ers, parking attendants, backstage

and community space assistants,

coffee station attendants, volun-

teer room assistants, and break-

down and cleanup crew. We

were also able to hold a booth

providing information to individu-

als attending the event on the

PASS Program and AmeriCorps

in general.

Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. said,

“Everybody can be great… be-

cause anybody can serve.” Our

38 PASS AmeriCorps Program

Members work hard every day to

encourage and empower youth

throughout our San Diego Coun-

ty School Districts to embrace

their greatness and make a differ-

ence in their schools, communi-

ties, lives, and futures through

their own hard work and service.

In 1994, Congress designated

Martin Luther King Jr. Day as a

National Day of Service with

efforts supported and led by the

Corporation for National and

Community Service (CNCS). As

the only federal holiday designat-

ed as a National Day of Service,

CNCS challenges us to make

MLK Day a “day on, not a day

off.” By engaging in service op-

portunities on this day, individu-

als and groups follow in Dr.

King’s footsteps, working to

strengthen their communities

and make differences in many

areas of human need, such as

education, the environment, and

public safety.

To honor Dr. Martin Luther King

Jr.’s legacy, the PASS Ameri-

Corps Program made MLK Day a

“day on” through serving as vol-

unteers at the 29th Annual All

People’s Celebration, hosted by

Alliance San Diego. The event

took place on Monday, January

16, 2017 at the Balboa Park Ac-

tivity Center and was attended

by about 1,000 business leaders,

elected officials, faith leaders,

community organizers, artists,

and students. Our PASS Ameri-

Corps Members served as ush-

Some of our PASS AmeriCorps

Members serving at the 29th

Annual All People’s Celebration.

PASS Makes it a “Day On” for MLK Day I N S I D E T H I S

I S S U E :

Program

Updates 1

VUSD Schools

Casita

Center 2

Olive

Elementary 2

Madison

Middle 2

Rancho

Minerva

Middle

3

VIDA 3

Vista High 3

Alta Vista

High 4

General

Murray High 4

Monthly

Training 4

About Us/

Contact Us 5

Calendar 5

PASS AmeriCorps Newsletter J A N U A R Y 2 0 1 7 V O L U M E 7 , I S S U E 4

Miguel working

on CNN Student

News for History

class at Vista

High. The final product of a collabora-

tive MLK Day Project between

first, fourth, and fifth graders at

Casita Center.

Students staying

after school in

the PASS room

at General Mur-

ray.

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

P A G E 2

Olive Elementary School, Vista, CA

Madison Middle School, Vista, CA

Casita Center for Science and Technology, Vista, CA

January has

been a fun

packed

month for

PASS stu-

dents at

Casita Cen-

ter, they

have used

the myriad

of skills they

have to

collaboratively create a Na-

tional Day of Service project

Martin Luther King Jr. would

be proud of. Basing their pro-

ject off the historical March on

Washington from 1963, stu-

dents at Casita Center were

able to place themselves at the

historic march via a miniature

paperdoll replica. In addition to

the project, fifth grade Casita

students are embarking on a

living science experiment that

will quantify the growth of

Basil and Lettuce in two differ-

ing environments, an in-class

aquaponics system and the

traditional campus garden. As

for fourth grade, our teachers

in conjunction with the PASS

Program have been excitedly

busy helping fourth graders

grasp the conceptual and real-

world applicability of dividing

numbers. In preparation for

February's Kindness Week,

Casita Center sends warm

regards to all the friends we

have yet to make. Five PASS students can be seen

working on their miniature self,

writing their dream on the back.

they learned how to create

origami stars out of the writ-

ten notes. In an effort to raise

cultural awareness at the

school, we celebrated the

Lunar New Year. Students

explored various cultures who

celebrate the Lunar New Year

to learn about diverse tradi-

tions. Activities for the event

included exploration of the

Madison Middle School's PASS

Program is off to a great start

for 2017. On the 12th of Janu-

ary, we honored the legacy of

Reverend Dr. Martin Luther

King Jr. by hosting an activity

called “I Can Dream like Dr.

