PASS AmeriCorps Newsletter

I N S I D E T H I S

I S S U E :

Program

Updates 1

Spotlight

Article 1

VUSD Schools

Casita

Center 2

Olive

Elementary 2

Madison

Middle 2

Rancho

Minerva

Middle

3

Roosevelt

Middle 3

VIDA 3

Rancho Buena

Vista High 4

Vista High 4

Alta Vista High 4

General

Murray High 5

About Us/

Contact Us 6

Calendar 6

Vista 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

Application Open for 2018-19 PASS Year!

“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?

V I S T A

U N I F I E D

S C H O O L

D I S T R I C T

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

Hello Casita!

Another

month has

passed, and

another PASS

AmeriCorps

club is up and

running. Music

Club is an op-

portunity for

students to

share and dis-

cuss their favorite songs with their

friends. Sometimes they will sing

along with the music they like, and

sometimes they might even show

off their favorite dance moves! If

It was a

positive

experience for all involved, and

we look forward as always to

seeing what the Activities Planning

Club will do next!

Spreading kindness one

card at a time

you haven't done so yet, feel

free to come by on a Tuesday

to check it out! The theme

this month for Activities Plan-

ning Club was "Random Acts

of Kindness." Club members

met throughout the month to

cut, glue, and staple together

custom notes of encourage-

ment for their fellow students

to give to the meaningful peo-

ple in their lives. On the day of

the actual event, over one

hundred students participated.

They wrote notes to their

friends, their teachers, their

family, and even to themselves!

where I can help students suc-

ceed. This month, Madison

Mustangs practiced Random

Acts of Kindness for the

National Day of Service.

Student's participated in the

activity "Heart Attack Random

Act of Kindness." This activity

consisted of students writing

kind compliments on a cut out

heart and giving it to a close

friend, a random person, or a

Hello Madison Mustangs, Feb-

ruary flew by so fast! PASS

AmeriCorps is excited to

continue on into the second

semester strong and busy. As

the PASS AmeriCorps Mentor

here at Madison, I am very

thankful and honored to work

with all the PASS students and

non-PASS students. Getting to

know and help each one of you

allows me to understand

staff on campus. A lot of students

that participated left smiling since

they received a kind compliment

on a piece of paper that said "You

are VALUED. You are TALENT-

ED. You MATTER. You are

LOVED." This activity had a lot of

students thinking about how they

could be kind to others and how

small acts of kindness could

change the mood of the people

around us.

our teachers and staff for their

great work. They truly deserve

to be recognized for they have

been doing an amazing job.

During lunch time, we have

been having different activities,

from board games such as

“Hedbanz” where students

learn about the different ways

of communication while having

fun with their friends, to

“Getting to Know You” activi-

ties where students learn about

public speaking skills and listening

to each other, all while learning

about their fellow classmates.

We are really excited for all the

events and activities coming up in

March, starting with Read Across

America week, continuing with

AmeriCorps Week and College

Awareness Night, and ending

with a Cesar Chavez recognition

project.

February has passed

really fast, not only be-

cause it is the shortest

month of the year, but

also because it was a

month packed with

activities for our

students. As part of our

Random Acts of Kind-

ness week, Olive

Elementary students

made a poster thanking

Sixth graders writing kind

compliments to peers

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

Olive Elementary students

and staff forming a heart Olive Elementary School

Madison Middle School

Casita Center for Technology, Science and Math Samuel Colton,

PASS AmeriCorps

Member

Jesus Gonzalez-Herrera,

PASS AmeriCorps Member

Lisbeth Soria Barrios,

PASS AmeriCorps Member

PASS student

Belen strikes

a pose with

her finished

card

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

Greetings from Rancho Minerva

Middle School! It's been a great

month here and while I'm still get-

ting to know the campus, I am

starting to find my footing and

enjoying my time here. Things can

be hectic at times, but I believe I'm

starting to have a small, yet posi-

tive impact. Recently I came across

this amazing class that covered the

history of rock n' roll. I found it

incredible that such a class was

offered and loved how it explores

different types of music while ex-

posing students to types of music

they may have never heard

before. Lastly, my National Day

of Service project for February

centered around Random Acts

of Kindness. I kept things sim-

ple, yet impactful, by having the

students of RMMS come out

and sign a big poster giving

thanks to the fantastic staff of

the school. I found the turnout

to be pretty great and the re-

ception to it to be positive.

our National Day of Service,

we celebrated Random Acts of

Kindness Week. PASS students

helped to create paper fortune

cookies with positive words of

wisdom inside to give out to

brighten up people's day. In a

lunch time activity students

across campus got to

participate by giving out fortune

cookies to others as a random

PASS AmeriCorps students have

been working hard and putting

forth extra effort in their classes as

the new semester continues. Par-

ticipating PASS students are mak-

ing strides with the emotional

literacy program, Project AWARE.

This month, the second 7th grade

group came to an end and

students celebrated with a small

program graduation party. For

act of kindness. Over 130 VIDA

students were able to participate

and spread kindness throughout

campus. I'd like to give a special

thank you to 6th grade PASS

student Riley for helping pass out

fortunes during lunch.

pioneers and share their stories

about their journeys west. For

Random Acts of Kindness

month, I had the PASS Ameri-

Corps group write small notes

of appreciation to people that

have made positive impacts on

their life. I would love to

highlight Mr. Parrot for going

above and beyond when it

comes to academics and trying

to educate his class on issues

within life. He continues to ask

thought provoking questions

and encourages his

students to think deeper.

