Chinatown

What is Service Learning

According to The Community Service Act of 1990, which authorized the Learn and Service America grant rogram, defines service-learning as:

 

- a method under which students or participants learn and develop through active participation in throughtfully organized service that is conducted in and meets the needs of a community; is coordinated with an elementary school, secondary school, institution of higher education, or community service program, and with the commnity; and helps foster civic responsibility; and that is integrated into and enhances the academic curriculum of the students, or the educational components of the community service program in which the participants are enrolled; and provides structured time for the students or participants to reflect on the service experience

 

Why is Service Learning important to the Chinatown Y?

 

One main reason why Chinatown Y has put a huge emphasis on service learning is because we believe that it can greatly help our youth participants, especially the new immigrant population, adapting the new culture and living environment in America. Among our 7 ASP sites, over 90% of the student population is Chinese American, and many of them come from new immigrant families. Through participating in service learning projects, it can help these new immigrant students developing social and teamwork skills, and it can also help them understanding they can contribute to the community and make instant direct impacts. Students can also acquire different knowlege including English skills during the process.

 

Being educators and professionals working with children, we understand that a well-planned activity or lesson plan can really benefit young students and prepare them for much bigger responsibilities in the future. Also, we should never underestimate the power of young children when they firmly believe that they can contribute, and when they are determined to make a difference in their schools, neighborhoods, and in our world. These pretty much sum up why we have put a big emphasis on service learning in our youth programming.

Penpal Letters from Hong Kong!

 

Gordon J. Lau Afterschool Program got in touch with an elementary school in Hong Kong, and together they have started finding ways to connect the two group of students together to promote cultural sharing. Several weeks ago, students from GJL received some wonderful introduction letters from Viviana Mok's (classroom teacher from a Hong Kong elementary school) students and were thrilled by the efforts these Hong Kong students have spent on the letters.

 

 

 

 

Our YMCA students were so excited to read all the letters - they were very well written, colorful, and students have also pasted a lot of their family photos on them. Some of our YMCA kids couldn't wait to respond the questions asked by the Hong Kong students, and started writing their answers on the original letters! Overall, the project promotes the idea of multi-cultural, and students all got a chance to communicate and get to know students from the other side of the world (of course, they got to practice their writing skills as well!).

 

A short video - please enjoy!

 

 

 

-------------------------

 

Neighborhood Beautification Project

 

Cleanup project has always been a favorite service learning projects because of the drastic change of reaction from the students before and after the project. You could prepare a great speech, or an exciting PowerPoint to explain to the students why cleaning up our community is important, but all you will see are faces of unwillingness and all you will hear are questions such as 'Why are we picking up garbage?' The idea of 'picking up trash' is not the most appealing to the students, and probably is not one of the things they will expect to do when you tell them 'okay folks, we are going to do a project at the park today'.

 

 

 

 

However, something special always seem to happen during the process.

Somewhere along the process, students forget about things that leads to their previous hesitation such as 'garbage is dirty', 'why do I have to pick it up? I didn't throw it on the ground', or simply 'ewwwwww....' It is amazing to see how excited the students are after they clean up an area even though they have to constantly bend down or reach under the bench, with sweats all over their faces.

 

Needless to say - if any any of these students have been littering in the past, they sure will think twice in the future because now they experience first hand how much efforts it takes to clean up even a small area in the park. Besides the physical work, students also learn about teamwork, collaboration, knowledge about recycling (students were asked to write down which items they picked up from the ground were recyclable), and civic responsibilities. They all have a beautiful smiles on their faces after they have accomplished the tasks because they all share a clear sense of accomplishment - they all can see the instant impact (a clean park!) they have made.

 

 

 

----------------------------

 

Elderly Home Visits

It is beneficial for both children and the elderly to make meaningful connections with one another. In this process, the children can learn to appreciate, respect, and care for the elderly. They can also learn the the differences and similarities between their generations and much more. Since the elderly are often in need of company and more joy to their lives, engaging with children is a great way to help them achieve this. Gordon J Lau ASP students put a great amount of effort to bring joy to the many elderly in Chinatown community.

Last year, Program leaders: Lynn, Kathy & Sue, took their groups of students to visit the senior centers. Lynn and Kathy's students collaborated to make dessert for the elderly. They each also made a colorful art craft to give it to the elderly as a gift. After the dessert and crafts were ready, they brought it to the elderly center. The students handed out a plate of dessert for each eldery. All of the students and elderly interacted and ate together. After they finished eating, the students handed the craft that they have made to each elderly at the center.

 

 

Sue's group of students made handmade animal puppets out of felt and Chinese lanterns out of red envelopes for the elderly. After they have finished making them, they brought it with them to the senior center. When they arrived, they hand delivered the handmade puppets and Chinese lanterns to each elderly. The elderly were very happy when they got the chance to receive 2 gifts and mingle with the children. The students also bonded with the elderly by watching a Chinese show together.

