Helping Kids Prepare For Life

of Lakewoodwww.lakewood.ciswa.org | (253)-589-7489

CHAMPIONS FOR YOUTH BREAKFAST All Kids College and Career Ready

SPRING 2015Communities In Schools

Communities in Schools of Lakewood (CISL) will host the Champions for Youth Breakfast at Old Country Buffet at 5815 Lakewood Towne Center Blvd. on Thursday, March 26. Breakfast is served at 7 a.m. and the program runs from 7:30 to 8:30 a.m. There is no charge at the door and a call for support will end the program.

The 2015 Champions Breakfast will be an inspirational experience. Students and volunteers in our programs will share their experiences. We will feature Erin Jones, Director of Advancement Via Individual Determination (AVID) in Tacoma Public Schools. AVID is a college readiness system that is designed to increase school-wide learning and performance. Jones has been involved in education for the past 23 years and received many awards including “Most Innovative Foreign Language Teacher” in 2007 and the “Washington State Milken Educator of the Year” in 2008. She also received recognition at the White House in March 2013 as a “Champion of Change.”

CISL impacts more than 1,500 students each year through after-school, mentor and Readiness to Learn programs. We support students and schools so more young people stay in school and achieve success in life.

To reserve a seat, call the CISL office at 253-589-7489 or email kidsandfamilies@cislakewood.org.

CISL has started eight new matches since January. Students are thrilled when a caring adult starts meeting with them once a week. “We hop on the computer at school and my mentor helps me learn about what I want to be when I grow up,” said a new mentee at Tillicum Elementary. “He teaches me stuff and it feels like I can achieve my goals in math.”

“My favorite part is setting goals,” added another student. “My goal for home is to stop fighting with my brother. I also want to get five out of five on my writing prompt. My mentor showed me where she is from in Africa and helped me to work on my art project.”

Mentors meet with students from third- through 12th-grade to set goals, gain confidence and build resiliency. It’s never too late to sign up and make a difference in a student’s life! If you are interested in becoming a Champions Mentor, please contact mentor coordinator Bre Wilson at 253-589-7489 or bre.cisl@gmail.com

National Mentor Month Brings in New Mentors

- Erin Jones

The Public Works department runs an environmental education program after school. Program educator, Mr. Misley, is enthusiastic and engages students by appealing to all their senses. He describes a landfill by showing a huge garbage can and explains recycling by showing students things that have been recycled. The environmental program not only benefits students directly but also affects their homes and communities. Students are gaining skills to become advocates for their environment and agents of change.

Spotlight on After School Programs

Tyee Park Elementary- Ruth Rosas, Site Coordinator

Pierce County Public Works Partners with Tillicum & Tyee Park Elementaries

It's been a pleasure getting to know the students and challenging them as caretakers of our communities and planet. Each day I see their motivation for solving environmental issues developing ever deeper. They give me much hope for the future.

We hear far too often about the environmental challenges facing our communities and the planet without much connection of those concerns to our lives. In my work with students, I focus on building their capacity as individuals to act successfully in their daily lives. I also help them develop a broad understanding of how people and societies relate to each other, to natural systems and how they might do so sustainably.

The students are working like engineers to design solutions to our waste problem through a repurposed and recycled art project. This allows them to put their learning to real life and place them in a role of sharing with the rest of the school all they have learned about conserving natural resources and reducing waste.

My Friday afternoons have been filled with the inquisitive faces and questions of students in the after-school program. Each week they enter the classroom asking, “What are we doing today Ms. Kari Ann?” as they stare at my "odd" assortment of teaching materials.

Last week my materials included live worms and a compost bin! Each lesson is designed to help students better understand our community’s resources and the systems Pierce County has in place for dealing with waste. Students have learned about proper recycling, how worms can eat their kitchen scraps to make compost and how common household cleaners can be harmful to both them and their water. Students then have an opportunity to show off what they have learned at quarterly family nights.

I teach these lessons weekly at Tillicum and other schools throughout Pierce County as part of Pierce County’s Public Works and Utilities Environmental Education Program. I want today's youth to know about the many choices and opportunities they have to help them make and keep their community clean and more sustainable. My goal is to help Pierce County residents learn how to reduce their waste and create a healthier environment.

