• Update!
• A personal message from Peter Sloss
• Introducing our new Program Assistant…
• Tutor Profile: Peter Deutsch
• JCL’s 4th Annual Literacy Conference - Huge Success
• Fun in the Sun: Ideas for Summer Learning
• Report on NJCL Meeting
• Thank You!

A personal message from Peter Sloss

Chair of the JCL Advisory Committee

Those of you who attended the Jewish Coalition for Literacy Fourth Annual Conference on March 13 don’t need to be told how successful it was. But for the benefit of those who weren’t able to attend, let me just give you a few highlights from a personal point of view. From the thoughtful and provocative keynote address by Barbara Schubert to the stimulating Literacy Café that closed the conference, it was a lively, informative day. I believe that the tutors who were there would agree that it was both a learning experience and an enjoyable opportunity to meet fellow tutors who share your interest in helping kids become good readers.

What impressed me even more than the quality of the presentations and the skill of discussion leaders was the evident commitment and engagement of the tutors. Questions were perceptive, and discussion was enthusiastic and demonstrated a real desire to learn and share experiences. I was impressed once again with what an outstanding group of people the JCL volunteers are. Maybe those who chose to give up a Sunday to improve their tutoring skills are the “cream of the crop,” but I like to think that it was really just a representative sample.

I hope all of the 72 volunteers who were there left with a feeling that your batteries were recharged and that you were well prepared to give even more to your students. As for those who couldn’t make it, I hope this will encourage you to come to JCL events in the future.

Introducing our new Program Assistant…

We are pleased to announce that JCL has hired a new program assistant. Her name is Julia Stone, and she hails from rural Virginia.

Growing up, Julia was introduced to a variety of teaching techniques, and has been increasingly interested in education ever since. Her mother, who was a special needs teacher for many years, later ran a Book Buddies program that Julia participated in as a teenager. Julia was also introduced to the Quaker educational philosophy when, as a high school student, her school became affiliated with the Quaker method of consensus and recognizing the light within each student. She attended Cornell University where she designed her own major that encompassed Middle Eastern Studies and Creative Writing.

Additionally, she was very active in Jewish- Muslim interfaith work in her community, along with a variety of other progressive activities. After graduation, Julia spent a year working as a teacher in Egypt, practicing her Arabic skills while experiencing the culture first-hand. She returned to the States with a newfound interest in education, and is excited to be a part of the work that JCL is doing on a daily basis.

On the side, Julia is a part-time Arabic teacher and was most recently a programming intern with the Commonwealth Club of California. She enjoys writing, film, learning, and exploring, and looks forward to working with Roberta, Becky, and Shirley to support tutors and JCL programming!

Tutor Profile: Peter Deutsch

In this installment of the Tutor Times we are pleased to highlight Peter Deutsch, a longtime Peninsula JCL tutor and 2004’s Federal Employee of the Year in the Community Service category, an honor bestowed by the San Francisco Federal Executive Board (representing over 50,000 federal workers in the nine Bay Area counties).

Peter Deutsch has worked for the Postal Service for almost 39 years, currently in the region from Sunnyvale to the Oregon border. As he describes it, “152 post offices, 11,000 employees, and three million customers.” Among his other duties, Peter prepares a weekly newsletter for all employees about what is going on in the Postal Service and how it’s doing serving the public. He is also the photographer and employee events coordinator for his district, one of 80 in the nation.

Peter graduated from the University of San Francisco with a degree in economics and a minor in history. His wife is a retired schoolteacher; and he has two daughters: Marion, 21, who attends the Fashion and Design Institute of Merchandising and Natalie, 23, who is a media relations specialist for an architectural and engineering conglomerate in Los Angeles.

Serving as a JCL tutor is not Peter’s only volunteer commitment. The day after September 11, 2001, he began volunteering at the San Francisco Airport once a week.

Peter discovered the Jewish Coalition for Literacy through an announcement in the Peninsula Temple Sholom bulletin. Of his five-year experience as a tutor, he says, “It gets more rewarding each year.” He is already working with the younger siblings of children he coached at the beginning of his tutoring career.

Peter tutors four to five students whose teachers feel they would benefit from extra attention. He works with them not only on their reading, but also their social skills-shaking hands and greeting each other each time they meet and conclude the session; looking people in the eye when you talk to them; having a firm handshake; speaking with expression; being respectful of books and of your fellow classmates.

