Think Together, Author at Think Together

Joana Lafuente has been an early learning specialist in our Orange County Region since 2017. She’ll be celebrating four years with Think Together in February 2021. As an early learning specialist, Joana plays a role ensuring that 0-5 year olds in our programming get all of the lessons and resources needed to start their educational journey. We are excited to share Joana’s story with you.

What made you decide to work for Think Together?
I had worked as a program leader in 2008 and was very happy with the organization and its mission. In 2017, I had been working in early learning as a curriculum specialist for another non-profit organization. A colleague let me know about an open early learning specialist position with Think Together. My experience with Think Together back in 2008 persuaded my decision to apply for the early learning specialist role. I have worked with preschool-age children for 15 years. My experience has ranged from working as an aide in a school district to lead teacher of a state preschool program and curriculum specialist. The mission that Think Together holds of changing the odds for kids, reflects in the quality preschool programs we run in Orange County and partner with the Buena Park School District.

To know that I am one part of making that change is worthwhile.

What has been your favorite memory so far?
Memories made here with the Orange County Think Together family are many. I am grateful for all the intentionality and investment that the organization has provided by giving us the tools and training to build relationships and professionalism within ourselves and the departments.

How do you “Be the Light” for Think Together kids?
I am honored to “Be the Light” for the children that we provide quality preschool programs for by creating a safe environment that builds socially and emotionally aware individuals. This year especially, we have helped meet the needs of our families by providing both safe in-person and engaging distance learning opportunities.

Why is early learning so important?
Early learning matters because it is the first educational impact on children ages 0 to 8 that builds that foundation and love for learning. The exploration and intentionality that goes into our developmentally appropriate activities sets the stage for these children. Early learning helps them through all domains; cognitive, social-emotional, language and literacy, physical development, and health and safety.

What achievement of you and your team are you most proud of for 2020?
Through all the uncertainties this year I am most proud of the consistent communication and engagement that the team has kept with the families that we serve. The children had a smooth transition in learning all the safety practices while in person. Amazingly, we have seen our 3 to 5 years old students understand that they must keep the mask on, wash their hands routinely, and sanitize the materials that they use.

As we are approaching 2021, what is your New Year’s Resolution?
This year has shown me how much family interaction is needed. Annually we have traveled to visit family or family have visited us. With Covid-19, we have had to isolate and find other ways to interact with families or extended families. This has brought my family so much closer and we will hope that in 2021 a bit of normality comes back, and we can travel to see our families and enjoy their presence. As well as build memories with my children of traveling to somewhere other than just home.

Joana, thank you for being the light for our earliest learners and being part of our mission to change the odds for kids.

To learn more about our early learning programs visit https://thinktogether.org/early-learning/

Think Together has been ranked as #3 nonprofit in terms of annual revenue in Orange County by the Orange County Business Journal.

Before COVID-19, Think Together was already having a massively successful year. We had added new expanded learning programs in Colton, new high school programs in Compton and Rialto, new early learning programs in East San Jose and Buena Park, and school improvement work training teachers and administrators across California to our already large footprint.

If that wasn’t enough, we then expanded into two new regions; LA Metro and Palm Springs. LA Metro serves more than 10,000 students across the Los Angeles metropolitan area and the northeast San Fernando Valley, including Pacoima, San Fernando, Sylmar, and adjacent areas. Palm Springs launched during this summer serving students and schools in the communities of Cathedral City, Desert Hot Springs, Palm Springs, and Rancho Mirage.

In all, Think Together has grown tremendously with revenue of $86.7 million and an increase of 19% over last year. The momentum we are building is equally a cause for celebration and a push for Think Together to continue to innovate and excel in delivering quality programming to California’s youth.

This has been an eventful year, and we cannot wait to see what’s next for Think Together and our mission. We like to say “It takes a village” and this right here is only the tip of the iceberg of what our village is capable of doing.

Think Together and its partner Orenda Education have been busy at work providing safe in-person learning support, robust afterschool programs and innovative school improvement strategies. Together they are helping meet community needs and making headlines for their work during COVID-19.

