bilingual

Youth Program Development

VISTA Name: 
Katrina Kennett
Program Start: 
7/2008
Program End: 
8/2009
Project Description: 

The Coalition for Asian Pacific American Youth is a project of the Asian American Studies Program at University of Massachusetts Boston. It builds the leadership of Asian American high school students in the greater Boston area through the development and implementation of youth-led projects. We believe that youth united by a common cause can make a difference.

The following are the types of activities that the AmeriCorps VISTA member will accomplish:

1. Program and Curriculum Planning and Implementation– The No. One priority of the school in the coming year is to upgrade and update the school’s curriculum. Under the leadership and guidance of the Programs & Curriculum Committee (PCC) members, the VISTA volunteer will be an active participant in the planning process and will help implement recommendations made by the PCC through out the year.

2. Systematize School Operations and Procedures– A critical task is to create a reference source for the school’s operations and procedures. The VISTA volunteer will lead the development and production of a set of school handbooks. There will be a general school handbook, a handbook customized for the needs of the teachers and one customized for the students. The development and production of the bi-lingual English/Chinese handbooks will be a collaborative effort with the participation of the school Board and staff.

3. Create/Update Bi-lingual Schools Forms and Pamphlets– Working with the staff and the Programs & Curriculum Committee, the VISTA volunteer will be the project leader in updating or creating program description pamphlets; tuition and tuition assistance, and enrollment forms. The staff will assisted in getting all communications materials translated into Chinese. As part of the need to systematize the school operations, the VISTA volunteer will assist in the creation of a student database to capture student profile, track attendance, tuition payment history, et al.

4. Update and Upgrade the School’s Bilingual Website– In collaboration with the website volunteer and using information gathered under Items 2 and 3, the VISTA volunteer will lead in the upgrading, updating, and monitoring of the school website.

5. Create a Template to Start a Parent Teacher Association– In collaboration with the Board and staff and using standard PTA guidelines, the VISTA volunteer will develop the mission/vision and sustainable, start-up goals and programs for a PTA. Once the PTA handbook is approved by the Board, the VISTA volunteer will assist in the start-up phase of the PTA.

Project Outcome: 

n the beginning, Katrina centered on constructing infrastructure in KKCS’s practices and procedures. She has worked with the Head of School to develop institutional policies and procedures, and worked diligently to implement effective and efficient practices in the After School Program. Through recruiting and training volunteers, she has expanded the number of people working with students, thus lessening the student to teacher radio. She has worked to build an efficient Healthy Snack Program which provides the After School students with nutritious and balanced snacks every day. Katrina also has her sights set on the long term impacts that technology can make on KKCS and has been a part of the planning process for our student and school database. Through these and many more tasks, her comprehensive understanding of both the day to day operation as well as the long term goals have helped to bring KKCS to a higher level.

For the first time, Math/English is offered in the After-School program. Katrina designed the curriculum which follows the Boston Public School standards, recruited student teachers from colleges and Boston Latin School to teach these subjects two days a week for two hours each day. Katrina has also provided additional resources such as lesson planning templates, sample lesson plans and best practices. The Math/English program continues to be offered in the After-School program.

Though Katrina drafted several of the school handbooks, none were adopted. In an effort to gain input and feedback, it was hoped that separate constituient committees conisisting of teachers, parents and students would be formed. This was not done. Time and resources were the challenge. KKCS’s website updating was not addressed by the school administration. The Parent Teacher Association had several starts, but did not get organized. This is a brand new concept to KKCS; the appropriate leadership needs to be identified.

Impact Quote: 

Katrina won the hearts of the teaching assistants and students. When she finished her time here, she was feted by many segments of the population, as a group, as smaller groups and individuals. Some members of the community continue to have contact with her.”
- Helen Chin Schlichte, supervisor

Community Wireless Network Administrator

VISTA Name: 
Gabriel Fishman
Program Start: 
8/2007
Program End: 
8/2008
Project Description: 

Within the past year, the Tenants Organization, with central help from an AmeriCorps*VISTA Member, has developed an extraordinarily high-density, publicly accessible wireless mesh network that covers most of Castle Square Apartments and provides free Internet access to residents. It has also developed a computer repair and refurbishing system that provides services to residents.