Peter has also developed his own method for making his tutees feel special. He takes a picture of each child, him or her write their name and grade on it, and mounts the photo on a composition notebook that he makes for each one. Peter explains, “I ask them things or to tell me what they see or feel about themselves and write what they say in the notebook. They read it back to me, to their friends or their parents, or they read from their classmates’ journals.” At the end of the year, he gives the students their journals to keep, inscribing them with some words of encouragement.

Often, when Peter arrives at his tutoring site, Lomita Park School, a child who does not work with Peter will inform his tutee, “Your tutor is here.” Other times children will just come over and ask if they can join the group. Peter counts these moments as his most cherished tutoring memories. He says that tutoring makes him realize how important reading is for each person’s development, and how a little special attention can make a difference in someone’s life. To those who have not yet tried tutoring, Peter says, “It will be appreciated by the child and their parents; it will make a difference in their lives for years to come; you will feel that you are giving something back to the community.”

The Jewish Coalition for Literacy congratulates you, Peter, on your wonderful award! You deserve it. JCL and the children at Lomita Park School are lucky to have you on our team.

JCL’s 4th Annual Literacy Conference - Huge Success

Exploring Identities, Expanding Learning

It might have been the scent of Peet’s Coffee wafting through the air. Or maybe it was the first rays of sunshine streaming in through the large, glass windows of the room. But that morning, the Jewish Community High School of the Bay was filled with excitement and energy. The Jewish Coalition for Literacy held its fourth annual literacy conference, Exploring Identities, Expanding Learning, on Sunday, March 13. Shortly after the enthusiastic tutors and speakers gathered together for bagels, all were welcomed by members of JCL, and encouraged to move upstairs in order to hear the Keynote Speaker, Dr. Barbara Schubert. A Reading Recovery Trainer and respected educator, Dr. Schubert focused her lecture on eight factors that directly affect how well children from low-income families can learn within the educational settings in which they find themselves. The lecture was received with great interest and attention. As one listener put it, Dr. Schubert was simply “Exceptional.” Many found the subject matter particularly relevant, and were certain the material would be of use in their tutoring.

The diligence of JCL tutors, and their exceptional ability to listen and inquire, enhanced the conference and was noted by the presenters. Participants attended a variety of workshops throughout the morning, ranging from a lesson on learning styles, led by Marilyn Nebenzahl, to a workshop on new books for children with Ellin Klor. Both of these workshops were highly relevant to JCL tutors, offering a foundation of information for future sessions with their tutees-not to mention a newfound excitement about applying what was learned!

During lunch, attendees enjoyed a lovely spread of Middle Eastern delicacies, and chatted with one another about the morning sessions. The Jewish Community High School’s Rabbi In Residence, Mimi Weisel, was kind enough to welcome the group and speak about how Jewish social values are connected with the work of JCL tutors. Indeed, it is important to recognize the connection between teachings and actions, as demonstrated on a daily basis by JCL volunteers.

With the day now fully in swing, tutors once again had to choose a workshop, and this time the decision rested between comprehension, reading for grades 3-5, and behavior management techniques. The workshops aimed to help tutors with more specific difficulties or questions that they have faced in their experiences thus far. Fortunately, thanks to Joan Green, Ellin Klor, and Alane Paul Castro, tutors were able to learn techniques and strategies for improving the quality of their tutoring sessions. No doubt children and teachers in the Bay Area will be thankful as well!

Daffodils now adorning the tables, dappling the gray and white with flashes of yellow, the conference was nearing an end. Tea, coffee and cookies made for a well-stocked Literacy Caf=E9, as tutors had the opportunity to share personal anecdotes and methods that were instructional to others. With sheets of paper as fodder, and under the guidance of Marilyn Nebenzahl, tutors engaged in candid conversation about tutoring and the ways in which we all learn, and seek to learn.

Thank you to the many enthusiastic participants, all of whom dedicated their time to sharing their expertise or becoming more informed! Because of your attendance, the annual conference proved to be both a wonderful source of information and an enjoyable event for all.

Fun in the Sun: Ideas for Summer Learning

Collected by Shirley Feldman, East Bay Director

With summer just around the corner, students eagerly await their time for fun in the sun. Even though school’s out for summer, a child’s brain should not take a vacation. It is important to stimulate students’ intellect during summer vacation by encouraging them to engage in learning experiences. This does not mean that children should take practice tests and do mundane math drills all summer, but rather they should connect to learning in more interesting ways. As a tutor, you can help encourage continued learning over the summer by suggesting the following activities:

Street Smarts - Put reading skills to practical use. Gather bus and subway route maps and schedules to a special place in your area-the zoo, a museum, a football stadium. Let your child plan a trip for friends or family. Figure out the travel time required, the cost, and the best time to make the trip.

