Field Report: Youth Rebuilding New Orleans

 

I can’t believe it’s been another month already!

Before Isaac came along, I had anticipated that I would use this blog to provide an update on what has been cooking at YRNO over the past month: The Youth Engagement Coordinators for the Future Leaders Initiative have started working full time at KIPP Renaisance and Sci Academy; We had (almost) secured 2 Tulane CPS interns for the fall; The project sites have been coming along nicely; YRNO was planning for a huge, 80-volunteer service day with the OG Cares Foundation.

However, the coming (and going) of Hurricane Isaac has given me a different perspective on the past month. Before Isaac hit New Orleans, my boyfriend and I were fortunate enough to be able to evacuate to his parents’ home in Mandeville. There, we were able to safely ride out the storm. I was thankful that his family was so welcoming of me into their home, that we did not lose power and that the house did not sustain any serious damage.

It wasn’t until I returned to the city, however, that I was able to fully appreciate how truly fortunate we were. This was my first hurricane. Returning to a city of flooded streets, downed power lines and debris was shocking. Soon after returning, my roommate, Betsy, and I volunteered at the NOLA 311 call center. Although I was probably more trouble to the call center than we were worth (I seem to be a magnet for technical difficulties), it was an eye-opening experience. We received calls from all across the city, heard stories of countless hardships brought on by the storm and did our best to provide assistance. Although I had complained of cabin fever from my experience, the call center made it really hit home that my experience was nothing in comparison to what many in the city faced.

Serving as an AmeriCorps VISTA during the hurricane has given me the unique opportunity to witness the ground level of the recovery effort. I am endlessly inspired by the amazing non-profits that take the initiative to keep the city afloat. I am amazed at the selflessness and the kindness demonstrated by so many members of the New Orleans community.

The leaders at YRNO are in the process of planning multiple large-scale days of service to assist those whose homes were flooded in Laplace and Lafitte. I am fortunate to be working at an organization that continually demonstrates such willingness and ability to help. Thank you, in advance, to all of those who are volunteering with YRNO!

Best wishes,

Lauren

 

-Lauren Lim, Tulane AmeriCorps VISTA, Youth Rebuilding New Orleans

 

Field Report: Firstline Charter Schools

I write this field report – my first – the week after Hurricane Isaac shut down the city for nearly a week. As always, we continue on. And so I begin my sixth week as the K-8 VISTA Community Outreach Coordinator at FirstLine Schools.

It began with an orientation and tour of the schools from David Durand, the Director of Community Partnerships and my supervisor. FirstLine Schools currently operates four K-8 schools and one 9-12 (Joseph S. Clark Preparatory High School). Its mission is to create and inspire great open admissions public schools in New Orleans. While each campus maintains its own unique culture, they all share the primary objective of preparing every student for college and a fulfilling career.

Samuel J. Green Charter School, located in the Freret neighborhood, was oneof the first to be operated by FLS. It is also the birthplace of The Edible Schoolyard New Orleans (ESYNOLA), which is a flagship program being developed at each of the FirstLine campuses.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Arthur Ashe Charter School opened in 2007 with fewer than 50 students. Now, the school serves over 400 at a brand new, state-of-the-art campus in Gentilly.

Langston Hughes Academy came under management of FLS in 2010, but officially became a FirstLine school this year. The LHA campus was the first newly constructed school building to open its doors since 2003, and boasts a thriving ESYNOLA program in the back yard.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

John Dibert Community School became a part of the FLS network that same year in 2010, by request from the community. The Dibert Family Organization is the strongest parent group among the FLS K-8 schools, a fact I hope to take advantage of as I work with parents from the other campuses.

That was week one: becoming familiar with the four schools I would be working with. I was also provided a desk at the FLS Main Office on Canal St. I share an office with Rebekah Cain, Director of Development & Communication, and Darcy McKinnon. Darcy was one of FirstLine’s earliest employees, and she fills a number of roles, including branding.

 

I will admit, my job is confusing.

 

FirstLine is a large, thriving organization with many employees. Finding my place – being both productive and not stepping on toes – is a challenge. I already ran into one boundary with grant writing. David had tipped me off about a potential grant opportunity, so I began to investigate. I contacted the granter, had multiple conversations, but made the mistake of not notifying Rebekah. As it turns out, that is her job and she was already working on that particular grant application. Lesson learned.

Another part of my VAD is to help plan events for and make use of a large literacy grant just awarded to some of the FLS schools. I quickly discovered that FLS already has a full-time Family Literacy Coordinator, Donnica Conway. She is also on board the Literacy Grant Team charged with taking advantage of the funds. So, my role there must also be limited.

