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CSUDH News

The primary source of news and information about California State University, Dominguez Hills, its students, faculty, and staff.

Service Learning

Education Students Create Books for Local Children

August 3, 2022 By Kandis Newman

Five children holding hands, a bumble bee on a sunflower, and a sheep  and her lamb.
Illustrations from CSUDH students’ books. Clockwise, from top My Friends are My Teachers, written by Danica Sundholm, illustrated by Megan Cooper; First Day Butterflies, written by Estefany Santos, illustrated by Santos and Oscar Sandoval; Why Can’t I, written by Ashley Lopez, illustrated by Rosario Lopez.

Students in the College of Education’s (COE) Early Language and Literacy LBS 310 course do more than study how children’s books contribute to early childhood literacy. By the time the course is over, students have written and illustrated their own books. It’s all part of CSUDH’s Project CYCLE: Crafting Young Children’s Literary Experiences, which brings the university and local community closer together.

The goal of Project CYCLE is to provide the young children and families of CSUDH’s  Infant/Toddler Center, Child Development Center, and the surrounding community with books to read at home. It also gives the teachers-in-training hands-on experience in creating useful early literacy materials.

The project was conceived by Conrad Oh-Young, assistant professor of special education, and stems from his days as a classroom teacher. “We were always looking for different ways to help parents work with their children outside of school,” recalls Oh-Young.

“One way was to provide books for families, but money was limited, as you can imagine. We couldn’t purchase books for families, nor could we legally make copies of the books we had. So, the alternative was to somehow create our own books.”

In fall 2019, his first semester at CSUDH, Oh-Young presented the idea to his COE faculty colleagues. They shaped the idea into a practical proposal, then applied for initial funding through the university’s Instructionally Related Activities (IRA) Grants and Faculty Association Legacy Fund. They continue to be funded through the university’s IRA grants.

Jen Stacy, associate professor of liberal studies, has been one of the driving forces behind the project since its inception. She sees the course as a way for students to recognize how social realities and circumstances are reflected in early literacy materials.

“It’s important that the books children read reflect their identities. It’s important that folks from different backgrounds and languages are visible,” says Stacy says Stacy, who credits fellow Project CYCLE collaborator, Assistant Professor of Liberal Studies Amina Humphrey for helping students develop a critical framework for assessing and interacting with children’s books.

“We connect these issues to the course content, then we charge the soon-to-be teachers with that,” explains Stacy. “One day, they’re going to have to create curriculum, and children’s books are a great way to start thinking about being culturally inclusive. What can you create that reflects either your life or someone that you’re close to, or something that’s important and matters to you? It’s a great way to get students to really incorporate these ideas into their studies.”

In the four semesters that Project CYCLE has been integrated in Early Language and Literacy LBS 310, approximately 240 students (60 each semester) have written and self-published one book. Students have been enthusiastic about the results.

Kimmiesha Perryman, a child development major who graduated in 2021, wrote a book called The Chocolate Princess, dedicated to children with darker skin tones. “My point was to identify the differences but to also develop an appreciation of it on all sides,” she says. “I wanted to show children that we may all look different, but we’re all still human–and beauty comes in all shades.”

“When I first received my copy of the book, I was super excited!” she continues. “Being able to hold a copy of a published book that I wrote was great. This project was exciting because I’ve always thought about writing children’s books. It has definitely helped show me that I want to be an author.”

For Francisco Gonzales, writing his book was a chance to draw on his own experiences in the punk rock community and share them with kids. His book, Punk Rock Jav, is about a young punk rocker who is constantly criticized. “My book shows that he’s not what people say about him,” says Gonzales, who graduated in 2021 with his bachelor’s degree in liberal studies and his multiple subject credential. “For example, he’s told that he’s lazy, but my book tells how he works hard on the things he’s interested in, like skateboarding.”

The program has expanded over the years, and now provides materials for CSUDH JumpStart–a service program which pairs college students with preschools in under-served communities.

“We’re really excited about our collaboration,” says CSUDH JumpStart Director Jessica Ramirez. “They donated 250 books, which we were able to then give to our JumpStart students and partners. Now they can start their own library at home! We also gifted the preschool teachers some books to help replenish their classroom libraries.”

During the Fall 2021 semester alone, Project CYCLE distributed 200 books to the CSUDH Children’s Center and 250 to JumpStart. In August 2022, approximately 160 books were given to the community-based Preschool Without Walls program that meets on campus, with another 50 waiting to be distributed.