This month at Roosevelt, the 8th

grade teachers have introduced

some awesome arts based projects

to the classroom. One project in

particular that I have found

incredibly neat is Projects for

Sustainable Solutions that has been

taking place in the 8th grade

Science classes. I have had students

researching information on

graphene water filters, urban

homesteads, tiny houses, and

biofuels. In history, they were able

to travel back in time to become

Mr. Durney and students signing a

“Thank You” poster for staff at RMMS

PASS student Arlene

with the paper fortune

cookies she made

PASS

student

Cristian

giving a

thumbs up

to getting

work done

Rancho Minerva Middle School

Roosevelt Middle School

James Donovan Durney,

PASS AmeriCorps Member

Tamara Lash,

PASS AmeriCorps Member

Vista Innovation and Design Academy (VIDA) Mikayla Gordon,

PASS AmeriCorps Member

P A G E 4

PASS

student

works on

math in

PASS Room

322

Vista High School

Alta Vista High School

PASS

Ameri-

Corps

Program

is prepar-

ing a stu-

dent-led

project

this

month for

National

Day of

Service on

Teen Dating Violence Aware-

ness that will highlight facts

Rancho Buena Vista High School

around teen dating abuse and

unhealthy relationships. During

lunch break, six PASS Ameri-

Corps students will lead a

trivia game for other students

to identify what it looks like to

be in a healthy relationship

versus an unhealthy relation-

ship. Students who can identify

a healthy relationship versus an

unhealthy relationship

correctly will win a prize and

are given a chance to be

interviewed for a short PSA

video. The interviews will be

led by our very own PASS

AmeriCorps students who are

making the video to bring

awareness on teen dating

violence to RBVHS. The video

will be shown on RBV TV

during 3rd period later the

same week. Progress reports

have been sent and February

was a busy month making sure

all PASS AmeriCorps students

are achieving academic

excellence.

students reflect and discuss

their answers. In important

senior news, March 2nd is the

deadline for college enroll-

ment. To help students, PASS

AmeriCorps invited Palomar

College representatives to

assist Alta seniors with college

enrollment, FASFA, and the

Palomar Promise. There are

plans for another field trip to

Palomar in April. Any interest-

ed seniors are welcome to

The month of February cele-

brated Random Acts of Kind-

ness. Students put

together a “Love

is” board. The goal

was to get students

thinking about how

they express kind-

ness and show love

to others. PASS

has also imple-

mented a question

of the day, where

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

attend. Academic support con-

tinues to be a priority for PASS

students. Tutoring is still availa-

ble during Breakfast Club and

Lunch Bunch. Lastly, with bas-

ketball season ending, soccer

and football are beginning.

Currently Alta’s soccer team is

1-0 and football will start early

April. PASS AmeriCorps looks

forward to supporting Alta and

its programs.

Many students walked away

with new perspectives and new

friends, while others repaired

old friendships. We would like

to thank Mr. Hanlon and all the

other staff members who made

this week long event possible

for our Vista High students.

The theme for this month's

service project was "Random

Act of Kindness." After

discussing the theme for the

month of February, our

students took leadership roles

and collectively came up with

ideas involving the Special

Education Program. Our PASS

AC students decided to make

"Kindness Cards" for students

in the Special Education

Program. Our students were

very excited for this project

and many showed their hidden

talent for crafts by being very

creative. Great job PASS

AmeriCorps students!

Hello Panther

family! We are

very pleased

to share that

"Breaking

Down the

Walls" was

very success-

ful. The event

highlighted the

importance of getting to know

each other so we can break

down barriers between us.

Discussion group and

“Love is...” board

Angelica Segura and

Lei Ai Bambarger,

PASS AmeriCorps Members

Karen Ordorica and Andrea Venegas,

PASS AmeriCorps Members

Corey Bishop,

PASS AmeriCorps Member

PASS students Hugo,

Arianna, and Jacob get

creative with

"Kindness Cards"

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

The Bulldogs went to visit the

Museum of Tolerance in Los

Angeles. The school was lucky

enough to be donated 50 tickets

to the museum. Students were

also encouraged to read Night

by Elie Wiesel. It was a great

exposure to students with a

guest speaker that survived the

Holocaust.

This month, PASS AmeriCorps

focused on Random Acts for

Kindness, and it was much

needed. Kind cards were made

by many extra support groups that

were held as students focused to

support each other. I wanted to

thank Ms. Barron, the school so-

cial worker, in working with PASS

so closely and supporting our

students at Murray.

This month also, Mr. Seneris took

his criminology class to the

California Mock Trial Competition

in San Diego with some PASS

students participating. I’ve been

lucky enough to be a support in

this class and loved watching our

students perform. The case

People v. Davidson was a

murder trial and the students

performed in the mock trial

with pride and made the

school proud.

Major General Murray High School

Mrs. Garritson and

PASS AmeriCorps

students in

Los Angeles at the

Museum of Tolerance

'Thank You Teachers and Staff'

Poster at Olive Elementary

Jonathan Tarr Foundation's "Aloha By

The Bay" offers scholarships to students

at Alta Vista HS

Finished Kindness Cards at VHS

Jennifer Garritson,

PASS AmeriCorps Member

Students signing a ‘Thank

You’ poster to the staff at

RMMS

Paper fortune cookies made by

the PASS AmeriCorps

students at VIDA

RBV students taking part in a

healthy relationships activity

"No act of kindness,

no matter how small,

is ever wasted. "

- Aesop

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