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First Workshop: (Discussing College | Job Shadowing | School Beautification) |
|
Second Workshop: (Partnership Design | Organizing Volunteers | Communication) |
Third Workshop: How a Small Alumni Club Can Make a Big Difference - 2/15/07
Jump to: Partnership Guidelines | Profile: Williams College | Building a Partnership | Small Group Discussion
Alumni for Public Schools held our third workshop of the winter, "How a Small Alumni Club Can Make a Big Difference," on Thursday, February 15,
2007 from 5:00 to 6:30pm at Walter Payton College Prep High School. Representatives from 12 clubs discussed the challenges that go along with organizing a
finite group of volunteers and ways of supporting a school that don’t require a small army. Read a summary of the discussion below
or download a printable summary
.
Introduction
Event Ideas
Participants shared activities their alumni clubs have done, including these:
- Organized a field trip
- Held a welcome party for local students who have been accepted as freshmen
- Served as Principal for a Day
- Judged a science fair
- Tutored students in preparation for standardized tests
- Held a demonstration on optics for a class of students
- Hosted a tea for students and alumni volunteers to discuss college
- Met with other alumni to watch a football game
- Attended a lecture by a visiting professor
- Implemented an arts curriculum in a school
- Organized a visit by the college president
General Partnership Guidelines
Adam Arents discussed the components of a partnership, which APS defines as at least three activities during a school year, one of which is focused on college awareness. Crucial to the success of a partnership are committed point persons, both within the alumni club and at the school. Some alumni clubs have formed committees of a few committed people who share the responsibility for managing a partnership and divide up tasks like recruiting volunteers and planning events. On the school's end, the first contact should go through the principal, who may choose to remain the primary contact person or delegate this responsibility to an Assistant Principal, counselor, teacher, or other contact.
For more ideas on school contacts, check out the APS Communication Tip
Sheet for other possible contacts at a partner school. For a list of suggested
steps toward partnership, view the checklist on the
Getting Started page. Another useful tool is the Partnership Plan
, which provides a template for organizing details
about partnership events.
Partnership Profile: Williams College and De La Cruz Middle School
Resource:
- Profile of Williams - De La Cruz Partnership
, including details on past activities. This information is also on the
Williams Partnership Page.
Kat Kollet, Oren Pollock and several other Williams alumni discussed the beginnings of the partnership with De La Cruz and some of the activities that have been successful for them. Alumni met with several schools at first, and after choosing De La Cruz they found that it was useful to set dates for activities with the school at the beginning of the school year. Although there has been some turnover among volunteers since the partnership started in 2001, it has worked well to utilize the talents and interests of alumni, such as a demonstration one alumna, Sarah Dugan, did about optics, which is a specialty of hers.
Most of the volunteers have graduated in the past ten years, but the group includes several older alumni, and often volunteers will invite friends who graduated from other schools to participate. One such connection was a Stanford alumnus who did a poetry workshop for about 60 students, allowing them to express themselves by writing their own poems and publishing them in a book. Another activity that allowed for creativity was a collage project in which students used old magazines to create collages around the theme "Live with Dignity".
Stimulating students in new ways, such as playing math games or doing Sudoku puzzles with students, forces them to use their skills in new and interesting ways. Material resources for many activities were attained through asking volunteers and businesses for donations. Kristin Lund, Director of the Notre Dame Club of Chicago, pointed out that the ND club can't raise money for outside organizations because of the conflict of interest involved in diverting alumni money toward other sources. Other clubs, such as Yale, get funding from exterior sources, thereby avoiding the conflict of interest problem.
Building a Partnership
Resources:
- Activities for a Small Group of Volunteers
, several examples of activities that can be successful with a few volunteers
- Partnership Tips - Organizing Volunteers
,
suggestions from other alumni clubs on what works in gathering volunteers
Several new ideas for activities were proposed, including tutoring students online, bringing visiting lecturers to speak at a partner school, and engaging current students of one's alma mater in mentoring or working with a partner school. Ellen Silverman, a Brown alumna, asked about Saturday programming, the existence of which varies by school, as some schools have funding for after school and weekend activities. Ms. Silverman also asked about planning activities, and several people suggested that the best way to start a partnership is to participate in activities that are already on a school's calendar, such as a Science Fair or Literacy Night, which do not require much planning on the part of alumni.
Leah Marshall, a teacher at Dunbar Vocational Career Academy, raised the issue of how to appeal to students who may not be prepared for a traditional college experience. Others emphasized the importance of finding out students' dreams and career ambitions and using those as a starting point for discussing college. Cynthia Greenleaf, Director of Partnerships for CPS, mentioned a program with students to prepare for the PSAE standardized test that has made a remarkable difference in their scores, which is one example of how individual attention can make a significant impact on a student.
Sandy Weissent, a Harvard alumnus, emphasized that when beginning a partnership, both sides must agree on what the school needs and what the alumni club can deliver. It is necessary to have one designated person on each side to do the legwork of reminding volunteers to attend and arranging details for particular activities.
Small Group Discussion
Resource:
- Alumni Club Worksheet
- What are some assets of your alumni club?
- What successful activities does your alumni club currently do--community service or otherwise?
- What challenges does your alumni club face in doing community service?
- What are some of the benefits of participating with your alumni club?
These questions were intended to spark discussion about how the resources within an alumni club are mobilized successfully for other activities, and how some of the same strategies can be applied to community service as well. Here are some of the results of the discussion:
- Group 1 (representing Brown, University of Chicago, Williams)
- Assets: large alumni population, interests and passions of alumni
- Group 2 (representing Beloit, Notre Dame, Williams)
- Challenge: communicating within the club
- Suggestions: start with pre-planned event, cast a wider net with activities that have widespread appeal, emphasize how community service events can enhance the alumni club
- Group 3 (representing Dunbar High School, Reed, Stanford, Williams, Yale)
- Past activities: book club, speakers at a school, internships for undergraduates
- Challenge: competing with other activities of the club
- Group 4 (representing Brown, Duke, Michigan State, Williams)
- Challenge: focus of the club solely on athletics
Second Workshop: The Care and Feeding of Partnerships - 1/16/07
Read about the second workshop online or download a printable workshop summary
.
First Workshop: Planning Events the Easy Way - 12/7/06
Read about the first workshop online or download a printable workshop summary
.
Page updated 26 February 2007