The program will be undergoing some changes for the 2022-2023 academic year. Rather than a class, Project CYCLE will be held as a series of workshops each semester. Stacy hopes that this new format will help open the program to graduate and post-baccalaureate students as well. Stacy and her colleagues would also like to integrate bilingual teachers and students into the program and bring in more external funding. Doing so would enable them to host literacy festivals, author or artist meet-and-greets, and even create a mini library of student-authored books.

“We have big dreams,” says Stacy. “Hopefully, we can continue to find the funding sources to be able to accomplish them. We would love to have Project CYCLE woven throughout our programs, and to have students at all levels involved. We’re going to use this year to try to figure that out, and we’re excited at what the future has in store for us!”

Holiday Toy Drives Showcase Toro Generosity

December 14, 2021 By Kandis Newman

Toy For Tots 2021
SLICE and Jumpstart volunteers dressed up to distribute toys at the Compton YWCA.

Generous members of the Toro community turned out for a pair of on-campus toy drives during the first weeks of December. The drives were sponsored by CSUDH’s Center for Service Learning, Internships and Civic Engagement (SLICE) and its Jumpstart program; and the CSUDH Police Department (DHPD). As a result, hundreds of children from underserved communities received holiday gifts.

The SLICE/Jumpstart “Totes for Tots” drive was in its fifth year, said SLICE coordinator Miami Gatpandan. “We work with preschools in Compton and recognized that this was a real need for many of the children there. We’ve partnered with a lot of departments over the years, including the Office of External Relations, who provided assistance this time.”

“Our work is not just about volunteering and helping kids with their academic needs, but really meeting the community’s needs,” added Gatpandan. “Often, it’s just about what will bring joy. What will bring that sense of being one community? We’re sharing gifts and treasures with one another, but not in the sense of ‘The community needs something and so CSUDH will give it to them.’ It’s just a community coming together and sharing our resources.”

During the five years the program has been up and running, the Toro community has generously stepped up with donations–even in 2020, during the height of the COVID-19 pandemic. “Our partners in Compton said that the kids still wanted the event to happen,” said Natalie Gomez, a Jumpstart worker who participated in her first toy drive while still a student intern at SLICE. “So, we didn’t take a break. We felt like it was even more necessary, in a way, after everything that the kids had gone through.”

“We left drop boxes outside our center, and Dominguez Hills showed up!” she recalled of last year’s drive, while the campus was primarily remote. “People were also shipping toys here if they couldn’t come in person. In the end, we had a great event for the kids after all. There were less of them, but the kids who were there were really happy and appreciative!”

Santa Toys For Tots
Santa and Mrs. Claus–with some help from a reindeer or two–hand out toys to children at the SLICE/Jumpstart event.

This year, SLICE and Jumpstart received over 200 donated toys, including many donated by the student group Movimiento Estudiantil Chicanx de Aztlán (MEChA), who held their own mini-toy drive in support of the effort. “Many of our Mechistas come from minority, low-income communities that did not have the opportunity to receive holiday gifts from their families,” said the group’s president, Areli Zagal Barrera.

“Instead, they would receive gifts from local parks or community donors which would bring them joy and hope. Now that we are college students, we find the value of community service, kindness, and planting a seed of aspiring to higher education essential to uplifting our community.”

The collected toys were distributed at an event for local children at the Compton YWCA. Every child in attendance got to pick a toy and get their picture taken with Santa, while volunteers were on hand to socialize with the kids and help them choose presents.

The remaining toys will be handed out to children at smaller giveaways at several Compton preschools that Jumpstart partners with. “This has been our most successful drive yet,” said Gatpandan.

Meanwhile, DHPD was conducting their own “Toys for Tots” drive in partnership with Carson’s Chick-Fil-A restaurants. Toro student Priscilla Arriaga, who works at the location, approached the police department with the idea to work together on a toy drive. The DHPD readily agreed to host a pair of drop-off events in a campus parking lot–while Chick-Fil-A provided vouchers for free sandwiches to thank everyone who donated.

Velez said the DHPD typically partners with a variety of community groups during the holiday season, helping out everyone from the City of Carson to local hospitals. The opportunity to team up with Chick-Fil-A this year was one they didn’t want to pass up.

“Over the course of the two events, we filled two large SUVs with toys,” said Dominguez Hills Police Chief Carlos Velez. The collected toys will be shipped to the United States Marines’ Toys for Tots Foundation, who will oversee their distribution to children in the local community.

Male Success Alliance Receives $100,000 Grant from Kaiser Permanente

February 1, 2021 By Paul Browning

CSUDH alumni James Harris, MSA academic mentor, Jordan Sylvestre, former president of Associated Students, Inc., and Alex Guerrero, former MSA president.
CSUDH alumni James Harris, MSA academic mentor, Jordan Sylvestre, former president of Associated Students, Inc., and Alex Guerrero, former MSA president.

