Around the same time as Caleb’s arrival, Brian and I gathered a small group of teens and volun- teers to do some thinking together about how to improve and expand our “R4” after-school pro- gram. Our teen numbers had dropped over the last year and we were stuck in a bit of a rut. Youth shared their ideas for new workshops, field trips, and academic enrichment areas that they wanted in the program – a little more cool and a little less school. We called it “R4 Re- Boot” and we started incorporating some of the ideas we came up with into our teen summer pro- gram. We had a great summer, with 15-20 teens each day involved in our “Liquid” summer camp, as well with our new “GreenHouse Academy” for incoming 7 th , 8 th , and 9 th graders. Teens were learning sign language, slam poetry, guitar, jour- naling, and going on weekly field trips including local colleges. We had many youth get involved with The GreenHouse for the first time through our summer program. I began to wonder if any of these youth would continue to come during the Fall to R4. In mid September we launched our new and im- proved R4. In addition to homework time with their college-age tutors, we’ve added academic workshops every Tuesday like vocabulary build- ing and working on common math struggles. Thursday workshops focus on life skills and fun activities. We now have over 20 youth attending consistently and 15 volunteers impacting students every Tuesday and Thursday! Thank you Jesus! It has been a challenge to make some of these changes, but a very fun adventure too! Chito Emily Mazzariello—Volunteer Coordinator and Parent Liaison One of the biggest challenges I faced as our volun- teer coordinator has been recruiting, training, and supporting enough volunteers to give that individu- alized attention to our youth. This Fall, through new partnerships at UC Davis and with the Service Learning Department of CSU Sacramento, we have a FLOOD of over 55 weekly volunteers serving in our youth programs! Also, for the first time, we have three interns from local colleges who are as- sisting Deborah and Chito with program develop- ment, set-up, long-term planning, leading icebreak- ers and coordinating workshops. As we create more ways to connect with and support Study Buddies, they are beginning to grow in their confidence and initiative. Many skilled volunteers are also using their strengths to teach workshops for all ages, mirroring the success of the summer work- shops. Enrichment activities such as drawing, dance, basketball, cooking, and science provide youth with opportunities to be creative and achieve confidence in learning while discovering new skills. Relationships with parents are continuing to form and grow deeper. Parents are taking more ownership of the Parent Action Team after taking on greater roles at events and collaborating to create a vision for the year. This vision includes elected positions and more resources for parents such as English learning, computer education, or a nutrition class. As we move forward with the team, we hope to see even more parent leadership and discussions that help empower and develop their strengths. Emily Emily, Brian, and Kacie with parent leaders from The Greenhouse’s Parent Action Team in April. R4 youth on a field trip to Old Town Sacramento Happy Holidays to you and yours from the staff, board, and families of The GreenHouse!! I am in my 9 th month as the new Executive Director of The GreenHouse! It has been a great season of learning, being stretched in my own faith and leadership, and of forming new relationships with our amazing youth, parents, donors, and community partners. As we look back upon the year, I thought it would be best to have some other “voices” from our organization share their reflections besides me, in order to paint a more comprehensive picture of what an incredible year this has been for The GreenHouse. God has provided for us in so many different ways and it’s difficult for just one person to fully de- scribe that abundance. I’ve invited each of our staff to write up some of their thoughts on the past 12 months, as well as the outgoing Chair of our Board of Directors chair, Shannon Sturgess. Shannon has served with excellence as board member for over eight years and board chair for the last two years. Mike Downey will be taking the helm from Shannon as board chair in January. Thank you for your ongoing financial support, your prayers, your donations, and your love for this amazing community and this special organization. Thank you also for your support of me and my family during our transition into the broader GreenHouse family! Please consider making a year-end donation to The GreenHouse as we seek to end this exciting year of transition with zero deficit! In Him, Brian Shannon Sturgess— 2011-2013 GreenHouse Board Chair Happy Holidays to you and yours from the staff, board, and families of The GreenHouse!! We have so much to be thankful for as an organization and as a ministry over this past year. We have seen God’s steady hand supporting us through the transition to a new Executive Director this year, the completion of the com- munity Clubhouse, and newly energized teen and elementary-age programs that are serving 60-70 youth weekly!
