2011-01_000005

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Part of Center for Community-Based Learning and Action Winter/Spring newsletter, 2010

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2011-01_000005

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Center for
Community-Based
Learning and Action

2010 Winter/Spring Newsletter

Seminar II E 2125, Olympia Campus; 2700 Evergreen Parkway NW; Olympia, WA 98505;
(360) 867-6137; ccbla@evergreen.edu
www.evergreen.edu/communitybasedlearning

CCBLA is Evergreen’s Service Learning Center.
We address social issues while strengthening and
enhancing student experience by supporting our
communities’ ability to meet critical needs.
Photos by Hilary Hacker

Service & Access to Higher Education

Students prepare lunch at Hip Hop 4 The Homeless

Director, Ellen Shortt Sanchez

As public debates consider the value of higher education in an economic downturn, Community
Based Learning (CBL) advocates have much to add
• Gateways for Incarcerated
to the discussion. Evergreen’s Center for CommuYouth - Since 1996, Gateways has nity Based Learning and Action hears daily stories
served to educate, empower and
from students and community partners about the
support young people with innova- challenges to survive. Community organizations
tive cultural diversity and learning struggle to find funds. Public Service in higher
education public service programs face budget cuts
programs that build self-esteem,
confidence and the ability to pur- while school costs and student debts are increasing. This is the time to see CBL as a solution.
sue dreams.

PROGRAMS

• Students in Service - Tuition
awards for community work, an
AmeriCorps program for students
(WA Campus Compact).
• Work-study positions at community organizations - Building links
between TESC and the community at large (HECB funded).
• High Demand Math and Science - classroom support positions at local high schools (HECB
funded).
• Tutor Project- Tutors for high
poverty elementary schools in
Olympia (Youth in Service).
• Action Days- Providing community engagement opportunities for
students.
• Project Planning - Supporting
students and faculty looking for
community connections.

tions continue the war on poverty. Students engaged in our communities support organizations
during economic hard times. Interns and work
study positions become staff members and join
community partners at their sites. These students
are providing service and learning through applied,
hand-on experience. Community sites that work
with Evergreen students contact CCBLA to share
their appreciation for student contributions to their
work.

Earn: Students are struggling with the increased
Learn: The model of CBL is an academic model cost of higher education. They are also facing inthat introduces students to theory and provides the creased debt. State work study students in our
background to understand organizations, commu- Community Service Project work at nonprofit ornity issues and students’ roles in the community. ganizations. While studying, CBL students are also
The applied learning that follows in community gathering skills to learn how organizations work
settings provides the practice needed to see theory that build work experience. CCBLA hosts a Math
in action. Students build skills that lead to future and Science Teachers State Work Study that places
work opportunities. At CCBLA we have students students at local middle and high school classexploring the field of teaching, street outreach, rooms. These are crucial opportunities for students
international issues and food security. As winter to make money to fund school. The AmeriCorps
quarter ends there are powerful student presenta- Students in Service tuition award also offers the
tions on campus. Academic programs have been chance for compensation as students serve the comshowcasing the work students have done to under- munity. For 300 hours of approved student enstand homelessness, support seniors, learn with gagement students can earn a $1000 tuition award.
incarcerated youth, build internaCCBLA and Gateways Staff
tional solidarity and connect
with GI issues. (See Academic
Director: Ellen Shortt Sanchez
Programs Need The CCBLA, p.
VISTA Community Partnership Catalyst: Andrea Robbins
4)
CYS AmeriCorps Tutor & Mentor Coordinator: Brian Fligner
Serve: Contributing to social
SIS Coordinators: Andreas Keodara & Yoshi Nagata
and environmental justice is serCCBLA Newsletter Coordinator: Hilary Hacker
vice to our community. Many of AmeriCorps Gateways Cultural Group Coordinator: Samantha Franks
our local non-profit organizaAmeriCorps Gateways Challenge Program Coordinator: Aaron Lee

2010 Winter/Spring Newsletter

Students in Service
Chantal Brouillard, Student in Service Alumni
There is much to be said
about participating in and
helping to organize meaningful, valuable community service. The time I
dedicated to the AmeriCorps Students in Service
(SIS) program was more
than just a 12-month, 450hour commitment of volunteer service. It was an
opportunity to become
more active in the community I had recently become a part of – The Evergreen State College, the
Chantal (center) on her first day with the city of Olympia, and the
CCBLA at Lincoln Elementary Garden on greater Thurston County.