(Carson, Ca.) The Male Success Alliance (MSA) at California State University, Dominguez Hills (CSUDH) has received $100,000 from Kaiser Permanente as part of $8.15 million in grants awarded to 40 nonprofit and community-based organizations across the nation for programing that addresses systemic racism.

Kaiser announced the funding on Martin Luther King, Jr. Day as part of a $25 million commitment the nonprofit health system made in June 2020 to promote health equity and address racism-driven stresses that lead to poor health outcomes. It includes $1 million for 10 organizations in Southern California, and CSUDH was the only institution of higher education among the grantees.

“CSUDH is honored that our Male Success Alliance program was selected for funding. This generous grant will have a lasting impact on the hundreds of young men and boys who will have access to MSA’s programs and services focused on activism, leadership development, social justice, community and civic engagement, and college success,” said CSUDH President Thomas A. Parham. “I applaud Kaiser’s commitment to the communities it serves, and their recognition that to truly have a healthy community, we must address social and racial inequities that are endemic to our society.”

The MSA was founded in 2009 in response to the nation’s high school dropout and low college degree attainment rates among young men, primarily Blacks and Latinos. The organization works to improve these rates through a strong academic and social support system that promotes scholarship and intellectual curiosity, leadership, identity development, and civic engagement among its members.

Outreach is a major component of the program. MSA has engaged more than 15,000 young men of color through its in-person, peer-to-peer presentations at member schools in the Los Angeles area. Each year, the organization’s annual Spring Summit brings more than 700 middle and high school students to CSUDH to inspire a college going culture. The day is filled with workshops covering topics such as race and social justice, healthy masculinity, academic grit, and building bonds of brotherhood.

MSA will use Kaiser’s funding to create a virtual Spring Summit to host the event during COVID-19. “Men of Color” monthly workshops that incorporate current events and guest speakers to promote its learning domains – social justice, personal development, professional development, and leadership – will also be developed.

The grant will also help support the MSA as it enhances its curriculum with a focus on activism, community and civic engagement, college success, and cultural change.

New CISE Programs Help Children Learn and Isolated Seniors Cope During Pandemic

January 21, 2021 By Paul Browning

Face shields manufactured by the Center for Innovation in STEM Education (CISE) during the beginning of the COVID-19 pandemic.
Face shields manufactured by the Center for Innovation in STEM Education (CISE) during the beginning of the COVID-19 pandemic.

(Carson, CA) – California State University, Dominguez Hills’ (CSUDH) Center for Innovation in STEM Education (CISE) is launching new health and education projects to help homeless and foster children learn, and older adults cope during COVID-19.

CISE announced the new projects on Martin Luther King Jr. Day in response to Apple’s Taking Action on Racial Equity and Justice Learning Challenge Series.

CISE is part of Apple’s Community Education Initiative, which brings coding, creativity, and workforce opportunities to communities across the country that are traditionally underrepresented in technology fields.

Apple’s most recent challenge invited learners and educators around the world to answer a “call to action” and make a positive impact in their communities, then share their efforts on social media with the hashtag #ChallengeForChange to inspire others to accept the challenge.

The CISE staff accepted the challenge with enthusiasm. They immediately reached out to their partners in the City of Carson and Los Angeles Unified School District (LAUSD) – Local District South to develop several short-term projects, as well as long-term programs to create lasting change in the low-income communities the partners serve.

“The pandemic has hit local communities and shelters really hard, so the CISE team and its partners are going to help by providing resources and learning opportunities to keep teachers, students, and families engaged and safe,” said Kamal Hamdan, Annenberg-endowed professor and director of CISE.

The four projects include:

Addressing the Pandemic through Face Shield Donations

In March 2020, CISE staff and students began producing thousands of face shields in its fabrication laboratory (fab lab) for medical professionals working with COVID-19 positive patients. The fab labs are typically used to bring the latest STEM teaching techniques directly to middle and high school students.

CISE is expanding its face shield production for this new project. The began 3D printing a new batch of face shields on MLK Day. Those shields, along with face masks provided by the City of Carson, will go to local homeless shelters serving students and families, to students in foster care, and to older adults who reside in Carson.

“The City of Carson has been a trusted partner of CSUDH for many years, and these opportunities have come at a time when we all need to come together and find new and innovative ways to help our communities,” said Michael Whittiker, human services manager for the City of Carson.

Addressing Social Isolation through K-12 Letter-Writing Campaign to Seniors

When Hamdan met with the City of Carson to discuss how CISE could best address residents’ during the pandemic, the need to do something for the older adult population was evident.