Furthermore, I was finding it difficult to build relationships with the individual schools. Not only are they in different parts of the city, they were busy in their first couple weeks of school. The administration either didn’t know me or at least didn’t know why I was there.

Finally, while I do technically have a predecessor, he remains a mystery to me. His position was only at Green, so it was a fundamentally different job. There is no sustainability binder from that position, so far as I know. Luckily, the VISTA who was placed at Clark last year left behind a plethora of valuable resources in Dropbox.

 

Now for the good news.

 

I have come to the conclusion that my role should be focused more on the individual campuses rather than the network main office. In VISTA terms, that office appears to be at capacity. So, I have been making an effort to connect with school leaders and parents, and to get a sense for their goals and needs. While the balance between direct and indirect service seems a blur sometimes, I feel the need to take on enough responsibilities to warrant interns or other sustainability measures. This will take time.

I have two specific projects right now: newsletters and parent organization.

Each K-8 should have a quarterly newsletter, starting this month. One thing my predecessor did leave behind was a newsletter template for Green. The other schools also have similar templates. Kathleen and I are on-boarding an intern this week to handle a few jobs, including the K-8 newsletter production.

Before Isaac, I had managed to nail down a parent liaison from each school, and soon I will organize a meeting between them, Donnica, and David. We need to seek out parent leaders who are not employed by FLS – ironically, ¾ are – and formulate a strategy to grow parent involvement through training and outreach.

My VAD includes many other goals throughout the year, and I look forward to the challenge. For now, I will continue to reach out and build bridges as best I can.

 

-Jason Lacoste, Tulane Education VISTA, Firstline Charter Schools

 

 

Field Report: Benjamin Banneker Elementary School

It started the first few days I was in New Orleans, even before I began working at Banneker. I would be at a party with friends, or strike up a conversation with a stranger at a coffee shop. At some point, the following exchange would occur:

 

Me: “I’m actually going to be working in a school.”

Other Guy: “What school?”

Me: “It’s called Benjamin Banneker. It’s in the Black Pearl neighborhood.”

Other Guy: “Oh…isn’t that the school that like…has a nun who runs it?”

 

Although they weren’t completely correct, all these strangers were close. Sister Marie Noel has been the assistant principal at Banneker for over ten years. I thought it was unusual that a nun would be an administrator in a public school, especially since I got most of my formal education from private schools run by nuns. Certainly the novelty of Sister Noel’s position as a both school leader and a nun was what caused people all over the city to know about her, right?

 

Over the past year I learned that people know about Sister not because of the peculiar fact that she works in a public school, nor because she constantly tells everyone she encounters that she will include them in her evening prayers. They know her name because she has an unmatched work ethic and devotion to education. I found people who had only met Sister Noel once, but had witnessed her selflessness and enthusiasm. She is truly an amazing person.

 

Of course, I witnessed all these things myself. Today is my last day at my work site. I am excited for what lies ahead of me, but there are many things I will miss about my time at Banneker. Sister Noel is at the top of that list. But I will also remember the lessons she taught me about education, devotion, and most importantly, being a good person. I am honored to call her my friend.

-George Doonan Martin, Tulane CPS Education VISTA, Benjamin Banneker Elementary School

Field Report: Puentes New Orleans

This month Puentes’ has some important things coming up, check them out:

 

Join Puentes’ Initiative, Welcoming Louisiana, for a Film Screening

Join Welcoming Louisiana for a FREE Screening of Hawo’s Dinner Party. This film follows the trajectory of Hawo Siyad, a refugee and former nurse from Somalia. She is determined to learn English and to connect with her neighbors. But as news of “home grown terrorism” appears in the national media and as haw tries to reach out, we get an intimate glimpse into the honest and often uncomfortable confrontations that emerge. Refreshments will be provided as well as an interesting discussion after the movie. The screening will take place from 6pm to 8:30 pm at the Muslim Academy at 460 Realty Drive Gretna, LA 70056 on Friday August, 24th. Please call Puentes’ office for more information; 504-821-7228.

 

 

Public Leaders Fellowship

 

Puentes New Orleans is recruiting rising community leaders for its Public Leaders Fellowship. This program’s goal is to build the capacity of rising community leaders to meaningfully engage themselves and their communities in civic life by training them in concepts of public leadership, community organizing and advocacy, and by providing them with concrete skills and tools for accessing, engaging, and holding accountable decision-makers at all levels of government. The fellowship is completely free to all accepted participants.  We have designed the fellowship so that it has minimal interference with weekday workdays.

