December 2008 | Cal Corps Public Service Center | 510-642-3916
Volume 2, Issue 1 Education and Youth Issue
Cal Corps Public Service Center
Newsletter for Alumni and Friends
The Cal Corps Public Service Center at UC Berkeley engages the University and the community in reciprocal partnerships to create educational programs for students, promote leadership through service, and foster social justice and civic engagement.
Letter from the Director
Dear Alumni and Friends, While we have devoted much of this edition to our K-12 youth-serving programs, there are many exciting projects at Cal Corps this fall. One is the Center’s leadership in the Berkeley Engaged Scholarship Initiative, a campus-wide effort to determine how the University can better fulfill its mission of public service. The initiative has already led to the development of 11 new faculty-taught courses with community-based components. Also, Magnolia Project, our Gulf Coast Initiative, is developing a semesterlong exchange program with the University of New Orleans and we have started the "Residential Service Initiative" which is designed to inspire those living in the residence halls to serve the wider community. Whatever the project, you can find more information about it on our website, which will look considerably different by the end of spring semester. I am also thrilled that we have embarked on a $25 million campaign to endow scholarships for low-income students who lead service programs for other students. At Cal, nearly 50% of all undergraduates qualify for scholarship funding; roughly one-third of these undergraduates come from a family with an annual income of under $40,000; of these, 4,000 students come from families with an annual income of under $20,000. Most of these students are not receiving scholarships and are paying for school with loans. Too many of Cal Corps’ low-income student leaders are volunteering 10-15 hours a week in order to serve the community and their student volunteers, while also working full-time at other jobs to earn money. I hope that you will support this campaign, knowing that by doing so you will help to increase service programming for all Cal students. Megan Voorhees Director, Cal Corps
Contents
Letter from the Director Welcome Dickson Lam 1 1
Inaugural Education Summit 2 BUILD Alumni in Action Community Partner: Berkeley School Volunteers 2 3 3
Ways for Alumni and Friends to Stay Involved 4 REACH! 4
The Center Welcomes Dickson Lam
Dickson Lam joined our staff team in summer 2008. He earned a B.A. in Ethnic Studies from UC Berkeley, and a MA in Education from Teachers College at Columbia University. Dickson was a founding teacher at June Jordan School for Equity, and was a former coordinator for REACH! (see article page 4). As K-12 Programs Coordinator Dickson manages the Student Initiated Community Projects grants program, through which the Center annually sponsors 30 service groups. He also leads the K-12 Volunteer Managers cohort within the Bonner Leaders program, and coordinates the training program for Destination: College. Read all of our staff bios.
2 Cal Corps: UC Berkeley’s Public Service Center
Cal Corps connects students with Cal programs that serve the community. We help students develop their leadership skills and support them in running high-quality service projects. Cal Corps was founded in 1967 as the ASUC’s Community Projects Program. In the mid-1980s in the midst of a budget crisis the University and ASUC partnered to keep the program going and the University renamed the new Center “Cal Corps”. The ASUC continues to fund the Student Initiated Community Projects Program and provides office space; the University, through Campus Life and Leadership, staffs and administers the Center. Cal Corps receives additional funding from private foundations, the City
Inaugural Education Summit
When it comes to making a difference in the lives of youth, UC Berkeley students are ready! On October 26, 2008, Cal Corps’ first campus-wide Education Summit brought together over 300 Cal students who volunteer with youth through our Center’s programs for a day of networking, skill-building, and exploration of key education and youth policy issues. The summit was co-sponsored by several student groups and recruitment and retention centers, and featured keynote presentations by Walter Robinson, Assistant Vice Chancellor and Director of Admissions at UCB, and Darrick Smith, Co-Director of June Jordan School for Equity and founder of TryUMF. Workshops were presented by over 50 representatives from local schools and nonprofits, including 826 Valencia, Youth Radio, Youth Together, East Bay Asian Youth Center, and Center for Educational Partnerships. The nearly 350 student attendees chose from skill-building workshops ranging from building leadership through social justice, teaching math concepts, and working with parents and families. Panel discussions explored the achievement gap and standardized testing, youth organizing, and solutions to youth violence. A full program is available online. If you would like to get involved in student-led efforts to combat educational inequities, or participate in the fall 2009 campus-wide Education Summit contact Carrie or Dickson.
of Berkeley, state and federal grants and individual donors.