“I went with a lot of excitement but left with tears after hearing about the older adult residents. I learned that the many of them are struggling emotionally and psychologically with loneliness, and even despair,” Hamdan shared.

CISE has partnerships with many in-service LAUSD District South teachers who participate in the center’s numerous science, technology, engineering, and mathematics (STEM) initiatives. The team is now working with these educators in Carson to engage their students in writing letters to older residents who have been feeling isolated due to the strict COVID-19 health recommendations. The letter-writing program will continue indefinitely.

Addressing Safety through K-12 COVID-19 PSA Assignment

In-service teachers will also engage their students in the development of a public service announcement focused on COVID-19 safety and awareness for the communities CSUDH and LAUSD-Local District South serve.

Addressing the Achievement Gap through Distance Learning and Tutoring

CSUDH students are also volunteering for a new long-term distance learning program that provides tutoring to K-12 students who are homeless or in foster care. CISE is teaching the student educators tutoring techniques and strategies, and is monitoring and supporting their efforts.

CISE will also combine the letters, shields and masks, and other items as care packages that will be distributed to seniors in Carson.

“These projects are so important because they give residents of Carson opportunities to further educate themselves in an environment built for learning,” said Whittiker. “They also bridge the gap between residents and the university by exposing them to the new developments on campus, and they help the community grow in a substantial way and allow us to influence younger generations to understand the importance of giving back.”

CSUDH Jumpstart Celebrates 10 Years of Service

August 24, 2020 By Kandis Newman

CSUDH and Jumpstart working together for the community
CSUDH and Jumpstart working together for the community

Editor’s Note: Interviews for this article took place in late 2019.

It’s 9 a.m. on a school day, but Paola Gonzalez isn’t in a lecture hall. She’s leading a rapt circle of four-year-olds in a rousing rendition of “Slippery Fish” at the YWCA preschool in Compton. “Slippery fish, slippery fish, gulp gulp gulp,” she sings, wriggling her hands as the children squeal with delight.

Gonzalez, a fourth-year theatre arts major at CSUDH, is well experienced in putting on a show. As a team leader for Jumpstart, she has ample opportunity to put those creative skills to good use. Each week, Gonzalez and her team of fellow Jumpstart volunteers plan and deliver an engaging curriculum for local preschool children.

Jumpstart, a nationwide program, pairs college students with preschools in underserved communities to improve children’s language and literacy skills. College students make a one-year commitment to serve at least 300 hours in their designated preschool, working with on-site teachers to better prepare the preschoolers for kindergarten.

“Jumpstart changes children’s lives,” Gonzalez said. “Preschool is the beginning of their road to success, and we get to give children the boost they need.”

Gonzalez is just one of hundreds of students who have made an impact through the CSUDH Jumpstart program. Since the program’s inception in 2009, CSUDH Jumpstart members have completed more than 108,000 hours of service, helping transform the lives of more than 1,000 children in low-income communities.

“Jumpstart at CSUDH is a legacy of service,” said Jessica Ramirez, site manager for the program. “Its impact is immense, on both our college students and our preschool children being served.”

Ramirez says hands-on experience, leadership skills, and long-lasting relationships are among the many benefits reaped by the Jumpstart members.

“Students learn to take ownership of their actions, and realize they play a key role in making a difference in our communities that need it the most,” Ramirez said.

While Gonzalez leads her group in song, human services major and Jumpstart volunteer Rosita Sary reads a story with one of the preschoolers. Most of the children at the school are dual language learners, and do not speak English at home – a situation Sary understands well.

“I moved to the U.S. at the age of nine, and I didn’t speak any English,” Sary said. “Growing up, I had a hard time learning. In Jumpstart, I work with the children one-on-one, because I know that speaking in a group can be intimidating.”

By focusing on building the children’s confidence, Sary says she sees huge progress in her students over the course of a year.

“At first they’re really shy, and they won’t talk to other kids,” she said. “But then you see them raising their hands and participating. I enjoy seeing the growth in the children.”

That joy of teaching is a highlight for many of the Jumpstart volunteers. In the case of Areli Lopez, it led directly to her current job. Lopez, who graduated from CSUDH with a degree in child development, had volunteered at the Compton YWCA preschool as an undergraduate. Her dedication and passion were so impressive that the school offered her a full-time teaching position upon her graduation in 2019.

Now, as a teacher, Lopez says she has an even deeper appreciation of CSUDH students’ efforts to lift up others.

“Dominguez Hills reaches out and helps the community in many different ways,” Lopez said. “I see the change in the children and how meaningful it is for them.”

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