Hollywood Celebrates Communities In Schools : Communities in Schools

More...

Communities In Schools of Los Angeles West Newsletter

December, 2010 Message from the Board Chair

Dear Friend,

You’re receiving this newsletter because you’ve supported Communities In Schools of Los Angeles West this year. Perhaps you’ve visited one of our schools or opened your place of business to our students so they could learn about post-graduation careers. Many of you donated supplies, attended awareness events, organized or participated in cultural enrichment and community service activities or you made generous monetary donations that make all of this and more possible. Thank you for all that you’ve done. With your help, we’ve literally transformed the lives of hundreds of young people.

So far in the 2010-2011 school year, Communities In Schools of Los Angeles West has provided 700 students with a caring adult at school to guide and advocate for them. We’ve provided tutoring services for approximately 400 students, and college information and counseling for a similar number of youths. We’ve also connected 300 students to support services and provided 300 students with job shadowing experiences so they can explore career opportunities beyond graduation.

Without your help, none of this would have been possible. 400 of these students would likely have already dropped out of school. That’s 400 lives that have been changed forever—really a remarkable achievement. But there is more work to do. We have yet to reach all the students in the schools we serve. With the right resources, Communities In Schools of Los Angeles West could double the number of kids we serve just in our current schools and there are many more schools throughout Los Angeles that could benefit from our services.

So, as we head into the new year, I want to thank you again for all the support you’ve given Communities In Schools of Los Angeles West and urge you to continue to help us in the future. Next semester, we are launching a mentorship program and are looking for caring, dedicated people to help guide individual students. We plan to expand our job shadowing program and are always looking for businesses to participate. We will also be increasing our fundraising efforts so we can add more school site staff and serve more students.

I look forward to continuing to work with you in the new year to help more students achieve their potential and help the schools we serve become the vibrant learning environments they strive to be.

Wishing you a joyous holiday season,

Donna Weiss
Board Chair
Communities In Schools of Los Angeles West

December 2010
Message from the Executive Director

Thanksgiving is traditionally the start of the winter holiday season, and now that it is December, we at Communities In Schools of Los Angeles West (CIS of LA West) look at our children and know that we are beginning to make “A Wonderful Life” for them. We are in a very solid financial position based on a series of successful events this Fall. We are in a position to give hundreds of young people many “gifts” that will make all our lives richer in the future. At Communities In Schools of Los Angeles West, we celebrate:

The Gift of A Solid Foundation of Support provided by the assistants at Creative Artists Agency (CAA) at this year’s Young Hollywood Party. This annual event hosted by The CAA Task Force named CIS of LA West as the non-profit recipient of the party’s proceeds. Due to the efforts of CIS national board member, Kevin Huvane, and the CAA Task Force, over $170,000 was raised for Communities in Schools to deliver programs to the 600 youth in our programs.

The Gift of Community Awareness and Recognition was provided by over 200 adults in attendance at the special screening of Waiting for "Superman" made possible by the Chief Executive Officer at Participant Media, CIS of LA West Board Member Jim Berk. For all those who support Communities In Schools, the film awakened our sensitivity to the need of providing meaningful programs and opportunities for the hundreds of young people at risk of falling behind in their schools and not graduating. We are also beginning to make a major impact on the Los Angeles community through benefit events sponsored by our new friends at Arcade, SAKS, Theory, and our night of laughter at the Comedy Store. The work of our Board and Development Director, have elevated the CIS brand in the Los Angeles community and provided a valuable opportunity for people interested in investing in youth.
The Gift of Career Awareness was recently given to 35 students from Venice High School at NBC Universal Telemundo on a day when the schools were closed for budgetary reasons. CIS of LA West was able to provide an opportunity to learn about working at a major television studio and using bilingual language skills in the workplace. A special thanks to CIS of LA West board member, Matthew Wagner and his colleagues at NBC/Universal, Diana Mogollon and Lleni Sandoval, for making this day so special for our students.

The Gift of Guidance will be provided to a group of students in the month of December through the new Mentoring Program starting at Venice and Hamilton High Schools. Through a generous gift from an anonymous donor, CIS LA West was able to secure funding to begin this program. Mentoring opens up the minds and hearts of young people to dream about paths to college and careers that they may never have had the chance to imagine. If you are interested in participating in this program in 2011, contact favianlopez@gmail.com.
CISLAW received a Special Gift of Assistance through CIS of Arizona and their AmeriCorps Grant. Five new AmeriCorps members are delivering services to our CIS of LA West students and dedicating a year of their life to underserved youth in America’s urban centers. Partially underwritten by Creative Artists Agency, these young people will be tutoring, mentoring, monitoring and counseling students in all four of our schools.
A Special Gift of Fellowship was extended to the Communities in Schools of Los Angeles West Board through the generosity of new Board Member, Pamela Robinson. She hosted a holiday reception at her home and Board members had a chance to meet the families of fellow board members and develop stronger social and personal bonds among themselves to better serve the young people in our community.

The Powerful Gift of Career Awareness was provided to 30 Hamilton High School students at Creative Artists Agency and at UBS Financial Services. These young people had a chance to see “the world of work” from the employees at each organization. Each student had a chance to “job shadow” an employee and see firsthand what a day’s work is all about.

The Gift of Beauty and Health was provided by Stila Cosmetics and Dermalogica to 20 Hamilton students through a workshop on skin care and beauty. Thank you to Stila CEO, Deanna Kangas, for organizing her team and bringing Dermalogica on board as a partner, for the wonderful gifts of product and make up that were donated, for boosting the self confidence and bringing smiles to the faces of all who participated.