Starting in August 2007, a new VISTA Member will play a central coordinating role in:

* Enhancing assessment systems to monitor and analyze the capacity of the community wireless network at Castle Square to provide needed service to residents

* Develop practices and procedures to improve the network capacity

* Further develop a technical assistance system to enhance Castle Square residents’ home computer use, including use of work/study students from the nearby Benjamin Frankin Institute of Technology and youth peer leaders who are Castle Square residents

* Design and initiate a Microsoft Authorized Refurbisher program at Castle Square Apartments, including outreach to potential donors of equipment, and assembling and coordinating a team of work-study students, youth residents and volunteers to implement the program.

* Expand community partnerships with other Boston area housing developments interested in establishing free WiFi networks for residents and provide technical assistance to the work at these other sites.

* Attempt to secure additional financial and other resources to provide ongoing support to Castle Square Tenants Organization and other Boston area CDCs and tenants’ organizations seeking to establish WiFi networks

* Develop and offer multilingual, largely locally-produced, content on a LAN server

Project Outcome: 

Gabriel had a very successful year of service with our organization and we are very happy with the work he has done. He was responsible for a number of improvements at our center.

1. Gabriel established a relationship with RCN and was able to arrange a deal to change all of our organizations phone and internet service, including our wireless backhaul, to RCN, saving us more than $1000 each year, and more than doubling our bandwith.

2. Gabriel developed a plan to have our organization host three technology events, titled Boston Tech Days, where low income residents would be given the opportunity to interact with technology professionals in Boston to receive computer repair services and computer trainings. Gabe wrote a short proposal to help us fund these Tech Days. This proposal won us over $1500 for each Tech Day (approximately $5000 total) to help us pay for equipment, staff, and other expenses.

3. Gabe assisted us in establishing a new location for our Computer Repair Clinic that offers free technical support to all Castle Square residents. With his help, we were able to respond to over 250 requests for technical support from residents during his year here. The Computer Repair Clinic also offers refurbished PCs to residents in need, and under Gabe’s management, we have already donated approximately 100 computers this year. Before he left, he initiated a plan to move the Repair Clinic to the Benjamin Franklin Institute of Technology, which will significantly increase our capacity and ability to serve residents of the entire South End.

4. Before Gabe left, he helped us to write a proposal that won us $5000 from Social Justice Works! an organization in Cambridge that funds programs by Cambridge Public School graduates. This money will enable us to start a Youth Council that will be entrusted with redesigning our playground over the next few months.

Impact Quote: 

Gabe has helped us to improve many of our technology systems, has found us grants for events and community groups, and has publicized our work to the community and to the city of Boston. This is a huge help to us and will impact us for many years going forward. Over 100 families now have working computers and improved internet service, and some of them are enrolling in technology programs in our center, or in other centers in the area to improve their skills.”
- Emilio Flores, supervisor

Digital Expansion Initiative Program Developer

Organization: 
People's Production House
VISTA Name: 
Kristofer Rios
Program Start: 
7/2008
Program End: 
7/2010
Project Description: 

PPH has three major projects: Radio Rootz, which teaches classes in radio journalism and media literacy in public schools; the Community News Production Institute (CNPI), which trains low wage and immigrant workers as radio journalists; and our Digital Expansion Initiative, which works to educate and organize the public around access to digital technology. We build media organizers: media literate youth and workers who can create and demand a media system that works in their interests.

This position is part of the Digital Expansion Initiative. For 2008 to 2009, the CTC Vista participant will
• formalize our Digital Expansion curriculum and conduct educational workshops for community organizations and public school classes throughout New York City;
• work with the Digital Expansion team to analyze data from our surveys and interviews;
• conduct original research into the state of Internet access in New York City and train others to do the same;
• record, edit, and produce radio journalism and train others to do the same;
• review and compile new research and articles related to Internet access and Internet policy.

Project Outcome: 

This year, Kristofer took the lead in developing and formalizing the curriculum for our youth-led policy program, the Digital Expansion Fellowship (DEF). After taking feedback and evaluations from our first DEF summer project, Kristofer redesigned the summer curriculum into a full 8-week summer course for a new round of fellows. The new curriculum is a comprehensive training in media policy research; combing basics in digital journalism and an introduction to policy analysis. This summer the fellows used their newly acquired digital reporting skills to examined mobile broadband and cellphone policy from a community perspective. They produced a news feature looking at how a proposed bill requiring ID for prepaid cellphones would impact low income and immigrant communities. They also produced four cell phone literacy workshops that will be included in a collaborative tool kit project focused on expanding cell phone literacy.