Picture Stories - Develop imagination and creativity. Have your children select four or five pictures from magazines and newspapers, and put them together to tell a story. Ask your children to number the pictures—1, 2, 3, etc. First, ask them to tell the story with the pictures in numerical order. For variety, have your children rearrange the pictures and tell a new story using this different arrangement.

Day-by-Day Calendar - Turn a large calendar - commercial or homemade - into a personalized family communication center. Have your children fill in the blanks with morning messages, weather reports, birthdays, special activities, or notes to the family. (As a tutor, you can get started by making a calendar for next year and fill in the first day of school and goals the student hopes to reach by the end of the summer.)

Newspaper Math - Use the Weather section to check temperatures across the nation and the world. This is good geography practice, too. Discuss baseball and football scores and averages on the sports pages. Who are the high scores? What are the percentages?

History Timeline - Record history at home. Stretch a roll of shelf paper along the floor. Use a ruler to make a line about three feet long. (Use a separate sheet for each child.) Ask your children to fill in the important dates in their own lives, starting with their birth. Those familiar with U.S. history can fill in major dates since the founding of our country.

Disappearing Letters - Promote creativity and build muscle control with a pail of water and a brush. On a warm day, take your children outside to the driveway or sidewalk and encourage them to write anything they wish. Talk about what they’ve written.

These home learning “recipes” have been tested and developed by Dr. Dorothy Rich, author of MEGASKILLS®, for the National Education Association. Reprinted with permission of the National Education Association and The Home and School Institute, 1994.

***Please Note: Most JCL school sites are closed over the summer. However, there may be some volunteer opportunities at schools or learning centers that have summer programs. Contact your site coordinator or JCL regional office to inquire about summer tutoring opportunities.

Report on NJCL Meeting

By Roberta Rothman, Bay Area Director

I attended my first meeting of the National Jewish Coalition for Literacy in Washington DC in February, part of the JCPA (Jewish Council for Public Affairs) conference. Twenty JCL affiliates were represented, and I am pleased to report that JCL of the Bay Area is one of the largest. It was most helpful to learn about the challenges other groups face and the different ways they are organized, e.g. Boston has strong partnerships with large organizations; Los Angeles has 1,300 tutors, also via partnerships; and Buffalo has 35 tutors who all tutor at one school at the same time.

As the Bay Area representative, I presented the JESNA (Jewish Education Service of North America) assessment that our organization underwent last year. As a follow-up to the presentation, the JCL director from Denver used the report to emphasize the goodwill JCL generates for the Jewish community.

Other national trends that emerged were that several JCL affiliates are focusing on kindergarten and preschool-aged children. The idea is “the younger the better.” The Los Angeles office is working with the Head Start program and JCL-Boston is working with local preschools.

Presentations with a broader scope included a session on No Child Left Behind by Rushern Baker of the Community Teachers Institute; Distance Tutoring (via computers) by Seth Weinberger, founder of Innovations for Learning; and A View from the Hill by Steve Nousen, federal lobbyist for education.

Meeting my colleagues and hearing about their work was so inspiring, and we are now all in touch on a regular basis. I will continue to exchange ideas with other JCL affiliates and pass this information along to you, our tutors and supporters.

Thank You!

The staff is tremendously grateful to the following people for their generous contributions to JCL:

• The Exploring Identities, Expanding Learning Conference Advisory Committee: Natalie Bivas, Jerilyn Gelt, Joan Green, Marilyn Nebenzahl, and Annie Prozan for their expert guidance in organizing JCL’s fourth annual literacy conference
• Keren Keshet - The Rainbow Foundation and the Jewish Community High School of the Bay for providing such a lovely venue for the conference
• Stephanie Lim and Stacey Simon of the Jewish Community Federation of the Greater East Bay for creating the great conference brochure
• Books Inc for their generous discount on books purchased by JCL and for attending our conference and giving our tutors easy access to great children’s books and other related literature
• Peet’s Coffee & Tea for donating coffee and all the fixin’s for our literacy conference for the second year in a row
• Izzy’s Brooklyn Bagels for offering us a generous discount on bagels and spreads for the conference breakfast