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Concord Campus' Future Teachers Make a Difference in Our Community
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CSUEB Professor Shira Lubliner's class on the art of teaching social studies in elementary school is literally changing the course of the our next generation, one teaching credential student at a time.
Lubliner introduced the purpose of it all to her students on the first day of class: “Social Studies is the integrated study of the social sciences and humanities to promote civic competence. The purpose is to help young people make informed, reasoned decisions for the public good as citizens of a culturally diverse democratic society and in an interdependent world.” (National Council for the Social Studies, NCSS)
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A recent class fieldtrip to a Concord-based non-profit, Books for the Barrios, illustrates the concept of service learning: the activity of active learning through service that meets the needs of the community. Service learning fosters civic responsibility in students, empowering them with the concept that they can make a difference and improve the quality of life for themselves and others through civic engagement. Many of Lubliner’s credential students carry service learning into their classrooms as they assume fulltime teaching positions in the area's schools.
Books for the Barrios was started by Nancy Harrington and her husband 19 years ago. From their warehouse site, donated books and other school/library supplies are gathered, packed and shipped to the barrios, the economically deprived areas of the Philippines. To date, the Books for the Barrios program has shipped more than 4.5 million pounds of educational materials utilized by 9 million Filipino children.
A field trip opportunity, designed particularly for youth, to Books for the Barrios provides Bay Area students with an opportunity to learn about the barrio children of the Philippines and their lives, to donate books and supplies themselves, and to help in the packing process to prepare shipments headed overseas. They even color and decorate the boxes with their names, hearts, suns, flowers, or whatever they think the receiving school or library’s children would enjoy. The fieldtrip concludes with a slide show of the Filipino children, libraries and schools impacted by the program. (Most groups visiting and packing for Books for the Barrios are school or youth groups.)
Lubliner presents the teaching model she feels is best for conveying the concepts of service learning: Acquisition of a Knowledge Base (by foundation-building lectures by Lubliner and Evan Goldberg, a service learning expert), Participation (students participate in a service learning project), and Implementation (students design and implement their own service learning projects). Lubliner’s teaching credential students must develop and implement a service learning project in the classrooms where they are actively student teaching this quarter. The fieldtrip to Books for the Barrios is an example of the type of project they might put together. Following their own service learning project, the credential students report back to Lubliner and other credential classmates on their projects, including how well they worked and accomplished the goals of the social studies curriculum.
The credential students were asked to share reflections about their fieldtrip to Books for the Barrios. A few comments are shared below:
- “As a teacher, I look forward to providing my students with the opportunity to contribute positively. Books for the Barrios gives children a chance to contribute their time, as well as providing them with a unique educational experience.”
- “I would love to bring a class of my own, someday, to Books for the Barrios. I think that the way Nancy (Harrington) presents the material including the purpose of her kind work, could touch our students in many ways. Books for the Barrios can truly help in getting our students to think globally.”
- “This is something that would be a wonderful project for any grade, and the background knowledge for it would be cross-curricular. …..there would be wonderful lessons in geography, math (geometry of boxes and supplies), economics (cost of shipping, etc.), language arts, critical thinking (positives and negatives of living where we do and where they do), social studies/history (how our countries got to be the way they are today), researching the areas (food, religions, history, etc.)”
- “It is exciting to think about the ways in which a trip like this could be integrated with elementary curriculum. It definitely shows how powerful and important service learning is to both young students and adults alike.”
CONTINUED IN JANUARY 2006 E-NEWS: We’ll share some of the service learning projects that Professor Lubliner’s students developed and implemented in their student teaching classrooms.
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Concord Campus Strategic Planning Moves Forward
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| Concord Campus Dean, Peter Wilson, shares the history of programmatic offerings at the Concord Campus with members of the Program Task Force: Alice Murillo of Diablo Valley College, Dan Henry of Los Medanos College, and Lynda Lawrence of Contra Costa College. |
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The Concord Campus’ strategic planning team is actively gathering and analyzing data to develop recommendations on future development of the campus. CSUEB administrators and faculty, city representatives, and community college administrators are working together in task forces focusing on programs; instructional and student support services; and data collection and assessment of regional population trends, education trends, and current and future workforce development needs.
