PASS AmeriCorps Newsletter

I N S I D E T H I S

I S S U E :

Program

Updates 1

Spotlight

Article 1

SDUSD Schools

Rolando

Park

Elementary

2

Sherman

Elementary 2

Mann

Middle 2

Memorial

Prep 3

San Diego

High 3

About Us/

Contact Us 4

Calendar 4

San Diego Unified School District F E B R U A R Y 2 0 1 8 V O L U M E 8 , I S S U E 5

“Kindness starts with one”, is the

slogan to Random Acts of Kind-

ness Week 2018. PASS Ameri-

Corps school sites celebrated a

week of kindness, committing to

doable, simple and meaningful

kind acts. Kindness really does

start with one—one person, one

act, one place, one city, one

county, and one movement with

one goal in mind: to make our

world a kinder place one act a

time.

Random Acts of Kindness Week Some of the acts of kindness that

our PASS students came up with

included helping a teacher with a

task, giving a compliment to a

peer, leaving school staff a kind

note, picking up litter around the

school, helping a peer with

homework, assisting the custodi-

an with cleaning up after lunch,

and much, much more.

Every single one of us can play a

part in making the world a little

kinder. What will you do?

S A N D I E G O

U N I F I E D

S C H O O L

D I S T R I C T Application Open for 2018-19 PASS Year!

Follow this link to apply or visit

our PASS AmeriCorps website:

www.sdcoe.net/pass-americorps

The non-profit foundation

that believes in spreading

kindness throughout schools,

communities, and homes.

1,700 hour term of service con-

tract, medical/dental/vision cov-

erage, and student loan forbear-

ance. At the end of a successful

term of service, each member

receives a $5,920 Education

Award that can be used to pay

student loans or for further edu-

cation.

Please pass on the link to apply to

anyone you think may be interested

and qualified!

We are looking forward to

meeting all our new applicants

and putting together our amazing

PASS AmeriCorps Team for the

next school year!

It’s recruitment time again! All

our service postings are up and

the application portal has been

opened. Each year, hundreds of

individuals from all over the

country apply to become Service

Members with the San Diego

County Office of Education’s

PASS AmeriCorps Program. We

begin accepting applications after

the new year to fill positions for

the next school year. We are

always so impressed by the won-

derful people we meet who are

interested in dedicating a year of

their lives to national service.

Our program, PASS AmeriCorps,

is highly competitive because of

the experience we offer, the

professional development and

networking opportunities, the

chance to make an impact, and

the southern California location!

We search for highly qualified

individuals who are interested in

making a difference in the lives of

the children in our San Diego

County communities. Our PASS

AmeriCorps Members must be

at least 22 years old, hold an

Associates Degree or higher,

have some past experience

working with youth, and have a

desire to make a difference. All

applicants go through a rigorous

interview process with a three-

hurdle step system before joining

our team.

Our Term of Service for next

school year is August 20, 2018 to

June 30, 2019. If selected to join

and become a service member

with us, our members are placed

individually or in pairs at elemen-

tary, middle, or high schools in

Oceanside, Vista, San Marcos,

Valley Center-Pauma, or San

Diego Unified schools. They

receive a stipend of $15,000 (1st

yr) or $16,000 (2nd yr) for a

P A G E 2

PASS

student

with their

teacher

“thank you”

cards

Rolando Park Elementary School

Happy February

Rolando Park

Elementary!

February has

been a quick

month but a

very busy one

for the students.

It's been great

to see students

really progress-

ing since the

beginning of the

school year. As

we get closer to testing time,

remember it's important for our

young scholars to study and do

their homework before school

so that they are on task at

school. If students need help

before or after school, have

them stop by the Parent Cen-

ter Room and I can help assist

them. This month’s National

Day Service project is based

around Random Acts of Kind-

ness week. Several weeks ago,

the school participated in the

great

kindness challenge. The 3rd -

5th grade students came up

with the idea to create thank

you cards for their teachers, staff,

and admin. A small gesture of

appreciation for their hard work

and dedication to keeping Rolan-

do Park Elementary running. The

students and Mr. De La Cruz can't

thank you enough for everything.

bers, having good behavior in

class, and sharing compliments.

Additionally, we’ve been put-

ting together messages of ap-

preciation for staff members

and will surprise them with a

treat before the end of the

month. February also brought

our Project AWARE group.

Thank you to all students who

have participated so far, as well

as our two facilitators. We

really enjoy this opportunity to

share and learn more with

Happy

February! This

month has

flown by, but

not without

excitement.