tention Center in Tacoma and prepare a few meals with Camp Quixote and The Family Support Center. This work allowed me to come
full circle. In 2009 I was asked to lead a team of volunteers for
Community-to-Community Day.
My time in the SIS Program allowed me to learn about serious issues
that threaten, as well as unite, our local and global communities. My
work in this program helped expose me to large community issues of homelessness, poverty,
and incarceration, while teaching
me how members of a community
can work together towards solving such large issues.

If it were not for my involvement
in this program my ties and depth
of relations to Evergreen and the
Olympia community would be
severely weakened and my search
to fund my college tuition would
be that much harder. This program inspired and taught me so
Community to Community 2007
In 2007, as part of the much while opening doors for
CCBLA’s annual Community-to-Community Day, I volunteered at future partnerships and collabora- Chantal with Richard of Camp
Quixote during a CCBLA Action
Lincoln Elementary School’s Organic Garden. This service was my tions surrounding my passions.
first introduction to the CCBLA, and ultimately led to my involvement in the SIS program. My initial involvement in the Community- For more information about Students in Service (SIS)
to-Community Day helped to reignite my passion for doing commuContact Yoshi or Andreas
nity work. It wasn’t until a year later that I learned of the SIS pro867.6866 or sis@evergreene.edu
gram and the opportunity to act on my interests and passions for
You can also visit the SIS website at
volunteer work by making a commitment to complete a certain
www.studentsinservice.org
amount of service hours. In addition to gaining knowledge, skills
and experiences I would also receive a tuition award on the completion of my hours.
Faculty Are Invited To Share Popular
After signing up for the SIS Program, my commitment to complete
450 hours was split between direct service, fundraising, and personal
member development hours. In order to complete these hours I set
up site contracts with Camp Quixote (a tent city in Olympia), the
Gateways for Incarcerated Youth, as well as the CCBLA. I was also
able to attend many lectures, films, and trainings, while helping to
organize and execute different fundraising events. With each site I
had the privilege of being a part of the organization, learning about
its history, and the work being done. I also made connections to my
new home and the people in it, while learning from these organizations their approaches to achieving tangible solutions and alternatives to the many challenges that face our community.
My site contract with the CCBLA introduced me to many organizations that otherwise I might not have known about, which allowed
me to open doors for future work with organizations that match my
interests, passions, and goals. I attended many of CCBLA’s Action
Days and was able to participate in a variety of work such
as: helping with a Native Plant Sale for the Thurston County Conservation District, working at the Olympia chapter of Books to Prisoners, going to the NW Detention Center to provide support and food
for families traveling to visit their friends or family at the ICE De-

Education at Evergreen and Gateways
Tony Zaragoza, Faculty
This summer’s Faculty Institute will share ideas, experiences, and
resources concerning popular education in all its varieties as practiced at Evergreen and in communities. On the morning of the first
day, we will discuss popular education and the work of the Gateways
program as an example along with what other participants have to
offer. In the afternoon we will visit one of the incarcerating facilities
we work with and have a workshop facilitated by some of the incarcerated students. On the morning of the second day, we will debrief
the experience using a short reading to focus our discussion. Finally,
we will consider how to further apply ideas of popular education to
our work at Evergreen. No experience with popular education is necessary, and as we prepare for the institute, participants will be asked
to offer ideas, questions, and issues related to popular education for
our discussion. Some questions of interest include: What is popular
education? Why popular education? What are some of the issues
involved in popular education in institutionalized settings? How
might those interested in popular education support one another in its
theory and practice at Evergreen and beyond? Faculty interested in
more information? Contact The CCBLA!

