10 Months…
June 27, 2012 — macarthura
Just put together our congratulations video for over 500 Allies that are completing their Apprenticeship. For those who are curious about what happens during a term, these 45 seconds do a pretty good job of capturing it. Congrats again to our Class of 2012, our newest batch of Alumni!
Tweet #allies2013!
March 26, 2012 — macarthura
I've assembled the finest group of current Allies to answer your questions....
For those of you who want to get real-time responses to questions about the Ally experience, we’ve been asking you to tweet to #allies2013. Now, we’ve got more eyes paying attention to that feed besides our Director of National Recruitment, we’ve added a roster of Allies who will also respond to that hashtag:
PA Washington, DC
Ariel Martino* @ArielTarmino
Ariel Martino* @ArielTarmino
PA Connecticut
Isabelle M. Delgado* @peaceabelle
PA Maryland
PA Central Florida
Feel free to tweet them individually, or at #allies2013 if you want to hear from them. Even if your ideal site is not represented, they’d be happy to share their authentic insights on their experience so far.
Stories from our Everyone Leads book tour – Miami
March 20, 2012 — macarthuraPublic Allies Miami alumna, Lori Deus, shared her Ally story at our Everyone Leads book signing in Miami, FL. She grew up in rural Appalachia, but was doing her service in the Afro-Carribbean West Grove neighborhood in Miami. She reflects on how she learned about community building during that year — on her Team Service Project team, as well as the West Grove neighborhood.
March Madness?
March 5, 2012 — macarthura
Breathe. Bend your Knees. Follow through.
As a huge sports fan, one of my favorite spring rituals is the NCAA basketball tournament, a.k.a. “March Madness.” (Especially this year, as my beloved alma mater attempts to crack the field of 68 for the very first time in school history.) However, for our Ally Applicants, I want to total opposite. (“March Serenity?” Eh. Not catchy enough.)
To help out with that, I invite you to ask me any questions you may have about the Ally application process in the comments, or post a tweet with #allies2013.
And if you haven’t checked it out yet, our Ally Snapshots blog is full of reflections by current Allies on their mid-year retreat experiences. Allies use mid-year as a great opportunity to “reflect and refuel” for the second half of the year. Perhaps reading their reflections will provide you insight on the “madness” to come. (And by that, I mean “madness” in a good way.)
Stream of Consciousness
February 6, 2012 — macarthura
Volunteering on this public art piece inspired Nikki to pursue Public Allies
Over at the Public Allies Silicon Valley/San Francisco Facebook Fan Page, Ally Nikki Lau reflects on how she came to Public Allies, and what she’s learned so far. Among these learnings:
I have been most fortunate, that I get to share my passion, knowledge, and encouragement with my youth because they have given me that and so much more. I genuinely hope that my presence is a positive influence on their lives, as they have been on mine.
As our Allies hit the “mid-year” point of their term, it’s an opportunity for great reflection on this leadership journey. We hope that it’ll provide insight for you on the type of journey you’ll be taking, should you become an Ally this fall. Stay tuned, and we’ll keep linking more reflections from our current class of Allies.
If you’ve got a hankering for more stories, we’ve also set up another blog — Ally Snapshots, where we’re following the journeys of 13 Allies from across our network.
CT Ally Derek Santiago’s Mid-Year Presentation of Learning
February 3, 2012 — macarthuraConnecticut Ally Derek Santiago decides to go the “infomercial” route to describe what he’s learned so far in his term. In short, ditch P90X. The “PACT” System is where it’s at.
Halfway Home. Ally Reflection by Michael Grochowski
January 31, 2012 — macarthura
Milwaukee Ally Michael Grochowski reps for his placement, Pan African Community Association.
Reflections Halfway Through an Ally Year
In my first five months as the After School Program Coordinator at Pan-African Community Association (PACA), I’ve worked to give my students the best possible learning experience. With that big goal in mind, I’ve set out to:
- create partnerships to increase our number of tutors;
- build relationships with schools and teachers;
- connect with parents to advocate for their interests at schools and in our space;
- observe and research best practices in ELL teaching;
- increase our numbers of books, board games and educational resources; and
- transform our space with a new computer lab and a re-designed environment to most intentionally encourage student learning.
Everything I’ve done so far has been guided and influenced by Asset-Based Community Development (ABCD). I could not have increased our number of service-learners and volunteers without the help of local universities. I would not be able to support the expectations and learning of schools without the communication of staff and teachers. I cannot do my best to reflect the values of our families if not for their high involvement and feedback. I would not have improved as an ELL tutor without welcoming classrooms and great instructors. And I most definitely could not have grown our collection of books, textbooks and educational resources or built a computer lab without the support of many community members in Milwaukee.
Moving forward, one of the big initiatives I plan to utilize this next semester is Individual Capacity Inventories, which are essentially surveys of people’s skills, passions and interests. I plan to welcome our next group of service-learners with a reflection on these qualities. I want the people in our space to feel valued for the people they are as they walk into our doors. While I will still maintain and build everything around my larger purpose of coordinating the best environment for student learning, I want my tutors to share even further in creating this experience.
Additionally, I have begun to utilize this same approach with our students. When the older students finish their work, they help other students in the subjects they feel most confident. I also encourage them to read with younger students, lead activities and play games. For our younger students, I provide prompts like “What are your gifts?” to get them thinking about the “gifts,” or talents and skills they can offer to one another and to their community. By building in opportunities for the older students and purposeful reflection for the younger students, my goal is to provide a learning space where they can share their assets and genuinely practice leadership.
I recently read in Everyone Leads that Asset-Based Community Development is the foundation on which all other Ally values are built. Reflecting on the first half of my Ally experience, I definitely agree.
Feel free to to connect with me if you read this post and would like to get involved with PACA. I am always interested in collaborating with people who have an interest in helping our students succeed. You can keep up with me at my LinkedIn profile, or at PACA’s Facebook Page.
Everyone has strengths, capacities and assets…
September 23, 2011 — macarthura
Bah to your powerpoints! The venerable Jody Kretzmann presents Asset Based Community Development to the Chicago Allies during Core Week 2011.
During Core Week, Allies are oriented to their Apprenticeship. Most likely, the first thing they are oriented to are the 5 Core Values of Public Allies. These values define our leadership practice.
One of those Values is Focus on Assets: that the strengths, capacities and assets of individuals and communities are the primary building blocks of sustainable community development. During the Apprenticeship year, Allies are encouraged to looking at serving at their placement and in their community through this lens, and for many it’s a huge paradigm change.
The result of this practice: their nonprofit develops a new way of working with those they serve, local residents are engaged to re-energize and re-purpose public spaces. Ultimately, it’s inspiring the art of the possible. To learn more visit the Asset-Based Community Development Institute website.
Last year, Connecticut Allies worked alongside local residents to beautify their neighborhood.
Presentations of Learning: An introduction.
September 19, 2011 — macarthura
[Above: Andrew Nimmer talking about his 12 months of growth and learning while in the Public Allies Teaching Fellowship Program at Eagle Rock.]
One of the leadership practices in our training and learning program is the Presentation of Learning (or “POL”) . Eagle Rock defines this practice as such:
Three times a year, at the end of every trimester, all students at Eagle Rock give Presentations of Learning (POLs). These are not about getting credit in courses; students either have or have not documented learning Read the rest of this entry »
A scene from Public Allies Chicago's core training
AlliesNext 