Give Every Child A Chance Executive Board Volume 4 Issue 2 Spring Health Education SPICE IT UP FOR BETTER HEALTH Chairperson Dave Silveira Principal, Lathrop Elementary School JENNIFER CORREIA Healthy Lifestyles Coordinator It turns out that a pinch of red pepper or dash of curry powder not only turns up the heat to boost flavors in dishes, but it also can add a helping of health benefits, too! Vice Chair Charles Goeken Police Captain, City of Manteca Nutrition research supports new reasons to season dishes with herbs and spices including cinnamon, ginger, oregano, red pepper, and yellow curry powder. Blueberries, pomegranates, and other deeply colored fruits may be famous for their high antioxidant content; but it turns out that some spices rank really high, too! Read More Here: http://blogs.ajc.com/better‐health/2009/10/21/healthy‐eating‐ spices‐boost‐health‐benefits‐too/?cxntfid=blogs_better_health. Chief Financial Officer Mary Lou Kahl Retired Principal RUSD Secretary Dave Bricker Chief of Police, City of Manteca Past Chairperson Dave Bricker Chief of Police, City of Manteca achievements & EDVENTURES
News and Views from the Mentor‐Tutor World One‐on‐One Mentor‐Tutoring Program Give Every Child A Chance Board of Directors Christos Arvanitis — Hospital Compliance Officer David Breitenbucher — Fire Captain, City of Manteca John Coburn — Oak Valley Community Bank Kendall L. Darr— Deputy City Attorney, Family Law Amanda Dhaliwal– Assistant VP, BBVA Compass Bank Frank Guinta — Owner, Chez Sheri John Harris — Manteca City Councilman, City of Manteca Kendra Helsley—Principal, Dent Elementary, Escalon Jay Holmes — Past School Board Member, MUSD Louise Johnson — Superintendent, RUSD Jason Messer— Superintendent of Schools, MUSD Evelyn Moore — Board Member, MUSD Ed Ormonde— Police Chief, City of Ripon Bob Raymus — Co‐Owner, Raymus Homes Kirandeep Sihota— Attorney, Pacific Coast Law Firm Judy Wentworth — Retired, School Administrator NON-PROFIT ORG.
U. S. POSTAGE
PAID
After School Advantage Program “Give Every Child A Chance mentor/tutors have one goal in mind; to raise student’s grades while improving their confidence.”
PERMIT #610
STOCKTON, CA
610 Commerce Court Manteca, CA 95336 Your Time‐ Their Future! HELPING STUDENTS MAKE THE GRADE JAMIE DADASOVICH One‐On‐One Program Director BUSINESS WANTED!
In as little as 36 hours as a mentor, you will have a LIFE CHANGING IMPACT ON A STUDENT!
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Joseph Rasmussen, ASAP Assistant site Manager. By becoming a worksite mentor, for youth ages 17-21, you will:
Partial List of Participating Businesses:
INSPIRE youth to recognize their talents and abilities while learning valuable experience.
MOTIVATE students to stay in school and seek higher education.
BUILD student’s self confidence, self esteem, and knowledge.
INSTILL responsible behavior and a strong work ethic in youth.
Café Aroma, CK Grill & Bar, KLT Electric,
Manteca Police Department,
SJ County District Attorney’s Office
LEARN TODAY-EARN TOMORROW!
