturated world, and this program strives to bring that technology and the information behind it to those who may be less exposed and less familiar with it. This story touches on both the importance of sharing that information, as well as the sentiments behind what it can provide for those we serve. Thanks for the story, Laura!

At one of our basic computer classes, I was working with a gentleman who had recently moved to the Twin Cities from Ethiopia. He had minimal computer skills, but was eager to learn as he had just purchased a laptop computer, and would proudly bring it along with him to our computer lab for class. While teaching a semi-basic e-mail class, I used examples for what a powerful communication tool the Internet has become. Alluding to the website Skype.com, I mentioned how Skype allows the user to talk to other users over the Internet with a simple download. Skype will then act in place of a phone, without charging long distance fees. It also has an amazing video-chat feature built in!

As you may have already pieced together, this student was particularly ecstatic about this opportunity, as he had left many family members behind in Ethiopia. He stayed after class that day, determined not to leave without downloading Skype on his computer.

After several practice calls from his computer, he was on his way to the store to purchase a webcam to bring to his family when he visited over the holiday season. I still am in contact with this student. This is a story that reminds me that we, as AmeriCorps members, are making a difference in the community, even in seemingly simple ways.

I enjoy bridging a digital gap through teaching basic computer skills to those who have never used a computer or have minimal experience with one, so they too can enjoy this incredible Information Era.

 

Laura Smith

AmeriCorps Member with Community Technology Empowerment Program

recycling, leadership, and spring!

Hello again fellow service-enthusiasts! Have you been bit by the Spring bug yet? It’s closer than ever! I was reading through our submissions and loved this one from Matthew in the Minneapolis Public Schools. Recycling projects are so great to get our kids involved in! And what a great way for them to work on their leadership skills. Sometimes the service we do is two-fold. Recycling, leadership and spring certainly sounds like a good mix for today. Thanks to Nathan for the story!

Enjoy your weekend, see you back here for more great stories and reflections soon!

Matthew Weld is a second year VISTA serving in the Volunteer MPS program at Minneapolis Public Schools. This year Matt has been working at Northeast Middle School in Northeast Minneapolis. Tasked with bringing the school up to speed with a new district organic recycling initiative, Matt has been pivotal in making Northeast Middle School a greener place. “Let’s R.O.T.” (Reduce Our Trash) started strong in late September, and has only grown stronger.

One way that Matt’s made this possible is by involving the school’s 30 student council members as lunchtime recycling assistants. As student body leaders, council members enjoy helping their fellow students learn the R.O.T. ropes by taking the opportunity to both explain recycling to their peers and to train their classmates in the proper sorting of organics and mixed recycling in the cafeteria. The result is a school of some 500 students and more than 50 staff all recycling their organics, every day

-Nathan Magel, VISTA Leader, Minneapolis Public Schools

Star Student Board! Success!

Sometimes our smallest victories are the most meaningful, aren’t they? Today’s story comes from Aurora, who serves in a St. Paul elementary school on a variety of projects, but this little second grader truly benefits from her tutoring, encouragement and dedication. Star Student Board!

Enjoy!

 

A. is a second grader who struggles a lot to keep up with his class.  He reads at a kindergarten level, cannot spell, and pronounces “tomorrow” as “samara”.  He is hard pressed to sound out words, and when he does, they don’t make sense because his family doesn’t pronounce words properly.  However, with several hours a week of Americorps help from two different tutors, teacher intervention time, and a LOT of encouragement, he recently received a nine out of ten on his spelling test and his work was put up on the star student board!

Aurora Adamson

MultiCultural Communities in Action AmeriCorps

Museum Magnet Elementary, St.Paul

The irreplaceable feeling of success!

A great reward in serving is the feeling of progress and accomplishment. Our story today comes from the Foley Area CARE program, which serves an elderly community. Ahna began an exercise group, and has seen some exciting results!

Enjoy today’s story, and we’ll see you soon!

My project was to start an exercise group at Dewey Place Senior Apartments for community members ages 60+. Our vision with Foley Area C.A.R.E. is to help elders remain in their homes. One way to do this is to keep people active and fit and to prevent falls. After a couple months of planning and surveying and marketing, we finally got our group up and running.