King.” The activity allowed

students to share and support

each other’s dreams. Students

wrote inspiring notes to them-

selves and others, and then

Chinese Zodiac, a geography

quiz with facts about the

unique traditions of the coun-

try, and a lesson on how to say

“Happy New Year” in different

languages. Students also hand

decorated red envelopes to be

filled with Mustang Moolah and

to be handed out to another

Madison student in the spirit of

kindness.

sion during morning breakfast,

recess, lunch, and after school.

PASS AmeriCorps created a

service project for students

where they each brainstormed

their dreams of aspiration to

commemorate Martin Luther

King Jr. We also celebrated

the Great Kindness Challenge

by having a kick-off assembly

where PASS students per-

formed a skit. Fifteen students

participated to help teach about

why kindness matters. PASS

partnered with school staff to

provide Kindness Activities such

as making ‘Kindness Rocks’ and

making ‘Kindness Katchers’.

Next month, PASS will continue

to spread random acts of kind-

ness with our subsequent service

day.

PASS continues to provide

service to mentees and their

peers by helping them in their

academics. With a collabora-

tion with ASES, PASS supports

students outside of class by

attending their extracurricular

activities such as sports and

choir to further connect with

students. During the school

day, PASS assists school staff

by providing additional supervi-

Students practiced saying

Happy New Year in Mon-

golian, Vietnamese, Can-

tonese and Korean.

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 participat-

ed in a Martin Luther

King dream poster.

Daisy Gallardo, PASS AmeriCorps Member

Diego Bautista, PASS AmeriCorps Member

Rosalba Rocha, PASS AmeriCorps Member

Rancho Minerva Middle School, Vista, CA

P A G E 3 V O L U M E 7 , I S S U E 4

The PASS Program has been a huge

success this year. Recently, the

PASS students have celebrated

Martin Luther King Jr. After watch-

ing the "I Have a Dream" speech,

students were inspired to write

about equal rights for all human

beings and they

shared hopes of

graduating and

being successful

in all that they

take part in.

Many of them

also expressed concerns for their

grades, but mentioned that one-on-

one tutoring and classroom visits

have helped them. PASS also at-

tends Project AWARE every week,

which is an emotional literacy

group in which students are given a

safe space to open up and share

their struggles. It is an honor to be

a part of this journey and our men-

toring relationships have only

strengthened with the students'

openness in sharing their stories.

The relationships with the students

are growing stronger each day and

the goal over the next few months

is to send them off for the next

year with the confidence and posi-

tivity they need to succeed.

munity, whether it was through

volunteering, donating, etc. They

helped us come up with a fantastic

list which will be displayed in the

school’s central quad and it includes

ideas such as calling out negative

language and helping plant a com-

munity garden.

This month also marked the begin-

ning of our very first girls group!

The group serves to offer a small

Vista High and PASS students

worked on a Martin Luther King Jr.

service project. MLK Jr. is widely

known as one of the most influen-

tial civil rights activists who wanted

equality for all people, but, he was

also a huge advocate for individuals

to help in their community. He

asked the question “what are you

doing for others?” For our service

project we asked students in what

ways they could serve their com-

group of young

women the

space to discuss

topics they find

relevant as fe-

male students.

We also hope

the group will foster new

friendships and that it

encourages solidarity

amongst one another.

gangs, and participating in discus-

sions on how to set aside differ-

ences to avoid neighborhood con-

flicts. PASS students also participat-

ed in honoring Martin Luther King’s

Jr. work for our National Day of

Service. Students discussed his role

as a peaceful leader and how he

has influenced us today. Students

then expressed their creativity by

drawing Martin Luther King sketch-

es to display in our counseling

cove here at VIDA. In addi-

tion, they worked to create

“Peaceful Messages” – paper

hand figurines with positive

messages written inside.

