Table Of Content

374.012786 PllJR Handbook Montana America Reads VISTAs for i PREPAREDBYMONTANAAMERICAREADS AMERI’^CORPS VISTAMEMBERS MONTANAOFFICE OF PUBLICINSTRUCTION, LINDAMcCULLOCH, SUPERINTENDENT JULY2001 Table ofContents Put on Your Apron 3 The Basic Ingredients: AmeriCorps Terms to I<jiow & Love 4 Kitchen Utensils: The AmeriCorps Cast of Characters 8 Communications: “It’s in there.” 12 Shopping For Volunteers: Volunteer Recruitment 18 Kitchen Safety: Taking Precautions With Background Checks 21 Squeezing The Fruit At The Farmer’s Market: Soliciting from Local Businesses 23 Bountiful Harvest: Grant Writing 24 A Healthy Preservative For Your Program: Coalition Building 27 Outreach 28 When It’s Barbecue Time: Summer Reading Programs 30 Tasted Good & Was Filling: Evaluations 34 A Simmering & Savoty Brew: Random Tips 37 & Dessert Coffee: Conclusion 39 Dinner Mints by the Door: Appendix 40 a * I ^ ir^m s W •j a^wtJ cJi.ii'T A ' ^»n.^ vV ' ,,nr *>117 , J 3 r- . lO >#^0 ' o^jxOfy'imA suCT <iif run iH :t ' - • . • ‘ 7a£(^>>H » VMir vo^ v.^f? 8f.... K ' * C-: FJi rrro^J j^nabUrs^. c?*^ qvIT I'A iin-ri M,-'"• Uirjw^ 1^. .-.-,.^.,4. frtf-r>2fr' n»fif A T£ *^1 f .1. *»«*»*-'^•»**»***^^*’**•**»»***'•*•*”*** **‘***;********'*T*~'***' '* •' r- ^...: WW f'^.nrnixe ^ro -cirâ «î uv>r«^.(Uv,H ^ A hoi7’J b»7« r <•> . • ifr tf ;*r?-.e /.7<iî;^ -*. :^nb3rmni2 /v “** ^ ‘ K A TtMioa m M, ^.*,14— — — — ns ujoit ^r-M ^d*JnU#’ liifaiKlI 4*f* ,44 , . .r' '>• 41 * V ' \ ^ ’ I If t .fei' . 'f• y . •:.. ST #iJ '* f I ’jiP P ")r3 & .1 y This hook is dedicated to the America Reads VISTAs of2000-2001 a most piquant bouquet ofpersonalities y and toJune AtkinSy a certain winner ifthere were an Iron Chefcontestfor literacy. • <r7- w ’•v s» 'jnnj' \s « V Put on Your Apron . . . The motto for AmeriCorps is “getting things done.” Previous VISTAs have paraphrased this to “getting things done while waiting for explanations, advice, and money.” Ultimately, your VISTA year will be what you make ofit. It could be the hardest and most fulfilling year ofyour life, or you could be lazy and deskbound end up not knowing the true nature ofpublic service. Regardless, you don’t have to go at it alone. This book was compiled from all of the questions, insecurities, and humor that emerged from this year’s America Reads VISTAs. We decided that while we often felt like a Little Red Hen without any help cracking the wheat and baking the bread, we would leave you a recipe to follow so you wouldn’t begin alone. Feel free to alter to suit your own tastes, adding and changing spices and ingredients as desired. So take what you need, ignore what you don’t. Just don’t blow up the kitchen! The Basic Ingredients: AmeriCorps Terms To Know And Love Community Action Plan This is the set ofgoals for the America Reads program that you will follow throughout your year of service. It was written at the headquarters at the Office ofPublic Instruction and approved by the Corporation for National Service. At the beginning of your term you will sit down with your site supervisor and discuss what you plan to accomplish for the next 90 days. The goals ofthe plan are accompanied by vague timelines such as ‘‘1st Quarter” or “Ongoing. Since it is a general plan used by all America Reads VISTAs, it is up to you to interpret the plan with your own host site in mind. When you have drafted your plan, t>q?e it into the template and send it to the Office ofPublic Instruction. At the end ofthe first quarter you will fill out the ACCOMPLISHED Community Action Plan again, this time with what you have in the last 90 days. You will also turn in another plan ofwhat you will do during the 2nd quarter. OPI and CNS appreciate receiving newspaper articles, brochures, or pictures along with the report. Admittedly, past VISTAs have not enjoyed completing the Community Action plan, viewing it as mindless paperwork that nobod}^ looks at. In fact, that couldn’t be further from the truth: both OPI and CNS use these reports as documents of accountability and success, which keeps the federal funding coming. The Community VISTA Action Plan can also be a useful tool for you to track your progress. Last year’s leader said that doing these reports was easy once she put the template onto her computer. Every time she accomplished something noteworthy she added it to her computer, so when the report was due she only needed to print it off. She kept a master copy that had aU four quarters on it so that when her year of service concluded there was a master plan of all her accomplishments. Let the Community Action Plan be your guide and your jumping offpoint. If there is an aspect ofit that doesn’t fit your program, talk toJune or your leader about how to tailor it for your program. And always remember to turn it in by the deadline! Direct vs. Indirect Service This could also be termed Leadership vs. Stewardship. Regardless ofthe semantics, the point is that to be a good AmeriCorps leader, you must teach others to lead. When you first come to a community, it is up to you to raise awareness about America Reads and do the tasks to put it in place. However, once you have implemented the program you have to find ways to put it into the hands of the community. America Reads VISTAs are not allowed to do direct service, such as tutoring children. They are in the community to do indirect service, which means mobilizing others. Think ofAmerica Reads as Pinocchio. Initially you are the puppeteer, controlling its movements to reach desired outcomes. But Pinocchio’s ultimate goal was to be a real boy, and your ultimate goal is to make America Reads become its own functioning entity (see Sustainability.) As hard as this is, this means that you have to step aside and let others take over aspects of your program. You want to “work yourselfout ofa job.” 4 Mission Statement A mission statement is a short explanation ofwhat you plan to accomplish with your project. America Reads has a general mission statement from its Clinton inception: To ensure that children