Field Report: Kedila Family Learning Services

In the spirit of Thanksgiving, I am very thankful for all of the incredible people involved with Kedila’s After School Program.  In addition to our Executive Director and After School Program Manager, Kedila has two fantastic new instructors, LyAnna Sanabria and Josh Ferguson.

Kedila is fortunate to work with Hands On New Orleans and have a wonderful Hands On New Orleans Volunteer Leader named Amna Aziz.  Every Tuesday, Amna leads an enrichment activity that she designed.  These activities range from art projects to storytelling and public speaking.  My favorite enrichment activity was nutrition-based.  The students were divided into teams and had to arrange various fruits into a fruit salad.  Students were taught nutrition facts and health information about the fruits that they used.  At the end, teams were judged based on their fruit salad’s presentation and how well they remembered the nutritional information.

We are thankful that our first newsletter came out this month!  It was designed by our amazing Tulane intern Nina Takahashi!  In addition to designing Kedila’s monthly newsletter, Nina has led our students in several fun, educational enrichment activities, including lessons on Japanese and Spanish culture.  We are excited that one of our Loyola Service Learners has stepped up to become a Kedila After School Program intern for next semester.  Additionally, we recruited two outstanding interns for next semester from Tulane at the Public Service Internship Fair.

Kedila is extremely thankful to all of our volunteers and service learners.  Their one-on-one tutoring and assistance during the enrichment activities is truly appreciated.  With their help, students in Ms. Sorenson’s class have improved their math performance from 10% below grade level to 2% above grade level.

I am thankful to Kedila for all of the lessons that I have learned thus far during my term as an AmeriCorps VISTA.  Some skills are technical.  I have learned how to write grants, manage websites, and create databases.  Others are less tangible but just as important.  These range from the difference individualized attention can make in the life of a second grader struggling to read to the importance of a role model in the life of a child.  I have improved my ability to communicate with a wide range of community members, and after working directly with the students, I have become better able to understand and communicate Kedila’s mission and vision.

I am truly grateful for the opportunity to have gotten to know many of the students we serve, and I feel blessed to work for Kedila this year.

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

Field Report: Alliance for Affordable Energy

It’s been an interesting month and a bit busy with a few outreach events. We had the Voodoo Fest; It was a busy three day event collecting signature support for our Energy Efficiency Rules. These rules were released by the Louisiana Public Service Commission in Oct. 2012. These rules begin the steps towards making a statewide Energy Efficiency program. Right now, the only energy efficiency program we have is in the New Orleans Parish called the Energy Smart program, which is a three year program created from an 11 million grant, but it has just over a year left, so the Alliance and the Sierra Club have been working hard at collecting names in support of the new statewide program.

With a lot of help from a few interns from the Alliance and a few AmeriCorps/Vista volunteers we were able to attain over 450 names. The three day event went pretty fast and the music was amazing. I want to thank again those who helped out at the outreach event: Sara, Katie, who are interns from the Alliance. Lindsey from Global Green, Jack (JD), Jean and  Jason our own AmeriCorps/Vista volunteers and Julia and Ross both Avodah volunteers from the Jewish service corps.

Lately. we’ve been busy with a mass mailing for our house party at the Canal Street Inn on Dec. 6th. It’ll be hosted by one of our board members; Monica Ramsey. One of the cool features at the party will be a bike that will generate electricity to keep the Christmas tree lit. This generating electricity bike was built by the Alliance’s Avodah volunteer Julia Michaels, who started volunteering for the Alliance in October. She has been taking her bike to area schools and demonstrating how much power is needed to keep efficiency lights lit compared to the old fluorescent light. She also added a LED light that is even more energy efficient, but right now a bit expensive, but it’s the future of lighting.

The Alliance will continue to work on our outreach events and mass mailing to get the word out about who we are. We recently  got a two year grant for 250.000 dollars for our outreach and communications department. So, as I work thru my next month we have a lot to accomplish before the Holidays are upon us. Over all this was a good month, but another fast one.  I’m looking forward to hiring  interns for the Spring Semester and see what we can accomplish by March 2013 .