Students in the PASS office have

been diligently working on their flip

books for their history class. They

have been taught about the U.S

constitution and the different bod-

ies of government, such as the U.S

senators, Congress, and the Su-

preme Court. PASS has been push-

ing in to other classes such as study

skills, where students are reading

The Outsiders, a book about rival

Inspiring clouds

written by

PASS students

who participat-

ed in the MLK

Day activity.

Vista Innovation and Design Academy (VIDA), Vista, CA

Vista High School, Vista, CA

Ms. Morse, Juana, and Marleen

holding up the MLK service

project.

Riddle from

VIDA student:

There's a man who lived

in a pink house.

Everything in his house

was pink and he lived in

a one story house. If

everything in his house

was pink, what color

were his stairs?

Chelsea Kozikis, PASS AmeriCorps Member

Vanessa Acosta, PASS AmeriCorps Member

Skyler Vanderhye and Brighid Morse, PASS AmeriCorps Members

Trevor H., Lindsey H.,

and Jaleel D. on the first

day of beginning the

MLK Jr. sketch.

Answer: No stairs (1story)

P A G E 4

Students create di-

versity posters in

honor of MLK day.

Major General Murray High School, Vista, CA

PASS Professional Development in January

Alta Vista High School, Vista, CA PASS AmeriCorps

continues to have

success in its part-

nership with Alta

Vista High School.

PASS has been

assisting in coaching

rugby and basket-

ball. The final bas-

ketball champion-

ship was held at the

end of the month

at Valley Center

High School and AVHS came

out victorious.

January was dedicated to cele-

brating diversity in honor of

Martin Luther King Jr. Students

created a variety of posters to

promote diversity and to show

their support for MLK Jr.

Several students wrote notes

to complete the statement “I

have a dream...” Afterwards,

the final statements were gath-

ered to be displayed on the

posters.

The PASS Program has been

provided its own classroom

where services will continue to

be delivered to strengthen the

progress students have already

shown. Their grades have been

improving and attendance has

been rising. It’s more im-

portant now to re-focus stu-

dents so that they stay on

track towards graduation.

they all had a chance to recon-

nect and unwind after com-

pleting their first student data

report in December. Sal’s en-

ergetic training helped our

team to bond and begin 2017

energized and excited to con-

tinue our work. We are truly

grateful to Sal for making this

contribution to our team. As

one of our PASS ACs put it,

“He is a Legend.”

Sal Garcia, Program Specialist

with Friday Night Live at

SDCOE, came to our PASS

AmeriCorps All Staff Meeting

and conducted an amazing

training with our PASS ACs.

He taught and demonstrated

several ice breaker games

that our members can imple-

ment with their students.

Our members were so

cheerful during the training,

getting on track for graduation.

PASS has also continued to be

available after school for aca-

demic help. Other after school

activities involve PASS events

such as honoring Martin Lu-

ther King Jr. PASS students

worked on one piece of a MLK

Jr. portrait puzzle to create a

collective portrait of the civil

rights leader. In other news,

GMHS had a cohort of Project

AWARE students graduate,

and also held an orientation

for the next cohort. PASS is

currently involved with both

groups on campus and it is a

privilege to have the oppor-

tunity to work with Project

AWARE in helping build emo-

tional literacy among our stu-

dents.

January marked the mid-point

of the year for students which

led to a review of individual

graduation plans. This served

as a reminder for many stu-

dents on what their upcoming

progress should consist of, but

also came as reassurance to

others. Interest in the after-

school E2020 credit recovery

has grown as some students

are realizing the urgency of

MLK Poster in the office

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

Jennifer Garritson, PASS AmeriCorps Member

Corey Bishop, PASS AmeriCorps Member

Cultural Fact for Lunar New Year

from Madison Middle:

A common Mongol tradition of

Tsagaan Sar (New Year) is to create

an Idee (pronounced "ee-day"),

which is made out of layers of a

particular type of boov ("bow"), or

biscuit, then topped with sweets.

Sal Garcia hosted an amaz-

ing training on “Engaging

Youth in Activities”

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 29 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 targeted stu-

dents through individual and group mentoring,

academic support, grades and attendance re-

views, leadership development, guest speakers,

service 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

______

February