While there are still kinks to work out and ways to find it to be sustainable, I have seen results already. One 85-year-old woman with arthritis exclaimed after the first half hour session that she could feel tingly warmness in her feet (which is a good thing I hope!). We meet twice a week for 30 minutes each time. A video guides the participants through chair exercises, like marching or pumping their arms.

After a month I can see results already. The same 85-year-old woman couldn’t pick her leg up and clap underneath but now she can! We did an evaluation and there are some improvements and I keep encouraging them that if this is how it is after one month, imagine after 3 or 6 months! We just received a grant from East Central Energy and are going to use the money to purchase DVD players for our at-home fitness group so seniors don’t have to risk the elements in winter. We have generated a lot of interest: about 10 people show up at Dewey Place Fitness and at least 12 people want to do the at-home fitness group.

My biggest challenge now is to draw from the community and to encourage them that only a half hour twice a week can do SOMETHING for them. It’s better than sitting on the couch

 

-Ahna Gilbertson, Foley Area CARE

 

Glass Half Full…of Volunteers

 

Greetings! I hope you all had a restful and joyful holiday season, and have transitioned back into your daily happenings as January rushes by.

Our story today comes from Meredyth Fifield, a Volunteer Coordinator for Men As Peacemakers in Duluth, MN. I truly appreciate her sense of gratitude and appreciation towards her volunteers. As we serve, we are also surrounded by incredible people who volunteer their time, and our jobs are made better because of them. Meredyth does a beautiful job of expressing the dedication, selflessness and joy these volunteers contribute to her program and positivity.

Enjoy, and visit us again soon!

Half Full or Half Empty? 

   I keep coming back to this one fact. This fact that says my volunteers are amazing human beings. I am astonished by the things they go through just to be here every week for the students.

I have had volunteers come down with the H1N1 or Swine flu, and they remember to call so their students know they can’t make it.

 I have volunteers that have surgery on their legs, knees, or feet; not only do they call, but many will apologize for every week they are recovering and cannot make it. And many come in anyways, be it with casts, braces, crutches, and in one case a wheel chair; just so they can read with their student for that one half hour.

 And I have volunteers that have a death in the family, find out a family member has cancer, or they themselves have cancer and are undergoing chemotherapy and I see them here every week.

In the winter months they selflessly donate money, grocery store gift cards, and gifts for the holidays; even when they themselves might be financially worn pretty thin. They will buy books that they read in the New York Times were amazing for little kids and donate them to the program.

My program could not run without these amazing people. I have much to be thankful for in this season, but I am giving thanks to these people, who are the driving force in our communities. And the people who keep me from a negative view on life. Knowing all they do, it is all but impossible to view the glass as anything but half full. 

 -Meredyth Fifield, Volunteer Coordinator, Men As Peacemakers

A Season of Wonder

Our next story touches on two great aspects of service: connections and wonder.

Natalie, a *VISTA Curriculum and Outreach Coordinator at Joyce Bilingual Preschool shares with us a story about one of her volunteers making connections with students despite language barriers. Always a strong point of young children; they don’t need language to communicate, or even to form relationships. The simple act of listenting is enough for them.

I also enjoy the last paragraph, where Nate describes the wonder his student expressed in relating the lesson back to his own life. Whoa, I have joints, too! Sometimes this wonder and exploration we see in our students can serve as a great reminder for us as adults. When was the last time you were ‘enthralled’ with something you just learned? Or when was the last time you took a few minutes out of your day to explore something new?

What better time of year to appreciate connections, wonder and service than the upcoming holiday season? I hope you’re all preparing wonderful celebrations. Enjoy this Great Story, and best wishes to you!