People’s Production House proposed a large community media network project during the second application round of the Broadband Technology Opportunity Program. Our proposal brought together 21 New York City community organizations to imagine a constellation of community media centers across New York that would work as media production centers for a community news outlet. Kristofer was the main outreach organizer for this application. He helped recruit many of the organizations to the project proposal and coordinated a lot of the application process with the groups. While we weren’t awarded our BTOP grant, the organizing provided us with an opportunity to advance our goal of strengthening our community media network. We are taking the momentum from our BTOP organizing to develop a New York City Digital Justice Coalition. Throughout the year, Kristofer also engaged with other community media organizations to share or work, exchange ideas, and collaborate on larger national projects.

One of the goals that Kristofer set for him self was to help us develop workshops and training materials in Spanish. Kristofer lead our first Spanish language community journalism training in his first year as a VISTA and he wanted to take it further by developing media literacy tools that could accompany the trainings. This year Kristofer helped organize the first Spanish language track at the 2010 Allied Media Conference. In developing the Spanish language track, Kristofer engaged some organizations that serve the Spanish speaking in New York, helping to develop Spanish language community reporters.

In addition to the work completed in our project proposal, Kristofer also helped refine our 12-week media community journalism training curriculum. The curriculum needed an upgraded and he assisted with the process. Kristofer also helped strengthen ties to partner organizations through his involvement in organizing the Allied Media Conference and his participation in the Media Action Grassroots Network. Through these conferences and networks, Kristofer has helped facilitate projects on a national scope, including our upcoming Cellphone Literacy Toolkit, which is a collaboration between allies in New Mexico, California, and New York.

Outreach & Volunteer Coordinator

Organization: 
Homeless Prenatal Program
VISTA Name: 
Scott Reed
Program Start: 
7/2009
Program End: 
7/2010
Project Description: 

The ultimate goal of this VISTA project is to shine the spotlight on HPP’s mission and work, raising visibility for a wide audience: current and prospective donors, volunteers, and a diverse community of San Francisco families who need our services.

With direction from the project manager and Development Director, the VISTA will develop creative methods for collecting the many stories of need, perseverance and success that buzz around our client programs and are the pride of our client services staff. The VISTA will gather these stories, in addition to news and events about the agency, and distribute the information to the community through a variety of channels.

Goal 1: Drive traffic to Web site and convert visitors into members, volunteers and advocates

Goal 2: Create sustainable process for content gathering and distribution at HPP

Project Outcome: 

Scott worked with mentor Brittney Fosbrook to create an ongoing, nearly self-sustainable strategic plans for a volunteer-run program in our Community Technology Center. Scott created an online volunteer guide which contains all the “how to’s” and useful links for our volunteers.The guide also contains volunteers agreements and lab rules. Scott also worked with our Systems Administrator to create customized, bilingual computer profiles for our clients, making it easier for our guests to login and use the lab with minimal computer experience. Scott also cleaned up the space physically, getting rid of unused materials and installing useful information sheets for additional resources. In addition to volunteer outreach, Scott also conducted major outreach to clients and to our case management staff, so that they understand the resources available and their potential value to clients.

The volunteer program in the CTC has been successful in that it has increased lab attendance, increased volunteer engagement, and has decreased the amount of staff time necessary to run the lab. However, the CTC is not able to self-sustain on volunteers alone. Scott has been hired as a full-time employee, with half-time duties related to CTC coordination.

Scott was a key player in HPP’s first steps in social media, creating a Facebook and Twitter presence, as well as advising the development of our revamped website. This developed as the need was identified at HPP and matched Scott’s skills and interests.

Community Outreach and Accessibility Development

VISTA Name: 
Anita Lie
Program Start: 
6/2007
Program End: 
6/2009
Project Description: 

Since it opened over 8 years ago, the DISKovery Center has provided technology education services to over 3,000 community members in a wide range of skills and computer applications. Over 100 members, who include youth, adults, and seniors, enroll in over 20 classes at the DISKovery Center’s programs every quarter.

