Corps 18 VISTA's

MLK Day of Service for Alyssa and Amanda at 826 Valencia!

Alyssa, Volunteer Engagement Assistant: We celebrated our Day of Service on Tuesday, January 20th  by supporting two very unique 826 Valencia programs — the Storytelling and Bookmaking Field Trip Program and After-School Tutoring at Buena Vista Horace Mann Elementary School (BVHM).

Four days a week, 826 Valencia welcomes a class of up to thirty-five students for a morning of high-energy learning. Class visits are prioritized for classes in San Francisco public schools, specifically schools with an Academic Performance Index (API)  score of less than 800 as well as an above average of a free reduced lunch rate.

During our Day of Service, a group of twenty-two eager-to-write second graders from Marshall Elementary School (with an API score of 783 and a free reduced lunch rate of 80.9%)  came to 826 Valencia for a Storytelling and Bookmaking Field Trip. The students were charged with the task of writing an original story as a group with the help of 826 volunteers. We helped students participate in a round-table discussion to generate their own characters, setting, and plot points. In this field trip, students crafted a story about an animated hash brown who dreamed of becoming a race car driver. His worst fear? Teeth! The students collectively leave the story at a cliffhanger and, with one-on one help from volunteers, write their own individual endings. As the students furiously write their endings, a professional artist volunteer illustrates the story.

When the students complete their endings, all student writing is sent to our fictional in-house grouchy editor, Mr. Blue (a volunteer who patiently hides in our attic and periodically shouts down at the students, demanding original writing). Mr. Blue calls upon each student and reads their ending aloud, praising them for their hard work and original writing. Mr. Blue approves all student work by marking it with an official 826 stamp and sends the writing down to be “published” and bound by volunteers.

Students leave 826 with a copy of their very own self-published book filled with illustrations, and complete with an “About the Author page”. This field trip teaches students about collaboration, self-editing, the bookmaking process, and elements of successful storytelling. It also teaches volunteers to encourage uniqueness and individuality by giving praise to a quality of work that stands out from the rest.

Amanda, Development Assistant: In the afternoon, we supported the after-school program at Buena Vista Horace Mann (BVHM), a Spanish bilingual K-8 school in San Francisco’s Mission District. At BVHM, we work with twenty 3^rd graders, twenty 4^th graders, and twenty 5^th graders who are selected to participate in the program based on their school performance (below grade-level proficiency and English as a second language). Every day, these students spend one hour with us deepening their skills and comfort around reading and writing, and one hour with tutors from the school working on their homework.

On our Day of Service, the 5th graders were working on developing their persuasive writing skills. At 826, we firmly believe that writing is best taught within a meaningful context, so the students were tasked with convincing us that they deserved a truly meaningful honor. The prize? One that any San Franciscan would jump at: the chance to interview hometown heroes, the San Francisco Giants, at their annual Press Day, an event attended by dozens of professional journalists and sports writers. The three students who wrote the most compelling arguments for why they should chosen to interview a Giants player would be selected to for the opportunity. As you might imagine, this generated lots of excitement and fierce competition for one of the top spots.

To help students get warmed up for the assignment, we talked about ways they use persuasion in their everyday lives. For example, if they wanted to go to the movies with their friends, but their mom wanted them to help with chores, how would they convince her to let them go out instead? We came to the conclusion that if they offered compelling evidence for why they ought to be allowed to go to the movies (“The movie might be educational, and I might learn something!”) rather than just saying because, their moms would be more likely to let them off the hook for chores.

Next, using an idea web to help organize our thoughts, we worked with the students to help them brainstorm reasons they should be selected to interview the Giants. Their arguments ranged from pretty persuasive to pretty out there, and many students showed amazing insight about their own strengths and skills. A highlight: one student wrote that she would make a good interviewer because she wasn’t shy and wouldn’t be afraid to ask the players questions. Our goal for the day was simply to help students come up with ideas to include in their letters. Over following days, students worked on organizing those ideas, crafting their arguments, and honing them to perfection.

Reflection: Dipping into programs every once in a while is especially important for us as administrative staff working in volunteer engagement and fundraising because it keeps us in touch with the work at the heart of our organization. Spending time helping in programs helps us to understand how programs are structured, what program goals are, and how students think and feel and respond to the curriculum we offer. This first-hand experience better equips us to explain the strengths of our various programs to prospective funders and provides us with valuable anecdotal evidence to add flavor to proposals. It also provides us with the opportunity to view things from the volunteer perspective, which can help us to evaluate the effectiveness of our volunteer training and support efforts and to match volunteers with programs that fit their skills and interests.