Students from the surrounding community have bright futures ahead of them thanks in part to Palo Alto College's students, faculty and staff.
Palo Alto is involved with a variety
of community enriching programs such as the Kindred Elementary Peer Review,
the Harlandale Initiative with Kingsborough Middle School, an Honors 
Mentorship Program, America Reads and Service Learning.
The Kindred Elementary Peer Review focuses on fourth grade students who are taking the writing portion of the Texas Assessment of Academic Skills (TAAS). Palo Alto students from two English 301 classes and one English 1301 class were assigned to the Kindred students. The Palo Alto students wrote letters to the Kindred students to tell them what they are doing in college, what their major is, what their hobbies are, and what they would be doing to help them.
Since Kindred's mascot is the tiger, the assignment was, "You and your friend are playing outside. Suddenly, a tiger runs by and shouts, `Follow me!'" The Kindred students then wrote a story. Palo Alto students reviewed the stories emphasizing purpose, audience, organization, description and elaboration. Palo Alto students provided suggestions and asked questions to prompt improved writing. Kindred students then revised their work.
"It's fun when you're reading what a fourth-grader has to say. They are so creative. Anything can happen in the world," said Jennifer Scheidt, English Instructor.
After revising, Palo Alto students then did an additional review. Finally, the stories were data-entered by Office Technology System students. Communication students then laid out the stories using desktop publishing, so the work could be bound into a booklet for the Kindred students.
The Palo Alto students involved said it was fun helping the children and that they, themselves, gained knowledge about their own writing.
"It's to get them started on the right foot so they can hopefully build from what they learned from this experience," said Arthur Viera, a freshman Criminal Justice major.
Another program is the Harlandale Initiative with Kingsborough Middle School. It is a two-part program. The first part consists of mentoring programs in reading, writing, math and counseling. The second part is a summer camp called Si Se Puede (Yes I Can). Both programs are geared toward improving TAAS scores for seventh and eighth grade "at-risk" students.
Diane N. Lerma, Reading Instructor, directs the reading program. She, along with two Palo Alto student mentors, spend one hour a week with the Kingsborough students. According to Lerma not only do they practice reading activities, but they counsel students on success.
"I talk to (my student) about her future. I talk to her about coming to Palo Alto, and I talk to her about how important education is," said Lerma. "I don't just arrive and say `OK let's start reading here, and what's the main idea.' It's much more than that."
The Palo Alto reading mentoring students each receive a $200 scholarship.
Dr.
Mary-Ellen Jacobs, English Instructor, heads the writing program of the
Initiative. Her program consists of six Palo Alto mentors who meet at
Kingsborough on Tuesdays and Thursdays. The mentors receive course credit
and are members of the Honors Mentorship Program
"Just their presence has made a difference in the kids' interest in reading (and) the kids' interest in performing well on the TAAS," said Jacobs.
The math mentoring program at Kingsborough is done through a work-study program that pays $6 per hour. The math program is lead by Alice F. Lawson-Johnson, Assistant Professor of Mathematics. Four Palo Alto student mentors along with Lawson-Johnson meet at Kingsborough two times a week for one hour or more.
The Si Se Puede summer program is three weeks for four hours each day. It not only covers academics, but it also utilizes other resources such as the library and computers. "Our main focus is for them to have fun. The second focus is the TAAS," said Lawson-Johnson.
The Honors Mentorship Program is in conjunction with Interdisciplinary Studies 2370 and/or 2371 classes. The program/class is a reading-based mentoring program. Students go to either Palo Alto Elementary, "Little Palo Alto," or Bob Hope Elementary and read age-appropriate stories.
"Eventually, I'm going to have somebody show up at my doorway and remind me that I read `Bill and Pete Go Down the Nile' to them in second grade, and here they are, a freshman at Palo Alto College," said Karen Marcotte, Associate Professor of Humanities.
Another community program is the America Reads program. America Reads, a government initiative spearheaded by President Clinton, is a work-study program where students assist teachers by tutoring reading. "It's a very good opportunity for anyone that is considering education as a major," said Lamar Duarte, Director of Student Financial Aid Services.
The Service Learning Program is a voluntary program, which consists of a wide range of community involvement. Most students volunteer at the community schools; however, a student can work with the SAMM Shelter, Meals-On-Wheels or the Juvenile Detention Center, to name a few. With this program, a student volunteers 24 hours of Service Learning time. This semester, there are approximately 100 students involved.
“At Palo Alto College, there are an awful lot of courses, faculty and staff members that are firm believers in Service Learning as a way for college students to learn and contribute to their community," said Dr. Pamela Hill, Dean of Extended Services and Community Outreach.
For those interested in opportunities, contact Dean Hill at 921-5303 or by e-mail at phill@accd.edu