The DISKovery Center is seeking a full-time VISTA volunteer (monthly stipend provided) to help build the capacity of the Center to reach out to learners with physical and developmental disabilities through assistive technology, program planning, staff training, and community outreach. The VISTA member will assist the program manager with a variety of responsibilities, including the following duties:

• Develop strategies for outreach to persons with disabilities

• Collaborate with other organizations to develop outreach plans to expand our presence in the disabled community.

• Participate in assistive technology trainings provided by our collaborators to become an in-house accessibility specialist, who will then train other staff on teaching strategies

• Develop resources for accessibility including training materials for both staff and individuals with disabilities

• Help develop a new space plan at the center for better accessibility

• Help establish and coordinate a committee composed of staff, members and volunteers to inform the center on disability access needs.

• Help develop a new intake survey and registration process incorporating disability information, and revamp the current database to track this information.

Project Outcome: 

Our CTC VISTA is the DISKovery Centers Accessibility Coordinator. She coordinated all of the meetings with staff and project partners. She also became our in-house AT specialist, and helped recommend our software and hardware purchases. She has developed advanced curriculum at Pacific Bridge. She has also coordinated and facilitated the access committee meetings. Our VISTA has also coordinated our Computer Adoption Program and has developed curriculum for the program. She has also trained staff on the Ubuntu Operating system so that staff can then teach the participants enrolled in our Computer Adoption Program.

Although we have partnered with other organizations that have given us a small number of users with disabilities, we are still short of our goals. Our VISTA has assisted on our outreach plan, and has developed outreach materials but both our centers in Little Tokyo and Echo Park are struggling increase our numbers.

Impact Quote: 

Our VISTA has been invaluable in assisting the center with its accessibility goals, and has been central in coordinating all aspects of the DISK4All Project. She has been committed to utilizing information and communications technologies to address the needs of our communities. Without our VISTA we would not have the staff nor capacity to achieve our accessibility goals.”
- Steve Wong, supervisor

Outreach & Volunteer Coordinator

Organization: 
Latinitas
VISTA Name: 
Claudia Escobar Lopez
Program Start: 
9/2009
Program End: 
9/2010
Project Description: 

As part of the CTC VISTA Project, Latinitas would recruit a VISTA member to serve as an Outreach & Volunteer Coordinator. This position would assist with:
Primary Goals:
-organizing an advisory board that will develop a comprehensive curriculum guide with a series of media-based, enrichment activities for girls.
-coordinating a volunteer leadership team that will assist with future club leader recruitment, trainings and management
-developing training procedures and volunteer manuals to empower volunteer club leaders to guide girl empowerment activities
Secondary Goals
-creating a marketing plan to outline strategies for effectively recruiting volunteers, identifying strategic community partners and sponsors and beginning the initial phase of volunteer recruitment.

Throughout the project, the VISTA member will work directly with an advisory board and volunteers to develop a curriculum guides, club leader training manual, volunteer procedures and volunteer recruitment marketing plan. These tangible products will enable Latinitas to replicate our media-based, culturally-relevant, bilingual, girl enrichment programs into additional communities. Latinos make up about 15 percent of the U.S. population and are the largest and fastest growing population. Despite the growth and size of this population, very few programs exist nationally that focus specifically on this population. The tools developed in this project may serve as a model framework and curriculum to share with the field of Latina-focused girl empowerment programs nationally.

Project Outcome: 

Claudia has organized recruitment efforts, orientation sessions and meetings to help build our advisory board. She has been instrumental in developing and documenting the procedures for effective volunteer training and management. She has developed an orientation and training module which we will utilize in preparing future volunteer club leaders for their role in leading multimedia clubs for girls. In addition, she has developed a comprehensive volunteer leader manual which clearly outlines the role, responsibilities, procedures and policies in the management of volunteer led clubs. The manual includes club leader job descriptions, club meeting outlines, attendance policies, dress code, code of behavior, classroom management tips, mentoring tips, recruitment tips, Internet safety guidelines, material checklists, equipment checkout procedures, attendance sheets, volunteer hour logs, club member evaluations, club fact sheets and other valuable tips on managing a media club for girls. Furthermore, our VISTA member has worked collaboratively with a team of volunteers to develop a new Club Leader Curriculum Guide building on our library of club lesson plans. Thanks to support from our VISTA Member, we now have over 100 multimedia lesson plans developed that we can implement in our multimedia clubs. These lessons are focused on teaching young Latinas in grades 4-8 about how they can use media as a tool for creative self-expression. These lessons are bilingual and bi-cultural and focused on writing, art, photography, audio production, film making, desktop publishing and web design. Our VISTA has also initiated a pilot test program training 4 volunteers to lead volunteer media clubs. She has recruited the volunteer club leaders, implemented and tested a club leader training session and provided technical support to our club leaders. The volunteer training module and curriculum guide has proven to work successfully with this group and our VISTA member is helping us lay the foundation to implement this program on a larger scale in the future.

