Thursday, June 30, 2011
Photo of the Week: June 30, 2011
End of the Year Event at the Chelsea Boys and Girls Club
Wednesday, June 29, 2011
Gearing Up for the Rodman Ride for Kids
Team Generations Incorporated's tireless 50 mile riders show their excitement in last year's Rodman Ride for Kids.
Come September 24, 2011, members of Team Generations Incorporated will contribute a little sweat to support the cause of ensuring that every kid in our community lives as we would want our own kids to live. The day will most likely be blistering hot with the sun pouring down, further exhausting the team’s tired legs. This is only part of the joy in participating in the Rodman Ride for Kids.
The Rodman Ride for Kids is an umbrella matching gift charity raising funds for youth focused social service agencies that support at-risk children in Massachusetts. Generations Incorporated has been selected to participate alongside other affiliate charities in Massachusetts to cycle together for our common causes of serving at-risk youth. We are thrilled to be a part of an event that has raised nearly 53 million dollars for youth-based non-profits to date.
Currently, Team Generations Incorporated is working hard to recruit a group of riders that will proudly be represented in 3 distances – very brave 100 mile riders, tireless 50 milers, and rarin’ and ready-to-go 25 milers! We have also doubled our fundraising goal this year from $10,000 to $20,000. Because the Ride is an umbrella matching gift charity all donations are matched by 10%! This means, when you donate $100, Generations Incorporated receives $110. This is an event that is sure to be challenging on many fronts, so we sure could use your help. Here’s how to shift gears:
1. Join our team, meet new people, and raise money for a great cause!
2. Be a virtual rider. Not all of us feel like pulling the bike out of the garage and dusting it off, so there’s the option of being a virtual rider. You can create a fundraising webpage by choosing “I AM NOT RIDING” instead of a distance. You can raise any amount you want as a virtual rider.
3. Make a donation. You can either “sponsor a participant” who is a rider or a virtual rider, or make a general donation on our team fundraising page.
4. Become a fan of Generations Incorporated on Facebook to get the latest updates.
Your support of Generations Incorporated through the Rodman Ride will help us gear up to help more children throughout Greater Boston read proficiently. We’re looking forward to riding alongside you in this event!
Monday, June 27, 2011
2011: A Landmark Year
2011 was a landmark year for us, with great results for participating kindergarten through third grade students (K-3). We served 2,612 children in one-on-one and small-group literacy programs twice each week, every week. Now, test scores are in. (Drumroll!!) Students in our Reading Coaches program improved key reading skills by 70% more than their peers who did not participate in the program. This success is due to the winning combination of excellent classroom instruction and caring support of our older adult Experience Corps volunteers.
The Reading Coaches program has been proven by Washington University to raise key student literacy skills. But results are greatest for children who receive at least 35 sessions during the program year. To ensure that our students get the greatest boost possible, we track student attendance and make up any missed sessions. This year, an unprecedented 69% of students in our school-based programs passed the 35 session milestone, marking the highest benchmark completion rate since the WU study was released.
We also achieved great results in our Classroom Literacy program. This year 88 classrooms received critical support from our volunteers to work with children in small groups to reinforce teacher instruction. The Classroom Literacy Program is very popular among teachers, with 94% stating that they were very satisfied with the quality of the program this year. In addition, the vast majority of teachers stated that the presence of a reliable, trained volunteer in the classroom gave them the extra time they needed to assist students who were struggling academically, and that our classroom volunteers made a strong impact on improving students’ motivation to learn. Additionally, we increased the number of hours of literacy support for each classroom from an average of 3 hours per week in 2010 to 5 hours in 2011. Next year, we will further increase our presence in classrooms, with a goal of 8 hours of weekly support per classroom.
Our presence in 5 community based after school programs continues to grow. In fact, nearly 40% of our work takes place in these settings, providing much needed academic support to children in after school programs around Boston. Our newest after school partner is the Jordan Boys and Girls in Chelsea, where we served 47 students in Year 1.
Our programs work for all students, even those who have fallen farthest behind, or who are English language learners. This year, more than 30% of our students were English language learners, and these students maximized their literacy gains through participating in individualized tutoring sessions tailored to each child’s specific literacy needs.
This year, the Boston Public Schools recognized the efficacy of our one-on-one and small-group literacy programs. Superintendent Carol Johnson had this to say in June, 2011: “We are so ever grateful to you (the Experience Corps members) for all you do every single day to inspire and give hope to our students. You are having an enormous impact on their lives and our collective future.”
We are excited by our successes this year, and look forward to growing our programs as we continue our partnership with the Boston and Revere Public Schools this fall.
Thursday, June 23, 2011
Photo of the Week: June 23, 2011
Experience Corps Members at the Dever Elementary School in Dorchester
Thursday, June 16, 2011
Photo of the Week: June 16, 2011
AmeriCorps Program Associate Alana Hill and Experience Corps Member Marilyn Miles at the Kenny Elementary School
Thursday, June 16, 2011
The Eisner Foundation Announces Experience Corps as a Finalist for the Inaugural Eisner Prize for Intergenerational Excellence
$100,000 prize, to be awarded in October 2011, recognizes excellence by non-profit organizations in uniting generations to improve communities
LOS ANGELES, June 2, 2011 /PRNewswire/ — Today, The Eisner Foundation announced the selection of five finalists for the inaugural $100,000Eisner Prize for Intergenerational Excellence, which recognizes an individual or a non-profit organization for efforts to unite multiple generations – especially seniors and youth – and bring about positive, lasting changes in their communities. The winner of the Eisner Prize will be announced later this year; additionally, The Eisner Foundation will look to replicate the winning program to benefit children and seniors in Los Angeles, where the organization is based.
Click here to continue reading about this years finalists.
Thursday, June 9, 2011
Photo of the Week: June 9, 2011
Experience Corps Members at our 10th Annual Volunteer Appreciation Breakfast
