Key Center Weekly Community Engagement October 3 - October 10 Fall break is right around the corner. Community Partnership Feature: William Randolph School The William Randolph School is the Montford campus of Asheville High School and Asheville Middle School. Randolph is Asheville's only alternative school. Located on historic Montford Avenue, this school provides a smaller learning environment, a 21 credit graduating program of study, and a developing focus on green technologies and permaculture. Randolph looks forward to continuing partnerships with community organizations, individuals, and businesses. Like this organization? Want to find out more about other community organizations you can work with? Check out the Key Center s site, here. Service Learning: 1) Public Service Project: If you are interested in doing a Public Service Project to become Community Engaged Scholars, please attend one of the mandatory workshops in Highsmith Union 235 (SAIL Boardroom): Wed. 10/3 4-5PM Wed. 11/14 4-5PM Please e-mail the Key Center to indicate your attendance at keyctr@unca.edu. 2) Community Engaged Scholars: If interested in learning more about becoming a Community Engaged Scholar, then please attend the General Information session happening on Friday, October 12 2pm-3pm in Highsmith Union 235 (SAIL Boardroom). For more information about the academic honor and Public Service Projects is here: http://keycenter.unca.edu/community-engaged-scholars UNCA also has a recent feature on the first Community Engaged Scholars who graduated in May here:http://www.unca.edu/features/recognized-giving-back. Service: Short Term Opportunities
1) Homeward Bound Homeward bound is seeking volunteers for their Homeward Books project. The Books Project will take place on October 8th from 5:30 to 7:00pm. Volunteers will help create book packages for people recently placed in new housing. These bookshelf starter kits will include a few good novels, cookbooks, home-improvement guides etc. to help make the new house a home. Volunteers will sort, count and package boxes of books outside the POP storage unit. Come dressed for the weather as this will take place at an outdoor facility. To sign-up go here. 2) Helpmate Helpmate is seeking volunteer receptionist who assist with answering the door, statistical data entry, filing, sorting, donations, etc. Receptionists are needed during business hours Monday - Friday, 9:00am - 5:00pm. There are several 2-3 hour shifts to choose from. Helpmate offers a required training for interested volunteers three times a year (typically during the months of March, July, and November). Contact the Helpmate office for training dates and location. If interested contact the volunteer coordinator at (828)254-2968 ext 12. 3) MANNA Help sort food at MANNA Food Bank to be given to 255 agencies serving hungry people in Western North Carolina. Volunteers will assist with sorting and preparing donations or helping with monthly mailings. Volunteers are welcome to bring nonperishable food items to donate to MANNA to help them feed the hungry of WNC. Pack and Sort takes place on October 20th, 1:00pm - 3:00pm. To sign-up go here 4) YMCA YMCA is seeking volunteers for their Haunted Trail. Volunteers will help set-up/be a part of the trail. This means volunteers may dress up if they want to. The trail runs October 23rd - October 31st. Shifts are from 6:00pm - 9:30pm.
If interested, contact Danette at dbordenkircher@ymcawnc.org 5) Applachian Trail Crew The Appalachian Trail Conservancy s Rocky Top Trail Crew is seeking volunteers to help reconstruct a section of the Appalachian Trail in the Great Smoky Mountains National Park. They need help on Sunday October 7th. For more information or to sign-up go here. Long Term Opportunities 1) Literacy Council of Buncombe County The Literacy Council is seeking volunteers to help tutor adults in basic literacy skills including reading, writing, math and English as a second language. No prior tutoring experience is required. Tutors will receive 15 hours of training as well as ongoing support from certified professionals. Orientation will be held on October 31st and November 1st. For more information contact literacytutors@litcouncil.com 2) Children First/CIS Children First/CIS is seeking volunteers for its after school learning centers. The learning centers are located at Pisgah View, Deaverview and Woodridge. Students range from K-5 and attend Buncombe County and Asheville City Schools. Volunteers will assist the site leaders and mentor children with homework help and enrichment activities. If interested contact volunteer@childrenfirstbc.org. 3) Hall Fletcher Elementary ESL Classes Hall Fletcher Elementary is in need of volunteers that can help out on Wednesday evenings from 5-7 PM. An ESL program is offered to adults during this time and many of these parents bring their children. They are in need of volunteers to monitor and work with the children brought to the class. This is a great service learning opportunity for anyone interested in working with children and English Language Learners. The volunteer would provide basic childcare (e.g. supervising while they play, reading with them, etc.). If you have any questions or would like more information, please contact:
