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Arizona - Phoenix

 

SIATech at Phoenix Job Corps Center
518 S. Third Street
Phoenix, AZ 85004

Overview

 

Arizona SIATech at the Phoenix Job Corps Center is located in the heart of downtown Phoenix and is surrounded by Arizona's premier sports and entertainment venues: America West Arena and BankOne Ball Park. Just five miles west of Sky Harbor International Airport, Phoenix is young by historical standards but now ranks as one of the fastest-growing cities in the nation. Because of its beautiful weather, activities can be enjoyed year-round.

 

Phoenix Job Corps is proud to have community support from such entities as City Government, Faith-Based Organizations, U.S. Armed Forces, the Phoenix Police and Fire Departments, Maricopa Community Colleges, Greater Phoenix Chamber of Commerce, and many other local businesses and organizations. Center Staff serve as active members of the Workforce Investment Boards and the Youth Councils for City of Phoenix, Maricopa, Mohave/La Paz, Coconino, Yavapai and Navajo Counties.

 

Students participate in evening activities, which may include playing team sports such as basketball, volleyball, and softball, or individual activities such as weight training, cardio training, arts-and-crafts, taking walks/hikes, or dance. The Job Corps Center also offers trips to concerts, outdoor cultural fairs, art exhibits and theater productions.

 

 

School News

 

Book Club Welcomed by SIATech Phoenix Students
by Maureen Cionci

 

The perfect storm for a book club was created when the movie for The Hunger Games debuted recently following in the footsteps of the Hunger Games book trilogy.

 

 

SIATech Phoenix, on the Phoenix Job Corps Center, kicked off the book club at the weekly Monday assembly for Job Corps and was received with a great deal of enthusiasm. Immediately the 20 books were checked out with another group of 20 signing up for the wait list.

 

Each student was also asked to attend one meeting per week to discuss the book. The culminating activity was a field trip to see the movie at the end of the month.

 

It's been exciting to see students around the center reading the book, discussing the plot and characters, and planning to read the next book.

According to Jesus Villanueva, "I couldn’t put the book down once it actually got into the Hunger Games!"

 

Already the first group of 17 students has attended the movie as part of the incentive for participating in the Book Club.

 

Congratulations to Ms. Cionci, Ms. Bodden, and all the members of the SIATech Phoenix Book Club!

 

Maureen Cionci is an instructor for SIATech Phoenix at the Phoenix Job Corps Center.

 

SIATech Phoenix Graduate:
Michael Thon
by Gary Smith

 

Michael Thon, a graduate of SIATech Phoenix, was one of the "Lost Boys of Sudan." The "Lost Boys" was the name given to the thousands of young men and boys who were orphaned and displaced during Sudanese Wars. Phoenix has one of the largest contingents of "Lost Boys" in the country and a "Lost Boys Center" is located near the Phoenix Job Corps Center.

 

When I met him he had just arrived in the U.S. after an extensive trek. He had left Sudan with the rest of the Lost Boys, journeyed into Ethiopia to escape the civil war there, met another civil war in Ethiopia, went back to Sudan which was still fighting, and finally escaped south to the Kakuma Camp in northern Kenya. He had lost his entire family.

 

Michael had no formal schooling in his first language, Dinka, and had only picked up a little English instruction at the Kakuma Camp. Basically he had been a refugee most of his life. When he first started came to the U.S. he felt very self-conscious due to a new set of false teeth. He also had some trust issues with white males due to some of his negative past experiences. It was evident that some work would be done to build his confidence and our teacher-student relationship.

 

At SIATech Phoenix, I worked with Michael to develop basic English literacy skills: phonics, reading, and writing. It was evident right away that Michael had a burning passion to learn. Like all the "Lost Boys" at the school, Michael understood the strong link between education and success and therefore, worked extremely hard in his classes.

Once Michael was able to better learn and communicate in English, he began to blossom. Through a SIATech project called the "ELL Personal History Newsletter," Michael was able to tell his story.

 

This SIATech English assignment is an innovative project developed based on research of the therapeutic efficacy of shared testimonials in immigrants and refugees. Nastasia Ljubomirovic has emphasized the therapeutic efficacy of shared group experiences with adolescent refugees and immigrants noting that these young people find it easier to open up with group members: one story encourages another.