This eight-month program is a collaboration of Puentes New Orleans, Neighborhoods Partnership Network, and Committee for a Better New Orleans (all member of the New Orleans Coalition on Open Governance).  Please contact Rafael Delgadillo at (504) 495-4803 if you are interested in the program or know a qualified nominee.

 

-Sadira Glenndeming, Tulane AmeriCorps VISTA, Puentes New Orleans

Field Report: Kedila Family Learning Services

 

Kedila prides itself on being an organization “Where the Journey to Learning Begins.”  The past few weeks have been pretty busy as we have been trying to pinpoint exactly where and when the journey will begin.

For the past six years, the journey to learning has begun at Benjamin Banneker Elementary and Middle Schools where Kedila holds its after school tutoring and enrichment program.  Banneker Elementary and Middle schools fall under the jurisdiction of the infamous New Orleans Recovery School District.  Until the Thursday before Banneker was set to open its doors for the fall semester, the Recovery School District had not set an exact opening and closing time for the school each day.

That Thursday, we were informed that the school will open at 8:40 am and close at 4:50 pm, creating a school day which starts late (after most parents probably have to be at work) and ends late.  The end time was especially significant because it meant that our after school program would run from 5-7 pm.  Most elementary and middle schoolers are unlikely to be able to focus, during those late hours, after a grueling day at school in order to do extra after-school tutoring and enrichment.

As I walked around Banneker that Thursday with Mr. Dipo, everyone inquired as to what Kedila would be doing about the after school program with school ending so late.  Their concern demonstrated the genuine need there is for Kedila’s after school program at Banneker and what the program means to the students, teachers, parents, and Banneker staff. This experience was evidence that Kedila is an organization that is truly making a difference in these students’ lives.

We are still in the process of determining when the journey to learning will begin, but I know that our program will continue to make a difference this year.  I hope I can help Kedila grow in any way possible to help sustain the program in future years and possibly even at additional sites.  We can only hope that the children will have patience with the Kedila staff and their tutors.  Although the journey is starting out slightly differently this year, we will forge forward on the journey to learning in the coming year.

Enjoy some pictures from the Kedila Summer Camp closing ceremony!

 

 

 

- Betsy Bateman, Tulane AmeriCorps VISTA, Kedila Family Learning Center

Field Report: Southern Food and Beverage Museum

The Southern Food & Beverage Museum’s partnership with the New Orleans Public Library has just been made official, this means that our Culinary Library will be a branch of the New Orleans Public Library with NOPL services, such as access to the entire collection, available to the community. Opening in 2013 at 1609 Oretha Castle Haley Boulevard, our current collection of 9,000 volumes (cookbooks, food history books, reference books etc), will be available for the public. People will also be able to request and check out any book from the Public Library here at our Culinary Branch.

In addition to being good news for food scholars, culinary students, and chefs it will also be a vital resource for the Central City community. The area hasn’t had a library in this area for at least 40 years.

This is a project we’ve been working on for a while, and we’re excited to have the New Orleans Public Library be a part of it!

So far construction on the building has begun, many thanks to students from Howard University who volunteered with us as part of their alternative spring break program back in March. I worked with the students to paint the building and cut the grass on the bit of land behind the library, which now we’re working on turning into a demonstration garden. I’m excited about all the possibilities for this space, such as a brick oven, beehive, and fruit trees. We’ve already had lots of volunteers help us build 2 raised garden beds and plant some avocado, lime, fig, and lemon trees. Once our library is open it will also be a great place to sit and read!

Read more about it in an article from the Times Picayune:

New Orleans Will Have Largest Culinary Library in the South, written by Judy Walker July 18, 2012

http://www.nola.com/food/index.ssf/2012/07/new_orleans_will_have_largest.html

 

-Lucy Rosenbloom, Tulane AmeriCorps VISTA, Southern Food and Beverage Museum

 

Field Report: Homer Plessy- A Community School

I have been working with Plessy for a couple weeks now.  I’m very impressed with the passion of the community and the head-of-school.  I have to admit that moving to NOLA from San Diego, CA definitely left me predisposed to anxieties.  One of the greatest of those was that I would have a completely different approach to education reform than my head-of-school.  Thankfully, Sara and I were so aligned that we even had matching nail colors the night we met.  It’s inspiring to be working with such great and knowledgeable people building a new school.