Alex Smith Community Engagement Coordinator alex.smith@asheville.k12.nc.us 828.350.6451 4) William Randolph School Seeking a student who is interested in working one-on-one with an eager to learn geometry student. The time period is during 1st Block from 8:25-9:45 a.m. The volunteer would have to commit to, at least, once a week. The volunteer would have to pass a criminal background check prior to working in the school. This would be a wonderful opportunity for a student who is interested in math or education, or just wants to work with a highly motivated student! Contact Sara Brown for more info, sbrown2@unca.edu. 5) Mediation Center The Mediation Center is seeking volunteers for its Family Visitation Program. The Family Visitation Program (FVP) is a safe and fun place for parents and children to build positive relationships. FVP provides supervised visitation and monitored exchanges to families with a history of high-conflict custody disputes, domestic violence, child abuse or neglect, substance abuse, or mental health concerns. Volunteer Visit Monitors are needed to supervise visits and exchanges. The primary goal of this volunteer supervision is to ensure the physical and emotional well-being of the child. Volunteer Visit Monitors conduct 15 minutes coaching/goal-setting sessions with visiting parent before and after their visits. Volunteer visit monitors are also responsible for taking neutral and objective notes and maintaining accurate records of all visitations. Interested volunteers will be asked to attend an orientation session to determine if this opportunity is a good fit for the volunteer and FVP. Volunteers must also pass a background check. Volunteers will receive training and will shadow and practice taking observational notes for at least three visits prior to supervising a visit on their own. FVP staff will meet with volunteers after each visit to review and debrief the experience. Staff are always available to serve as an ongoing-resource for volunteers. A commitment of 6 months is requested. Volunteers with an interest in family services and human services skills are encouraged to apply. Ages 21+ welcome. FVP staff would be happy to give interested volunteers a tour of the facility. If interested contact Jessie at jessier@mediatewnc.org Community Citizenship 1) Para el Mundo USA
Para el Mundo is seeking undergraduate women 18 and up who are conversational in Spanish (Spanish 220 is a minimum requirement) and interested in public health. Travel to Peru with an amazing group of women and gain teaching and community building experience. Must be comfortable discussing and teaching topics on and related to sexual health. If interested, there will be an information session Tuesday, October 16th in Highsmith 103 6pm-7pm 2) Dance-A-Thon UNC-Asheville will be having its first ever Dance-A-Thon on November 10 from 8 p.m. to 2 a.m. thanks to SAIL. The night is full of fun entertainment including live bands, instructor-led dance sessions, and many other fun activities! So bring your dancing shoes and get ready to move your booty! The Dance-A-Thon is designed as a fundraiser for Mission Children s Hospital. Students register to dance for 6 hours as either a club/organization, with a team of friends, or as an individual. It is Student Activities, Involvement & Leadership s goal that each individual participant raises $100. Students are encouraged to raise funds by reaching out to family, friends, and neighbors. All donations will go directly to Mission Children s Hospital. Find out more and register at http://studentactivities.unca.edu/dance-thon 3) RiverLink Rain Garden Certification As part of RiverLink s WaterRICH (Water Reuse, Infiltration, and Conservation for the Home) Program, they are partnering with the NC Cooperative Extension to offer rain garden class focusing on use in residential applications. The class will be offered at a reduced rate for residents. This program helps residents design and construct their own rainwater gardens, cisterns and rain barrels to promote infiltration and reuse of rainwater on landscapes, reducing runoff and your water bill! The class will take place October 22nd - October 23rd. The first day will be at the Buncombe County Extension Center and the second day will be at RiverLink's offices at 170 Lyman Street. To register for the class click here. 4) UNCA Presidential Debate Screening The first presidential debate will be taking place on October 3rd. The debate will be screened in the Highsmith Grotto starting at 9pm and lasting until 2am.
5) Blue Ridge Pride Blue Ridge Pride will take place in Pack Square Park on October 6th from 12:00pm - 7:00pm. Acts include: Amy Steinberg, Comedian/Singer/Performing Phenom www.amysteinberg.net/ Asheville WordSlam Poets Dakota Oder and Shanita Jackson youtu.be/tcdonsoq7eq Cantaria, Asheville's Gay Men's A-Cappella singing group www.cantariaasheville.org Steff Mahan, with Cheley Tackett www.steffmahan.com Pride 2012 Drag Fiesta and New Ms./Mr. Blue Ridge Pride! Featuring Eureka, Ms. Blue Ridge Pride 2012! Sonni Shine and the Underwater Sounds underwatersounds.net/sonnishine The Stereo Fidelics www.stereof.com Key Center for Community Citizenship and Service Learning University of North Carolina at Asheville 248 Highsmith Union Email keyctr@unca.edu Phone 828.251.6400 http://keycenter.unca.edu/