Since our VISTA member is perfectly fluent in Spanish and English, she was able to assist us in translating numerous documents in our volunteer training manual as well as other materials for the public. We work with a largely Spanish-speaking population of recent immigrants, so her assistance in creating bilingual materials was a great asset in preparing all the needed documents for our volunteers to go out into the community to serve Spanish-speaking girls and families. In addition, our VISTA member developed a volunteer recognition procedures to assist in our volunteer retention efforts including creating volunteer certificates and awards, organizing volunteer appreciation events and developing a system for recognizing volunteers in our newsletter and special events.

CTC Program Building, Outreach, and Support

Organization: 
Homeless Prenatal Program
VISTA Name: 
Ellen-Rae Cachola
Program Start: 
9/2005
Program End: 
9/2006
Project Description: 

The Americorps VISTA volunteer would expand our program by developing and piloting a technology class for our English speaking clients, the majority of whom are African-American. The goal is to motivate women from the HPP’s English speaking support groups to avail themselves of the resources in the computer lab. To reinforce and extend the class experience, the Americorps*VISTA will create a weblog specifically for these clients where they can share their interests, issues, questions and accomplishments. The weblog community will serve as an additional support group to these parents as they seek ways out of poverty. Through participation in classes, one-on-one instruction, and the weblog, these clients will upgrade their job and communication skills.

Our 2004-2005 VISTA developed a community web-site for homeless families and families in jeopardy of becoming homeless. This website is fast becoming a vital resource to such families and to case managers throughout the region for instant access to resource information. This years Americorps VISTA would expand the use of the website by (1) developing a workshop to introduce the website to new users, both clients and case managers, (2) develop promotional materials such as email announcements and posters, and (3) work with other volunteers to develop a separate homepage, navigation system and additional features just for case managers.

The Americorps*VISTA volunteer would expand our program by developing and coordinating a staff development program in the CTC. Since one of the best practices for strengthening a program such as ours is to invest in our case workers, we are planning to use the CTC for more staff development than in previous years. We will develop an on-line assessment tool to establish a baseline of the technology skills of all staff members. Using this data we will develop and coordinate skill set workshops tailored to staff needs that will be held in the CTC.

To strengthen and expand our job readiness program the Americorps*VISTA will be responsible for developing 5 In order to do this the VISTA will identify, contact and visit appropriate educational and vocational training programs. In addition the VISTA will develop referral protocols between these programs and HPP Case Managers.

The Americorps*VISTA volunteer will also coordinate our “Computers in the Home” Project. This project takes our capacity to give technological skills and experience to the underserved population beyond the walls of our CTC. Funded to provide 40 families with refurbished computers and in-home tech support through ReliaTech, a social venture project of StreetTech of Richmond, CA., participants receive training and, upon completion of the training, computers and periodic in-home tech support. In addition, clients who have received computers for their homes continue to receive training at the HPP’s CTC.

Finally, the Americorps*VISTA will collaborate with our partners in the Community Connectivity Collaboration (One Economy, StreetTech, ReliaTech, Canal Alliance, TechFutures), a group formed to define needs of local CTC’s and find ways to seek funding. The VISTA will attend CCC meetings and other partnering events that may develop.

Project Outcome: 

I know that I speak for the entire staff of the Homeless Prenatal Program (HPP) when I say that Ellen-Rae Cachola has been a boon to our organization. As her supervisor in the Community Technology Center it has been my pleasure to work very closely with her for the last 12 months. She is highly committed, intelligent, and industrious. She is extremely productive and always looking for new projects. She is also very personable, able to interact warmly with the diverse groups of people who work in our program and who come here for services. We are very lucky that she has stayed on at HPP as a part-time employee while she attends graduate school in San Francisco.