“As role models and mentors, I feel BUILD tutors motivate youth and make them believe that they could
be in our shoes .” -- Monica Amaya, (2008) former BUILD tutor at a public school in Oakland
BUILD (Berkeley United in Literacy Development)
Only 22% of 4 graders in California are proficient readers and only a sliver -- 10% -- of students of color and low-income students read proficiently. What are Cal students doing to help turn around this shocking trend? A lot. Last year over 200 Cal students contributed 40,000 hours of tutoring to Bay Area youth through Cal Corps’s BUILD program. Established in 2001, BUILD is a partnership between Cal Corps, the City of Berkeley, and the federal Work Study (FWS) and AmericaReads/AmericaCounts programs. Cal students who receive FWS as part of their financial aid package can be paid 100% of their hourly wages in exchange for tutoring struggling youth from local public schools. Since its inception BUILD has employed close to 1,000 tutors who have served more than 15,000 youth. The majority of these tutors are first generation college students with a strong personal commitment to lowincome youth. In the process of helping kids get back on track in their classrooms, BUILD tutors also expose young people to the possibility of attending college. Tutors receive training from Professor Rick McCallum, a Literacy Specialist in the Graduate School of Education. The great success of BUILD has caused a demand for tutors that has outpaced our capacity. For each afterschool program partnering with BUILD, four requests are turned down. On top of this, FWS has not increased its allocation of money as the program has grown. This problem is further compounded by reduced funding from the state and campus. In fall 2008 the program could only hire half the Cal students who applied for tutoring positions. As a result, only 80 tutors, half the number that served Bay Area youth last year, were hired for 2008-2009. If your financial situation allows, please consider making a donation to BUILD to help us hire more Work Study student tutors. Every dollar contributed to BUILD salaries will be matched by the FWS program. Help us to lower our tutor to student ratio so that Cal students can give local youth as much individualized attention as possible! If you would like to donate to BUILD please visit our webpage.
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Alumni in Action: Yalda Asmatey and Alexis Bucknam
Impacting Students on Campus
Nearly eight years ago Yalda Asmatey (2001) and former Cal Corps staff member Alexis Bucknam coordinated the first Alternative Spring Break at UC Berkeley. In March 2001, they led students to Delano, CA to honor the legacy of Cesar Chavez. Motivated to educate Cal volunteers about the experience of farm workers, they had students conduct water quality surveys and teach youth about Cesar Chavez’s work in establishing the United Farm Workers. Yalda is now back at Cal as a PhD candidate in Anthropology, and noted the significant impact on her life beyond that first trip. “It is one thing to learn about racism and history in a book, and it is another to retrace the physical steps of a community’s history. Alternative Breaks brought my academics to life.”
Community Partner: Berkeley School Volunteers
Michelle Khazai serves as Director of Berkeley School Volunteers (BSV), which in collaboration with Berkeley Learns is a key partner of the Center’s Bonner Leaders program. Michelle received both her Single Subject Teaching Credential (1998) and Master’s degree in Education (1999) from UC, Berkeley. BSV provides the coordinating link between the community’s volunteer resources and the needs of Berkeley’s public schools. It places and trains volunteers to work with all 16 of Berkeley’s schools, as well as the four district preschools. Michelle is enthusiastic about the role Cal students play in helping BSV achieve its mission. She notes, “Many Cal students who volunteer in our classrooms, after school programs, libraries, and playgrounds make a huge difference for our kids. Cal students are invaluable role models, providing information and inspiration for our students about what it means to be a college student.” There is mutual excitement about this partnership, as well as mutual commitment to bridge-building. Michelle states, “Cal Corps helps community partners like us to access the people and organizations who would like to work with us and supports the work that we can do together. Cal Corps has been an invaluable ally in regard to helping our program connect with students interested in volunteering.” Michelle writes, “Cal Corps staff and students make a huge difference for Berkeley’s kids and teachers every day. Thank you!” Thank you Michelle and BSV for partnering with Cal Corps!