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Resulting initiatives and plans will include academic programs, extended university programs, instructional and student support, personnel needs, resource requirements and funding alternatives, and a timeline for implementation.
Carl Bellone, Assistant Vice President of Academic Programs and Graduate Studies, is leading the strategic planning effort. Herb Eder, CSUEB professor emeritus, Geography and Environmental Studies, and Chair of the Programs Taskforce, began a recent meeting emphasizing the importance of the planning effort: “This is an opportunity not just for Cal State East Bay, but an opportunity for higher education in Contra Costa County, the East Bay, and the entire region.”
A draft of the Strategic Planning Committee’s report is expected in March 2006.
Strategic Planning Homepage |
Osher Foundation Gives $50,000 to CSUEB for Reentry Students in PACE Program
Up to 25 reentry students who are enrolled in the PACE program at California State University, East Bay during the coming academic year will be eligible for a grant of $2,000 to cover their education fees through a $50,000 gift awarded to the university by the Bernard Osher Foundation of San Francisco.
The Osher Reentry Scholarship Program has been established with the foundation's gift to financially assist students between the ages of 25 and 50 who are returning to the university to complete work for their college degree through PACE (Program for Accelerated College Education). CSUEB's PACE programs are offered at the Concord Campus, along with the Hayward Campus, and at Contra Costa College in San Pablo. PACE students are all three sites are encouraged to apply for the scholarships.
Students who wish to be considered for an Osher Reentry Scholarship for the 2005-06 academic year should contact the PACE office at (510) 885-PACE (7223) or request a form online at http://pace.csueastbay.edu/scholarship_app.php.
The grant to support the scholarship program may be renewed by the Osher Foundation annually for up to two more years, according to Mary G.F. Bitterman, foundation president. After that, with the program's demonstrated success, the university may apply to receive a $1 million endowment from the foundation to support the program in perpetuity.
"We are very pleased that Cal State East Bay has been awarded this gift by the Bernard Osher Foundation,"said Norma Rees, university president, who announced the establishment of the Osher Reentry Scholarship Program. "This is an especially important gift, in that this institution has identified student financial assistance as a top priority for private support."
Cal State East Bay has recognized the needs of reentry students for 15 years, since it established PACE for working adults who have limited time available in their schedules to complete work towards earning a bachelor's degree. The university offers the program at its Hayward and Concord campuses, and in partnership with Contra Costa College on its campus in San Pablo.
Since the recent completion of a capital campaign to build the Wayne and Gladys Valley Business and Technology Center on the university's campus in Hayward, President Rees has identified student scholarships, facilities and technology, math and science teaching and research, and unrestricted giving as fundraising priorities for Cal State East Bay.
"We are delighted with the emphasis Cal State East Bay has placed on addressing the specific needs of reentry students, and the foundation is pleased to support those efforts," Bitterman said.
PACE scholarship application |
Concord Campus Hosts Health, Bioscience and Environmental Science Curriculum Conference
Faculty participants from high schools, community colleges and universities joined together at the Concord Campus for the 2nd Annual Health, Bioscience and Environmental Science Curriculum Conference on October 14 and 15, 2005. This conference provides an opportunity for faculty to develop or enhance existing Health, Bioscience, Education, Engineering, Media Arts, Construction and Environmental career curricula for their students, followed by peer review by other conference participants.
Conference site |
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| Contra Costa Council Board Comes to the Concord Campus
Contra Costa Council Board of Directors' October meeting took place at the Concord Campus. The Contra Costa Council is a public policy advocacy organization that promotes the economic vitality of Contra Costa County and the region.
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Linda Best, Executive Dir., Contra Costa Council,
member of the Concord Campus Master Plan Committee;
Peter Wilson, Concord Campus Dean;
Kevin Pitts, Publisher, East Bay Business Times,
member of the Concord Campus Board of Councilors.
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Ethan Veneklasen, Deputy Dir., Contra Costa Council;
George Smith, Pres., GBR Smith Group, LLP;
Stan Taylor, Pres., Contra Costa Council, and Partner,
Nossaman, Guthner, Knox & Elliott, LLP.
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The Contra Costa Council Board of Directors in action at October meeting.
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