 

 

 

 

-----------------------

Service Learning Kickoff Week!

The goal of service learning week at Gordon J Lau is to have all ASP students start caing about improving their community. This goal can first be achieved by helping them relate to their community. This can then be achieved by helping them understand the importance of using their own actions to improve their community.

The 1st graders were assigned to do a community clean up. On day 1, they cleaned up the school yards. On day 2, they cleaned up the alleys of Chinatown. On day 3, they cleaned the park. This clean up project is meant to expose these first graders to bigger responsibilities. Also, students got the chance to understsand firsthand the importance of keeping our community clean, and we also implemented knowledge regarding recycling and composting. The kids all had a lot of fun!

 

The 2nd and 3rd graders were assigned to make a DVD that teaches the importance of physical education fo kids in Chinatown. This is also a video contest to see which group can create the most entertaining physical activity/exercise instruction video. The purpose of this video contest is to emphasize the need for more recreational space in Chinatown. Due to the limited recreational space in Chinatown, exercise videos like this can be a useful guide for families to do fun indoor physical activities together.

 

 

The 4th and 5th graders participated in a Resource Guide Book Contest. The winner of this contest would be based on how creative and useful the book is for families. These students visited agencies that wil be a good resource for new immigrant families who can really benefit from having a guide book regarding resources that are accessible to them.  After visiting different organizations in the neighborhood, our students will make the guidebook by including the address, contact and service information. The aim of this guidebook is to make it easier for new immigrants to be aware of the services that they may find useful.

 

 

 --------------------------

 

Holiday Party with Self-Help for the Elderly!

We believe in the importance of helping children develop the mindset to get involved with their community at a young age. In order to acheive this, Jessica Chen (BAYAC member) contacted several non profit organizations in the Chinatown and North Beach area to see if they would like to collaborate with the students from the Gordon J Lau aferschool program for a direct service project. Our first response was from an organization called The Self-Help for the Elderly. The program manager, Annie Yu invited the students to perform at a Christmas party on December 2, 2011, in which approximately 300 seniors were expected to attend! We were given 10 minutes for our performance. In order to prepare for this event, the first graders practiced singing "Jingle Bells", "We Wish You a Merry Christmas", and the "Y" cheer afterschool everyday for about two weeks. We also made the party even more eventful for the elderly by having over 130 students from the afterschool program to help make over 300 Santa crafts within 2-3 days to give it to them as a gift. Some students were even eager to help make some more after they have finished their homework. The activity of making gifts for the senior is also meant to help the students develop a sense of responsibilty to care for the elderly in their community. However, due to limited space at the party, only the 4th and 5th graders were invited to hand deliver the Santa crafts to each elderly.

 

 

 

On the day of the party, the 1st, 4th, and 5th graders immediately lined up after snack time, to get ready to walk down to the St. Mary's church. We arrived at the church about 20 minutes before our scheduled performance. With this extra time, the first graders practiced singing the three songs outside of the church. It was enjoyable to see many bystanders stop for a moment just to watch our students practice. When the announcer informed us that it was our turn, the first graders lined up to go on stage and sang. When it was time to perform, the 1st graders all behaved very well and san very impressively. They performed so well that they got the elderly to clap for them while they sang.  While the 1st graders sang, the 4th and 5th graders passed out the Santa crafts to each elderly. After the end of the last song, Annie Yu surprised each 1st grader with a gift as a way to thank them for coming out to perform for the elderly.

 

 

   

The meaning behind this whole event is to help our students become more proactive in making a difference in their community starting at a young age. Community involvement is a great way to help them learn how to become a more responsible and caring individual. This is also meant to help them believe that they have the ability to achieve greater accomplishments when they reach adulthood.

 

 

 

---------------------

  

Chinese New Year Project

Gordon J. Lau ASP students colored Chinese New Year decorations to distribute to  different agencies and stores in the Chinatown Community as a way to celebrate Chinese New Year. This service project is a way for our students to learn to give back and to also promote the togetherness of the community. Our program leaders brought their students to different areas of Chinatown to distrubute the Chinese New Year decorations. As the students hand it out, they wish the organization or store to have good fortune, good health, and a happy new year. Students visited agencies such as the police station, fire station, On Lok, the public library, Cameron House, and the Chinatown Y. Some students also got to see many members of those agencies immediately put up the decorations on their walls or windows.

  

 

Other students distrubuted their decorations to stores along Grant St. to Washington St and Jackson St. to Broadway St. Because many storeowners on these specific streets allowed our students to go trick or treat at their stores on Halloween, it is important for our students to learn how to give back by hand delivering the decorations and wishing them a happy new year.

