SJLA 2007-2008

The Role of Art in the Community

2008-04-17T16:35:00.000-07:00

After seeing the art that you saw on Monday, both the
public art and the art in galleries, what role do you
feel art plays in our community? How might the
community be different WITHOUT the art that we saw?

See you in May!

What about hope?

2008-03-15T18:44:00.000-07:00

On our SJLA day earlier this week, you heard quite a large number of
despairing comments: not enough money was the overriding one. Both
from the City Council members and from Chris at VMC, the main issue
was that there are huge areas of unmet needs. But my question is, did
you find any ray of hope in what you heard? Was there a positive
message that you were able to take away at all? If so, what was it?
If not, what are our options for the future?

City Hall and Valley Med

2008-03-15T18:14:00.000-07:00

SJLA "took it all the way to city hall" this month as they visited the San Jose City Hall. The day started with discussions with three of San Jose's city council members, Pete Constant (District 1), Sam Liccardo (District 3), and Pierluigi Oliverio (District 6). The class asked some very relevant and compelling questions about the city's budget crisis, the Little Saigon controversy and city leadership in general. Then it was on to a tour of the city hall and council chambers.

Afterward they were off to Santa Clara Valley Medical Center, a public hospital owned and operated by the county of Santa Clara. While there they toured Valley Med's Regional Burn Center, Neonatal Intensive Care Unit, and world-class Rehabilitation Program.

Making a Difference

2008-02-15T11:42:00.000-08:00

"Thank you each for working as hard as you did
Tuesday you really made a difference!

In fact, I'm curious: what does that mean to you, to
make a difference? For whom/for what did you make a
difference? Give me a couple of examples of making a
difference‚ that happened yesterday. How did they make
you feel?

See yourselves in action in the post below!

See you next month.

Labor of Love

2008-02-15T11:26:00.001-08:00

There are so many resources that exists within our community that would be thrown away if it were not for the inspiration and ingenuity of ordinary people who see a situation, get and idea and follow it through. This month, SJLA got to experience two organizations and that started just this way. We also met with some of the community leaders who have built and run these organizations to benefit thousands through out Santa Clara County who they may never meet. We first joined Village Harvest at a private residence for some backyard fruit picking.

Village Harvest is a nonprofit volunteer organization in Santa Clara Valley, California, which brings together neighbors and community organizations to provide food for the hungry, preserve our agricultural heritage and skills, and promote sustainable use of urban resources.

A backyard fruit tree usually produces far more fruit than a household can use themselves, and there is more than enough going to waste from our own backyards and farms to provide for our local community’s hungry. Village Harvest addresses this food distribution problem by organizing volunteer teams to harvest backyard fruit and donate it to charitable food agencies and organizations, by educating homeowners on fruit tree care and harvesting, and by providing education on food preservation such as making jams and preserves from home-grown fruit. Village Harvest's contribution to charitable food agencies has grown from 37,000 pounds in 2002 to well over 100,000 pounds today.

SJLA students worked along side volunteers from Village Harvest to pick and package 2500 lbs. of pounds of fruit in just a couple of hours! This is 20%of Village Harvests total fruit picked to date this year! They then helped load the fruit up at the residence and unload it at Second Harvest Food Bank.

After Village Harvest, we headed to Resource Area For Teachers (RAFT). RAFT is a non-profit organization that provides creative hands-on activities, educational resources, workshops and inexpensive materials, (many donated by local businesses), to enrich pre K-12 education and community group programs. SJLA students worked with RAFT staff and other volunteers to help sort and package donated material that are then sold to Bay Area teachers. Prices are greatly reduced because most materials are donated by Bay Area companies and repurposed for teachers through the work of volunteers. For more information take the VIDEO TOUR of RAFT.

Walk a Mile in a Cop's Shoes

2008-01-29T13:26:00.000-08:00

For January the SJLA toured the San Jose Police Training Facility and the Santa Clara County Jail. During their time at the SJPD training facility many of the students were afforded the opportunity to experience what it might be like to be a police officer by participating in real life police scenarios in the SJPD Forced Options Training Simulator (FOTS), a computer generated simulation with a variety of hazardous situations based on real cases. Training with this system allows participants to make mistakes and learn from them in a simulated environment so they are better prepared for real situations.

We asked some of the SJLA participants what they thought of their experience and how it changed their perspective on law enforcement.

What did you see at the Jail or SJPD that you'll never forget?

2008-01-23T18:47:00.000-08:00

Hi everyone: We had quite a day today, didn't we? I hope you enjoyed it, and found it to be worthwhile. We saw and experienced many things that hopefully will stay with you.

Over the years, when I run into graduates of SJLA, invariably they'll say, "I'll never forget when I saw.........on criminal justice day!"
What are a couple of images from today that have stuck with you already? Why do you think those are the images that are vivid?

What did you see that you'll never forget?

I'd like you to respond to this question by Monday, Jan. 28.

Have a great week!

Rick

Question for SJLA at our new blog!

2007-12-12T08:28:00.000-08:00

Hi everyone: I hope you like the new SJLA 2008 blog that Ken Durbin created for your class. Each month, you'll be able to see videos, pictures, students comments, and things that I write as well. You can react to any of it, and I hope that you'll visit the blog frequently.

My question for this month is: Tell me about one or two things you learned on Monday that you took away from the day, that you'll use going forward. What did you pick up that you thought was most important?

I'd like to have your answer by Friday, if possible.

I hope you'll bookmark the blog link so that you can check it often.

Have a great holiday, and thanks for being part of SJLA 2008.

Rick

December Class - InnVision/Goodwill

2007-12-11T22:17:00.000-08:00

What can I do about homelessness? What do I do when I meet a homeless person on the street? Where do the homeless come from? In their December class the students of the San Jose Leadership Academy asked these questions and many more as they visited two of the shelters in the InnVision network. InnVision is an organization that "is dedicated to empowering homeless and at-risk families and individuals in finding the way home! accomplish this by offering various levels of housing and day programs in a safe and supportive environment that promotes self-worth and independent living."

The day started off in the Montgomery Street Inn where the students heard from many InnVision staff members and toured the facility. The Montgomery Street Inn is a facility that provides homeless men emergency shelter in a dorm room setting while also providing computer services and links to vocational and employment services. The students then moved to the Julian Street Inn. This facility is the only facility in Santa Clara County that provides emergency shelter to clients diagnosed with a mentally illness. Clients at the Julian Street Inn receive one-on-one counseling and support as well as participating in support groups. The groups are designed to help clients increase their coping skills, maintain sobriety, and develop resources to help them maintain independence. The Julian Street clients were gracious enough to sit down together with the Leadership Academy students and have a conversation about their personal experiences with homelessness, drug addiction, mental illness and recovery. Afterward we asked some of the students their impressions of what this encounter meant to them.

In the afternoon the Academy switched gears and headed to Goodwill of Silicon Valley. Though many of our students and staff had heard of Goodwill and some even professed to have shopped there (the author's mother dressed him in Goodwill couture until his early teens), few knew Goodwill's actual mission - to assist people with disabilities or other barriers to employment to achieve their highest potential by providing a broad range of vocational, occupational and education services. After an overview of Goodwill of Silicon Valley from Trish Dorsey, the managing director of Goodwill's Institute for Career Development, the students were given a tour of the facility and participated in some of the warehouse activities including sorting and packaging marker pins and sorting donated shoes destined for, among other places, Northern Africa.