-Jon Scott, Tulane AmeriCorps VISTA, Alliance for Affordable Energy

Field Report: Youth Rebuilding New Orleans

Another busy month has passed at Youth Rebuilding New Orleans! In case you are not familiar with the organization, Youth Rebuilding New Orleans is a non-profit organization that was organized by youth, for youth, following Hurricane Katrina. Many young people who wanted to volunteer to help rebuild their city were turned away by other non-profits because of the liability associated with reconstruction work. Instead of accepting this rejection, a committed group of teenagers organized to assist with the home-rebuilding processes which were occurring throughout the city.

In 2011, however, YRNO began its current plan, Project HOMEwork. This is a unique initiative that combines volunteer opportunities and skills training for youth with home-ownership opportunities for New Orleans teachers. Purchasing blighted and foreclosed homes, YRNO rebuilds them with youth volunteers, teaching them the importance of civic engagement and home ownership. By using volunteer effort to build the house, YRNO can pass on the savings to local teachers by selling the homes below fair market price. In this way, YRNO works to improve the community, supporting revival of the New Orleans community and culture.

Though YRNO has grown exponentially since the initial days following Hurricane Katrina, our vision and founding principles have remained the same. As the VISTA at YRNO, I have had the privilege of seeing this inspiring commitment firsthand, every day. Currently, Youth Rebuilding New Orleans has 4 Project HOMEwork sites and a volunteer calendar that is bursting full to the brim. The Future Leaders Initiative is gaining momentum at Sci Academy, as we just wrapped up the hiring of our new Youth Engagement Coordinator– Megan Gold! YRNO and its volunteers have also continued to work in Braithwaite, gutting homes in a community that was completely destroyed by Isaac.

Personally, this  month has been filled with many new experiences for me: conducting interviews, meeting volunteers from all over the world and painting trimwork (at our Hope St project site), just to name a few. While each day has its challenges, I truly couldn’t ask for a better VISTA experience!

This group of volunteers came to New Orleans from all across the country! After communicating via email and for the last couple of months, phone for the last couple of months, it was a pleasure to meet them. The generosity they displayed, making so many sacrifices to travel to New Orleans and work with us for an entire week, was inspiring. They have also graciously agreed to support YRNO in the Super Service Challenge, a contest that I have been promoting to our volunteer groups.

On October 25^th, YRNO brought 80 Sci Academy out to Braithwaite, LA, to spend their afternoon assisting community members with gutting their homes.  The work was tiring and dirty, but the amount of work that still needs to be done—more than 2 months after the storm—is heartbreaking.

To finish on a brighter note, our Hope St project site is almost finished! This is especially exciting to me because this was the first YRNO site I ever worked on, when I brought a group of friends to volunteer—even before I was a VISTA. It’s so rewarding to see how far it’s come, and we can’t thank enough all of the volunteers who made it possible!

 

 

 

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

Field Report: Kedila Family Learning Services

The Journey to Learning is continuing at Kedila, and October has been the busiest month yet!  I have finally begun to get into the swing of being an AmeriCorps VISTA, and I’m now focusing on how I can learn from and grow the most with Kedila this year.

I thought a good place to start would be direct interaction, volunteering with the students, so I began attending our After School Program at Banneker Elementary and Middle School.  Working with these kids has already put my blessings into perspective and has also highlighted how worthwhile Kedila’s program is.  Some of the second grade students are still struggling with recognizing and pronouncing letters, and even sixth graders have trouble pronouncing several basic words.  One sixth grader had learned division in class a few weeks prior and continues to struggle with multiplication.  Kedila’s program gives students the individualized attention they need to overcome basic literacy and math problems.  On a special note, on October 8, New Orleans underwent a Boil Water Advisory, and most students in our program had consumed very little water all day.  At the end of our program, in an effort to prevent dehydration, we provided our students with a juice box, which they may not have received at home.

