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August 2015

Welcome Back Volunteers!

Dear Volunteers,

We hope you have all enjoyed a wonderful summer and that we have a nice long fall ahead of us.

Metro South's theme for this program year 2015/2016 is "Gratitude, Growth, Greatness."

As always, you have our gratitude for all you do for us and our students.

Whether you have been with us a short time or for many years, you have contributed so much to our growth.

We look forward to working side by side with you as we continue on our path to greatness!

Returning to Volunteering

We hope you are all looking forward to coming back to volunteering with us this fall!

A few of you have already contacted me about your schedule. If you will not be returning to the volunteer position you held in the spring, please let me know as soon as possible. We generally record two different designations for volunteers who are not returning. We can place you "on hold" if you plan to return at some point in the near future (within 1 year) or as "left" if you do not plan to return.

Depending on the site or classroom you are returning to, your start date will be communicated to you by the teacher or site coordinator. 

We are looking for a few more volunteers to help this year at our Bloomington location:

-Reading Lab from 5:00-6:00 pm Mondays and/or Tuesdays 

-Reading Lab from 12:30-2:00 pm  on Mondays and/or Thursdays

-Homework Lab Wedneday or Thursday 12:30-2

-STAR Reading Class Monday and/or Wednesday evenings 6:00-7:30 pm

-STAR Reading Class Tuesday and/or Thursday 11:15 am -12:30 pm

To learn more about the STAR classroom please go to:

http://atlasabe.org/professional/star

and at our Edina & Richfield sites:

-Volunteer Site Coordinator for our MIRA/Central Adult ESL classes in Richfield, Mondays and Wednesdays noon to 2pm.

-Volunteer Site Coordinator for our Edina Community Center Adult ESL classes Tuesdays 9:30-11:30.

Graduation 2015

Volunteer Keith Lindstam with Deqo, one of our new graduates.

Volunteer Tom Mouw with graduate Saba and her family.

Judy Stelmazek and Mary Jo Bayliss with new graduate Muhubo.

SHAPEd Me Deeply: A Volunteer Reflects

Fifteen summers ago, I stepped into the offices of the South Hennepin Adult Programs in Education (SHAPE).  I had just answered an ad from the Minnesota Volunteer website.  It’s hard to say who needed whom more.  SHAPE was looking for English language and US culture tutors, but I was looking for meaning in a work life that, up to that point, was bobbing along from warehouses to offices all along the south metro.  The outsourcing movement was in full swing, and workplaces were often tense and impersonal.  I was a college graduate, but didn’t have a clue as to how to apply my skills for the good of a community.  In fact, I wasn’t sure what my skills actually were, or where my community actually was.

 But that changed when I met Amy and Gail.  They appreciated my interest, sensed my patience and connected me with first-rate training and support through their office as well as through the Minnesota Literacy Council.  They placed me with a Vietnamese immigrant, and I met him at the Augsburg Park Public Library.  Instantly, my schedule, my priorities, my life, shifted.  I had been a fairly sheltered, privileged, self-centered kid.  I was now a volunteer, a boundary-crosser, an educator, even in some small way.  One of the librarians there approached me about hosting a weekly class for the many immigrants in the community.  My world got larger, my Monday evenings were spent with brave travelers, sharp learners, the very kindest of souls I’ve ever known.

 About a year in, I started to wonder about education as a career.  Now, I got a lot of help from my girlfriend, who became my wife, but I think that she probably fell in love with me because she saw my work as a volunteer tutor.  She saw me as the man I wanted to be.  And because of her, because of SHAPE, because of all those folks willing to learn from me, I picked up a part-time job as a technical college tutor.  From there, I drove down to Mankato on weeknights to earn my MA degree.  And from there, I became a college instructor — even one recognized by my colleagues as a nominee for MnSCU Educator of the Year in 2014.

 I’m still fairly sheltered, and certainly privileged in all sorts of ways.  But I don’t live in a small world.  And I don’t spend my life’s energies in warehouses or offices (though those can be noble places, too, with hard-working folks as well).  I’m an educator, and some other things too, thanks to the opportunities provided by SHAPE.  On the surface, organizations such as these serve basic needs for the underserved.  But for the volunteers, these organizations provide ladders to new places, to bigger views, to dreams and careers and very rich lives. I’m no longer in the area, but I remain profoundly shaped by my time with SHAPE.  I can’t thank you enough — those of you who keep this organization active and important in the lives of all those you reach.

 With profound appreciation,

 Robert Jersak

 

Eden Prairie Senior Center Keeps on Shining!

This summer, Metro South Volunteers wanted to give speacial recognition to the Eden Prairie Senior Center for all the support they have given our Adult ESL Classroom. EPSC has hosted our classes taught by award-winning volunteer Carol Swanson since December 2001. She has been a volunteer with us since 1998 and teaches on Tuesdays and Thursdays at the center.

Pictures at right are: Gina Carpenter, Alternative Education Services Coordinator, Carol Swanson, Volunteer Site Coordinator and Tutor, Doug Tucker EPSC Administrative Assistant, ESL student Susie, and Terri Blackburn, Metro South Outreach Liaison.

2015/2016 Dates for your calendar:

 

September 1, 2015                  1st day of school for ESL students

October 15, 16, & 17, 2015      no school - MEA

November 25-28, 2015           no school - Thanksgiving

Decr 21 - Jan 2, 2016               no school - Winter Break

January 18, 2016                      no school - MLK Day

February 15, 2016                    no school - President's Day

March 21 - 26, 2016                 no school - Spring Break

May 28 & 30, 2016                   no school - Memorial Day

 

Metro South Volunteer Hours Reported to the Minnesota Literacy Council for 2014/2015

Number of Hours Volunteers Worked with GED/Adult Diploma Students:             676.50
Number of Hours Volunteers Worked with ESL Students:                                        5,024.50
Number of Hours Volunteers Worked with ABE Students:                                        1,654.00
Number of Hours Contributed by Volunteers for Non-tutoring activities:                 105.50
                                                                                                             Total Hours:             7,460.50

THANK YOU ALL SO MUCH!
 

Introducing Our New Leadership!

Tamra Sieve is the new Executive Director of Bloomington Richfield Community Services.

Kellie McGowan is the new Director of Metro South Adult Programs in Education replacing Tamra Sieve.

Devin Tomczik is Metro South's new ESL Lead Teacher replacing Kellie McGowan.

Congratulations to all!

Just fyi !

Questions, suggestions, comments? Please contact Mary Jo at mbayliss@isd271.org