In our Riverside region, Think Together’s partnership with the City of Moreno Valley was recently awarded the Helen Putnam Award for our work with Moreno Valley Unified School District (MVUSD) and Val Verde Unified School District (VVUSD). The award garnered the attention of the Riverside County News Source and Moreno Valley City News. While currently online, these districts are prepared and ready to transition to in-person programming when it is safe to do so.

“Our Think Together regional leaders have been the “gold standard” in terms of planning for the safe return of students and staff. They have gone above and beyond in developing procedures that address every aspect of a student’s day from the time they arrive in the parking lot for drop off, to instructional support time, to break times, to departure and return to their parents/guardians at the end of the program,” said VVUSD Superintendent of Schools Mr. Michael McCormick.

Throughout the pandemic, Think Together and Orenda Education both have had the unique opportunity to work even more closely with school and district partners.

Earlier this year, Orenda revealed their TLC framework. “We took our two decades of industry and professional experience and research in school improvement work and designed an approach to schooling that uses this moment in our history to advance educational equity.”

Robin Avelar La Salle, cofounder of Orenda Education, discusses more TLC and other aspects of the US Education System in her interview with Authority Magazine “5 Things That Should Be Done to Improve the US Educational System”. This article is highly informative, and I encourage you to take the time to read it in its entirety.

TLC stands for Teacher Workshops, Lessons Online and Coaching & Counselor Training. This model is a research-based, equity-grounded model to prepare educators for school reentry in the COVID-19 environment.

One school district that’s taken on the TLC framework in stride has been Orange Unified School District (OUSD). After learning TLC with the Orenda team this summer, OUSD developed their back-to-school model called SLICE (Student-Centered, Live Instruction, Innovative Learning, Culturally Inclusive, Equitable Choices). Currently, OUSD is in phase 2 of its reopening, using blocked schedules and other safety measures to ensure staff and students are healthy.

Think Together and Orenda’s work is increasingly more valuable in these times, bravo team and let’s keep changing the odds for kids!

“Some gifts are big. Other are small. But the ones that come from the heart are the best gifts of all”

Gifts come in all shapes and sizes, and what matters most is the thoughtfulness of the gift and making sure your friend or family member knows they mean a lot to you.

As we enter the holidays and a Season of Giving , we wanted to share three ideas that you can do with your kid to give their friends, family or teachers.

Mason jar gifts are a fun and easy way to give something thoughtful. You can fill them with sweets, hot chocolate, baking mix, or anything else you can think of!

* Parents be sure to help your kids clean the jars thoroughly before using! *

Hot Chocolate Mason Jar

Fill the jar 1/3 with hot chocolate mix
Add a layer of chocolate chips
Add a layer of marshmallows
For the holidays: you can also add crushed candy canes or cinnamon

Trail Mix Mason Jar

Fill the jar 1/3 with granola
Add a layer of raisins
Add a layer of M&Ms
Add a layer of your favorite nuts

Customize this with peanut butter chips, Chex mix, dried bananas, dried cranberries, or any other favorite trail mix-ins!

Candy Mason Jar

Have extra candy from Halloween? Fill up a mason jar with sweets for an easy way to make a friend smile.

You can also fill the mason jar with M&Ms, Skittles, saltwater taffy… whatever your friend likes!

Once your child’s jar is done, help them tie a bow around the jar and write a note to your friend/teacher/family member.

Does your child need ideas for what to say? Here are some prompts to get their thoughts going.

Let them know why they are special to you, why you are thankful for them, that you are thinking of them, or that you are happy to see them.

Having your child practice writing their thoughts and feelings will not only make the recipient smile, but it will also help your child with their social and emotional development.

Jacqueline “Jackie” Meza is a quality assurance coach in our Riverside region. Jackie has been working for Think Together for the last nine years. Jackie has grown in the organization from a program leader, to a site coordinator, to now being a quality assurance coach for the last two years. Her “why” is that to her, working with children is so fulfilling. “They are the future and having the opportunity to play a role in their development is a rewarding experience.” We are excited to share Jackie’s story with you.

What brought you to Think Together?
I was working for the afterschool program in the city of Moreno Valley when Think Together first came to Riverside back in 2011. I already loved what I was doing so I decided to take the plunge with Think Together. Since then I have been a program leader, site coordinator and now quality assurance coach.