 

  

Community Resource Book

 

YMCA afterschool program students have been working on a resource book. The purpose of the resource book is to assist new immigrant families to acknowledge where they can access free resources in the Chinatown community. We believe that this resource book will be beneficial for new immigrants to have because many have little knowledge about the free or low cost resources that are available to them.

The students began this project by brainstorming a list of agencies in which their families get services from. The next step was to visit those organizations to obtain more information. The students spent a few weeks to write up their findings, decorate, and put together a draft of the resource book.

Below are some pictures of the students visiting different agencies to gather information for the resource book:

 

    

  

 

 

 

 The final version of the resource book is still currently being worked on. Once the final version is completed, the students will distribute their work to members of the Chinatown community!

To view the students' current progress on the resource book, click part 1 and part 2!

  

----------------------------------------

  

YMCA ASP Carnival

Throughout this spring semester, our Gordon J. Lau ASP students have been preparing for the upcoming YMCA ASP carnival in May. This carnival will be hosted at Gordon J Lau. Hundreds of kids from several of our afterschool program sites will be invited to come. Some goals of this upcoming carnival are to bring the students of the Chinatown community closer, give them the chance to meet more friends from other schools, and to have fun. More importantly, one goal is to also give the students who are putting this carnival together from scratch and hosting the games, to practice handling bigger responsibilties and to learn about the importance of bringing the people of our community closer.

The program leaders worked with their students to come up with at least 2 carnival games per group. Some of the games include "Rainbow Penny Toss", "Spring Kick Ball", "The Princess and the Zrow", "Tic Tac Toe", "Ring Toss", "Bowling", "Darts", "Wheel Barrel Race", "3 legged Race", "Treasure Chest", "Duck Water Race", "Angry Birds", "Pinko", "Tennis Toss", and "The Maze Race".

The students first came up with the names, rules, and instructions for each game in groups. They are currently working on decorating the banners, and writing out the rules and instructions on poster paper for each game. They are also currently designing and building their games from scratch with using materials such as cardboard boxes, duct tape, paint, etc.  Here are some pictures of what they have been working on:

 

 

 

  

 

 

------------------------------------------------

 

Community Safety Survey

 

A group of 3rd to 5th graders at Gordon J Lau ASP have been reflecting about the Chinatown community and the ways to improve it. First, they reflected about what makes up their community through drawing it out in silence. The students were then asked to share their drawings. Some of the drawings include children playing in a park and on the streets, children holding hands, schools, buildings with Chinese structural designs, TransAmerica building, and Planet Earth. This activity helps them visualize and appreciate what makes their community unique and beautiful.

After this reflection, the students were asked to think about the problems of their community. The majority of the group believed that the safety in Chinatown is an important issue to focus on.  The students decided to create a survey to ask the adults and the elderly in the Chinatown area to see how safe they feel in Chinatown and if they know how to get help if they encounter an emergency or witness a crime. The students brainstormed about what their survey instructions and questions should be. An English and Chinese version of the survey is also available. Here is the sample:

 

Thank you for taking this survey. Please DO NOT write your name. Circle "yes" or "no" to answer the questions below: 

1. Do you feel safe in Chinatown during day time?  Yes / No

2. Do you feel safe in Chinatown during night time? Yes / No

3. Have you ever witnessed a crime in Chinatown? Yes / No

4. If yes, did you report it? Yes / No

5. Do you feel comfortable reporting crimes? Yes / No

6. Do you know where the closest police station is? Yes / No

7. Do you know what number to call if there is a local medical emergency? Yes / No 

 

Once the survey questions have been finalized and printed out, the students administered the surveys at the Chinatown public library, Chinatown Y, Portsmouth Square, and Gordon J. Lau. It was a pretty amazing experience to witness the students being very brave and eager to approach individuals that they do not know very well to fill out a survey. Approximately 200 surveys have been collected so far! The goal is to get about 600 surveys filled out to get a greater understanding of how adults and the elderly feel regarding the safety of Chinatown. After all the surves are collected, the students will begin tallying the results of the surveys. The final steps of this service project will be to prepare a presentation with visual aids and to present it to the local police!

Here are some pictures of the students approaching individuals to fill out a survey:

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 Pen Pal Letters from Hong Kong!

 

 

 

 

 

Neighborhood Beautification Project

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

   

 

Elderly Home Visits

 

     

  

   

 

   

  

 

St.Jude's Children Hospital Fundraiser

 

  

 

  

 

  

 

Holiday Party with Self-Help For the Elderly

 

  

 

 

  

 

Service Learning Kick Off Week

 

   

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Chinese New Year Project

  

  

      

   

   

     

   

  

  

 Community Safety Survey