Everyone is at least at Pre-K reading level!!

I know considering I am a kindergarten teacher, they all should have already been at a pre-kindergarten reading level at the beginning of the year, but in fact, none of them were.  None of the children in my class could write their first and last name from memory, none of them knew more than 10 letters and sounds, and they had no idea how to use a book (which way we go when we read, where we start reading, or even to turn the page).  So yea this is a HUGE deal and I am SSSOOO proud of them.  At the beginning of the year I did not think my class would even be able to sit altogether for a read aloud, without fidgeting or some sort of outburst, but now they can!  And they read by themselves, and they write full sentences, and they sound out words; it is truly amazing to watch!  They have also made incredible strides in math too.  They couldn't count past 3, and could only identify the number 1.  But now they can count to 100, they add, subtract, and know 2D plane shapes, as well as 3D solid figures.  Needless to say, I am an extremely proud teacher today and can't wait to have them all leave kindergarten on grade level!! =)

Snow Day from Baltimore

Today is our first "snow day" of the year (and I mean since 2012), March 6th.  All the DC fellows know what I'm talking about!  Except here in Baltimore it is literally just rain and a little wind, but Hopkins still closed due to the inclement weather.  Apparently it's worse in other parts of the state.

As it nears the end of the year, I'm juggling work and trying to figure out what to do next year.  I'm sure it's a struggle that a lot of P55ers are dealing with.  As much as I've loved Baltimore and my job here, I'm planning to move out of the city and on toward my other love, architecture.  I'm trying to figure out how to merge design, sustainability, and food systems into one career.  For now though, I'm still very excited to be at the Center for a Livable Future soaking up all the information I can until this summer.  I've learned so much!  From random facts about the flu pandemic of 1918 to nutrient pollution in the Chesapeake Bay to the frustrating hurdles of the political system (I got to see a colleague testify about a pesticides bill in Annapolis last week).  It's been a great experience so far, and I hope I can continue to keep the food system a focus of mine throughout my career. 

Fellow Fellows

I want to use this blog post to give a brief shout-out to my fellow New York fellows, because they are really awesome and deserving of it! As Julie mentioned in her below blog post, it has been so nice to have a pre-established group with which to experience fun city things. Everyone is incredibly friendly (I guess that goes to show the kind of people who are interested in pursuing nonprofit careers!), and everyone is extremely dedicated to the program. For instance, Avion, who is one of the fellows at Association to Benefit Children, put a huge amount of effort into helping coordinate a very successful Career Night, during which we had the opportunity to speak with Princeton alums and other professionals connected to the AlumniCorps community who are working in education, healthcare, social enterprise, law, business, and more. Julie and Susanna have been doing a wonderful job planning fun activities for us as co-chairs of the Social Alumni Relations Committee--last week's comedy show was attended by most of the New York fellows and was hilarious! And Eleanor was key to helping secure Anne-Marie Slaughter as a speaker at our April seminar on her highly circulated article, "Why Women Still Can't Have It All." Clearly, I owe a lot to all of my fellow fellows for making this year such a well-rounded and valuable experience--thank you New York fellows!

Hangin Out

A few weeks ago, the New York fellows met up for a free happy hour event at a bar in midtown. We had a blast catching up in a more casual setting and getting to know each other in a place other than a Madison Ave mansion! Here is our attempt at a selfie:
The social committee has planned another event, this time an improv show at Upright Citizens Brigade, for next week. It's so fun to have a group to explore the city with!

Transitions

This past month has been a rather exciting time for me, as the Character Education Partnership (CEP) is in a major period of transition, with lots of staff coming in and leaving and major changes on every level, from the organizational mission and vision down to the software.

Being part of an organization that is in a process of such significant transition can be a little confusing sometimes but it is also is tremendously educational and presents major opportunities. For example, because of various staff departures, I've ended up managing CEP's social media accounts, e-marketing and blog. Though this isn't really the direction I originally expected when I began the fellowship, it's been probably the most engaging thing I've done so far and taught me a great deal about inbound marketing strategies, search engine optimization and a lot of other things that I would have never been introduced to in my role as I originally understood it. I guess the main takeaway from this experience for me has been that at a small organization, there's a lot of space for people to make their own roles, if they choose to and that this can lead to to the discovery and development of new talents and skills.

The "Community" Piece of "Parent/Community Outreach Fellow"

Somehow, I think I may have managed to go over half a year without mentioning an exciting project that I've been working on since I arrived at NYCCD: our brand new Junior Board! This coming Tuesday, we will be holding the first meeting/orientation of the Junior Board, which will be the fruits of about six months of slow but steady labor. The concept for the Junior Board was conceived months before I began my fellowship. Ideally comprised of about 20 well-connected young professionals, the Junior Board was envisioned as being an arm for raising both funds and awareness for our mission in New York, with the concrete goal of contributing towards the building of a new center-based preschool. Yet while multiple planning sessions had already taken place when I first came on board, very few concrete steps had been taken towards finding the right group of people to get involved in this endeavor and developing suggested strategies for them to use in order to work towards our larger goals--mainly because the staff members involved simply did not have the time to dedicate to essentially create a Board from nothing. So, I have had the opportunity to take the lead on many aspects of this project. Among other efforts to move the project along, I reached out to the New York Junior League in order to partner with their Nonprofit Board training course, so that those who are taking the class would learn about our Board. I also developed materials to send to Board candidates, and I researched other Junior Boards in order to create an application in line with what other established nonprofits ask prospective Board members to complete. After many conference calls with staff and Board co-chairs, we have a very impressive group of about 25 young professionals and parents, who will be meeting each other for the first time on Tuesday to learn more about our agency's work and discuss their goals for the year. I'm really excited to see the whole group together and hear their ideas for how NYCCD can advance its mission in the city. With any luck, I will hopefully see the results of my efforts pay off for the agency--literally as well as figuratively!

Another Man’s Moccasins

Character Education Partnership sent out a few holiday mailings in end of Novembver-early December.  From the intellectual high-jumps of creating spreadsheets with different categories for different mailings and signatures, to the physical mud run of folding, sealing, and stamping envelopes, I’ve gained a deeper appreciation for teamwork and for physical donation requests.  Out of sympathy for the labour, it’d be nice to be able to donate substantially to every non-profit that’s hit me up for cash in the last month.  Though I’ve volunteered at non-profits in the past, working for one has viscerally made me appreciate how much donations count.