- Ryan Misley, Environmental Educator, PCPW Tyee Park Cont...

Tillicum Elementary - Kari Ann Elling, Pierce Co. Public Works, Environmental Educator

After School HighlightsContinued...

Passionate, dedicated and caring are just a few words that describe everyone involved in Watch D.O.G.S (Dads Of Great Students), an innovative father involvement, educational initiative of the National Center for Fathering. Oakwood site coordinator, Adriane Wilson, introduced me to Garrett Lordahl with Reality

Sports Foundation and we are working together to bring soccer magic, smiles and life lessons to Oakwood families. Reality Sports plays a key role in helping Watch D.O.G.S provide an environment that encourages positive male role models, parent involvement and educational excellence. I would like to thank all the community specialists, Oakwood staff, Reality Sports and parents for making Family Fitness Nights a huge success. Our teamwork is helping build self-esteem and leadership in students.

READ ACROSS AMERICA

“I enjoyed helping CISL site coordinator, Kate Marselus, run an English Language Learner (ELL) family night aimed at motivating students to think about colleges and careers. Many families participated and every single parent signed up for college bound scholarships that will cover tuition, room and board for eligible students! Families enjoyed dinner and an amazing presentation in Spanish by Jesus Villegas, Clover Park High

School’s family involvement coordinator. After the presentation, families visited tables hosted by Pierce College's Transitional Education Department, Consejo Counseling and Referral Services and Greater Lakes Mental Healthcare Clinic. Attendees were able to communicate in Spanish to the representatives and some signed up for English as a Second Language (ESL) classes at Pierce College or connected with services at the other organizations. Art supplies and drawing books were offered to younger students. Lochburn's ELL Family Night was a huge success!”

Lochburn Middle School Partners with Pierce College - Hannah Dominquez, Pierce College AmeriCorps Member

Oakwood Elementary & Watch D.O.G.S. - Carlos Mullen, Oakwood Watch D.O.G.S.

CISL staff member Ruth Rosas h e l p e d s t u d e n t s a t C u s t e r Elementary School find the perfect book to take home during “Read Across America Week.” CISL partner, Discover Books, donates 8,000 gently used children's books to CISL each year. We have distributed 4,500 books to students at Tyee Park, Tillicum, Southgate, Oakwood, Custer and Dower Elementary Schools and Lochburn Middle School. CISL will give away the remaining 3,500 books at summer

Tyee Park ASP students took a field trip to the beautiful campus of University of Puget Sound (UPS) in Tacoma. I graduated from UPS last year and was the first person in my family to complete college. Most of the students at our school do not have an opportunity to be exposed to colleges. My intention was to expose them to the world of higher education and to a place where they can become whatever they want to be if they work hard to excel in school. The students were absolutely amazed at every single thing they saw; from the library, to the dorms, to the track and field. They couldn’t believe that students lived and ate and went to school in the same place. A fourth-grade student told me she was writing a report for class about the trip we took to UPS. A few students told me after the trip that they wanted to go to UPS when they got older. It makes me proud to know that this trip touched students in a special way.

Tyee Students Learn About College Life- Ruth Rosas, Site Coordinator

The Franciscan Foundation recently donated $4,000 to four CIS affiliates who have Franciscan Hospitals in their communities: Lakewood, Tacoma, Gig Harbor/Key Peninsula and Federal Way. They appreciate how CIS is helping young people make healthy choices that lead to graduation and success in life. Since its inception in 1986, the Franciscan Foundation has disbursed $44.7 million in gifts and earnings to Franciscan facilities and community programs, and generated 543,000 contributions totaling $86.6 million in new support and $81.7 million in cash. Supporting CIS programs is consistent with the Franciscan mission of creating healthier communities.

Franciscan FoundationFunder In the Spotlight

“As director of soccer, I would like to say that the after-school students at Oakwood have been great to work with! They have been very focused in our soccer and life skills trainings. A few high school students are even volunteering their time to help us teach students fundamental soccer skills of dribbling, passing, trapping and shooting. We look forward to every day with the students!”

Reality Sports Partnership-Garrett Lordahl, Director of Soccer Reality Sports Foundation

Communities In Schools of Lakewood 6402 100th St. SW Lakewood WA 98499