Think Together, Author at Think Together

Stephanie Ayala is our recruiter for our LA Metro Region. Stephanie joined the Think Together family last year when Think Together acquired YPI. Since then, she has done an excellent job recruiting new staff members for her region. We are excited to share Stephanie’s story with you.

What is your “why” for working at Think Together?
Growing up I always had resources like the ones Think Together provides. All I ever want to do is provide resources to communities like the one I grew up in. At the end of the day for me, it’s about hiring quality staff to support kids. Not many people realize how much of an impact our staff has on these children, my goal is always to provide those mentors for kids.

What has been your favorite memory so far?
My favorite memory would have to be receiving the first Star Thinker award in my region. I felt overwhelmed, and grateful. I wasn’t even aware I was being seen that way by my co-workers.

What are you most proud of accomplishing in 2020?
I would say reaching the one-year anniversary of joining Think Together with my colleagues who have become family throughout the years. The transition was so hard at first but seeing the growth and success from my team really motivated me to keep going. We all want the same thing, to support each other and our sites.

Tell us more about how LA Metro is a family.
I always refer to the LA Metro team as a family because a majority of the staff have been in their role for several years. In program, we have staff that began their careers as part time staff and eventually moved their way up to site coordinators and regional supervisors. In my HR team alone, we range from having been in our role for 4-13 years (yes… I said 13 years… WOW). And for many of us, it’s not only the work that drives us, but the people we work with. We share years of memories and experiences. We have built friendships beyond work.

What is one of your goals for 2021?
A goal I set for myself in 2021, is to push myself. With personal growth , I want to focus on my professional development. My goal is to always want more and be 10 steps ahead.

As one of our recruiters, what is one reason someone should apply to join the LA Metro team?
The kids. We only have a couple of hours every day with these kids, and even with the little time spent with them we help mold these kids for the future. Think Together really does give an opportunity of growth for not only the kids, but for its staff as well.

Thank you, Stephanie for your hard work in helping support Think Together’s work.

COVID-19 has been hard on everyone, but the pandemic has been especially hard for the Castañeda family of seven. Ten-year-old twins Bryan and Ryan Castañeda have been attending one of Think Together’s in-person learning hubs in Baldwin Park while their school continues to offer instruction virtually.

Think Together’s in-person hubs give students a place with stable internet and staff to support them during their regular school day. Students who participate are likely to be experiencing homeless, in foster care or are the children of essential workers. While it is nice to have some interaction with teachers and friends within their in-person cohort, there is one thing that the boys really miss: soccer.

Los Angeles County has laid down strict rules for sports and other events to help slow the spread of COVID-19. The twins were able to play one game in November before things began to lock down again. When asked what it felt like to be back on the field, Ryan said, “It felt like I was in heaven because I haven’t played in a while.”

Soccer and other team sports are not only a great way to exercise and stay healthy, but also build great social and emotional skills like teamwork, communication, strategy, and confidence.

In Think Together’s in-person hubs, students can still practice their skills using the U.S. Soccer Foundation’s adapted curriculum, which was launched ahead of the fall 2020 season. This adapted curriculum allows Soccer for Success program operators across the country to run the program across a variety of settings – from pre-recorded sessions to live virtual sessions to in-person socially-distanced sessions. Throughout the 12-week season, coach-mentors use these sessions to help participants practice their talents, with lessons on ball control, passing, defending, and more.

The Castañeda twins are doing all that they can to keep their skills sharp for when they can get back on the soccer field. When sports begin again, both of them are looking forward to continuing to participate in the U.S. Soccer Foundation’s Soccer for Success program in addition to the other soccer team they play on outside of school.

Ryan and Bryan hope to become professional soccer players for the Los Angeles Football Club and Chivas respectively. Until then, Think Together and the U.S. Soccer Foundation will keep them learning, healthy, and thriving.

Think Together is proud to partner with Inland SoCal United Way and Union Pacific Railroad and is grateful for these two organizations support in Riverside and San Bernardino counties. Like many nonprofits, Think Together pivoted to address the challenges presented by COVID-19 by offering distance learning support, in-person program using strict health guidelines and other critical services such as meal and device distribution.