I noticed that many of the students have behavioral problems in groups but not when given one-on-one attention.   When surrounded by equally rowdy classmates, students do not feel as if they are receiving the attention they desire and feel the need to be louder to attain more attention.  Positive one-on-one attention and encouragement, of which they are deserving, really does make all the difference in motivating students to focus and work harder.  When they know that someone cares about them, they enjoy what they are learning, do not feel the need to act up, and feel more capable of performing the task at hand.

This underscores the importance of volunteers, service learners, and our intern in Kedila’s After School Program.  I have been recruiting volunteers, coordinating orientations, and answering questions.  The volunteers, service learners, and intern have been amazing thus far, truly connecting with the students and making a difference in their lives.  Students see these volunteers as mentors and look forward to seeing them week after week, even naming and quoting them.  Students look up to the Kedila volunteers and instructors, asking them questions about college and life in general.  Kedila is grateful to Hands On New Orleans, Loyola, Tulane, and Volunteer Match for help with recruiting quality volunteers who are positively impacting the lives of second grade and sixth grade students at Banneker.

I am also grateful that the volunteers, service learners, and intern have been bearing with us as we adapt to the RSD program time change and also to the recent transition of a new program manager.  Our program manager for the last three years, Justina George, recently left Kedila and will be greatly missed.  I learned a lot from her in my first two months with Kedila.  I look forward to working with and learning from Kedila’s new program manager, Joan Rothschild, in the coming months.  Ms. Joan has served as an instructor for our After School Program for the past two years.

Another exciting part of October for Kedila was our service event storage clean up.  Thank you to all of the Tulane VISTAs for coming to Banneker and helping us reorganize and inventory our storage unit!  With our new Program Manager on board, it is especially important for us to get organized and know what resources we have to make our After School enrichment activities the best they can be!

Another recent task of mine has been to expand Kedila’s social media.  While at the After School Program, I take pictures for our website (kedila.org), Facebook page (facebook.com/KedilaNewOrleans), and blog (kedilalearningservices.wordpress.com).  I also created a Kedila Twitter Account.  Please check out some pictures from our After School Program on our social media!

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

 

Field Report: Kids Rethink New Orleans Schools

In the past month, a lot of great things have come about. We are building our volunteer base, the MCAT is over for me, we just had our annual Garden Party (huge success!), grants are getting written and coming through, partnership with Google, and a lot of great things. But, as with anything, there are challenges that come that we must overcome. Among these is one of our full time staff people leaving for an 8 week intensive training to learn more about radio and radio personalities. She used to do our digital media stuff, so we have had to make adjustments to fill out that role for ourselves. Also, an intern from UC Santa Cruz will be leaving later this semester, making it even more difficult for us. But we’ll make it through with ingenuity and even more volunteers! (haha)

All in all, I’ve found a great place to work/volunteer/be. The Internet is a little shoddy (and by a little, I mean you could probably get faster/more reliable Internet in a war zone). But it’s great. We have a lot of meetings and they take a lot of time, but it’s a really good time because we’re usually being silly and making jokes or discussing serious matters as open-minded peers.

It’s a roaring great time. Busy, but great. I’m also really sick after working in the garden so much, as is our garden coordinator. Maybe it was something in the soil. Who knows?

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

Field Report: Clark Prep High School

Not that I typically have a reliable concept of time, but this last month has really sped by. Hurricane Isaac and I didn’t want to meet, so I went up to northern Alabama to stay with my Uncle and his new puppy named Max. Or Dipstick. Or D.S. He was a riot. After my week up “north” was rightly ended when electricity came back on in my apartment in Nola, I eagerly jumped back into my car in order to return to my new-ish home and the work grind I initiated- with a required full force.