What inspires you about working at Think Together?
I truly believe in our mission of changing the odds for kids. I believe that every student that passes through our programs is changed/transformed in some way and I like to believe that its for the better.

What has been your favorite Think Together memory so far?
Throughout the years I have bumped into students that have been in my program in the past and they all always bring up fun and positive memories they have from their time in my program. But most recently, on the day of Lights On Afterschool 2020, I bumped into one of my students I had in my program about 4 years ago. Not only was he super excited to see “Ms. Jackie” he was so excited to tell me how well he was doing in school, and how he is currently in AVID, but most of all how he still plays basketball and how he practices every day.
“Ever since I joined basketball in Think Together, I love it, and I will never stop playing”. It was such a rewarding experience hearing him say that especially on a day like Lights On Afterschool. It is because of our programs that many students get the opportunity to participate in organized sports and other activities that they may not get the chance to participate in outside of Think Together. Moments like this reinforce my “why” for working at Think Together.

What have you been doing to help support students during COVID-19?
Jurupa Valley School District is currently providing programming in person; however, we did distance learning for two months. During that time, I had the opportunity of working with a group of quality assurance coaches and site coordinators curating lessons so that they could be used for distance learning programs. Together we were able to curate over 100 lessons that are now being used in distance learning programs throughout all regions.

What is one of your goals you want to achieve this school year?
This school year looks very different from most years. My goal is to be able to support the students in our district as much as we can to make them feel supported, cared for, and to give them back a bit of normality throughout this chaos.

What are your personal goals/what’s next for you?
This is only my second year as a quality assurance coach, and I feel I still have a lot to learn in order to become the best quality assurance coach I can be. Soon I will be working alongside Erica Cardoso curating and creating trainings for the organization. I am excited to be able to learn new skills and to take part in the creation of new tools and trainings that will be used throughout our entire organization. This will be a new adventure in my Think Together life!

Thank you Jackie for making sure our students feel supported and we look forward to seeing more from you!

On Friday October 30, 2020, Bert Corona Middle School in our LA Metro region held a Trunk-or-Treat! Site Coordinator Leticia Sepulveda has been working at Bert Corona for 13 years and has had the tradition of putting on a Trunk-or-Treat for her afterschool students the past three years.

“My students are the reason I look forward to come to work everyday, the reason I continue to work even harder throughout these challenging times. Being able to provide an event that brought a moment of smiles, tears, and joy to so many of our students and families is what I live for and it’s what makes my job that much more rewarding!” says Sepulveda.

This year, Bert Corona administrators wanted to participate in this tradition. With COVID-19 changing the school year for all, teachers and Think Together staff members alike were missing connecting with their students. Both school administrators, teachers and Think Together staff worked together to put on a special evening for their students and families to participate in.

As the event was about to begin, cars were wrapped around from the school gates, down the street and starting around the corner of the next intersection. Kids were in their costumes and masks with the windows down excited to receive candy, books and Think Together student backpacks while getting to enjoy all the decorated cars and staff costumes.

In all, Think Together distributed 350 backpacks filled headphones, water bottles, and school supplies essential for distance learning. Think together plans to deliver an additional 20,000 backpacks across the LA Metro region throughout November.

¡Feliz Día de los Muertos!

Today’s celebration is a combination of pre-Hispanic religious rites and Christian feasts. During Día de los Muertos, it is believed that the border between the spirit world and our world dissolves, allowing souls of the dead to briefly return to the living world to feast, drink, dance, and play music with their loved ones.

Here are five things you should know about Día de los Muertos.

Origin

Dia de los Muertos’s origins are from thousands of years ago with the Aztec, Toltec and other Nahua people. For these pre-Hispanic cultures, death wasn’t something to mourn about but rather they believed that the dead were still members of the community, in spirit and memory.

When the Spanish arrived, it was intertwined with All Saints Day (November 1) and All Souls Day (November 2). Today typically November 1 is a day to remember children and November 2 is for adults.

Altars

The centerpiece of the celebration is an altar, or ofrenda, built in private homes and cemeteries. These altars are meant to welcome spirits back to the realm of the living. For this reason, the altars are loaded with offerings of food, family photos, and candles for each dead relative. If one of the spirits is a child, small toys might be added to the altar. For flowers on altars, the main flower used are marigolds. Marigold petals are scattered from the altar to the gravesite as a way to guide souls back to their place of rest.

