C OMMUNITY
SERVICE
A T S MITH
S.O.S. CENE
Tilly Hall
Helen Hills Hills Chapel
F EBRUARY , 2008
Smith College
E DITED
(413)575-2793
BY SARAH ANNE KAM
H OMEWORK H OUSE IS T RULY W HERE THE H EART I S
FEB / MAR UPCOMING
EVENTS :
By Hoa‐Lan Vo are currently tutoring at
Our Lady of Guadalupe
Social Center every Monday
and Wednesday from 3 to 5
pm.
It’s 3:30pm and students
are already at their desks scribbling away at the day’s homework, zealous to get it done so
that they may compete at a
game of multiplication flash
cards. It is here at Homework
House in Holyoke, Massachusetts that 3rd to 6th graders are
developing this amazing type of
behavior.
Maureen Broughan took the
concept of Homework
House from a program of
the same name in California, which opened in 1992
and have been expanding it
ever since. The Sisters
have started three Homework House sites in Holyoke, one of the state’s
poorest neighborhoods.
At Homework House, students who are at risk for academic failure receive free after-school tutoring and mentoring. Tutors work towards
rekindling the students’ interest in learning and selfimprovement so that they may
become productive members
of the community.
One of the goals of the
program is to teach children study skills. Children attend the program
on Tuesdays and Thursdays or Mondays and
Wednesdays. This allows
the students to do their
assignments independently
on alternate days.
“Homework House is an
amazing program. I’m so
happy to be part of it be-
Sisters Jane Morrissey and
Through SOS, Smithies
(Continued on page 3)
Tutoring at Homework
House.
SOS Fund Drive:
VETERANS FROM WAR
TO HOME, supporting the
reintegration into civilian life.
•
Feb 21 - Community Ed
Luncheon, Working with
Immigrants, Dewey
•
Feb 29 - Bone Marrow
Drive, CC
•
Mar 5 - Annual Fund
Drive Concert, CC
•
Mar 6 - Community Ed
Luncheon, Dewey
•
Mar 15-23 - SPRING
BREAK
•
Mar 27 - House Rep
Meeting, Tilly
I NSIDE
THIS ISSUE :
B LOOD AND BONE
2
MARROW DRIVE
F ROM S OMALIA
A MERICA
TO
S PRINGFIELD :
MAKING A HOME IN
By Sarah Anne Kam & Tiertza-leah Schwartz
This fall, Ada Comstock
Scholar, Jessica Prodis approached the director of
voluntary services, Tiertzaleah Schwartz to discuss
developing a new specialized tutoring program to
assist Somali refugee chil-
dren living in Springfield
with academic support and
mentoring. Jessica was inspired by her work last year
with Jewish Family Services
New American program tutoring a Somali mother-offour who relocated to
Springfield two years ago.
“I tutored Fadumo for the
‘06/‘07 school year as my
fieldwork for education
courses and I have learned
immeasurably from my ex(Continued on page 3)
A NNUAL FUND DRIVE 2
E NCHANTED FOREST
2
H OMEWORK HOUSE
( CONT ’ D )
3
F ROM S OMALIA TO
S PRINGFIELD
( CONT ’ D )
3,4
W INTER GIFTS
4
CLASSIFIEDS
4
S.O.S. CENE
P AGE 2
B LOOD AND B ONE M ARROW D RIVE
By Yasassri Gammampila
Smithies donating blood.
Bone marrow drive sign-up.
The American Red Cross
and SOS came together yet
again this fall semester to organize a very successful blood
drive. It was held on the 22nd
and 23rd of October at the
Smith College Campus Center
and over 300 students participated in the drive. The response from the houses was
overwhelming and it was difficult to give every person who
wanted to donate blood an
appointment. By the end of the
drive, the American Red Cross
collected 162 productive pints
of blood from 211 presenting
donors. 486 patients were
helped from the blood collected at the Smith drive.
The blood drive was followed by a bone marrow registration drive held on the 9th of
November, in collaboration
with the National Marrow Donor Program. The drive was
promoted specifically to find a
matching donor for Sam Cross.