I don’t necessarily feel sane during the week anymore, as they are so busy! I’m a fast-paced person but the So-Cal culture I lived in for undergrad may have slowed me down a bit. However, I without a doubt feel productive and happy to be doing the work that I am immersed/drowning in. I’m picking up a rhythm that allows me to successfully manage all the tasks I can pick up on my 10-month left AmeriCorps journey.

A few projects were rolled out in the last week, a main one being Wellness Wednesdays at Clark. This is where instructors across New Orleans come to Clark to teach exercise classes to students and FirstLine employees. This is aimed at introducing Clark students to other forms of exercise and development, so we started off with a Hip Hop instructor and next week will be Boot Camp. Wellness Wednesdays have been positively received, which will help increase the number of participants over time.

After school programs and Homecoming have kind of been my jam for the last month. Silence is Violence, a non-profit that works with students over an 8-week period to promote creative expression in writing and speaking, also started up at Clark. It’s a wonderful program and is sure to build up a strong membership over time. This week I worked with the Assistant Principal of the 9-10 on getting students to participate in Tulane’s Upward Bound program to submit applications on Friday, just four days after we gave them to students that Monday. This was a very quick turnaround date that, overall, students did a fantastic job meeting.

For any of you who look back at high school without grimacing (or crying for non-nostalgic reasons) or even if you do, you may be excited to hear about our Homecoming plans at Clark! The Homecoming Game is Saturday, October 6^th at 2:30 at Pan American Stadium, City Park. There will be an alumni tent selling awesome t-shirts (yup, I saw the design so I feel cool) and of course you can find great food and entertainment, our school band is pretty legit. They’re a hardworking, motivated team that is bound for success, and lots of wins. COME CHEER ON THE BULLDOGS!

-Kathleen Duffy, Tulane AmeriCorps VISTA, Joseph S. Clark High School

Field Report: A’s & Aces

Call me Ishmael. That may be the next thing I try to stand out in Tulane’s VISTA crew; as John “Jack” Duffy I’m joining a group that already has two Jon’s, a Jack, and a Duffy. (Really though, don’t call me Ishmael. Call me John or Jack or JohnJack or JD like everybody else here.) Introducing myself this way kills two birds with one stone. We’ve now covered the biggest difficulty I’ve had to face in moving cross-country and starting my Americorps term. I don’t want to make light of the pain and discomfort that have taken place in my month here (I won’t use the h-word or the I-name in this post though), but my month here has started better than I could ever have hoped.

 

That includes my work with A’s & Aces. For those unfamiliar, A’s & Aces is a non-profit organization dedicated to providing life skills, academic assistance, and tennis instruction to the youth of New Orleans. This academic year, four (or five?) A’s & Aces coaches will be working in four schools during the days and holding afterschool or weekend clinics six days a week. They do important work. I’ve gotten some odd looks describing A’s & Aces mission, with tennis instruction such a key pillar to an academic program, but it makes a lot of sense. It’s a sport that you can play for life, it requires the discipline to succeed alone and the cooperation to work with a partner, and learning to play instills an appreciation for practice, practice, and more practice. I’ve always loved sports, and I think there is something beautiful about the educational philosophy A’s & Aces has built from tennis.

 

As a VISTA, dedicated to building capacity, I stay far away from the tennis. I work closely with our Executive Director David Schumacher and our President Anna Monhartova. I can report (with a smile) that no two days in the office have been the same. I’ve tackled a number of supporting tasks associated with the organization of our in-school programming and coaching assignments. I’ve had a hand in A’s & Aces better utilizing some online resources to communicate better internally and externally. I’ve had to do research on funding opportunities and I can’t imagine that will ever cease. I’m dipping my toes into the familiar waters of Facebook from the new perspective of a page admin. I’m lobbying to include on-site photography and some expanded writing duties in the coming weeks.  I’m rolling with the punches and trying to learn everything as fast as I can.