Center for Community-Based Learning and Action

2010 Winter/Spring Newsletter
th

Behind The Wall
Hilary Hacker & Alicia Martinson
ORSMP Steering Committee
The ultimate goal of the Olympia-Rafah Solidarity Mural Project
(ORSMP) is to use art, culture and technology in innovative ways to
increase the strength and visibility of the movement for social justice
not only in Palestine and Israel, but also in the U.S. and throughout
the world.
Over the course of a year, approximately 200 artists, activists and
social justice organizations from Olympia to the Bay Area, across
the USA to the West Bank and Gaza in Palestine have participated in
the Mural Project by designing individual leaves for the olive tree.

On April 17 , The Olympia Rafah Solidarity Mural Project is hosting a benefit show, The Mural Get Down at The Loft on Cherry. The
Mural Get Down will be a full night of live music performed by local Olympia bands such as Def Lester, Razz M’tazz, Shark Pact,
Weird TV, Night Fox and more! All funds raised will contribute to
the completion of the Olympia Rafah Solidarity Mural Project, including supplies, installation equipment and the shipping and printing of more images from artists in Palestine and around the world!

Academic Programs Need The CCBLA
Andrea Robbins, CCBLA Community Partnership Catalyst
Spring quarter 2010 has brought
many interns into the greater
Olympia Community. Currently
there are more than 6 programs
requiring students to participate in
Community-Based Learning projects in order to earn credits. The
CCBLA has supported over 300
students out of Evergreen’s 4,000
this quarter alone. This influx of
engagement requires CCBLA staff
to create systems for tracking student service.

The current phase, Phase 3 of the project is the implementation of
Unique Technological Components from each participating organization. Each image will have several audio and video tracks accessible by phone as well as the mural’s website. Viewers will be able to
dial a local number and listen to information, poetry, music, interviews, etc. linked to different images in the mural.
This phase will be completed and unveiled at a dedication ceremony,
The Mural Speaks, on May 8, 2010. The Mural Speaks event will be
held in coordination with the People’s Assembly and will celebrate
the completion of the multimedia components of the mural. There
will be live music and performances by all local and international
mural participants to highlight their work and its contribution to social justice and equality worldwide.
In Phase 4 the entire project will be captured in an experimental
documentary. Called: A Tale of Two Cities, The Legacy of Rachel
Corrie, the film looks at trauma, resilience, resistance and creativity,
offering audiences an exciting insider’s view of the multi-faceted
process.
Each phase of the Olympia-Rafah project has successfully articulated the importance of creating cross-movement partnerships and
highlighted the impact of transgressing boundaries. The project continues, and with each completed phase, more fully illuminates and
strengthens a shared quest for justice and equality across continents,
cultures and causes. Visit olympiarafahmural.org for more info!

This means that 7.6% of undergraduate students at evergreen are
officially participating in ServiceAndrea in action with student,
Jayanika Lawrence at Harmony Learning curriculum!
Hill Retreat Center for Cancer
Patients and Families

This increase of Community-Based
curriculum puts Evergreen in a
leadership position amongst 2 and 4 year colleges throughout the
state of Washington, many of which are just beginning to consider
the importance of service learning. Application of theory to practice
is essential for student learning and leadership development. This
has always been a value of Evergreen which continues to build partnerships and be an asset within the larger community. Evergreen is
unique in having faculty and students who understand the value of
Community-Based experience. Amongst colleges in Washington
with service-learning centers, Evergreen has an extremely high level
of faculty participation, support, and communication within The
CCBLA. A big thanks to the staff and faculty who have made Evergreen an incredible place to engage with the community.

Programs with Service-Learning Curriculum

Alicia Martinson preparing the leaves for the olive tree on the wall.
The leaf pictured here was created by CCBLA staff!

American Frontiers
American Stories
Awakening the Dreamer
Civic Intelligence
Community-Based Research
Cultural Landscapes
Life of Things
Social Dilemmas
Soul’s Value Money’s Worth

Center for Community-Based Learning and Action

2010 Winter/Spring Newsletter

The Olympia Free Herbal Clinic

Meet the Olympia Free Herbal Clinic:

Billie Burlock, CSP Work-Study Student

The White Building, Suite 212, 209 4th Ave E downtown.
Entrance is to the right of Last Word Books.
Tuesdays 3-7, Wednesdays 5-7, Thursdays 3-7

