|
|
|
|
|
|
Letter From Mike
|
In these difficult times, the support, both financial
and in-kind that each of you have provided to Super Stars Literacy has been
invaluable. While I would like to
recognize each of you individually, that would make for an extremely long
newsletter. So instead, in this edition
and in future newsletters, we'll highlight the work of select individuals and
organizations that have helped us pursue our new Mission of giving every child the foundation for lifelong
learning and achievement.
|
|
|
|
You
Made Good Happen: First,
a shout out to Landor Associates and to all of you who voted for Super
Stars
Literacy in Landor's Make Good Happen
holiday
campaign. We were one of three
nonprofits that Landor's San Francisco office selected to compete for a
$10,000
donation. The amount that each
organization would receive depended on how many votes (each worth one
dollar) were
cast for that nonprofit on Landor's web site.
In this viral campaign, 3,985 of you and your friends stepped up to
vote for Super Stars Literacy, so we will receive
a $3,985 donation from Landor. Thank You!
Intrepid
Staff Saves Family Reading Night: Next, I want to recognize the
extra
effort by two of our own instructors, Sabira Stash and Liz Kleinrock.
We normally work with another community
organization to host Family Reading Nights at each of our schools.
Recently we were informed by that organization that they would be unable
to host the Family Reading Night at Hoover
Elementary due to funding difficulties. Rather than cancel this popular
annual event, Sabira and
Liz sprang into action. Sabira found donors to provide books for each
family, food from
community partners, and coordinated event logistics with the school
staff. Liz solicited funds from family
members to cover the cost of prizes and other supplies for the event.
Our other Hoover staff members, Meighan Moore and David Hampian, also
helped
organize the event. Kudos
to Sabira and her staff for ensuring that our Hoover families could
participate in this fun-filled reading night, thereby supporting one of
our guiding
principles: Families and caregivers are integral to children's
literacy development. For photos from
this fun event and other Super Stars Literacy activities, see our website at: www.superstarsliteracy.org.
|
Super Stars Visit San Jose Tech Museum
|
Early on Saturday, February 6, Super Stars students and their
families loaded onto buses for a trip to The Tech Museum of Innovation in San
Jose. The Tech Museum's multitude of fun
and educational interactive displays and exhibits stimulated the minds of
students and parents alike. Children
pedaled a cycle to generate energy to power different electrical devices. They built structures to harness solar, wind
and water power. With the help of their
parents, they used robotics to spell words out of alphabet blocks. And, at the "Supercapacitor" exhibit, they cranked
batteries to power their race cars around a track.
The Tech Museum outing was the second of four family field trips
Super Stars Literacy puts on each year. These trips
further one of our key measurable goals of actively engaging parents in their
student's education. These trips are
made possible through the dedication of our Volunteer Coordinator, Jessica
Berry, and the efforts of our instructional staff and community
volunteers. For the Tech Museum trip, 29
volunteers helped lead groups of families through the museum, explained and
demonstrated exhibits, and helped prepare the lunches provided to each
visitor. One of our volunteers aptly
summed up the day: "It was a lot of
fun! I'm happy to take part in this organization."
|
Volunteer Profile: Sandra Cormier
|
 While
we would like to list here names of all the volunteers that help make
Super
Stars Literacy possible, in this issue we've chosen to highlight the
efforts of a very
special volunteer, Sandra Cormier.
Sandra
connected with us at the volunteer faire organized by the Montclair
Community
Action Group last September. Since then,
Sandra has volunteered consistently twice a week as a Program Assistant
at
Hoover Elementary. She gives generously
of her time and is always helpful, positive, enthusiastic, and
hard-working. In the words of Jessica
Berry, our Volunteer Coordinator:
"Sandra is an amazing volunteer and has been an invaluable asset to
our program this year. She provides much needed support to our Super
Stars staff and has an incredible impact on the students." Thank you,
Sandra, for all your hard work and
dedication!!
|
Get Involved
|
Would you like to donate a little time to help a child learn to read? We're looking for volunteer tutors at our five Oakland school sites. As a volunteer, you will work directly with our K-2nd grade students one-on-one or in small groups to help facilitate literacy activities and provide reading or writing assistance as needed.
We ask volunteers to commit to at least one hour per week during our 2:45 to 5:00 p.m. program hours (1:10-5:00 p.m. on Wednesdays), for a minimum of 10 weeks. You will attend a Super Stars Literacy orientation and new tutor training to prepare you to be a tutor. You'll gain experience in providing early literacy instruction and the satisfaction of seeing a young mind experience the joy of reading! If you are interested in learning more, please contact:
Jessica Berry,
Volunteer Coordinator
Super Stars
Literacy, Inc
675
Hegenberger Rd., Suite 244
Oakland,
CA 94621 jessica@superstarsliteracy.org Phone/Fax: 510.777.0870 |
Rogers Family Foundation Highlight
|
 One of our most consistent foundation supporters for the past several
years has been the Rogers Family Foundation, whose Executive Director, Brian
Rogers, is personally committed to improving Oakland education. The Foundation's
mission is "to support
and enable organizations committed to the highest level of achievement and
excellence with a particular emphasis in the areas of education and youth
development in the city of Oakland
and its immediate surrounding areas. We hope to help young people to realize their
full potential and become contributing members of society."
Not only has Brian Rogers influenced education
in Oakland through grants by the Rogers Family Foundation and his role as Board
President of the Lighthouse Community Charter School, but also he founded the
Oakland Literacy Coalition (OLC) to bring together literacy service
providers, foundations, businesses, Oakland city representatives, the Oakland
Unified School District and other community partners, to strategically
collaborate to "equip, at a proficient level, all Oakland children
with the life skills of reading, writing, and communication by the end of third
grade." Super Stars Literacy is an
active member of the OLC with two of its staff members chairing task forces to 1) provide professional development
and training opportunities and share best practices in the literacy field, and 2)
implement a school-based pilot collaborative in East Oakland that incorporates comprehensive
literacy support for children from pre-school to 3rd grade.
Super Stars Literacy is obviously well aligned with the Rogers Family Foundation mission. When asked what he considers to be the
strongest aspects of our programming, Brian responded, "Super Stars Literacy
sets the bar very high in terms of their expectations for their students, which
has resulted in great improvement in the students' literacy skills. Super Stars Literacy makes
it a priority to integrate with the schools and coordinate the after-school
programming with the school day curriculum." Brian also values our commitment to
placing the needs of the child first, and our ability to collaborate effectively
with other organizations without compromising program integrity - for example,
partnering with Girls, Inc. in the provision of after school services at Parker
Elementary.
We look forward to a continued
partnership with the Rogers Family Foundation in the years to come, and are pleased
to be assisting the Oakland Literacy Coalition in their efforts to create a
network of high quality, early literacy resources.
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