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Transcript
Around the same time as Caleb’s arrival, Brian
and I gathered a small group of teens and volun-
teers to do some thinking together about how to
improve and expand our “R4” after-school pro-
gram. Our teen numbers had dropped over the
last year and we were stuck in a bit of a rut.
Youth shared their ideas for new workshops,
field trips, and academic enrichment areas that
they wanted in the program – a little more cool
and a little less school. We called it “R4 Re-
Boot” and we started incorporating some of the
ideas we came up with into our teen summer pro-
gram.
We had a great summer, with 15-20 teens each
day involved in our “Liquid” summer camp, as
well with our new “GreenHouse Academy” for
incoming 7th, 8th, and 9th graders. Teens were
learning sign language, slam poetry, guitar, jour-
naling, and going on weekly field trips including
local colleges. We had many youth get involved
with The GreenHouse for the first time through
our summer program. I began to wonder if any
of these youth would continue to come during the
Fall to R4.
In mid September we launched our new and im-
proved R4. In addition to homework time with
their college-age tutors, we’ve added academic
workshops every Tuesday like vocabulary build-
ing and working on common math struggles.
Thursday workshops focus on life skills and fun
activities. We now have over 20 youth attending
consistently and 15 volunteers impacting students
every Tuesday and Thursday! Thank you Jesus!
It has been a challenge to make some of these
changes, but a very fun adventure too!
Chito
Emily Mazzariello—Volunteer Coordinator and
Parent Liaison
One of the biggest challenges I faced as our volun-
teer coordinator has been recruiting, training, and
supporting enough volunteers to give that individu-
alized attention to our youth. This Fall, through new
partnerships at UC Davis and with the Service
Learning Department of CSU Sacramento, we have
a FLOOD of over 55 weekly volunteers serving in
our youth programs! Also, for the first time, we
have three interns from local colleges who are as-
sisting Deborah and Chito with program develop-
ment, set-up, long-term planning, leading icebreak-
ers and coordinating workshops.
As we create more ways to connect with and support
Study Buddies, they are beginning to grow in their
confidence and initiative. Many skilled volunteers
are also using their strengths to teach workshops for
all ages, mirroring the success of the summer work-
shops. Enrichment activities such as drawing, dance,
basketball, cooking, and science provide youth with
opportunities to be creative and achieve confidence
in learning while discovering new skills.
Relationships with parents are continuing to form
and grow deeper. Parents are taking more ownership
of the Parent Action Team after taking on greater
roles at events and collaborating to create a vision
for the year. This vision includes elected positions
and more resources for parents such as English
learning, computer education, or a nutrition class.
As we move forward with the team, we hope to see
even more parent leadership and discussions that
help empower and develop their strengths.
Emily
Emily, Brian, and Kacie with parent leaders from The
Greenhouse’s Parent Action Team in April.
R4 youth on a field trip to Old Town Sacramento
Happy Holidays to you and yours from the staff, board, and families of The GreenHouse!!
I am in my 9th month as the new Executive Director of The GreenHouse!
It has been a great season of learning, being stretched in my own faith
and leadership, and of forming new relationships with our amazing
youth, parents, donors, and community partners.
As we look back upon the year, I thought it would be best to have some
other “voices” from our organization share their reflections besides me,
in order to paint a more comprehensive picture of what an incredible
year this has been for The GreenHouse. God has provided for us in so
many different ways and it’s difficult for just one person to fully de-
scribe that abundance.
I’ve invited each of our staff to write up some of their thoughts on the past 12 months, as well
as the outgoing Chair of our Board of Directors chair, Shannon Sturgess. Shannon has served
with excellence as board member for over eight years and board chair for the last two years.
Mike Downey will be taking the helm from Shannon as board chair in January.
Thank you for your ongoing financial support, your prayers, your donations, and your love for
this amazing community and this special organization. Thank you also for your support of me
and my family during our transition into the broader GreenHouse family!
Please consider making a year-end donation to The GreenHouse as we seek to end this exciting