We recently caught up with several of our trainees to hear what they had to say about their college experiences this year.  Jamaal Johnson and Miles Roman are freshman at Camden County College.  Mario Arriola is a sophomore at Camden County and Angel Rodriguez, a sophomore, is in his first year at St. Joseph’s University in Philadelphia.

Question - What are you learning about yourself at college?

Jamaal – I am learning that I can do well at school.  I thought I would do Ok and now I know it.

Angel – I’m learning how to survive without my parents.  I have to make good decisions and budget my time.  I have to be an adult.  I am also learning that I want to do well.  I’ll do whatever it takes to succeed here.

Miles – I’m learning that I enjoy the challenge.  College has made me more confident about my abilities.

Mario – I’ve learned that I am stronger than I thought I was.  If I stay focused, I can achieve anything that is thrown my way.

Question - What is the biggest difference about this school year and last?

Jamaal -  For me the biggest difference between high school and college is in college you set up your own schedule.  There is nobody to make you go to classes so it is all up to you.

Angel – Compared to my first year in college, classes here at St. Joe’s are harder than I expected, you really have to work. The work is more serious, more challenging and it takes more time.

Miles – The biggest difference is the independence.  You are on your own.  Everything is up to me and I like it like that.

Mario – The biggest difference between my first and second year classes are that this year your entire grade can be determined by just one exam or one project. In classes last year you might have a quiz every week.  This puts more pressure on yourself. The expectations are higher.  To continue reading this interview click here!

Last month Hopeworks helped the United Way of Camden County launch its fall fundraising campaign at two local businesses: L3 Communications and Wegmans of Cherry Hill.  Mario Arriola, a Hopeworks trainee, along with staff members Sabrina Gomez and Patrick Keenan, spoke to each of these companies, highlighting the important work that happens at Hopeworks.  Both Mario and Sabrina told stories of transformation and positive personal growth to which the audiences greatly responded.  Hopeworks is a recipient of United Way funds and is pleased to go into the community on the agency’s behalf because of the important work it does leveraging the contributions of many individual donors to make a big impact in the areas of at-risk youth services, economic self-sufficiency and core community needs.

Our youth captured national attention recently when their plans to revitalize a neighborhood park for sports and activities with and for other youth was chosen as one of the top 100 finalists in the Case Foundation’s Make It Your Own grant competition.  Judges from across the county selected their project, “No Dealers = No Drugs,” because it had a clearly defined idea of what they wanted to accomplish and because they have a firm belief that they can change their community through their actions. 

To read the captivating proposal the youth submitted click here!

Members of Hopeworks GEB (GEB = GIS +Web) team, along with Rachel Burns and Tarren Anderson, gave a presentation at the October meeting of the Southern Regional GIS Users Group in Burlington County.  Sylvon Bryant and Rebecca Schelmety spoke about the projects that they worked on as high school youth in the Hopeworks Summer GEB program.  Rebecca described the Interactive Civil War Veteran Map that has been created, while Sylvon spoke about the Camden City Road Map.   It was a wonderful opportunity for the GEB youth to interact with a group of GIS professionals.  Hopeworks thanks the Southern Regional GIS Users Group for the invitation and opportunity to present.

Hopeworks completed its first goal under the D.E.A.R. Initiative (Drop Everything And Read).  The goal was to read the entire Bluford reading series the month of October.  Each day youth gathered to read their various Bluford

selections with their in-house reading coaches.  The groups then shared their personal reflections and interpretations of the reading series. The youth will now participate in a variety of activities that will assist in the development of the web site for the Bluford  Series. 

Meet The New Trainees

Hopeworks would like to welcome our most recent Hope Through School trainees:  Da'Mere Davis, Dimitri Inge, Anthony Cruz, Robinson Vasquez, Anthony Tirado, Jonathon Roque, Manuel Mercado, and Edwin Castelan.  We are expecting great things from these new youth!

Trainee Accomplishments For The Month Of October

In the month of October many youth advanced through our technology curriculum.  Here is the complete list of the youth's accomplishments during the month of October: Whitney - Internet Basics, Sabrina Velasquez - HTML 2, Joshua Caraballo - Photoshop, Nefer Bryant - HTML 1, Danny Reyes -Image Ready, Dimitri Inge - Internet Basics, Shakira Johnson - Image Ready, and Da'Mere Davis - Internet Basics.  Congratulations!

It's Slime Time
On October 31, 2007, the Youth at Hopeworks participated in an exciting learning experience.  “It’s Slime Time,” was an experiment that challenged students to discover the importance of reading and following detailed directions in order to meet a specific outcome.  The youth under the supervision of Shawn Mack our Literacy Director and several brave Literacy Volunteers, were challenged to make the most creative slime using pre-set materials.  A fun and learning time was had by all!!

Father Jeff's Trip To Chicago

Father Jeff Putthoff recently visited two different youth programs in the Chicago area.  FJ visited TeenLiving to better understand their residential living structure for youth.  This visit is the third that FJ has made to see various residential youth programs as Hopeworks is thinking about this possibility for its 18-23 year old population. The second program that FJ visited was Street Level, a multimedia learning program that specializes in audio and video work. FJ reports that it was great to visit both programs and was inspired by what he saw!  

Miles Roman Reaching His Goals

After two and a half months of hard work Miles Roman has completed his personal web site and has begun his production test.  Miles is now close to becoming a member of the WEB team.  Congratulations Miles - we are wishing you all the best!

Salesforce Update

The adoption  and implementation of Salesforce continues at Hopeworks.  6 of 8 of our staff have been trained and our youth production workers are coming online.  November marks the second phase of implementation with our entire trainee database being moved to the Salesforce platform. 

Thank You To All Of The Foundations And Corporations that Support Hopeworks Through Grants And To Our Many Generous Benefactors!

United Way
Maryland Province of Jesuits
CPAC
CCYSC
Irene S. Scully Family Foundation
Raskob Foundation
Commerce Bank
Citizens Bank
Anonymous Supporters

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Upcoming Events:

11.8-11/9:  Mario visits Le Moyne College in Syracuse

11/20:  Hopeworks Thanksgiving Feast

11/22-11/23:  Hopeworks closed for Thanksgiving

12/11:  Hopeworks Christmas Open House 9AM-4PM

12/14:  Happy Birthday Steve!

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Our Lady of Good Counsel

Keep an eye out for these upcoming sites:
Camden Diocese
Camden Youth Drug Court
Newburgh Ministries
NJRC
Triad Associates
Grace of God Lutheran