Free medicine and herbal advice? What!? I can avoid the need for
expensive, often dangerous pharmaceuticals by taking care of my
body, eating right, and making a few loyal plant friends?! The Olympia Free Herbal Clinic (OFHC) is an important resource for those
who want to take charge of their own health. As a Community Action Work-Study student with the Clinic, I feel so lucky to be able to
support this incredible community resource, especially in an age
where health care options are few and far-between, particularly for
low-income people.
I had been involved with the OFHC before I was hired as a WorkStudy student and it has been pivotal in my understanding of how to
help run a non-profit, which is often the practical side of healing
with herbs. My work with the clinic is a complimentary application
of my studies with plants. I am currently stewarding the sayuyay
Medicinal Sister Garden in Marja Eloheimo's program working with
the Evergreen's Longhouse Ethnobotanical Garden. I also plan on
attending herb school after Evergreen. It's great to be observing Oregon Grape's shiny green leaves and purple berries in the garden, and
the next day walk into the clinic, where Oregon Grape root tincture
is being offered to real visitors to help indigestion or a stagnant liver.
Things are bustling at the clinic, open hours are becoming busier and
the need for supplies is ever-increasing. Currently all the clinicians
are volunteering for free. My job to support them so they feel
needed. I am working on a number of projects with the clinic, most
of them being fundraiser efforts like benefit shows and grantwriting.
We just started a Community Sponsorship Program, a way for individuals and businesses to support the Clinic monetarily. Sponsors
make either a one time donation or pledge to make a monthly donation, as little as $5 a month. I spend my time doing outreach for the
clinic; distributing fliers and brochures, sending out emails. It's
amazing how much non-profit work is spent sitting in front of a
computer screen writing articles and sending out emails. One day I
just stood over a stove for a few hours, boiling and scrubbing
tincture bottles clean.

ghjk

dfg

Want to volunteer?
billieburlock@gmail.com
Questions, internships, donations, etc?
olyfreeherbalclinic@riseup.net

Building Homes and Dreams
Katie Gates, Math & Science Work-Study Student
For my term with Students in Service and Math Science Teachers
Work Study, I’ve been volunteering at Avanti High School as a math
tutor. The head of Avanti’s math department, Todd Thedell, gave me
the opportunity and responsibility to co-teach a small math class
with Adriana Puszkiewicz, the CCBLA’s former tutor coordinator
and now the para educator at Avanti. He gave us 5 of his math students who were struggling in the larger classroom setting, and we
put together a theme class that we thought might work better. These
math fearers and haters became geometry whizzes and compass masters as they designed, built, and evaluated model homes (and
dreams). Originally titled “Applied Math,” the class took a somewhat silly turn during the first week when we asked the students
what we should call the class. They came up with “Homemakers
Dreamakers” as a joke, and it stuck. We designed floorplans and
built walls while learning about scale, used compasses and precision
of measuring to construct roofs, and finally calculated the costs of
the building materials and labor using geometry and percent ratios.

Working at Avanti offers me a glimpse into the great rewards of
teaching, seeing kids who believe they aren’t and will never be good
at math, overcoming their doubts and making great strides in their
problem solving skills and math confidence. It also offers me a
glimpse into the reality of how much work and energy teaching requires. Still, it has allowed me to gain valuable classroom experience
by developing my own skills as a teacher, and I am very grateful to
HOW CAN YOU HELP? Be part of our community sponsorship, be involved with Students in Service and the CCBLA.
hold a fundraiser, check out our newsletter (coming soon!) for a current list of needed supplies. We're always accepting donations of
organically grown and ethically wildcrafted herbs. We love volunteers and are currently accepting applications for internships. Check
out the flier at CCBLA for more information.
Working with the Clinic has been a big learning experience for me. I
can't be thankful enough to Andrea, Ellen and CCBLA for running
the Community Action Work Study program, fueling my interest in
health and my obsession with plants!
"We offer personalized health consultations free of charge; low/nocost natural remedies; educational workshops; a health-centered
library and information; and supplies & support toward harm reduction. We aim to provide resources and referrals to other low/nocost health services. We serve to empower people to take charge of
their own health!" ~ OFHC’s Mission

Homemakers Dreamakers from L to R: Kenny, Adriana,
Kathryn, Katie, Patrick, Max, and Angelic (not pictured)

