On Saturday April 14, THINK Together’s Early Literacy Program partnered
with the Orange County Red-Cross and hosted a community initiative certifying
83 people in CPR and first-aid.
Amy Estey, AmeriCorps member in Preparedness and Community Education
and Michelle Catanzano, lead instructor of volunteers, led the training.
Five additional AmeriCorps members assisted with the training by leading
small group instruction along with THINK Together AmeriCorps members providing
translation.
Certifying our community residents in CPR and first-aid empowers and
provides confidence to our community members in life-saving techniques.
The first session lasted from 8:30 a.m. until 12:30 p.m. and the second
session went from 1:30 p.m. to 5:30 p.m.
Last Friday, three THINK Together volunteers were
honored at ONE OC's Spirit of Volunteerism Awards ceremony at the Disneyland Hotel.
Those honored were Diego Leonal Mateo, a
volunteer at Spurgeon Intermediate in Santa Ana, Jashaun Armstrong, a volunteer
at Santa Ana’s Century High School and Deanna Hernandez, an Early Literacy
Program volunteer.
The Spirit of Volunteerism Awards Luncheon
provides an annual forum and non-competitive opportunity to recognize
individual, group and corporate team volunteers for their dedicated service to
Orange County.
With volunteer, training, consulting and business services,
OneOC helps Orange County’s nonprofits become as effective and efficient as
they are passionate about their missions.
Congratulations to our THINK Together volunteers for this
well-deserved award.
About 20 THINK Together middle school students got to take part in the Orange County Science and Engineering Fair’s annual competition, a first for the nonprofit, extended-learning program.
The student exhibits were made possible through a partnership with the Broadcom Foundation, OCSEF, Discovery Science Center, and the Santa Ana Unified and Tustin Unified school districts.
Students from Tustin Unified taking part in the exhibit included: Marissa Luna, Melody Velasco, Alessandra Ramirez, Katie Dang, Darien Lai, Kaitlyn Atkinson and Lesley Pacheco, all of Utt Middle School in Tustin.
Students from Santa Ana Unified included: Villa Intermediate students Leonardo Telez, Ashley Vega and Ernesto Bejarand, Carr Intermediate student Krisyln MacCarthy, McFadden Intermediate students Samantha Luevano, Michelle Cruz, Jennifer Cruz, Veronica Cabrera and Andrea Garcia; Lathrop Intermediate students Jordan Ortiz, Kevin Altorre, Rosa Berber, Cesar Nava, Jaclyn Cervantes and Vanessa Flores.
Katie Dang and Alessandra Ramirez from Utt created a science exhibit that examined “Which stain remover works best?” The students stained shirts with ketchup, grape juice lipstick, mustard and car oil and used a variety of stain removers.
“Mustard was the easiest,” Alessandra said. “We thought grape juice would be the easiest, but it was the hardest.”
The girls researched their project on the internet and said they found the negative and positive ions that are used to remove stains very interesting.
Statements like those make Arnold Shugarman, co-president of the Orange County Science and Engineering Fair, very happy.
“Everybody on the board cares about the kids,” he said.
Co-President Arnold Shugarman speaks with THINK students.
Paolo Leon is a THINK Together alum and a new member of the board of directors
THINK Together bolstered the leadership of its Board of Directors this week with the addition of five new members, including Orange County auto dealership legend Donnie Crevier, as well as executives in the dental, technology and retail food industries.
Also joining the board is the President and CEO of Smile Brands Inc. Steve Bilt, technology executive Doug Antone, Ralphs Grocery Co. executive Kendra Doyel, and Paolo Leon, a THINK Together alumni and USC graduate who is an architect with Taylor Architects, Planning & Design. Leon will help bring the student and alumni voice to the board.
“THINK Together’s growth continues to accelerate as demand for our learning support systems increases to unparalleled levels,” said Fran Inman, THINK Together’s Board Chair. “We need to continue to evolve the Board of Directors so that it can govern, guide and help to adequately resource the organization as it scales up, while at the same time remaining connected to the communities that we serve.”
THINK Together is serious about helping kids achieve!
THINK Togetheris making a difference in the lives of more than 100,000 California students. The non-profit organization's trained staff, dedicated volunteers and generous donors are providing extended learning time programs (after-school, summer learning, small group tutoring, early literacy, etc.) and resources to help these kids, their families and their communities achieve. Our programs, generally free for at-risk students and low-income families, are predominately available at public school sites across Los Angeles, Orange, Riverside, San Bernardino, San Diego and now Sacramento Counties.