are all able to read well and independendy by the third grade. When you start your term at your own host site, you might want to alter this mission statement to suit the specific nature ofyour program. Talk with your site supervisor about his or her overall goals, combine it with yours, and come up with a statement that reflects how you want to improve or empower your community. Not only can this be a personal motivator, but it is a good foundation for explaining your program to community members. You can put it in your brochure, or use it as the thesis statement of an informational speech. The only hard rule for a mission statement is that it should be concise. Anything more than a paragraph is too much. It would also help to be realistic within your idealism. Having the mission statement of“even^ child will be able to read Tolstoy after one semester with an America Reads tutor” is certainly noble, but you may end up disappointed. Reading Council A reading council is a group ofteachers and other Literacy advocates that work to promote literacy in a community. The top of this umbrella is IRA, the International Reading Association. The state organization is the Montana State Reading Council, or MSRC. This body is made up oflocal councils throughout the state. Your local reading council should be one ofyour first contacts you make in your community. These are the individuals that will share your passion for literacy, and they can tell you the histoty' ofreading promotion in your community. When it’s time to form a coalition, the reading council should be on your invite list. Ifyou want to write a community' grant, parmer up with the reading council and you will improve your chances ofreceiving funds. You may even find a member ofa reading council who is wiUing to take over your program after your year of service, ensuring sustainability. Ifthere is no reading council in your area, tty" to work with one that is closest geographically. Ifyou can recruit ten people in your community to be IRA members, you can work on starting a chapter in vour community". Reading Recovery Reading Recover)" is another reading improvement program that may be present in your school. Some VISTAs often have trouble implementing America Reads programs because schools feel that they already have enough reading tutoring programs. Some even have non-AmeriCorps sponsored America Reads programs. When this occurs, do not look at the other programs as competition. All programs have the aim to improve reading skills in K-12 schools. Look for ways to align the programs and collaborate with reading teachers. Show how you can help make their program stronger with your volunteer recruitment and literacy events. Ifa school feels that they don’t need your help you should stiU contact them when forming your coalition. Your project is more likely to get grant company ifyou can say that you’re partnering with schools that have similar literacy programs. 5 Stakeholder At the PSO, you may have a trainer that talks a lot about the difference between parmers and stakeholders. After polling current America Reads VISTAs, no one has figured out the difference. During our year of service we ha used the term stakeholder, and our working definition has been that a stakeholder is anyone who can help and/or be helped by your program. This represents a wide range of community members and organizations. Stakeholders closest to home would include the faculty and staffof the school site and the parents of children being tutored. A step away from that would be any non-profit organization dedicated to helping youth. It could also be a local business, or a national business with a franchise in the community. When you arrive at your host site, sit down with your site supervisor and brainstorm a list of stakeholders. Then keep this list in an easy-to-reference place. It will be helpful when it’s time to make the communications plan, when trying to recruit volunteers, and when fundraising. Sustainability Sustainability is a major component of the success ofyour program. The AmeriCorps definition ofsustainability is that your reading program continues long after your term ofservice is over. This requires a strict practice ofindirect service and plenty of community involvement. Sustainability can be achieved in a variety ofways. When you form a literacy coalition, you may find a way to streamline volunteer recruitment enough that one source win send volunteers to your schools, and an elementary teacher can make sure that there win always be a tutoring space and leveled books. You could find a parent that has volunteered for the program and is eager to do more and train her as the school’s volunteer coordinator. Ifno one at the school is interested or has the time to take on America Reads duties, you could find ways to make the America Reads Coordinator a paid position. This usuahy involves writing grants or finding other forms of federal funding. One Title A Title I school is a compensatoty program that helps students who need to improve academic skills as identified through a screening process. Funds are allocated to these schools based on the percentage ofchildren with free and reduced lunches. Some America Reads schools may be Title 1, but not all. In fact, America Reads often helps children who are not eligible for Title I funds but still need extra help with reading. When you get to your host site it is important to see ifyou are at a Title I school, and to make a contact with a Title 1 teacher. Often these teachers can help with tutoring pracnces and give additional means of support. You may encounter a Title I teacher that uses different tutoring practices than America Reads. Ifthis is the case, do not feel that you have to adhere strictly to America Reads practices. The goal is that children improve their reading skills. Trainings Being in AmeriCorps is all about attending trainings. You start with a PSO where you meet people doing projects throughout the western United States. After that the 6