For more information please contact:
Carrie Sanchez, (209) 825-7003
csanchez@gecac.net
www.gecac.net
The Give Every Child A Chance (GECAC) volunteer mentor/tutors have one goal in mind; to raise student’s grades while improving their confidence. We know that this can be achieved for each student, as our mentor/tutors work hard to help them raise their report card grades and build their self confidence through increased classroom participation. Many of our tutors achieved this tremendous victory during the first trimester of the school year by helping students improve their grades to a C or higher. With cause for celebration, a total of 50 students graduated from the program and became independent learners. This is an incredible number allowing 50 more struggling students, from our waiting list, to begin GECAC’s One‐on‐One program. More than half of these graduated students have made the honor roll with a 3.5 grade point average or higher! We couldn’t be more proud of the hard work put in by both our mentor/tutors and their students. The GECAC mentor/
tutors will continue to work towards increasing students self confidence and grades. It is exciting to see students advance in their academics. BUILDING LEADERS MARISOL MUNGUIA OSCAR MUNGIUIA JR. ASAP Program Directors Give Every Child A Chance example of what ASAP has to (GECAC) After School offer our youth today. In 2006, Advantage Program (ASAP) is Joseph started as a volunteer known for providing our in our program, giving much of students and volunteers with the time, effort and energy of the tools to become not only his eighth grade year at our independent learners, but Lathrop Elementary School future contributors as well. Site. The program left its GECAC strives to create a impression on Joseph, who welcoming atmosphere that went on to graduate from encourages students to think Sierra High School in 2010. outside of the box, build Today, Joseph continues to leadership skills, and believe in balance his continuing education at Delta College themselves. Building on this while contributing to ASAP. concept, GECAC has several former students who were once part of the program and His dedication has allowed are now eager to give back. Joseph to attain a paid position These individuals offer their at GECAC as an assistant site skills and experience to the manager. In his commitment benefit of others around them. to continue his education and give back, Joseph embodies the skills GECAC strives to instill in Joseph Rasmussen, a current employee, is a perfect its ASAP students. INSIDE THIS ISSUE p.1 Helping Students Make the Grade p.1 Building Leaders p.2 Humble Beginnings p.3 Going to College? Need Help? Scholarships Available p.4 Spice it up for Better Health p.4 Business Wanted! CAROL DAVIS President/CEO "One hundred years from now, it won't matter what kind of car I drove, what kind of house I lived in, how much money I had in the bank, nor what my cloths looked like; but the world may be a little better because, I was important in the life of a child.” Community Outreach Photo
GOING TO COLLEGE? NEED HELP? SCHOLORSHIPS AVAILIABLE Forest Witcraft
HUMBLE BEGINNINGS The idea of starting Give Every Child A Chance (GECAC) was born when Antone E. Raymus visited the Deuel Vocational Institute (DVI) in Tracy, CA. He witnessed a young man try to pick up his metal bed and throw it against the wall in frustra‐
tion. At that time, Mr. Raymus asked himself, "What can I do to help other children from feeling the frustrations and inadequacies this young man is experi‐
encing?". He called together a diversified group of community leaders (police, school administrators, clergymen, lay people, and more) and expressed his desire to help children from getting to that point of frustration. At this meeting, the group discussed what each participant believed would keep children from getting to this point in life, and agreed unanimously that if a child was successful in school, they had a much better chance of being a successful adult. Thus, on October 31, 1997, GECAC became a not for profit providing free mentor/tutoring services in Manteca Unified School District. Over the past 15 years, GECAC has grown from a program that provided free mentor/tutoring programs, at 3 sites to 13 students, to continue providing free mentor/tutoring programs at 51 sites to over 4,800 students. Additionally, we have increased the programs we offer, from the original One‐on‐One Mentor/
Tutoring Program, to include; Computer Assisted Instructional Tutoring (CAIT), Homework Assistance Program (HAP), Reading to the 2nd Power, After School Advantage Program (ASAP), Technology Outreach Program (TOP), Health Education, and the Employment Mentoring Program (EMP). Each of these programs developed because of a proven need. One‐on‐One Mentor/Tutoring Program The main focus of One‐on‐One is to assist students with homework and study skills. One‐on‐One mentor/tutoring is the matching of a student receiving one or more below average grades with a volunteer. They meet twice a week at one of our many locations, for one hour each session. Each session allows for a snack and drink for the mentor/
tutor and student. This time allows them to talk together and find out how each other’s day was. This bond breeds trust and a healthy, safe, comfortable environment to study in. Computer Assisted Instructional Tutoring CAIT is a summer program designed for students who will be attending 5th‐8th grade to assure retention of what was taught to them during the school year. CAIT students meet in small groups, no larger than 10 students, and work with a Site Coordinator. The Site Coordinator assists the students as they receive computer based instruction in basic reading, math, and language arts skills. Homework Assistance Program HAP was designed to assure that students who graduate from the One‐on‐One program continued to be successful. After graduating from One‐on‐One, a student can continue through HAP, if they wish. HAP is a help with homework program that allows students to bring in their class assignments and work independently with help from a HAP instruc‐