Center for Community-Based Learning and Action

2010 Winter/Spring Newsletter

Social Justice Hittin’ The Airwaves
Tovah Rudowski, YIS AmeriCorps at POWER
Parents Organizing for Welfare and
Economic Rights (POWER) is an
organization of low-income parents
and allies advocating for a strong
social safety net while working toward a world where children and
caregiving are truly valued, and the
devastation of poverty has been
eradicated.

empowering to share our experiences through spoken word and music. Another goal of the show is to include music and poetry to more
richly reach the hearts and minds of our listeners.
The Radio Project is looking for community support! We are looking for folks with experience in audio production and recording to
lend expertise to our project, as well as anyone who wants to tell
their story.

Interested in volunteering? Your voice can be heard through this
project, in a very literal way! If you live in Olympia, we hold volunteer meetings every Wednesday afternoon at 1:30 at our office
downtown at 7th and Franklin in the Payne Room of the First Christian Church. If that time doesn't work for you, or you live in another
Our members, fed up with the area, but still want to organize for welfare and economic rights, conmainstream media’s misrepresenta- tact us: 360-352-9716 or toll free at 1-866-343-9716 welfaretion of welfare recipients as crimi- rights@riseup.net
nals or victims, understand the importance of telling our stories from
a position of strength, resistance,
Stella Souza, a daughter of
and solidarity. And so, the POWER
Komachin Middle School
POWER, creating change
Hour Radio Project was born.
Brian Fligner, YIS AmeriCorps CCBLA Tutor Coordinator
POWER Hour Radio Project is one of many things we're working on
For the past several
to bring attention to the stories we hear daily at our organization and
weeks I've been volunin our community. The stories from our membership are about their
teering in a science classexperiences as welfare recipients. These stories exemplify solidarity
room at Komachin Midbetween people of all races, genders, sexual orientation, marital
dle School. It's great. I
status, spiritual beliefs, and countries of origin, as people share similove to see how different
lar struggles within an oppressive economic system. Our radio show
schools approach the
aims to challenge stereotypes about who is poor and why, directly
task of maintaining order
confronting misinformation and internalized oppression.
among large groups of
youngsters; how they
It has been a dream of POWER to have a radio show for quite some
guide students, and keep
time and during the past year we've seen enormous growth on the
them safe without crushproject. With support from from student interns at The Evergreen
State College, we’ve produced one show that has aired locally on Brian working hard at Harmony Hill Retreat ing their creativity, curiCenter for a CCBLA Action Day
osity, or individuality.
Free Radio Olympia (98.5 FM). We've recorded loads more material
This becomes more imand are in the process of editing our audio into finished shows to
portant
at
the
middle
school
level
as
students
are beginning to quest
start airing twice a month.
out on their own, experimenting to find their identities. The atmosThis radio project supplies our community with ready material to phere at Komachin is well-tailored to this difficult part of life. The
present to policy makers, bringing to life how policies affect real school seems to understand the struggle for identity that burdens its
people. With so many demands on low-income parents’ lives, they students. During my second or third visit I noticed a large placard
cannot always personally present their story, and the recording of across from my classroom's entrance. It read: “The most beautiful
testimony allows us to build a stronger foundation of resistance. It thing we can experience is the mysterious. It is the source of all true
also allows anonymity for people who want to tell their story but art and science.” ~Albert Einstein
aren’t ready to face the backlash of outing themselves as welfare
Students in room 207 see this quote every time they leave the classrecipients to their community.
room. It continually reinforces one of the ideas I value most; that
During the show, we want to provide the opportunity for folks to call education is about nurturing curiosity, guiding students toward interin and ask us questions about their rights at DSHS. This will help nal and external discovery, and fostering a sense of wonder. In my
listeners in similar situations, or those with no experience, learn that time working in small groups with Komachin's students, I can see
navigating the welfare system is difficult for everyone, but that legal the genuine affection for learning that should be the goal of educarights are attainable.
tors. The students are mostly curious, good-natured citizens who've
POWER members have long recognized that while our community been able to see how their education applies outside the classroom.
is poor in physical resources, we are culturally rich. Our members Komachin has made itself a place where young people can pursue
speak a variety of languages, come from many countries, cultural their identities and learn to be better human beings. My short time
backgrounds, and musical and oral traditions, and find it incredibly there has been a fantastic learning experience and know it only gets
better.