Our service

project this

month

revolved around Random Acts

of Kindness. Students were

challenged to do a week of

kind activities such as picking

up trash, helping staff mem-

each other in this amazing pro-

gram. Some other opportunities

we’ve loved being able to go to

this month were the SDSU wom-

en’s basketball game fieldtrip, the

student Talent Show, and the

Valentine’s Dance. With such a

busy month, we hope everyone

stays healthy and caught up with

progress reports right around

the corner!

PASS students wrote a letter

of affirmation and shared posi-

tive thoughts to other stu-

dents. We discussed the situa-

tion that occurred in Marjory

Stoneman Douglas High School

in Parkland, Florida, why this

could happen, and what can we

do as a program and a school

community to avoid negative

situations. PASS students

suggested no name calling,

more school community engaged

events, and sharing concerning

situations with an adult in school

that you trust. Parents, please join

us in one of our organizations here

on campus. We always appreciate

ideas and value the extra help. For

more information, please contact

our school secretary, Ava Thomp-

son. Thank you all for supporting

the PASS AmeriCorps Program!

The PASS Ameri-

Corps students were

recognized during our

monthly assembly:

Irene J. (Sherman

Way), Jose T.

(Multiplication

Master), Manuel

V. (Student of the

Month) and Pedro B.

(Student of the Month). For

Random Acts of Kindness,

Circle

Club

students

began

leading

their own

circles to

build

community in classrooms

P A S S A M E R I C O R P S N E W S L E T T E R

Kevin De La Cruz,

PASS AmeriCorps Member

Third Grade Group,

Expressing Emotions

through Jenga

Sherman Elementary School

Horace Mann Middle School

Ricardo Holguin,

PASS AmeriCorps Member

Theresa Ludwig and

Antionette Simmons,

PASS AmeriCorps Members

Q: What did the circle

say to the triangle on

Valentine's Day?

A: I think you're acute.

P A G E 3 V O L U M E 8 , I S S U E 5

Eagles committed to kindness! In

the month of February, students

focused on being kind and respect-

ful to others. During the one-on-

one or small group sessions, stu-

dents engaged in conversations

about respect for others and self.

Students shared moments when

they have been disrespectful and

what they would do differently in

the future. For our service project,

we decided to do a school-wide

paper chain link during lunch time.

Students were given three options

to write on the paper chain:

1) positive words of encourage-

ment for other students,

2) a kind action they have done in

the past few days, or

3) a kind action they will try to do

for the next few days.

Students had fun writing down their

responses on the paper chain. Many

students enjoyed seeing how much

the link increased by the end of

lunch time. For next month, we will

be having two service projects:

AmeriCorps week and honoring

Cesar Chavez.

around us. Thank you for all the

students, especially Ariana, Jesse,

and Leslie on participating and

getting the campus involved. Also, a

shout out to Raul, Bridgette, Edgar,

Valerie, and Johan on such a great

academic performance this month!

Let’s keep this Caver Spirit going

strong and work towards having a

great Progress Report 3. Next

month, we are looking forward to

celebrating AmeriCorps Week and

honoring Cesar Chavez through

our National

Day of Service

Projects.

One kind word can change

someone's entire day. Our focus

for February was Kindness.

Students provided words of

wisdom on the STAND poster to

brighten students' day and created

Kindness Rocks to help spread

kindness and positivity around the

campus. It was a great way to start

the semester on a positive note and

learn about how we can make

positive choices to help us improve

our lives and the lives of those

Students helping and being involved

in our kindness project

Kindness

Rocks!

Memorial Preparatory for Scholars and Athletes

San Diego High School

Iliana Salas,

PASS AmeriCorps

Member

Suzanne Bray and Amy DeNinno,

PASS AmeriCorps Members

News from a fellow

PASS School:

Students at Epiphany

Prep created a

chain of kindness

Thank you cards at

Rolando Park Elementary

The final

chain for

Random

Acts of

Kindness at

Memorial

Prep

6401 Linda Vista Road - Room 412

San Diego, CA 92111-7399

Phone: 858-569-5474

Fax: 858-565-4150

Email: mquiroz@sdcoe.net

Website: www.sdcoe.net/pass-americorps

The PASS AmeriCorps Program serves stu-

dents in grades 3 through 12 at 30 school sites

across San Diego County, including campuses

in San Diego, Oceanside, Vista, San Marcos,

and Valley Center. Each PASS AmeriCorps

member provides support for 30 students

through individual and group mentoring, aca-

demic support, grades and attendance reviews,

leadership development, guest speakers, ser-

vice learning projects, and parent outreach.

Through their service with PASS, our Ameri-

Corps members are able to create positive

change in our schools and communities.

San Diego County Office of Education

PASS AmeriCorps Program

PASS

AmeriCorps

Program

Upcoming

Month’s

Calendar

______

March