Ellen’s duties at HPP have included maintaining two websites, teaching technology in English and in Spanish, maintaining and developing the client database on Microsft Access, as well as trouble shooting technology problems in the lab and at staff workstations. She has worked with the local cable television access station to create PSAs and informational programming. In addition she has created an online generator for our paper forms which allows staff to print forms on an as needed basis from their own computers. She has also designed and published agency literature and signage in english and in spanish.

CTC Program Building and Teaching Assistant

Organization: 
Durham Literacy Center Inc.
VISTA Name: 
Shlonda Brouchet
Program Start: 
4/2001
Program End: 
4/2003
Project Description: 

1. Recruit, train and support technology volunteers to help students use computers.
2. Access and acquire computer hardware and software
3. Write and publish Computer-Assisted Literacy training manuals in English and Spanish - in paper and on the web.
4. Develop a sustainable GED distance learning program
5. Solicit, procure, and upgrade used laptop computers to be loaned to homebound or disabled students.
6. Evaluate the life impact of increased technology use on literacy and English language clients.

Project Outcome: 

As an Americorps Vista volunteer, Shlonda has supported and enhanced four Durham County Literacy Council (DCLC) projects; the Parent’s Part Family Literacy Project, Techcelerated Pre-GED and GED, PC Basics, English as a Second Language and has gained valuable experience as a teacher and trainer. She has recruited and trained volunteers to teach or assist in all projects. The VISTA has maintained a working relationship with partner sites CET, NCCU and the YMCA.

Shlonda successfully taught Parents’ Part in Cornwallis Road public housing neighborhood in Durham, NC.

At the Durham Literacy Council’s main office, Shlonda taught students by using technology-assisted GED software.

As a tutor Shlonda has taught ESOL (English for Speakers of Other Languages) classes, which includes creating lesson plans, leading small group conversations and trained new tutors to teach the traditional and computer-assisted ESL software.

Shlonda has been instrumental in establishing and maintaining an after school program for Kestrel Heights Charter School.

Shlonda has improved technical support at the Literacy Council, Kestrel Heights Charter School and assisted in maintaining and installing computers in all labs.

Career Passport is a portfolio or notebook containing documents certifying you have met specific academic and workplace standards. The latest implementation is the Internet career interest/personality inventory. Shlonda is the field test manager of this project and has successful coached 4 individuals in completing their portfolio. Shlonda expanded upon DLC’s Career Passport by initiating mini-workshops with focus areas such as “Preparing for the Job Interview.” The project is now nationally recognized and endorsed by the Literacy Volunteers of America. The Career Passport can be found on the LVA’s Promising Practice website.

CTC Program Building

VISTA Name: 
Kim-Oanh Nguyen
Program Start: 
8/2001
Program End: 
8/2003
Project Description: 

BPSOS’s project ACCESS, Access to Computers for Community Empowerment, Support and Services, hopes to improve English fluency and the acquisition of computer skills in the low-income community. During year one the VISTA member will work on the following tasks:

1. Work with community groups to identify youth needing the service and mobilize their participation in the program.
2. Set up neighborhood-based classes. This involves identification of additional resources to support these classes (such as donated computers, text books, class space, supplies).
3. Teach ESL and computer classes. This will include tailoring existing class materials to the needs of the target population.
4. Recruit, train, and coordinate volunteers to serve as instructors and mentors.
5. Encourage parents to take part in the education of their children.

During year 2 the VISTA goals were the following:

Goal 1: Establish new CTC
Goal 2: After-school activities for youth
Goal 3: Community outreach
Goal 4: Community events

Project Outcome: 

Kim Oanh has played a strong role in organizing and coordinating community events for BPSOS. She was a tremendous help in the coordination of various workshops that we have held throughout the year, the largest workshop which is a collaboration of 4 different ethnic groups (Vietnamese, Korean, Latinos and Muslims) on domestic violence which had an attendance of 300 people.

Kim-Oanh has coordinated and organized activities for youth at the Moon Festival. For youth and Senior Citizen at the Lunar New Year Festival at Virginia, Washington DC, Maryland. These holidays symbolize the heritage, culture, and life of the Vietnamese people.

She also organized the Carry Day for youths. She invited six speakers, she contact with 100 students and parents came that day.

Transmission Project