 

Yes, the rumors are true.  Homer A. Plessy Community School is real and on its way down from the clouds into the Bywater, St. Roch, and Marigny neighborhoods.  This new public charter school is not meant to compete or detract from other schools in the neighborhood, such as Arise Academy (Kylie) and KIPP, but rather to fill a need and offer an alternative style of education.  Our curriculum focuses on “art integration” and learning through play, which is a stark contrast from other charter schools now available to NOLA children.  We will also be offering a Pre-K program that will help alleviate the burdens of impacted schools close-by.  We are currently fighting for the Colton school site and should hopefully know by the end of this month, but don’t hold your breath for bureaucracy.  We will start classes next fall.

 

So…what are you doing now, you might ask.  Well, schools always need more money, so that has become a priority through fundraising and grants.  Also, settling the structure of the school and getting paperwork done.  Most importantly, we are reaching out to the community to make sure parents and families understand that we are another option that may be better suited for their child.  I’ll be interested to see how things fall into place as decisions are made by OPSB and RSD.

 

In other news, I AM ABSOLUTELY LOVING NOLA!  I can’t thank everyone enough for being so welcoming and helpful.

 

Till next time! ~Jean

 

-Jean Hsu, Tulane AmeriCorps VISTA, Homer Plessy Community School

 

Field Report: Latino Farmers Co-Operative of Louisiana

Six years ago I was a nervous South Texan boy setting foot on Southwestern University, scared out of my mind at the prospect of starting college. Back then all I wanted to do was study the Roman Empire, learn Latin, and become a professor. Six years later I’m working for the Latino Farmers’ Cooperative of Louisiana (LFCL) as part of my AmeriCorps VISTA service. If you’d asked me at the age of 18, who at that time was as close to right-wing as any South Texan can get, if I’d be working for a non-profit years after Southwestern, I’d probably shake my head in disbelief. Nevertheless, here I am, and I love it.

One thing I noticed from the start is that six years of being in an academic setting have wired my mind to work on a “we-all-start-off-at-an-almost-equal-footing”-mentality. It goes without saying that that mindset is a wrong one for the workplace. Nothing says “learn how to swim” in the real world more than when you realize that you have coworkers who have their act together and you’ll continue to seem like the newbie for more than the first week. (Those who know me know very well how it takes me more than thrice to teach me something.) However, my boss and coworkers are really nice people and have been more than kind to show me the ropes and share their personal experiences with the LFCL.

Moreover, my first weeks here have changed my life profoundly. Before I started working for the LFCL, I was very critical about my own family’s financial shortcomings. However, my focus on my personal problems began to shift to something more significant more than two weeks ago when we had the Banco de Comida (Food Bank) at the LFCL. During our Bancos de Comida, we clear out the office, making as much space as possible for the food that has been donated to us by Second Harvest Food Bank. Once space has been made and the food has arrived, the staff and our volunteers pack the food into individual boxes that we then distribute to people who come into the office. By the end of the day, we had distributed a little more than a thousand pounds of food to more than thirty families. Did we solve the food insecurity issue among NOLA’s Latinos? No, but at least we demonstrated that we can make the difference in our community.

On my way home after the Banco de Comida, I realized just how fortunate my brothers and I were that our parents never depended on a food bank for our food security. Seeing the need in the people coming into the office that day convinced me that I can no longer dwell on my past, trying to play out the what ifs as I have for the past year or so. Instead, I have come to the realization that I must begin to plan for a better future, one in which I can help change the socioeconomic situation of Latinos not only in New Orleans but throughout this entire country. I, for one, believe that it is the duty of every educated Latino youth to give back to his/her community and make a difference. In a way, this is our debt that we owe to our grandfathers and grandmothers, fathers and mothers, who gave it their all in the fields, in the factories, in the refineries, and in strangers’ homes to make it possible for us to go to college.

My future remains to be written, and I can’t wait to write it here. ¡Chao amigos!

- Luis Fernando Reyes, Tulane AmeriCorps VISTA, Latino Farmers Co-Operative of Louisiana

Field Report: Kids Rethink New Orleans School

Working at Kids Rethink New Orleans Schools has really been quite interesting. These “kids” are thinking and speaking publicly and advocating for things that I had never even considered a part of my life until later in high school and college. The first week I was there, the Kids and staff were preparing for their annual news conference, so I was caught in the middle of the most hectic time for the summer program.

Kids Rethink has 5 committees that meet during the school year after school and occasionally on weekends. They are: Food Justice, Restorative Justice, Garden, Architecture, and Digital Media. During the summer, the committees all get together during the week and write speeches and create projects to showcase at the news conference. I have to say I was quite impressed with what the Kids were able to do with such little guidance of the staff.