Sam is a senior at Harvard University suffering from leukemia
and in need of a half-Caucasian,
half - Asian bone marrow donor to save his life. The drive
attracted over 75 donors from
the Smith community. While
SOS has no information at this
point if a matching donor has
been found for Sam, on behalf
of the NMDP, the American
Red Cross and SOS, I would
like to thank all the volunteers
and donors who participated in
both drives for helping us to
have two important events that
greatly serve the community
we live in.
SOS A NNUAL F UND D RIVE
By Samin Green and Dylan Barnett
Fund Drive
Concert
March 5th,
Wednesday
8pm ‒ 10pm
C AMPUS C ENTER ,
C ARROLL R OOM
“Smithies helped
facilitate a spineless wonder
memory game,
pillbug, and
work crafts for
kids…”
It’s almost that time of
year again: time for the SOS
annual fund drive! Every year
the Smith community participates in a month long series of
events and fundraising opportunities organized by SOS.
This February we are excited to raise funds and
awareness for United States
veterans. The transition from
life in war to life back home is
not an easy one. About one-
third of the adult homeless
population are veterans. On
any given day, as many as
250,000 veterans (male and
female) are living on the
streets or in shelters. Many
other veterans are considered
near homeless or at risk.
About 45% of homeless veterans suffer from mental illness and slightly more than
80% suffer from alcohol or
other drug abuse problems.
Throughout the month of
February and into March, we
will be holding various events
to support our local veterans.
They have served our country
bravely and we would like to
help thank them by providing
some support, goods, and
services that they may need.
We know that with the support of the Smith community
this will be a great fund drive!
E NCHANTED FOREST
By Elizabeth Wolfson
During Family Weekend last
semester, six Smith volunteers helped out at the Hitchcock Center of Amherst’s
annual Enchanted Forest
event. The center invites local
children and families to come
(in costume!) to celebrate
Halloween with crafts, fortune telling, a bake sale, and a
walk through the enchanted
forest. This year’s theme was
“Spineless Wonders”, so our
journey through the forest
included encounters with
clams, starfish and bees, portrayed by local volunteers.
Smithies helped facilitate a
spineless wonder memory
game, pillbug, and worm
crafts for kids, and led families on walks through the forest. S.O.S. Board Member
Rachel Finklestein adds that,
“The Hitchcock Center is a
center for environmental education, so all of the evening's
activities focused on learning
about, appreciating and taking
care of nature and our surroundings, all the while proving to be very stimulating and
fun!” Overall, it was a lot of
fun, and we hope you’ll join
us next year!
F EBRUARY , 2008
P AGE 3
H OMEWORK H OUSE
(Continued from page 1)
cause I can see the improvement in Johnny each time we
meet,” says Meg Helming
’10.
Great bonds are shared
between students and their
tutors; therefore, each child is
paired with the same tutor
every session. These bonds
strengthen the students’ interest in learning. In addition
to helping them with homework, Smith students also
serve as positive role models.
“After only a short week
with my students, we were
already laughing and giggling
together over stories read and
homework being done,” remarked Louisa Onyewadume
‘09.
Homework house is going
strong with over 84 students
and with 24 more on the
waiting list, there is always
more room for tutors.
Caption describing
picture or graphic.
Volunteers serve as positive role models.
F ROM S OMALIA TO S PRINGFIELD
(Continued from page 1)
perience with Fadumo and
her family. I learned that the
Somali students, many of
whom have grown up in refugee camps and some of whom
had never attended school
prior to re-settling in the US
could benefit from one-onone tutoring assistance.”
Jessica and Tiertza-leah
contacted Maria DeAngelis
from the Springfield School
Volunteer Program who identified a small cluster of 12
Somali refugee children from
5 families who attend the
White St. School in the Forest
Park section of Springfield.
After a series of meetings this
fall with the Principal Geraldine Barrett, reading specialist
Wendi Johnson, and Maria, a
new community partnership
developed the White Street
School- Somali Refugee Tutoring
Program.
Initial meetings focused on
identifying the specific needs
of the children, and how tutors might be able to assist the
teaching staff. Currently the
children are in the 1st-5th
grade. Six Smith students are
now working with the Somali
children, focusing on vocabulary and reading comprehension.
The program provides
initial and on-going training
on teaching reading comprehension, background on the
experiences and needs of Somali refugees and on-going
reflection sessions. The program is an America Reads
agency so students can volunteer as America Reads Tutors
and be paid if they are work
study eligible. “I believe that
this is an incredible opportunity for Smith students to
share the wonderful education that we are receiving, as
well as an opportunity to effect change in the greater
Pioneer Valley community,”
says Jessica Prodis, a mother
herself.
