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Friday's Internet Edition, November 21, 2008.
City council candidates spend less than $10,000 – so far
Stanhope fails to file
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Beatriz Meza, a sixth grade student at Greer Middle School, pounds in a fence post under the direction of Service Learning Coordinator John Durand at the Cosumnes River Preserve in an effort to create habitat for the Tree Swallow. The participating students are members of the Future Leaders Action Club that follows the 10 core values of Cesar E. Chavez.
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By Kymm Griffin
Staff Writer
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“Today we’re going off the trail,” said John Durand, service learning coordinator with the Galt Joint Union Elementary School District, to the Future Leaders Action Club.
Every Friday sixth grade students from Greer Middle School participate in the Future Leaders Action Club. The club is advised by sixth grade teacher James Witt and is funded by a grant with the Cesar Chavez Foundation.
Part of the vision of the club is to learn about and experience the 10 core values that underscore the work of Cesar Chavez. Those values include service to others, preference to help the most needy, determination, non-violence, acceptance of all people, respect for life and the environment, celebrating community, knowledge and innovation.
After the students return from a new service activity, Weiss has them write down how they felt about participating in the activity and how they demonstrated the core values of Cesar Chavez.
For the afternoon of March 14, students were out at the Cosumnes River Preserve installing Tree Swallow bird boxes. About 12 students followed Durand and Witt off the path and into the wild grasslands to put up fence posts, attach wooden nesting boxes, and paint the posts to blend with the surroundings.
“We want to thank Benton Fencing for donating the (fence) posts,” said Durand.
The boxes are necessary because of the loss of the oak trees in the surrounding area. The goal is to increase the Tree Swallow population which feeds on flying insects, including mosquitoes, to help control the insect population around the wetlands.
As students hear about their work for the day, many volunteering shouts ring out.
“You’ll get a chance to do all of it,” said Durand to the students.
The students installed 16 boxes, which will be monitored by Galt High School students.
For most of the students participating in the Future Leaders Action Club, it is a refreshing break from their usual after school activities.
“Usually I just watch TV at home or ride my bike,” said Joselyn Cortez.
For other students the club provided just the opportunity they were looking for to make a difference.
“I saw a couple of problems and nobody was doing anything about it,” said student Nicholas Blanco about why he became involved in the service club.
The club is providing a great link between the youth and the community.
“I thought it would be interesting. I like helping,” said Beatriz Meza about her first time out with the club.
Throughout the year the students have built a retaining wall, which will expand a butterfly garden at the preserve, set up a pumpkin patch at McFarland Ranch for kindergarten students to visit, and lead guided tours during the Winter Bird Festival. Still to come this year is a pumpkin patch planting, so that the pumpkins taken home by the kindergarteners will have been grown right at McFarland Ranch, and the club has committed to helping at the 2009 Winter Bird Festival.
“We want to be civically minded as well. We’re hoping next year to work with the city council, and we’ve already committed to helping at next year’s bird festival,” said Weiss.
Cesar E. Chavez
Day Celebration
Future Leaders Action Club is honoring Cesar Chavez Day on March 28 at 5 p.m. to 6:30 p.m. at Greer Middle School.
The evening will feature the Greer Middle School Break Dancing Club led by Mr. Mejia, the Future Leaders Action Club will present a drama based on the Cesar E. Chavez Core Values, the GMS Color Guard will perform, the GMS band will perform an ensemble of Latin American Music, and the Ballet Folklorico Nube de Oro will perform traditional Mexican dances.
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