Greenleaf Scholars Glimpse the Future During Career Day

The strides made by students like Alexis and Alejandra (in the previous article), combined with Greenleaf Elementary’s rising Academic Performance Index (API) score (777 this year!), reflect the school’s focus on high achievement. Our 1st Annual Career Day gave them a chance to see where their continued hard work might lead, years down the road.

To host the most comprehensive Career Day, Greenleaf staff appealed to people they knew in several fields. Among the presenters were a doctor, a public speaker, a landscape designer, and a firefighter. These professionals rotated to different classrooms so that students were exposed to a range of careers. In Maureen Weiner’s class, 1st-grader Tyreke was brimming with questions for computer game designer and animator Mitchell Weiner, who shared a short animated video he’d created. “I want to make games when I grow up,” Tyreke said after the presentation.

Weiner also brought along a working model of one of the characters, which the class clamored to see up-close. In their follow-up questions, they were piecing together what it takes to wind up in a career like this. “Did you go to college for this?” one student asked.

A key part of Career Day was making connections drawn between the outside world and the classroom. Ms. Weiner helped the kids draw parallels between the model of the character and their work in class, comparing its creation to the clay sculptures they’d recently done in class.
All of the visiting professionals took pains to, as Greenleaf’s flyer urged, “make their job come alive for our students.” Laura Cusak, a chef, demonstrated cutting safe cutting techniques with her collection of cook’s knives. After answering students’ questions about her path to becoming a chef, she left them with a message that echoed across all of the Career Day participants’ presentations:

“If you ask people, and study, and be really open, you can discover your passion and pursue it. And then you’ll be inspired and fulfilled by what you do.”

It's in the Books: Community Groups Committed to Literacy at Greenleaf

From its first days as a school in 2007, Greenleaf Elementary set out to build a culture of literacy and strong English Language Arts (ELA) achievement, and when Outreach Coordinator Rodolfo Perez connected with Judy Zollman and Oakland’s Temple Sinai, he found the perfect community partner to support that effort.

Since Temple Sinai’s People of the Book volunteers began visiting Greenleaf, the school’s library has been transformed: They cleaned the library, retired old and damaged books, and most importantly, replaced them with scores of new books on a range of subjects and reading levels.

In its devotion to supporting not just reading aptitude but a love of books, the organization is careful to connect Greenleaf scholars with suitable texts. “We really want to find books that fit the interest and reading level of the kids,” explains Temple Sinai’s Judy Zollman. “Watching students get excited when they find something that fits them, to see kids so enthusiastic about books – that’s just a wonderful thing to see happen.” To continue the momentum that started in the library, Temple Sinai has staged two book giveaways a year, for three years running.

“Judy Zollman and Temple Sinai have been terrific in organizing [Greenleaf’s] school library and related activities,” says Judy Pam-Bycel, outreach manager for the Jewish Coalition for Literacy (JCL), another key community partner. Completing another piece of the literacy puzzle, JCL has teamed up with Greenleaf to match students with volunteer reading tutors.

In keeping with Greenleaf’s focus on individual student improvement, JCL tutors have been matched with kids needing “that extra boost,” says volunteer Joan Diengott. Along with fellow JCL volunteer Deborah Sosebee, Diengott has been working one-on-one with 3rd-graders in Amy Young’s class.

“They’re great kids,” says Sosebee. “It’s been really rewarding for us and feels very positive. It’s great to see them get excited about reading and improving.”

I was in orange and yellow and when Joan helped me, I went to green because I tried really hard.,” reflects 3rd-grader Alejandra. “I enjoyed it because it was fun.” 3rd-grader Alexis, who worked with Deborah, speaks excitedly of moving from yellow to blue.

Both partnerships have also turned into “wraparound” community efforts. Zollman says Temple Sinai has brought teachers to the temple to educate members on the needs at Greenleaf. As the result of a meeting about student nutrition, Sinai organized a produce drive for the campus. “Our temple is very generous and socially active,” says Zollman. “When we see the needs, we want to fill them.”

For its part, JCL has brought the experience full-circle by relaying the stories of Passover and other Jewish holidays. All of the different connections have established a real foundation, and Diengott and Deborah feel energized after every visit. “The kids are always happy to see us and work with us, and there’s a lot of civic pride and classroom pride here,” reflects Diengott. “I always leave feeling like this was the best part of my week!”

CCPA 9th-Graders Come Together in the Great Outdoors

While CCPA’s 10th-graders were bonding around a common college-minded vision, our 9th-graders were coming together at one of California’s natural wonders: Yosemite National Park.

“It was fun even though I’m normally not a nature type of person,” says Michelle of her class’s three-day adventure at Yosemite. “It really brought the 9th grade together. [Out of our element] we had to stick together and make sure everybody else was okay. Some people weren’t people I would normally hang out with, so I made new friends.”

They also learned what they were capable of, fortitude-wise, particularly during their 5-mile group hike up to Vernal Falls. “I don’t give up that easily, even though it was hard going up the mountain,” says Michelle’s classmate Ericka. Not only did they face a daunting incline, they also got soaked by the falls, which cascaded dramatically thanks to recent downpours. “We thought it would just be mist,” says Michelle, “but we wound up having to wear rain jackets and everything.”

Ericka says the kids later used the grueling hike as motivation for future schoolwork. “We applied it to a test we had to take, and realized the test was going to be much easier!”

At UCLA and Pepperdine, a Glimpse of the Future

If you want to give high school students a vivid impression of university life, try dropping them into the middle of finals week on a campus of more than 50,000 students. This is where 30 Coliseum College Prep Academy 10th-graders found themselves this past spring, on a tour of the University of California, Los Angeles and Pepperdine University.

“It was finals week,” recalls 10th-grader Alberto, “so everyone was walking around with their blue books and running [to their exams]. During finals you can go to the library any time, it’s open 24 hours a day.”

Alberto and his classmates were impressed by the collegiate sense of purpose on display all around them. “Seeing everybody carrying books, heading to class, ready to study — it looks cool,” says fellow 10th-grader Elier.

“Before these tours,” he reflects, “I wasn’t really sure about college, but this trip kind of convinced me.”

CCPA staff chose these two campuses for their differences as much as their similarities: Pepperdine, with just 5,000 students, offered a look at a much smaller campus. While that smaller feel – perhaps a little closer to CCPA’s small-school environment – appealed to some, both Alberto and Elier preferred UCLA for its bustling energy and range of extracurricular activities.

“I really liked UCLA,” says Alberto. “I liked seeing the bookstore, all the athletic fields, the student clubs they have – just the whole world there. We got to see that whole view of college life.”

Like the Class of 2012 leaders profiled in our last Communicator, Alberto and Elier are aware of their unique place in CCPA history. “It’s cool we were the first [CCPA students] to experience [these southern California college tours],” says Elier.

They both speak of how tight their class has become. “We’ve all known each other since 6th grade, it’s all the same people.”

Science Teacher Elli Jenkins saw this on display at the year-end assembly in June. When Alberto, Elier, and the rest of the sophomores were announced as “CCPA’s first graduating class, the Class of 2012,” “All of the 10th-graders went ballistic! You guys are in this together,” she tells them. “You’re this really strong group. You show such spirit, and every one of you is helping each other to ensure you all graduate.”

With their ideas of college coming into clearer view, the kids are eager to get a look at more potential destinations, locally and elsewhere: There is talk of touring a few East Coast colleges in the coming year. For now, UCLA and Pepperdine loom large in their sights as they continue their march toward graduation in 2012. They’ve been there now. And they can picture being there again, in the fall of 2013, as college students in the throes of finals week themselves.