The thing I often forget is that these actually are kids. They may be mature in these respects, but they are still allowed to be immature because, well, they haven’t had the time to fully grow up yet. The first day I was there, two little girls around 10 years old got really excited and wanted to show me around. It was really quite cute that they were so enthusiastic and so attached.

My goals for the first month were to get our donor database in order and send out thank you emails, set up a phone system for the office that has extensions, voice mail forwarding, and a lot of other features that would help us unclog our messages since at any one time, there may be 30 to 100 unread messages on the answering machine left in the office. I have also had to put together a volunteer packet detailing what Kids Rethink does and an application template for them to send to us so we can place them in the appropriate committee or job. I have done almost everything except for the office phone line stuff because customer service at an tech company is extremely lackluster unless the product they sell is only used by extremely tech-savvy clientele. It should be done by the end of the week, though.

So far, I have mainly just been “expanding capacity” in the traditional terms, such as making it easier for staff to get their messages and relay information between each other much quicker and creating more funding through individual donors and whatnot. Though I only spent a week with the Rethinkers, I think I have gained a great deal of insight into this aspect of New Orleans. I look forward to the start of the school year.

Other than that, it’s extremely chill. All of the staff are friendly and accommodating.  Working in a professional setting is really cool because it makes me feel like a real person almost (aka not mooching off my parents, taking care of my business, not crying to anyone when something is wrong and being able to take care of it myself). My parents raised me well to be able to be completely self-sufficient at this age.

Anyway, I have to study. My next field report should be much more entertaining. Everyone should definitely check out the Rethinkers’ Web Page though. Just Google “Kids Rethink”!

When this MCAT nonsense is over with, there will be much rejoicing and a lot more hanging out with my fellow VISTAs.

-Jack Hua, Tulane AmeriCorps VISTA, Kids Rethink New Orleans Schools

Field Report: Youth Rebuilding New Orleans

My First Couple of Weeks as a VISTA

 

This first couple of weeks as a VISTA has been quite a ride! I am joining Youth Rebuilding New Orleans as it is in the middle of planning for its newest program: Future Leaders. Although I’m coming in during the middle of the start-up process and, I have a lot to learn, I really look forward to being part of it. I am confident that this well-planned program has great potential to make a positive impact on the community. More information on the program is provided below (I helped write this for a grant proposal, so I’m pretty proud of how it turned out!):

The Need

The youth of New Orleans do not have adequate access to job opportunities, leadership development, financial literacy training, civic engagement and college preparation due to a lack of funding and resources within the educational system of New Orleans. Many youth are not being properly educated and trained so that they have fair and equitable opportunities upon graduation. This puts them at a disadvantage when seeking secondary education and job-placement opportunities.

 

The Project

YRNO believes that the Future Leaders Initiative will offset the educational disadvantages of these young scholars. Starting on September 1^st, we will incorporate 2 full-time employees into our team whose sole jobs are to provide academic support to the youth of New Orleans. These full-time mentors, known as Youth Engagement Coordinators, will be coming to us through the Lousiana Delta Service Corps (LDSC). This year, they will be working with the freshman classes of two of our partner high schools in New Orleans. Each freshman class consists of about 150 students.

The Youth Engagement Coordinators (YECs) will serve as consistent role models for the students that they interact with, many of whom don’t have a constant mentor to look to for guidance in their lives. Their responsibilities will include tutoring and mentoring students in various settings, including classical classrooms and more independent after-school tutoring. They will also work with our partner schools to develop and teach a curriculum that consists of lessons on personal life skills, job readiness, home-ownership and financial literacy. The last prong of these employees responsibilities will be to mix in-class service-learning exercises with on and off-site service opportunities. These opportunities may range anywhere from building benches on campus to traveling to one of YRNO’s sites to assist in the rebuilding of a home.

The Future Leaders Initiative has great potential for expansion. Once developed, YECs will modify the curriculum so that it could be taught by any teacher, anywhere. YRNO’s goal for this program is to make the largest possible impact on the community. In having a curriculum that can be taught by any teacher, anywhere, the potential of the program is limitless. The curriculum will allow YRNO to easily place more LDSCs in more partner schools. Establishment of a curriculum will allow the program’s benefits to persist into the future.

 

In other news, my roommate Betsy and I have been having a ball cooking “family” dinners together. We often feed the boys (Jack and Richard) who live right down the hall. It’s been working out much better than either of us expected, especially because we can get the boys to wash dishes and take out the trash! It’s a symbiotic relationship.

 

-Lauren Lim, Tulane AmeriCorps VISTA, Youth Rebuilding New Orleans