Papel Picado

Papel Picado can be literally translated to “pierced paper.” Artisans stack layers colored tissue paper and perforate the paper with a hammer and chisel points. Papel Picado isn’t used exclusively during Day of the Dead, but it does play an important part. It is used as decorations on altars and in the streets, representing the wind and the fragility of life.

Calaveras

One of the most recognizable symbols of Day of the Dead are the calaveras or skulls. In the 18^th-19^th centuries, calaveras was also a type of short, humorous poems usually in the form of sarcastic tombstone epitaphs that poked fun at the living. To this day, these short poems are a part of the Day of the Dead celebrations. The most well-known calavera is calavera Catrina, an elegant female skeleton that was drawn to accompany the phrase “todos somos calaveras” which means that under everything, we are all just skeletons.

Food of the Dead

Pan de muerto, a sweet bread with anise seeds and decorated with bones made out of dough
Sugar skulls, these are made from molds and are painted with bright colors
Pulque, a sweet fermented beverage made from the agave sap
Atole, a thin warm porridge made from corn flour, with unrefined cane sugar, cinnamon, and vanilla added

Sources:

History.com Editors. “Day of the Dead (Día De Los Muertos).” History.com, A&E Television Networks, 30 Oct. 2018, www.history.com/topics/halloween/day-of-the-dead.

Ward, Logan. “Top 10 Things to Know about the Day of the Dead.” National Geographic, 29 Oct. 2019, www.nationalgeographic.com/travel/destinations/north-america/mexico/top-ten-day-of-dead-mexico/.

Congratulations to the Los Angeles Dodgers for an incredible season, not only for winning the 2020 World Series Championship title, but for rising to the moment with every challenge this year has brought.

For those who don’t follow baseball, the game six victory marks the team’s first World Series championship since 1988 in a 3-1 win against the Tampa Bay Rays. With three World Series appearances in the last four years and eight division titles, their triumph against the Tampa Bay Rays was long-awaited.

But that’s not all that was accomplished.

Despite a tumultuous year and a shortened baseball season due to COVID-19, the team remained committed to tackling key issues including education, healthcare, homelessness and social justice for those living in Los Angeles and beyond.

The Los Angeles Dodgers Foundation (LADF), the charitable foundation for the franchise, awarded more than 900 education grants, distributed over 5,000 books and supported 9,000 kids in youth development programs. Think Together is a longtime partner of LADF and works with the foundation to provide coding and robotics, college readiness and social and emotional learning programs in Los Angeles County.

Over the season, the Dodgers made headlines stopping in hard-hit cities to help communities reeling from the impacts of COVID-19. Dodgers outfielder Mookie Betts delivered masks and sanitizer in his hometown of Nashville as well as aid to Compton residents through the nonprofit Pull Up Neighbor.

Leading up to their series victory, LADF hosted Dodgers RBI Dodger Day Drive-Thrus, providing food and basic essentials for families in Los Angeles and the surrounding area. In total, the drive-thrus gave more than 132,000 meals and nearly $500,000 in resources.

Their community efforts earned the franchise the title of Sports Humanitarian Team of the Year during the 2020 ESPYs presented by Capital One. The award honors a sports club/team that demonstrates how teamwork can create a significant impact on a community or cause.

Overall, LADF has invested more than $30 million in programs and grants to nonprofits, including $21 million in the last five years. In response to the COVID-19 pandemic, the Los Angeles Dodgers and LADF are providing 279,280 meals and $659,227 in in-kind donations to support vulnerable populations who are experiencing homelessness, food insecurity, lack of basic needs and significant anxiety.

“We are so incredibly proud to partner with a team that not only serves as positive role models for our youth but leads by example through the work they’re doing to support social justice work in our community and support programs like Think Together’s that truly have the potential to change the odds for kids,” said Lawrence Gustafson, Senior Director of Corporate and Foundation Relations.

For more information about our corporate donors or for ways to support Think Together, visit thinktogether.org/corporate-support.

Together We…Build Strong Foundations