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Tutoring Until December 15th
And Will Resume January 17th
We are back at it this week on Tuesday and Thursday and will continue through Thursday, December 15th! Please RSVP now for the dates you are available to tutor! (Be sure to complete the registration process first!) Our students at Ibarra have a year-round schedule and are off for FOUR weeks for winter break. So, plug that into your schedule and plan to return the week of January 17th. We are attempting to plan a winter ice skating excursion for our kids during this break so we will keep you posted! We'll definitely need volunteers to help with this if we do!
Our Eighth Thanksgiving Feast
We really cannot thank you all enough for the food you cooked, the crafts you prepared, the traffic you fought, the joy you brought and the hospitality you showed to our newest neighbors here in San Diego. We had our best turn out ever with over 225 people! It was standing room only! Eight turkeys, crock pots galore, many willing hands and fully engaged children and families of all skin colors. It was quite a celebration. Thank you for bringing your colleagues, parents, children, spouses and friends! One new volunteer's father came up to me during the feast and told me that he just had to share with me what LIGHT he felt in this place. He shared a hopefulness he sensed--and told me how thankful he was to participate in this event. I felt exactly the same, for the eighth year in a row. It is a privilege to share a meal with these families. With all the division that exists in our world, it is life-giving to come together. Join us on Tuesday or Thursday for this same sense of unity, gratitude and hopefulness. The pictures say it all...
Daytime Volunteering?
Thank you to the many who responded to our daytime needs! We still have many opportunities if you are interested. Come, be another adult in the room to help guide, redirect and work with small groups of refugee students. We currently have a graduate student from New Zealand, a retired grandmother who drives over 80 minutes each way, an adult ESL teacher and a mom from North County that work regularly with our students during the morning each week. Let's add YOU to this list. Ibarra doesn't have parent volunteers in classrooms. There is no PTA. There are no room parents. There isn't a foundation of parents and concerned citizens raising money for extra programming and field trips. The teachers and staff do everything. And, the joy it brings teachers and students to have another adult's help in the room, even if just for two hours a week, makes the world of a difference. Let's change the stats and make Ibarra one of the urban schools that is full of adult volunteers that care.
Here's what our ESL classes (mostly refugees) need:
Mondays: 9am-11:15am (2 people)
Tuesdays: 9:00am-11:15am (2 people)
Wednesdays: 9:00am-11:15am (1 person)
Fridays: 9:00am-11:15am (2 people)
We also have very full kindergarten classrooms with a variety of children (also many refugees), most of whom were not in preschool and need support. In talking with the kindergarten teachers, they would be delighted to have one more person in their classrooms and this could be any 2-3 hour block in the morning or afternoon. This could be any morning of the week and any afternoon with the exception of Wednesdays.
If you or someone you know would be interested in this, please have them email melissa@sdrefugeetutoring.com for more details. They will need to fill out the school district's volunteer application, have a current TB test and send a copy of their driver's license. Once they are approved, we will be ready to schedule them!
If you plan to tutor this week,
Register and then RSVP NOW !
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Holidays Up Ahead...
We are planning small holiday celebrations for our kids. On Tuesday, December 13th, during tutoring we will celebrate with an Art Show and Book Giveaway. On Thursday, December 15th, we will have a Cookie Decorating Station for the kids and you to go to together (you will take a short break from tutoring for this). If you would like to donate books for our kids, we will accept book donations from now until Dec. 13th. We will need folks to come at 4pm on Tues., Dec. 13th to help set up! If you would like to donate homemade sugar cookies or gingerbread cookies for Thurs., Dec. 15th, please let me know (melissa@sdrefugeetutoring.com).
IMPORTANT: For books, please collect new or gently used books. We need mostly easy readers as many of our kids are barely learning letters and numbers. We were thinking of giving away shoes as well but we decided to do this on an as-needed basis for kids instead of whole-group. If you or someone you know would like to donate a gift card from Payless Shoes to SDRT, that would be great. Please give to a lead teacher in the next three weeks. As we determine needs, we will take individual families out to get new shoes.
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Eating Pizza for Refugees...
Blind Lady Ale House is still giving us 20% of all of their meatless pizzas sold on MEATLESS MONDAYS through the end of 2016!! Please stop by and support San Diego Refugee Tutoring!
3416 Adams Ave. Open 5pm-12am!
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