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Last year (2011),
your support helped over 7,000 people.
Thank you.
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On My Mind
Dom's Wanderings
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When I was an adolescent in the late 1960s, our parish newspaper was written, produced and distributed after mass each Sunday by 30 kids. I was one of them. We spent hours and hours each week gathering news from the various clubs and groups, planning editorials, debating the issues of the day - Vietnam, the growing hippie culture, gangs - and slaving over the Gestetner machine. On Sunday, we held an editorial meeting that sometimes lasted several hours. Then we gathered the information and wrote the articles. On Saturday, it took 10 kids seven to ten hours just to cut the stencil, print, collate and staple that newspaper. Putting out the paper was purely volunteer work. The parishioners looked forward to it. And, it kept us off the streets and out of trouble. No one called it service learning then, but that's what it was. The paper was called " The Reflector." Those editorial meetings were what moved the newspaper from volunteer work to service learning. When we discussed the news - local and national - and determined our editorial stance, we were learning to think about the issues of our day. We were reflecting on what we believed. And, we were learning about our community, its problems, its solutions and its leadership. Those editorial meetings shaped us into the community leaders many of us are today. That's what the community service learning components of NYCID's programs do, too. Shape our future community leaders. By choosing projects they care about, doing the work, and reflecting on the underlying issues and potential solutions, our participants are learning to think and act in ways that strengthen our communities. Your support makes it happen. Thank you. All the best,
Dominick J. Brancato Executive Director P.S. I hope to see you at our Benefit Concert (featuring The Budos Band, The Headlocks and Tali) on March 23. |
Did you know?
Our Community Dispute Resolution Center is
funded in part by the
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A Benefit Concert
to Support NYCID's Work with Disconnected Youth
Featured Bands:
The Budos Band
The Headlocks
Tali
Fri., March 23, 2012
7 p.m.
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Your contributions help adolescents and young adults
stay in school,
earn degrees and become successful
employees.
Thank you.
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Exchange Online - March 2012
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Greetings!
When I was a kid I did lots of volunteer work and some I loved, but some I hated. I was bored or horrified or didn't see the point. But, I never remember talking with my teachers, scout leaders, minister or peers about the experience. The "learning" part of service learning wasn't there.
This month we share how service learning differs from volunteering and how important the "learning" part is.
-- The editor
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ACE Students Learn About Hunger and Homelessness
This winter, 12 of our pre-GED Achievement in Career & Education (ACE) students participated in a service learning project which they chose. For their 9-week project, they worked at Project Hospitality sorting and restocking groceries and assisting with lunch. And, once a week, they met to reflect on hunger and homelessness in the Staten Island community, what makes a community work, and what this experience has meant for them.
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Project Hospitality's Food Pantry at 514 Bay Street. Photo courtesy of Staten Island Advance/Hilton Flores
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These students are 16 - 24 years old and read between the 4th and 8th grade level, which is not good enough yet to enter a GED program. They have to get to the 9th grade reading level to take the GED prep course.
Your contributions help make ACE possible, so we want you to know how you support the work of improving kids' lives while strengthening our community. Without you, this wouldn't be happening.
Here are some of the group's comments about their experience at Project Hospitality:
Why did your group choose Project Hospitality for your service learning project?
We wanted to stay together and chose to feed the homeless because some of us have been homeless or close to being homeless. We wanted to give back to an organization in our community that helps the people of our community.
What was the biggest surprise?
How much work it takes to provide groceries and lunch on a daily basis.
What would you like others to know about
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Food delivery at Project Hospitality's
Food Pantry (Photo: Michael V'inkin Lee/NY City Lens)
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service learning?
It takes a lot of dedicated people to help a community. We were also surprised that there isn't more funding to help in times like these.
Do you think differently about homelessness and hunger now? How?
Yes, again, being surprised about the work load. We are also surprised about the number of people who came to the center for help. It wasn't just homeless people but the people from our neighborhoods who we knew were working.
While we didn't have a chance to talk to people it did provide us with topics to discuss in class. And, we have a little better understanding of working for minimal wage and we want to try to do something else.
Students contributing to the answers were: Jamie Uriuoli, Clarissa Uriuoli, Devine Webb, Eric Correa, Kenroy Rodney and Glenroy Rodney.
Deborah Green, the director of the ACE program, shared, "As the project progressed, several of the kids became far more serious about their studies. Thinking about homelessness and discovering that a minimum wage doesn't guarantee that you can make ends meet helped them focus on what they need to do to safeguard their futures."
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"An Education Without Character Amounts to Nothing"
Service learning is more than volunteering time and talents. Central to it is reflection on the meaning of the experience. Because students address issues they care about, the projects can support social, emotional and cognitive learning and development. It's this multi-faceted learning that develops character and strengthens our communities.
We've posted two other service learning projects at NYCID programs on our blog. Take a look at:
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30 Years of NYCID's Staten Island Community Dispute Resolution Center
Spotlight on Philip Grant
Philip Grant, now 20, became a peer mediator when he was a Curtis High School student. The mediation skills he learned then serve him well today.
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Philip Grant
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Philip is currently the Director of Scheduling Affairs for NYC Council Member Debi Rose.
While I was a student at Curtis H.S. (I graduated in 2010), I was looking for activities to get involved in. I knew Mr. Gregory Hutchins [ a former staff member of NYCID], and he told me about the peer mediation training in 2008. I was interested in learning more, so I signed up for it. During the training, it was a bit overwhelming because of all the informationd. I was nervous that I wouldn't remember enough when it was time to actually mediate an issue. In the end, I ended up retaining much more of the information than I thought I would. While I was a peer mediator, I mediated cases regarding harassment, bullying, threats, fights, etc. I felt connected to my peers and they trusted me to help them find resolutions to issues that were most important/pressing to them. Being trained as a mediator makes you think about how you react to situations. The skills are definitely helpful when conflict arises - in both your personal and professional life. It certainly has made me aware of how conflict over small things can build up over time if it is not addressed.
Do you still use the skills that you learned?
Absolutely. In some situations I do use the skills at work with constituents that call or come into the office. But I also try to refer people to NYCID when it is appropriate. And in my personal life I definitely use the skills I learned as a mediator. Actually, some people don't even know I am a mediator, but they naturally come to me anyway. I most certainly would recommend participating in a peer mediation program to anyone who has patience, and wishes to gain skills in helping to create peaceful environments through allowing others to create a foundation for change. |
| News in Brief
Think NYCID Summer Camp!
If you want your kids to spend the day in a safe and nurturing summer program, reserve a spot at the  NYCID summer camp at the Staten Island School of Civic Leadership -- a state-of-the-art, air-conditioned facility in Graniteville.
This unique summer camp -- now in its third year -- incorporates programming built on The 7 Habits of Happy Kids by Stephen Covey's son Sean.
View more photos from last year's summer camp here.
For more information, contact Ivy Bilotti at (646) 457-5438 or Robert Busan at (718) 374-1658.
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Want to Help?
We'd love to have you volunteer with us. NYCID's Benefit Committee is getting organized for our Annual Benefit on June 26.
This is our major fundraiser and you can help solicit auction items, sell journal ads, organize the event, or help with a myriad of other details.
For more information, to donate an item or to volunteer, contact Amy Lavelle, Development Associate, at (718) 947-4121.
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