Posts Tagged ‘service’
American Legion (May 2011)
Posted by South Mountain Villager on April 28, 2011
Posted in Community, South Mountain Villager, Volunteers | Tagged: activities, alcohol free, family, service, smoke free | Leave a Comment »
Volunteers – God Bless Em (Feb 2011)
Posted by South Mountain Villager on January 28, 2011
Posted in Community, Good Folks, kids, Laveen, non-profit organization, positive news, SoMo Village, South Mountain Villager, Volunteers | Tagged: service, Volunteers | Leave a Comment »
Take Pride in the South Side Aug 09
Posted by South Mountain Villager on August 6, 2009
New Charter School to Serve South Mountain Students
Phoenix Collegiate Academy has a big job ahead of them. Their mission is to prepare every student they serve to be successful in college and leaders in our community.
How will Phoenix Collegiate Academy achieve this? Primarily, with more time. Students at Phoenix Collegiate Academy will begin school each day at 7:30 a.m. and finish school at 4:30 p.m. Each day students will have two math classes, two English Language Arts classes, one science class, one social studies class, tutoring time, and enrichment (music, arts, sports, technology).
“Our students are most excited to have science and social studies daily,” says School Director Rachel Bennett. “Most students have only had these subjects once a week in their previous years of schooling.”
Secondly, students and families are on a seamless path to college. As a school that will serve 6th to 12th grade students, Phoenix Collegiate Academy can ensure students are able to make the smooth transition to High School and college.
School will begin on July 27th for sixth grade students only. Phoenix Collegiate Academy will add one grade level each year, ensuring a small and safe environment for all.
For more information about Phoenix Collegiate Academy, please call 602-268-9900, visit us at 5610 S Central Ave., or visit the website at www.phxca.org.
South Mountain Community College Storyteller
Honored for Leadership, Service
LynnAnn Wojciechowicz, Director of the South Mountain Community College (SMCC) Storytelling Institute, is the 2009 recipient of the Western ORACLE Award. The ORACLE is presented to individuals who have made a significant contribution to local or regional storytelling and have used storytelling to benefit the larger community.
The National Storytelling Network (NSN www.storynet.org) recently made the announcement about Wojciechowicz, of Tempe.
Wojciechowicz has been Director of the SMCC Institute for the past seven years, producing an average of 30 storytelling events each year and teaching many of the courses offered in the 30-credit hour Academic Certificate in Storytelling. SMCC is at 7050 South 24th Street, Phoenix Arizona
As chair of the Storytelling Instructional Council for the Maricopa Community College District, she helped establish the criteria for hiring storytelling faculty within the District. She is the past President of the East Valley Tellers of Tales and the Arizona State Liaison for the National Storytelling Network.
Wojciechowicz has been a featured teller in the Myth Informed Series, Folktales for Grownups Series, and the Faculty Concert at South Mountain Community College. She represented the Western Region as a teller at the National Storytelling Conference in Gatlinburg, TN in August of 2008.
The storyteller will receive her award on October 4th. 2009 at the Regional Oracle Awards Ceremony during the 37th Annual National Storytelling Festival in Jonesborough, TN. For more information on Wojciechowicz, check the following sites: www.storyteller.net/tellers/lynnann or www.smcstorytelling.com
Posted in SoMo Village, Take pride in the South Side, Volunteers | Tagged: service, south side pride, thank you, Volunteers | Leave a Comment »
Guest column Aug 09
Posted by South Mountain Villager on August 6, 2009
Guest column by U.S. Rep. Ed Pastor
Representing the Fourth Congressional District of Arizona
The Spirit of Service
“We make a living by what we get, but we make a life by what we give.”
- Winston Churchill
We are living in an extraordinary time. Americans are living through one of the most trying times in our history since the Great Depression. All of us are experiencing the impact of the financial meltdown in the housing and 
financial markets, and many individuals and families, including children, are feeling the impact in their home life and economic survivability.
Due to these difficult times, there has never been a more crucial time to heed the challenge put to us by President Obama and find a way to make a difference and serve our country.
“United We Serve” is a new initiative announced by President Obama in June, which calls for a sustained effort to expand the size and impact of volunteer efforts in addressing tough challenges facing the nation.
The idea is to use the convening power of the federal government to promote and highlight new and existing service projects, encourage volunteers to stay involved in their communities over time, and empower people from all walks of life to take a leadership role.
If community service is currently not a regular part of your life, I strongly encourage you to reconsider, as the personal rewards one feels for helping the community are many. Community service is a value that was instilled in me by my parents since I was a youngster growing up in a mining community. I have tried to instill those values into my children and grandchildren. The key to turning motivation into action is to seek an activity that attracts your interest. And think of it as a cycle. Today you may help someone, but tomorrow, you may be the recipient of someone’s volunteer work.
At a time when volunteers’ help is most needed, the capacity of traditional service organizations to absorb volunteers has been stretched thin. To help meet growing social needs resulting from the economic downturn, United We Serve aims to both engage new volunteers in expanding the impact of existing organizations and to encourage “do-it-yourself” projects.
United We Serve will empower Americans to participate in the economic recovery by
- Promoting clean energy, energy efficiency and public land restoration.
- Supporting education and literacy programs for all Americans.
- Increasing health care access, public health awareness and prevention.
- And providing community renewal to areas hardest hit by the economic crisis.
Getting started is easy. Visit www.serve.gov, which features volunteer opportunities that can put your talents to use. You also may post volunteer opportunities in your area.
United We Serve will culminate with a National Day of Service and Remembrance on Sept. 11. The culmination will provide an opportunity to recognize accomplishments, honor those who died on Sept. 11, 2001, by serving in their memory, and encourage Americans to make an ongoing commitment to service.
Posted in Ed Pastor | Tagged: Americans, family, service, veterans | Leave a Comment »
Girl Scouts June 09
Posted by South Mountain Villager on June 10, 2009
To be a sister to every Girl Scout
This is part of the Girls Scouts law that is practiced within all of the troops under the Arizona Cactus Pine Council, which serves girls from all over the state. These girls range from kindergarten to seniors in high school.
Some neighborhoods are every strong with a lot of troops and strong leadership. Some troops have a lot of girls that benefit from being part of an organization that empower girls to be the best that they can be by developing self confidence, strong leadership skills and helping out in the community by doing service projects.
During the last few months, one particular area in Phoenix has joined forces to reflect the meaning “To be a sister to every girl scout”. They brought together three neighborhoods to form the Greater ‘Phoenix, Communities (Mountain Rose Neighborhood, TAPOW Neighborhood and Hopi Neighborhood). Under the guidance and support of Susan Murphy and Tania Grijalva, both Member Service Executive’s, these three Neighborhoods meet once a month sharing ideas and resources to better serve our girls. On April 25th. 2009, we attended the annual meeting where two of the leaders, Shirley Hawkins and Grace Salinas, were recognized for their outstanding service to Girl Scouts. On May 15th. The Greater Phoenix Communities had a bridging Ceremony at Camp Sombrero. There were about 50 girls and their family members who joined us to celebrate each girl’s “right to passage” to the next level. This ceremony is for girls to move from one level to the next according to their grade: for example – Daisy to Brownie, Brownie to Junior, Junior to Cadet, Cadet to Senior and Senior to Ambassador.
There are a lot of girls out there in need of a Great Leader who are willing to spend a few hours a month and help them develop the skills they have within. If you are interested or know someone who is interested in becoming a Great Leader, please call Susan Murphy at 602-228-6218 or the Council Office at 602-253-6359
Posted in Community, Girl Scouts, Volunteers | Tagged: Community, Girl Scouts, service | Leave a Comment »
