Our goal is to become leaders, empower students, and make a difference in our community!
Civic Engagement consists of three key areas: Representation, service, and advocacy
Representation:
This past summer, our members, Erika, Tania, and Katherine, participated in the Civic Youth Leadership Academy, a program that was designed by the Department of Neighborhood Empowerment. They learned valuable leadership skills, discussed issues in the community, networked with students who are interested in making a difference in their communities, and explored City Hall. Our members will continue to attend important events and participate in programs that encourage students to be engaged with their local dignitaries and to be informed of the many issues that affect our community.
This past summer, our members, Erika, Tania, and Katherine, participated in the Civic Youth Leadership Academy, a program that was designed by the Department of Neighborhood Empowerment. They learned valuable leadership skills, discussed issues in the community, networked with students who are interested in making a difference in their communities, and explored City Hall. Our members will continue to attend important events and participate in programs that encourage students to be engaged with their local dignitaries and to be informed of the many issues that affect our community.
Service:
We are continuing to support our community by volunteering at events that promote student empowerment and civic engagement. Our past volunteering events include:
September 14: LA Valley College Fest: We helped to set up, greet college representatives, guide representatives to their workshops, and assisted in distributing important flyers to participants. This event included a College Fair, workshops for parents and students about topics such as CSU/UC Applications, Financial Aid, Dream Act, and provided opportunities to network with leaders in our community. September 21: Sylmar Taco Festival: We helped Councilwoman Monica Rodriguez at her event, Sylmar Taco Festival, which was a huge success! We helped to set up, assisted with parking, and guided participants throughout the event. The focus of the event was to celebrate the diversity and rich cultural experiences within the San Fernando Valley. The best local and citywide restaurants in Los Angeles were included, live performances by Latino artists and entertainers, a car show, and a taco eating contest!
September 28: Congress of Neighborhood Councils: During this event, our members helped to guide participants to their workshops, distributed and collected evaluation sheets, and participated in workshops such as: Emergency Preparedness, Public Safety, How to Run a Successful Meeting, How to Navigate the Event Approval Process, Homeless Issues Roundtable, Outreach Strategies, LGBTQ, Leadership, etc. We enjoyed meeting our City Officials!
We are continuing to support our community by volunteering at events that promote student empowerment and civic engagement. Our past volunteering events include:
September 14: LA Valley College Fest: We helped to set up, greet college representatives, guide representatives to their workshops, and assisted in distributing important flyers to participants. This event included a College Fair, workshops for parents and students about topics such as CSU/UC Applications, Financial Aid, Dream Act, and provided opportunities to network with leaders in our community. September 21: Sylmar Taco Festival: We helped Councilwoman Monica Rodriguez at her event, Sylmar Taco Festival, which was a huge success! We helped to set up, assisted with parking, and guided participants throughout the event. The focus of the event was to celebrate the diversity and rich cultural experiences within the San Fernando Valley. The best local and citywide restaurants in Los Angeles were included, live performances by Latino artists and entertainers, a car show, and a taco eating contest!
September 28: Congress of Neighborhood Councils: During this event, our members helped to guide participants to their workshops, distributed and collected evaluation sheets, and participated in workshops such as: Emergency Preparedness, Public Safety, How to Run a Successful Meeting, How to Navigate the Event Approval Process, Homeless Issues Roundtable, Outreach Strategies, LGBTQ, Leadership, etc. We enjoyed meeting our City Officials!
Advocacy:
Our members are continuing to learn about the issues that affect our community and are committed to work with local organizations and our community to lend support. We are currently participating in several fundraisers to help us with the launch of our campaign drive called Pay It Forward, which will benefit students in need and the homeless population in our community. Our fundraisers include T-Shirt Fundraiser (selling short-sleeve shirts with our logo), Homecoming Game Fundraiser (selling agua fresca), and Booster Club Pancake Breakfast (selling tickets).
Our members are continuing to learn about the issues that affect our community and are committed to work with local organizations and our community to lend support. We are currently participating in several fundraisers to help us with the launch of our campaign drive called Pay It Forward, which will benefit students in need and the homeless population in our community. Our fundraisers include T-Shirt Fundraiser (selling short-sleeve shirts with our logo), Homecoming Game Fundraiser (selling agua fresca), and Booster Club Pancake Breakfast (selling tickets).
Other News:
THANK YOU to Passion Planner for our FREE planners! This is an important tool for our success and we appreciate all of the support. We are proud to be a recipient of the Get One, Give One program!
THANK YOU to Passion Planner for our FREE planners! This is an important tool for our success and we appreciate all of the support. We are proud to be a recipient of the Get One, Give One program!
Our past Recruitment and Back-To-School event was a success! Check out the Girls Build LA Buttons we created- we gave these out to students and to our wonderful Sylmar staff. We also gave out some yummy popcorn!
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Mission Statement:
The Girls Build team at Sylmar Charter High School is made up of a group of students who want to make an impact in their community, whose members believe in the power of literacy and action to improve their communities and our world. Our team members have come together to build upon the success from last school year's team, to create events to empower students, and to help our community together.
Our project for this school year is to create a campaign drive called Pay It Forward, which will encompass social justice and advocacy on the topic of homelessness. Our campaign drive will incorporate the needs of the students at our school. We will create a survey, assess for needs, and provide supplies to students, no questions asked. Supplies will include items such as clothing, shoes, food, hygiene items, and school supplies. We will also hold a day of service where students can pay it forward by helping us to create hygiene kits for various organizations that serve the homeless population.