Alt Beaks Team 2005-06
While conducting water quality surveys in Delano, Yalda met a woman who offered her a glass of brown water. Yalda was shocked to learn that the woman had never expected water that was any different despite the fact she was paying for water service. Concrete examples of such injustices made lasting imprints on Yalda and her group of UC Berkeley student volunteers. Alexis currently works at UC Berkeley’s Blum Center for Developing Economies leading programs and advising students in the new Global Poverty & Practice minor. After serving as Cal Corps staff until 2004, Alexis went on to direct student activities and orientation at Mills College. She returned to Cal as the Dean Search Coordinator before taking up her current post. When asked if her Alternative Breaks experience impacts her current work at the Blum Center Alexis stated, “Definitely. Alternative Breaks is an immersion experience and we have many students in the Global Poverty & Practice minor going abroad to undertake similar experiences. My trip experience helps me support students as they think through the issues they will face when entering a different community.” The advice Alexis passed on to Yalda’s first cohort of student Break Leaders working for social change still guides the training of current trip leaders: “Embrace the possibilities. Things aren’t always going to go as planned, but a lot of what you learn comes from the adjustments you have to make.” Yalda took her public service experiences and went on to get her Master’s in Public Health. She spent time living and working in Afghanistan, teaching at a university and working for various government and non-governmental organizations. Yalda continues her community engagement by working with first generation Afghan-American youth to expand an anthology she helped publish titled Snapshots: This Afghan American Life.
Alternative Breaks has returned to Delano! To find out more or to contribute visit our website.
BSV Volunteer Appreciation Day 2008
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Ways for Alumni and Friends to Stay Involved
Update your Contact Info Go to our website, subscribe to our e-newsletter, and let us know how you would like to be involved with our programs, from direct service to funding a stipend for an intern. Through this on-line form you can note your willingness to volunteer for on-campus panels and events or mentor current Cal Corps students in the Bay Area, New Orleans, or Washington D.C. Alternative Breaks Even if you never participated in an Alternative Break, if you live near one of our break locations (San Diego, the Central Valley, and Mississippi/Louisiana) you can meet up with the group to share a meal or join in on a service project they have planned in your area. Check out the trip locations and dates or contact Mike Bishop. Alumni Events We recently held a Bay Area Cal Corps alumni event; Cal in the Capital also held a successful alumni reunion. We plan to hold other events in Los Angeles and New Orleans in spring 2009. Contact us for details. Facebook Did you know there are Facebook groups for both Cal Corps and Bonner Leaders? It is a great place to post messages and let everyone know what else you want to see Cal Corps doing. Just do a search for Cal Corps under the “Groups” function. Contribute Financially If you would like to make a tax-deductible financial contribution to Cal Corps please visit our website or contact Megan Voorhees.
Cal Corps Public Service Center
505 Eshleman Hall #4550 Berkeley, CA 94720 Tel. 510-642-3916 Fax 510-643-0326 ccorps@berkeley.edu Find us on the Web: publicservice.berkeley.edu
Since 2001
AmericaReads Tutors: 960 Hours Served Through Cal Corps Literacy Programs: 152,700 Community Agencies and Schools Served: 1,728
REACH! The Asian Pacific Islander Recruitment and Retention Center
A youth involved in a gang. A sophomore with a counselor who has no time for college advising. A junior in high school ready to drop out because most people in her community don’t graduate or go to college. Education for Justice These are the typical students REACH! serves: underrepresented Asian Pacific Islander (API) groups such as Cambodians, Laotians, Samoans, Hmong, and Mien. While UC Berkeley is more than 40% Asian the plight of these underrepresented groups is masked by this statistic, contributing to the “model minority” myth. REACH! offers workshops and overnight programs that focus on college admissions to youth across California. It also coordinates a mentorship program in Richmond and provides political education programs for its members and the youth they serve. To foster grassroots youth leadership, REACH! coordinates a leadership program called True Asian Leaders (TAL) – a Cal Corps sponsored Student Initiated Community Project – that builds bridges between the youth communities of Richmond and Oakland.
REACH! Volunteers
Most recently, REACH! has been involved with a UC Berkeley API alumni chapter that is working to connect former and current API students, from the Third World Liberation Front student leaders of the 1960s to those of today. To find out more about REACH! Please visit their visit their website.