Center for Community-Based Learning and Action

2010 Winter/Spring Newsletter

YAYA– Youth and Young Adult Network
of National Farm Worker Ministry
Jenny Lee, YAYA Coordinator
YAYA is a national network
of young people actively
working to change the oppressive social, political and
economic conditions of farm
workers. YAYAs support
national and local campaigns
led by farm workers organizing to improve the oppressive
and dangerous conditions
they live and work under.
We do this because the majority of the fruits and vegetables we consume are
Krissy and Jenny visit the Virginia
planted, cultivated, and harGarcia Memorial Health Center in
Cornelious Oregon- a medical facility vested by hand. Agriculthat serves the migrant population where tural labor is one of the most
they will be taking the bikes collected
dangerous jobs in the United
States. Workers are exposed to toxic pesticides that cause rashes, illness, and birth defects,
while working long hours for very little pay. Every year farm workers die of from heat poisoning and dehydration in the fields.
As a new student group at Evergreen, our YAYA chapter has spent
the winter collecting and fixing bicycles that we will be giving to
workers in Cornelius, OR. This bicycle drive has practical and political motivations behind it. Reliable transportation is a large concern for farm workers, many of whom are undocumented and under
current racist legislation in most states cannot obtain drivers licenses.
Driving or riding in cars can be very dangerous for these workers
because they are living under constant threat of ICE raids and deportation. Bikes also give workers mobility and the freedom to go
where they need when they need to go. In many cases, when workers need rides to the store they have to pay their crew leader money
for a ride. Crew leaders may ask one person for $5, a small profit
margin if you don't stop to consider that there could be 12 people
riding in a van and they have all paid this person $5. A lot of farm
workers walk great distances to avoid spending what little extra
money they earn on rides. With a bicycle, a 2 hour walk becomes a
20 minute ride.
For 2010 Farm Worker Awareness Week, we co-sponsored a panel
on farm worker justice with the CCBLA, Labor Center, and academic programs; Community-Based Research, Life of Things, and
Cultural Landscapes. Panelists represented Bridges Not Walls and
Inmigrantes Unidos de Shelton, as well as two fired union organizers
who spoke about the crisis at Ruby Ridge Dairy in Eastern Washington.

ward this collaboration and constantly seeking out further opportunities to work with the immigrant and immigrant ally communities in
Olympia.
To learn more about farm worker issues you can visit
www.nfwm.org. If you would like to be a part of YAYA, donate a
bike, would like more information or to volunteer you can email us
at wawa-yaya@hotmail.com.

Day of Absence/Day of Presence
Collaborations
Andrea Robbins, Community Partnership Catalyst
This year, Day of Absence Day of Presence will have a new twist
from the Center for Community Based Learning and Action. The
CCBLA is bringing Bridges Not Walls to provide a workshop on
Day of Absence to expand an understanding of ally communitybased engagement. In other words, students will participate in a
workshop about engaging with communities that they themselves do
not identify with. During May and June, we will be organizing two
separate Action Days where students will have the opportunity to
apply their knowledge of ally community-based engagement.
Each Action Day will happen at multiple sites some of which include, Books to Prisoners, Stonewall Youth, and Evergreen Elementary, a dual language school in Shelton.
In the past the CCBLA has organized
multi-site Action Days, which took place
on Day of Absence as a way to address
allyship. This year the Action Days will
be happening throughout the following
months in order to provide ways for
students to carry the theories of antioppression work and allyship that they
learn at DOA/DOP workshops into real
world settings.

SAVE THE DATE!

Dialogue for Democracy Event
@ Clark College
Vancouver, WA
Friday, May 14th, 2010
10:00am—1:30pm
Penguin Union Building, room 258-C
For more information contact:
Jody Shulnak 360.992.2447

In the fall we hope to host a seasonal training for Mason County
Literacy's ESL program. This will take place on campus and students will have the opportunity to be trained and volunteer as a tutor
for someone who is learning to speak English. We are looking for-

Center for Community-Based Learning and Action