tor. The HAP instructor oversees the site and offers assistance to those in need. Reading to the 2nd Power The Reading to the 2nd Power program is based on the Reading Recovery Program and Reading Naturally concepts. The Reading Recovery 6‐pack books are being used with the students to assist them with comprehen‐
sion and memory. The Reading Naturally program reinforces the child's ability to better understand by repetition and timing. The reading programs are conducted with small groups, 5 or less, while allowing each child to work at their level. After School Advantage Program ASAP is offered 5 days a week at 13 school sites. The purpose of the free after school program is to provide a safe, structured, and fun program to students in elementary school. ASAP is open to any student attending the school where the program is conducted. Each site offers 3 components: Homework Assis‐
tance/Support; Enrichment Activities, and Recreation/Physical Education. Program components can vary in length depending upon the site. The average daily attendance at ASAP is 113 students. Technology Outreach Program TOP is a mobile technology program that travels from school to school in Manteca Unified School District, offering computer instruction to children who might otherwise not have access to computer technology. The instructors offer instruction on web page design as well as internet use. Health Education Health Education is a program developed for young people in our community to learn about the importance of living a healthy lifestyle at an early age. Our Healthy Lifestyles Coordinator travels to all 13 of the ASAP sites to teach children about the importance of healthy eating habits, food portioning, diabetes, fitness, heart disease, smoking, and hygiene, stressing the importance of how healthy living affects their future.
Employment Mentoring Program The purpose of EMP is to give students, interested in a specific field of work, an opportunity to experience what that job will entail, prior to attending college. EMP is the development of a one‐on‐
one relationship where; through the sharing of workplace skills, knowledge, and experience, a young person can have an inside look at a particular career of interest. The surrounding communities heard about the positive statistics GECAC produced, and expressed an interest in our opening sites in their communities. Thus because of strong community support, we have expanded into Ripon and Escalon Unified School Districts, as well as Banta School District. As we grew, and word of our success continued to be shared, we received many requests for us to expand into communities outside of our area. Our Expansion Commit‐
tee met and determined that if we put together a plan to assist other communities in opening independent GECAC programs, that we could assist them in reproducing our programs. We created a twelve step binder for independent GECAC's to follow, as well as provide support staff to work with the communities in assuring they are successful. Additionally, we help monitor the success of the independent GECAC's and assist them with any issues that may arise. Today, we have successful independent GECAC programs in Tracy (3 sites), Merced (1 year round site, and 1 summer site), and Tuolumne (2 sites). I believe with the growth that GECAC has experienced over the last fifteen years, Mr. Raymus would be very proud. His favorite saying speaks volumes of how he felt. It is an excerpt from "Within My Power" by Forest Witcraft, and reads: "One hundred years from now, it won't matter what kind of car I drove, what kind of house I lived in, how much money I had in the bank, nor what my cloths looked like; but the world may be a little better because, I was im‐
portant in the life of a child.”
CHUCK CRUTCHFIELD Director of Community Outreach Give Every Child a Chance (GECAC) is once again offering the $1,000.00 Service Challenge Scholarship. It is available to one graduating senior, selected from each high school, in Manteca Unified School District (Sierra, Calla, Manteca, East Union, Lathrop, Weston Ranch, and New Vision); also Escalon and Ripon High Schools. Overall, $9,000.00 will be awarded to those selected. The scholarship is open to: 
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All graduating seniors who volunteered at GECAC within the past 4 years. Volunteer service hours with GECAC can be in any capacity such as tutoring, program aide, office assistant, working a fundraiser, or special event. The number of volunteer hours with GECAC is not a factor to apply. Must have contributed at least 100 hours of community service within the past four years of high school with various organizations. (Not all hours must be served at GECAC). Letters of proof are required from the organization(s) that you completed the community service. No minimum grade point average is required. Only one scholarship entry per student. All entries must be typed. Applications are now available at each high school counseling office, by visiting www.gecac.net or at our Antone E. Raymus Educational Center located at 322 Sun West Place in Manteca. Applications are due by May 1st with no late or incomplete applications being accepted. For more information, please contact Chuck Crutchfield at 825‐7003 or ccrutchfield@gecac.net. A list of past recipients is located on the GECAC website. Until next time remember: “The unselfish effort to bring cheer to others will be the beginning of a happier life for ourselves” – Helen Keller