To help meet the moment, Inland SoCal United Way and Union Pacific Railroad stepped up to provide grants that support these initiatives for students in these regions. Collectively, these regions serve in 17 school districts and up to 29,240 students.

Due to local guidelines amid COVID-19, both regions are primarily conducting class using distance learning. Our San Bernardino region was one of our first regions to start our virtual summer learning programs back in May.

One of our San Bernardino site coordinators, Gabriela Lomeli shared what this experience has been like for her:

“At the start of working remotely at home, due to COVID-19 back in March, everything I thought I knew about my role in Think Together did a complete one-eighty. Within a matter of days, our entire working day was now at home, and all online. Up until that time, I didn’t know what Zoom and Google Meet was, nor how to really use it. Like my peers, I had to quickly adapt and get myself and my team ready for the beginning our new normal.

As the end of the school year came to an emotional close, the beginning of summer would at least allow us to feel optimistic and prepare for any possible outcome for the beginning of the new school year. We wanted to be ready for anything that came our way, and if we knew we still had to continue the start the year working from home, then at least we knew this was going to be our chance to finally be able see our students, even if the first day back at program was online.”

Through our front-line staff’s hard work, many students are thriving in the distance learning environment and are recouping their learning loss.

“Distance learning has been a challenge to some students. At Van Buren we have a 3rd grade student who had been struggling with distance learning. Her family stated that due to the language barrier it was difficult for them to support her with her assignments. Within the first week of her attending our Think Together learning hub her school day teacher said that she had noticed a substantial improvement. Not only did her attendance improve, she also accomplished her first completed assignment since distance learning. The student, program leader, site coordinator and teacher are all working together to support this student and help her accomplish a successful school year.” Maria Montes, Riverside Site Coordinator

All of our regions, including San Bernardino and Riverside, have given their 110% effort to make sure that students feel supported, successful and making sure they are still having fun. With support from our corporate and foundation partners like Inland SoCal United Way and Union Pacific Railroad, we are continuously able to adapt to fit the needs of our times and make sure that our students never slip.

Think Together is grateful for our corporate and foundation partners like The Boeing Company for their generous support of our STEM, coding and robotics programs.

Even prior to COVID-19, Think Together students were thriving with the addition of STEM lessons and our robotics clubs. Site staff, parents and students realized they always had the skill to code and do STEM; they just needed the resources, tools, and encouragement to discover it.

In Think Together’s programs, Southeast Los Angeles Region, which includes Compton, Lynwood and Bellflower school districts, one of our middle school site coordinators noticed that their STEM students have had a relatively smooth transition to distance learning compared to their peers.

“The most interesting thing I have observed among our students as they participate in our program in this environment is the quick adaptability they possess. Our students went from turning in and completing assignments in person and on paper to completing the majority of their studies virtually. This is not an easy transition, but given that this generation has indulged in technology, our students seemed to have no issue with this transition.”

These sites serve some of Think Together’s most under-resourced communities and help students pave a path toward college and career with the help of coding and the digital environment the students had already been exposed to.

Knowledge from STEM courses is becoming increasingly more vital for careers out of college. Science, technology, engineering, and math concepts are critical, but so are the traits developed like ingenuity, creativity, problem-solving, resilience, teamwork, the willingness to take risks and understanding how you got from point A to point B.

In Think Together programs, students are exposed to introductory coding, robotics, and logic. In the 2020-21 virtual school environment, students have primarily been using SCRATCH and VidCode. SCRATCH provides students with simulations where students use different steps and commands to complete their objectives, whereas VidCode allows students to practice writing code using JavaScript coding language.

With practice, many students began to transition from videogame players to game makers.

Additionally, The Boeing Company’s partnership supports hands-on personal Lego kits to our Think Together students in grades 4-12. These kits can be distributed for distance learning or used for in-person programming. These provide versatile, tactile and creative solutions for playful learning experiences and rapid prototyping.

Think Together is excited to give our students exposure to skills and enrichment activities that spark interest to pursue college and future careers. Thank you to The Boeing Company for bringing these robust STEM learning experiences to our kids.

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.