martes, 22 de octubre de 2019

Beechwood Elementary


(English text below)

El pasado viernes 11 de octubre, 2019, el CíRCULO llevó a cabo un taller de hora y media en el colegio Beechwood Elementary en Beechview (donde el 20% de la población es latina) con la ayuda de Yolanda Isabel Gordillo, miembro de la comunidad latina hace varios años y voluntaria del CÍRCULO.

Luego de una breve interrupción, el CÍRCULO está ofreciendo visitas para hacer talleres de una sesión de 1.5 a 2 horas de duración. En este momento, es un modelo más sostenible para nosotros. Además, los talleres dependen de gran manera de cuánta ayuda haya de parte de alumn@s y miembros de la comunidad, para así poder tener una menor proporción de facilitadores a niñ@s que, a su vez, mejora nuestra capacidad de interactuar con l@s niñ@s y la dinámica de las actividades.

En esta ocasión, el taller que ofrecimos se basó en un modelo diseñado por uno de nuestros co-fundadores:

Mini-Taller de Podcast:

En esta sesión, l@s estudiantes/ chic@s podrán aprender los requerimientos básicos para trabajar en la producción de su propio episodio de podcast. Conocerán un poco de la historia de este medio, los elementos técnicos y comunicativos empleados, y crearán con ayuda de nuestr@s voluntari@s una pieza de audio relacionada con su entorno, su lengua y su cultura.

En el colegio Beechwood Elementary, trabajamos con 28 niñ@s (hubo 2 ausentes) con ayuda de l@s voluntari@s del CÍRCULO, tres voluntarios del sitio y la coordinadora de programas extracurriculares. Este programa es dirigido por el Latino Community Center de Pittsburgh.

L@s niñ@s, much@s de l@s cuales son inmigrantes o primera generación de niñ@s nacidos acá, formaron grupos y trabajaron en preguntas simples sobre quiénes son, sus familias, sus colegios, sus actividades y clases favoritas, etc. La mayoría estaba ansiosa de participar.

Con muy buen apoyo, fueron capaces de escribir y dibujar. Un gran número de ell@s alcanzó a grabarse con el propósito de crear un corto podcast (acceso protegido por contraseña).






El CÍRCULO espera regresar allá o a su sede en el centro de Pittsburgh, o ir al Latino Family Center en Hazelwood dentro de alrededor de un mes, y ojalá hacer una sesión en el Kenner Room en CMU.

En primavera, esperamos ofrecer talleres en el Latino Family Center y/o en Greensburg, dónde está Familia y Comunidad Westmoreland, una organización recientemente formada que trabaja con la comunidad hispanohablante ahí y en otras áreas.

Esto es todo por ahora. Muchas gracias,

Kenya (de parte del Círculo Juvenil)
Traducción al español de Erika Abarca

------------------------------




CIRCULO conducted a 1.5 hour workshop at Beechwood Elementary in Beechview (where 20% of the student population is Latino) this past Friday, October 11th, 2019, with help from long-time community member and CIRCULO volunteer Yolanda Isabel Gordillo.

After a brief hiatus, CIRCULO is now offering on-site visits for stand alone workshops of 1.5 to 2 hours. At present, it is a more sustainable model for us. Also, truly successful workshops depend a great deal on how much student and community member volunteer assistance we have, so we can have a smaller facilitator/children ratio that, in turn, improves our ability to interact with the children and the activities’ dynamics.

This particular time, the workshop we offered was based on a model designed by one of our co-founders:

Mini Podcast Workshop:

In this session, students/children will be able to learn the basic requirements for working on producing their own episode of a podcast. They will learn a little bit about the history of this medium, the technical and communicative elements used, and then create an audio piece about their immediate surroundings, language, and cultures with help from our CMU student volunteers.

At Beechwood Elementary, we worked with 28 children (two were absent) with help from our CIRCULO volunteers, three of the on-site volunteers, and the Out-of-School program coordinator. This program is run by the Latino Community Center of Pittsburgh.

The children, most of whom are immigrants themselves or first-generation kids born here formed teams, worked on simple questions about who they are, their families, their schools, favorite subjects and activities, etc. Most were eager to participate.

With really good support, they were able to write answers and draw. Quite a number of them got to record themselves for the purpose of producing a short podcast (password protected).




CIRCULO hopes to return there, or to their downtown location, or go to the Latino Family Center in Hazelwood, within a month or so, and hopefully, do a session at CMU’s Kenner Room, too.

In spring, we're hoping to offer workshops at the Latino Family Center and/or a location in Greensburg, where Familia & Comunidad Westmoreland, a recently formed Latino organization, is working with the Spanish-speaking community and beyond.

That's all for now. Thanks,

Kenya (on behalf of Circulo Juvenil)

-------------------------------

viernes, 6 de septiembre de 2019

Orientation for Volunteers


El Circulo Juvenil de Cultura is a not-for-profit community enterprise working with Hispanic/Latin@ children in Pittsburgh in order to assist in the preservation and development of their Spanish skills and cultural knowledge.  We do this each term through workshops held at CMU or throughout the city. 

El Circulo's Fall workshops will be held twice, in 90-minute sessions held once each, on dates TBA between October and the end of the term. Most volunteers are native or hereditary Spanish speakers, or have an intermediate command of the Spanish Language. Experience working with children ages 6-12 is a plus. Volunteers should be available for at least one of the sessions, and should have or be able to obtain Child Abuse and Criminal Clearances. (CMU may be able to assist in the process and cover part of the cost for CMU students).

Volunteers will devote the workshop to assisting the instructor/facilitator with the children. Other opportunities to volunteer "behind the scenes" for El Circulo include website/blog developer/writer, grant-writer, logistics/events coordinator, photographer/videographer, community liaison, etc.

Internship and academic credits are available for volunteers who are majors/minors in the Hispanic Studies program at CMU.

An orientation meeting for volunteers will take place on Friday, Sep. 13, 4:30-5:00 pm in the MLRC, Porter Hall 225C. (412) 268-2898. Please come to this meeting if you are interested in participating as a volunteer this term.

If you cannot attend, but would still like to volunteer, please contact