 

I really don’t know how else I can approach an opportunity like this. As has surely been attested to by plenty in this blog before, starting a VISTA assignment can be confusing and hard. I’ve had those moments too, they just haven’t dominated my experience so far. If it sounds like I’m dragging out the honeymoon period with my new home… yeah, I might be. However, I look forward to finding out how the next eleven months of my term will go, and I really hope New Orleans justifies the marriage metaphor I used in that last sentence.

 

-Jack Duffy, Tulane AmeriCorps VISTA, A’s & Aces

Field Report: Apex Youth Center

And it has begun…The first month of my experience at APEX had plenty of highs and several challenges.

New Orleans has been very welcoming – save getting around downtown (funky traffic patterns and broken public transportation schedules.)  My first week here involved getting to know the city. Tulane’s Center of Public Service staff members gave a tour of the city introducing me to the concepts of Lake side and riverside – I miss south Philly, where you are south of the center of Philadelphia.  Between my service orientation and training events, I didn’t make it to my site (APEX) until I had been in New Orleans for 6 days.

My first day at APEX was exciting and moving – the center is focused on providing a service that isn’t easily available to at risk youth – social interaction. Although I have been here for a month I am still learning the impact the center has in the Broadmoor community. After meeting the Fitzpatricks, the staff that run the place, I got to meet the community they serve. The reality of their position was somewhat overwhelming. Ill talk about this more as the year goes on.  My first week at APEX also brought on a new exciting project. The Homegrown Harvest Music and Arts Festival presented by APEX Youth Center, became a reality. APEX is the sponsoring organization for this amazing cultural even scheduled for November 9-11th and even more exciting, several of the youth from the center will perform at it. They get to share the stage with legends of Louisiana music. Things were looking good. Then….

Isaac.

Nuff said.

I didn’t evacuate. I helped at the 311 call center. Didn’t loose power. Got the new madden.

It took almost two full weeks before I was able to work back at the center again – this time was used for working from home – researching grants, writing them and developing a volunteer recruitment plan.

After power was restored back at the center I got to work on a Kids Cafe program to get food into the center for the kids – Nailed it. However now the Homegrown festival www.homegrown-fest.com looms. I am working on grants for both the festival and the center while coordinating 46 volunteers, including students in the Tulane Service Learning program and new volunteers that signed up at the Make a difference fair where Emily (my puppy) was the key recruiting tool.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

All in all this first month serving as an Americorps VISTA has been challenging, exciting and mind boggling and I cant wait for more.

peaces! 

-Noel Chacha, Tulane AmeriCorps VISTA, Apex Youth Center

 

Field Report: Kedila Family Learning Services

In spite of Hurricane Isaac, this month has been a productive one for Kedila as we have worked to prepare for our After School program.  For the first time, Kedila will be operating its After School program during school hours at Banneker Elementary and Middle Schools.  Classes now end at 4:50 pm at Banneker, so Kedila will be working with students for the last 2 hours of the school day (2:30-4:30 pm).  We are excited to be operating at Banneker for our sixth year, and we may be expanding to more sites soon due to more funding from the Department of Education.

This month has also been a month of firsts for me.  Mr. Dipo had business cards made for me, so I had the chance to learn how networking works in the business world by giving out and receiving my first business card.  Additionally, I wrote my first five grants, learning how to write the narrative of what Kedila does and what to emphasize for each specific proposal.  I attended my first service fairs at Loyola and Tulane where I recruited my first service learners and volunteers.  I learned how to better communicate the mission and vision of Kedila while gauging students’ interest and determining how much information they wanted about my organization.  For the first time, I experienced the aftermath of a hurricane as a resident of downtown New Orleans, and I volunteered for the first time at the NOLA 311 Call Center following Hurricane Isaac.  This experience taught me the value of preparation and also how to think better on my feet to answer calls that ranged from animal cruelty concerns to trash pick-up requests.

Kedila Family Learning Services is “Where the Journey to Learning Begins,” but not just for the students we serve.  It is also where my journey to learning begins as an AmeriCorps VISTA.

 

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

 

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