What a crazy month! Between going to doctor appointments, physical therapy, recruiting & posting on job boards, interviewing new people, exiting members who quit, trying to reassign their work, planning Idaho@Play, moving the center to the new location and planning the Summer Program, I am about worn out. All sorts of things are falling through the cracks--like consistently writing in this blog!

We Get Things Done!

January whizzed by and I neglected to get a blog entry. AmeriCorps members accomplished some great things this month. We saw a steady rise in our attendance at SMASH. Reasons? Publicity, well thought out electives, the kick off week of special events, a variety of things to do each day and a real effort on the part of members to talk up the value of coming--I know that Cory did an excellent job with this. Rebecca planned some really fun activities that got the kiddos moving. Also, I think the homework help was improved with Sarah and Chance making an effort to help with it. Kudos to the group!

We are small but mighty! Neill found he was overwhelmed with work and school, so is taking a break.  Araceli found new employment that offered her a chance to become certified in insurance, so we had to regroup, prioritize and figure out what we could do and what would need to be set aside.

Here are some of the things we have accomplished this year:

COMMUNITY ENGAGEMENT

AmeriCorps members helped plan and execute the fall carnival and provided activities at the school for two weeks (10 eight-hour days) during harvest vacation. We stock the concession stand and sell candy, popcorn, nachos, etc. during school games.

PARENTAL ENGAGEMENT

We inform parents of activities, ask and welcome parents and grandparents as volunteers. In conjunction with the Blackfoot Community Center, we provide classes in the evenings on parenting , finance, communication, etc. We help with Parent/Teacher Conferences. We maintain a email distro list of all parents with students in the SMASH after-school program.  We attend Parent/Teacher Conferences and dispense grade packets, so we speak with each person attending. We served a Potato Bar supper at the P/T Conference.

AFTER-SCHOOL & EXTENDED LEARNING

We hold  a 2- hour After-School Program called SMASH four days/week. The first 45 minutes is devoted to homework and practicing musical instruments. The last hour is more structured and classes such as  cooking, wood-working, acting, art, karate, etc. are taught. Student attendance is taken daily.

ATTENDANCE

AmeriCorps members compile attendance and chart students who need to make up tardies and absences during Friday School (held Friday mornings). We provide support to the faculty on Fridays.

BEHAVIORAL SUPPORT

Each member has 6-8 students that are assigned to them and they track their progress and report at staff meetings. Some are assigned for academic help, but some are also designated who have behavioral problems. Members are in class at least once per day with the designated students.

MENTORSHIP

AmeriCorps members attend classes with students during the day. Each member has 6-8 students that are assigned to them and they track their progress and report at staff meetings. Members are in class at least once per day with their students. They work closely with the RTI team to improve each designated student's grades by ensuring that homework is completed and handed in on time and that students attend to the lessons during the class period.

COLLEGE READINESS

The school is in the process of implementing the Career Information System into the curriculum. We have been briefly introduced to the system and have Career/Marketing classes as part of the SMASH after-school program. We also have Jr. Achievement scheduled. Thinking about careers and life-planning is an important step in giving students the reason to go to college and an important part of college readiness.

TUTORING

Both in-class tutoring and after-school tutoring are provided by AmeriCorps members. Math and Language Arts have been the main focus this year. One AmeriCorps member has attended the drama class all year to reach students in that class. The Student Success Classes have at least one member aiding the teacher every day.

SUPPORTIVE SERVICES

AmeriCorps members make copies, grade tests, and support teachers with anything they need to free the faculty's time for teaching. Members take tickets during lunch, provide lunch duty and monitor halls before school and during lunch breaks. Students who have all their assignments in, get an extra 30 minutes of free time during lunch and can choose to go to the library, computer lab, gym, or play games in the SMASH room. AmeriCorps members plan activities in the SMASH room for the extended lunch hour.

SCHOOL CLIMATE

AmeriCorps members create 4-5 different bulletin boards each month, plan, decorate and execute dances, plan faculty/student parties, such as a pancake breakfast for Christmas. Promoted the DARE program.

Out of School Summer Camp (June, July, August)

AmeriCorps plans activities for 8 weeks (40 days/8 hours per day) during the summer that are fun and informative. At least 30 minutes per day is spent reading. Every week there is a topic to research and we have a garden. Two or three family parties are also part of the program and the students fix the food, decorate and provide entertainment at these parties.

We Get Things Done!