This year I’m serving at Joyce Bilingual Preschool as the Curriculum and Outreach Coordinator.  My three main areas of work are volunteer coordination, curriculum documentation, and technology development.  So far this year Joyce has enjoyed success in its recruitment and maintenance of community volunteers who commit one morning or afternoon per week to providing extra literacy support in our bilingual classroom.  Volunteers support learning by helping children learn to write their names, practicing thematic vocabulary (November’s theme is Health, Nutrition, and Safety), facilitating cooperative play and encouraging friendship in the dramatic play area and blocks area, and act as mentors to students who need extra adult attention.  Here is what one of our volunteers, Nate, had to say about his experience in the classroom:

Being new anywhere can be difficult, but not with the kids at Joyce.
The first day I sat down in the classroom, as I soaked in the new
surroundings, one of the students came over and sat next to me. I
asked him how he was doing, he responded in Spanish. He started to talk
to me in Spanish, which I barely know. I tried to talk to him in
English, which he did not speak. Then I nervously tried my weak
Spanish. I thought he would walk off and go find somebody more
interesting. He smiled at me, then told me a long story in Spanish
about animals. I think. To this day he is one of my buddies. He knows
that I do not speak Spanish, but that does not stop him from telling
me about his projects or ideas. The language barrier does not stop us
from being friends.

One week, Carol set us up making art projects with noodles, crayons,
paper, and glue. The idea was to create skeletons from the pasta
pieces. As we worked we looked at pictures and talked about bones and
skeletons. After we learned about joints, one of the children was
staring with wide-eyed wonder at his hand as he slowly moved each
finger. He asked why he could bend this part of his finger but not
this part. After, I explained to him the placing of his joints, he
looked away from me and back to his moving fingers. He was enthralled
by his own fingers for a few minutes, then he decided to put them back
to work and finish his skeleton.

Natalie Ehalt
Curriculum and Outreach Coordinator — AmeriCorps*VISTA

A little warmth for your Monday!

I hope everyone is managing to stay warm in our latest round of winter weather! I wanted to get our Great Stories going, and thought this one was a perfect fit to begin what I hope is a constant flow of stories to keep us motivated, inspired and warm in our service. And what better fit than a story about snowflakes!

This story is incredibly valuable, as it serves as a reminder to the simple acts of service you offer daily. Sometimes, the best things we can give are our time and attention. To someone else, that’s all they’ve ever needed.

Bundle up, keep serving, and enjoy!

School Community Partnership AmeriCorps Promise Fellow Katie Gard, Fergus Falls, MN

11/25/09

A keen but rebellious and intentionally aggravating 6th grader started the school year on the wrong foot, antagonizing teachers every morning such that it became routine for her to spend the afternoon in the principal’s office, smugly distracting the secretary.

She thrived on peer attention, but when placed one-on-one with the Promise Fellow to do her math, she found it in herself to hunker down and work, knowing that this one-on-one tutoring was her best shot at positive attention in school. Over the course of being tutored, her self-esteem began to grow from the attention and affirmation she was receiving for getting the hang of her math homework.

During the remaining daily hours confined in the principal’s office, the student began to make paper snowflakes and give them to staff to hang up around the school. These were not just any old snowflakes; they were phenomenal 3D snowflakes, and became the envy of adults and students alike.

The Promise Fellow has partnerships with local downtown businesses, and knew that businesses were encouraging each other to go all out in decorating their storefronts for the holiday season. When the Promise Fellow offered the help of her 6th grade service-learning club to help decorate downtown, the pieces came together: Our rebellious student joined the service-learning club for a day and taught the group of 6th graders how to make the 3D snowflakes, which will be hung in the enormous glass window storefront of a downtown business. The store appreciates the decorative donation; sixth graders will get to see their work on display downtown, and our student received positive attention in demonstrating to her peers the secret of her craft.

Meanwhile, plans were formulating to move this student to a specialized school for behavior management (within the same school district). The decision was announced that the student would be at her new school beginning only days after her service-learning club appearance.

The Promise Fellow had a heart-to-heart with the student, and asked whether she thought she’d be coming back to the regular school. “If I’m good,” the student replied. The Promise Fellow sensed that regular school was becoming a more attractive place for the student after all, but she would have to work to earn her way back.

On her last day, the student stopped by the Promise Fellow’s desk on her way out to say “good-bye.” It didn’t feel like a ‘good-bye’ so much as a ‘see-you-again-sometime.’ I hope she returns, ready to be the leader she is within the parameters of appropriate behavior.