Project Need:
We decided to focus on our community's vulnerable populations such as the homeless population in our community. We do not have many resources in the Sylmar community to help those in need. There is no year-round shelter for men, women, and children who may need a place to stay temporarily.
In our city of Sylmar, we only have these three resources since many other homeless shelters and transitional housing are located in other areas.
The Sylmar Armory, which was an emergency shelter in the winter months, has been converted to house women who are homeless, and will operated by LA Family Housing but it is still in the process.
Hope Gardens, a transitional housing campus in Sylmar, offers sanctuary to single women and children who are experiencing homelessness.
Serenity Recuperative Care, also helps many people who are homeless get back on their feet by providing them with a safe place to recover from injury or illness.
In the Northeast Valley, there are 2,162 students that are identified as homeless, many of them living in motels. There is a new homeless family resource hub that Councilwoman Monica Rodriguez announced in June 2019. The hub provides homeless families with services like housing, navigation, tutoring, after school childcare and other activities. Many of the children of families being temporarily housed in motels in the Sylmar area attend the El Dorado Avenue Elementary School.
There are many other people living in RV's/Campers, on the street, in cars, vans, makeshift shelters, and tents.
For this reason, our focus will be on helping children, men, and women who are homeless and are in need of extra support.
Civic Engagement Component:
We will collaborate with various organizations, dignitaries, and our students to address the issues of homelessness. We will continue to encourage students at our school to be active in civic engagement by creating posters to display on our campus. These posters will reinforce the ideas of Representation, Service, and Advocacy. We will also offer opportunities for students in these different areas of Civic Engagement. Events we will continue to plan are voter registration drives, Census 2020 recruitment, community clean ups, social justice and advocacy in regards to homelessness, and our Pay It Forward Campaign Drive.
Anticipated Outcomes:
One short-term outcome we expect is for students at our school to receive items they are in need of, such as warm clothing for the winter months, and hygiene or food items needed.
One long-term outcome we expect is for students to participate in civic engagement by learning about the importance of voting, being active in their community and advocating for others, and by helping others who are in need through service.
Budget:
Our budget will include items needed for hygiene kits for female and male students and adults in our community. Other items we will consider in our budget include signage to promote civic engagement at our school and in our community, materials needed to distribute items, and food for meetings.
The Girls Build team at Sylmar Charter High School is made up of a group of students who want to make an impact in their community, whose members believe in the power of literacy and action to improve their communities and our world. Our team members have come together to build upon the success from last school year's team, to create events to empower students, and to help our community together.
Our project for this school year is to create a campaign drive called Pay It Forward, which will encompass social justice and advocacy on the topic of homelessness. Our campaign drive will incorporate the needs of the students at our school. We will create a survey, assess for needs, and provide supplies to students, no questions asked. Supplies will include items such as clothing, shoes, food, hygiene items, and school supplies. We will also hold a day of service where students can pay it forward by helping us to create hygiene kits for various organizations that serve the homeless population.
Project Need:
We decided to focus on our community's vulnerable populations such as the homeless population in our community. We do not have many resources in the Sylmar community to help those in need. There is no year-round shelter for men, women, and children who may need a place to stay temporarily.
In our city of Sylmar, we only have these three resources since many other homeless shelters and transitional housing are located in other areas.
The Sylmar Armory, which was an emergency shelter in the winter months, has been converted to house women who are homeless, and will operated by LA Family Housing but it is still in the process.
Hope Gardens, a transitional housing campus in Sylmar, offers sanctuary to single women and children who are experiencing homelessness.
Serenity Recuperative Care, also helps many people who are homeless get back on their feet by providing them with a safe place to recover from injury or illness.
In the Northeast Valley, there are 2,162 students that are identified as homeless, many of them living in motels. There is a new homeless family resource hub that Councilwoman Monica Rodriguez announced in June 2019. The hub provides homeless families with services like housing, navigation, tutoring, after school childcare and other activities. Many of the children of families being temporarily housed in motels in the Sylmar area attend the El Dorado Avenue Elementary School.
There are many other people living in RV's/Campers, on the street, in cars, vans, makeshift shelters, and tents.
For this reason, our focus will be on helping children, men, and women who are homeless and are in need of extra support.
Civic Engagement Component:
We will collaborate with various organizations, dignitaries, and our students to address the issues of homelessness. We will continue to encourage students at our school to be active in civic engagement by creating posters to display on our campus. These posters will reinforce the ideas of Representation, Service, and Advocacy. We will also offer opportunities for students in these different areas of Civic Engagement. Events we will continue to plan are voter registration drives, Census 2020 recruitment, community clean ups, social justice and advocacy in regards to homelessness, and our Pay It Forward Campaign Drive.
Anticipated Outcomes:
One short-term outcome we expect is for students at our school to receive items they are in need of, such as warm clothing for the winter months, and hygiene or food items needed.
One long-term outcome we expect is for students to participate in civic engagement by learning about the importance of voting, being active in their community and advocating for others, and by helping others who are in need through service.
Budget:
Our budget will include items needed for hygiene kits for female and male students and adults in our community. Other items we will consider in our budget include signage to promote civic engagement at our school and in our community, materials needed to distribute items, and food for meetings.