Initial observations at the
White Street School helped
tutors and Tiertza-leah gain
an understanding of how to
better meet the children’s
needs. “Our classroom observations have given us tremendous insight to understand
how best to work with the
children. The work of the
classroom teachers is impressive and will prove to be an
excellent model to guide and
support the tutors in their
work” says Tiertza-leah.
The Somali children have
lived in the US for two years.
Prior to that they lived in
refugee camps in Kenya and
some have experienced significant trauma from these
(Continued on page 4)
“I LEARNED THAT THE
S OMALI STUDENTS ,
MANY OF WHOM HAVE
GROWN UP IN REFUGEE
CAMPS AND SOME OF
WHOM HAD NEVER
ATTENDED SCHOOL
PRIOR TO RE - SETTLING
IN THE US COULD
BENEFIT FROM ONE ON - ONE TUTORING
ASSISTANCE .”
Looking for
an offcampus
work-study
job?
Volunteer
&
Get paid!
***CLASSIFIEDS***
WE’RE
ON THE
W EB!
HTTP: / /WWW. SMITH. EDU/
SOS
Ryan Road School needs Classroom Assistance
Volunteers needed to support elementary school, culturally diverse classrooms. Also needed, volunteers to help with Fitness
Walking Program for students 11 am—1:00 pm. SOS provided a vehicle for transportation, if certified (a 1/2 hour training,
but must have had license for at least 1 year). For more information, contact the SOS office at x2793 or sos@email.smith.edu
or contact the Northampton Schools’ Volunteer coordinator, Donna Waterman at 587-1332 or vinsvol@hotmail.com.
The Connections Program: After School Help Needed in Holyoke
The CONNECTIONS Program is an after school program of the Holyoke Public Schools, seeking to enhance the knowledge,
skills, and interests of participating students, to support their social, emotional and physical development and to strengthen their
connections to peers, teachers, the community and the natural environment through a balance of academic, enrichment and
physical fitness programming. Volunteers needed for after-school enrichment and/or tutor/homework support. For more information, contact the SOS office at x2793 or sos@email.smith.edu or the Connections coordinator, Karen Guilette at
kguillette@hps.holyoke.ma.us.
Springfield Central High School Tutor Needed Monday Afternoons
Travel with other tutors to Central High in Springfield to help high school students. Van leaves Smith at 1:30 pm and returns at
4:15 pm on Mondays. For more information, contact the SOS office at x2793 or sos@email.smith.edu or contact the Springfield Schools’ Volunteer coordinator, Maria Deangelis at (413) 787-7016 or deangelism@sps.springfield.ma.us.
F ROM S OMALIA
(Continued from page 3)
experiences. The main focus
of the White Street School
program will be to help the
children increase their vocabulary and reading comprehension by helping the
children to understand background context in their assignments. Additionally the
tutors can assist the children
with writing skills and math.
Much of the work the
teachers are focusing on in
the classroom is to prepare
for the MCAS. Because of
the Somali children’s experiences living in a very different culture and in refugee
camps many of the children
lack a cultural context to
TO
S PRINGFIELD
understand more complex
concepts and vocabulary.
Two recent examples teachers cited were a writing assignment asking the children
to describe how to make
buttered toast, another reading comprehension assignment about a horse that felt
“proud”. Tutors would need
to think about how to explain what toast is to children
who most likely have never
eaten toast or used a toaster
in their home. Or how to
explain what the word proud
means in terms that the children can understand. The
program is looking for tutors
who have empathy and respect for the fortitude of
these children. For more
information, email Tiertza-
Leah Schwartz at
tschwart@email.smith.edu, x2758.
This year, as in the past, S.O.S. participated in
the Winter Gifts program with the Hilltown
Food Pantry. Through the generosity of 23
houses and 13 student organizations, faculty,
departments, and staff members, we were able
to sponsor 61 local children, providing presents for the holiday season. We would like to
extend our sincere thanks to everyone who
contributed to this great cause!
Rachel Hanlon, Head of House Reps; Kathryn
Freeman & Rachel Finklestein, Short Term
Projects Co-Chairs.