 

In Michael's newsletter, he wrote a story about his home country, a fictional story about friendship, and a translation of a Sudanese song of freedom. He also recounted his experience coming to the United States. In Michael interviews his classmate Wubedil who is from Ethiopia, and included a fictional story of family values.

 

Here is an excerpt from Michael's essay "A Child Goes to War." In it Michael talks specifically, and heartbreakingly, about the war between his people of the South and the aggressors of the North.

 

"Once upon time, I was young boy in Sudan around 6 years old. At that time there was a war between civilians of the South and the North Sudan government. The soldiers of the North had many modern weapons and used gunships to shoot civilians...The war started in my village we were always running to the bush, hiding inside the forest. After that we came back to look for food to eat, but there was no food left....I left the Sudan to go to Ethiopia and stay for some years, running back between Sudan and Ethiopia...I was suffering at the time I was a young boy around 6 years old."

 

The ELL Personal History Newsletter is a great way to motivate English learners. When Michael started putting the writings he had completed in English together for his ELL Newsletter, gathering photos and working on design, he became extremely motivated, as this was his way of getting the word out about his story and the story of the rest of the Lost Boys. Michael, no longer shy and cripplingly self-conscious, worked with other ELL students and helped them edit their work in Word and put it into Publisher. He had come so very, very far in such a relatively short amount of time.

 

Michael and I keep in touch periodically. He is currently a law clerk working with a firm in downtown Phoenix. His dream is to return to Sudan and work for equal rights for his people. Michael is a sterling example of a transformed and life-long learner!

 

Gary Smith is the ELL Coordinator for SIATech.

 

 

Welcome SIATech Phoenix
Principal Nicole Biggs!
by Laurie Pianka

Please join me in welcoming Nicole Biggs to our SIATech family as today is her first day as principal of our SIATech Phoenix site!

 

Nicole previously worked with our SIATech Phoenix site as our special education teacher where she provided consistent and expert support for our students and staff. Since that time Nicole has worked as an administrator in a major Phoenix area high school. We are thrilled to welcome her back to the Phoenix site in her new role as SIATech principal and instructional leader.

 

Nicole is already hard at work, and we look forward to the leadership she will provide to our staff and students. Congratulations Nicole!

 

Laurie Pianka is SIATech's Director of Education, Area 2.

 

 

Southwest Social Studies NewsletterProvides Resources for Fellow Instructors

Instructor Felix Fornino from SIATech Phoenix has put together the second issue of the Southwest Social Studies Newsletter.

 

This collection of information is designed as a resource for other Social Studies teachers with helpful techniques and materials for lesson plans.

 

The following excerpt from the newsletter describes an online tool for immigration discussions with students:

 

"Here is a good source that we can use with our students to discuss immigration into the United States. It is a chart that shows the number of immigrants by year and by decade beginning in 1820 and going through 2007. It is valuable because it allows you to discuss the ebbs and flows of immigration throughout U.S. history and to show how national and world events affect the number of immigrants who come to the United States. For example immigration began to increase in 1880 and continued very strongly up until 1915 when the inflow dropped approximately 75% because of World War I in Europe.

 

"Another example is the Great Depression, between 1930 and 1931 immigration dropped more than 60% and continued on a downward trend throughout the 1930s and into the 1940s when World War II occurred. As the numbers show immigration does not begin to rise until 1946. These statistics offer many opportunities to pose questions and create assignments that develop critical thinking since they allow you, and the student to make connections between immigration and national and world events."

 

Information on immigration can be found at:http://teacher.scholastic.com/activities/immigration/

 

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Gardening is sprouting up on Job Corps centers all across the country. Garden projects are underway at SIATech San Diego and SIATech at Fred G. Acosta Job Corps Center in Tucson.

 

At SIATech Phoenix, student Ashley Anderson led a team of students to plant a garden behind the Linda R. Jackson Dormitory. They planted watermelon seeds, red peppers, and tomato plants. They also planted a rose bush along the west wall. According to her instructor Nicole Biggs, "Ashley came to us this year and was not that confident about completing her high school diploma, but was provided with an opportunity to start a vegetable and fruit garden. Once she began to work on her garden, she began to feel more confident about her school work as well. She is now more open to learning and has been completing class work in a timely manner."

 

 

2009 Graduation

SIATech Phoenix had 54 graduates in July 2009. SIATech has two graduations per year, and this was the largest graduating class in the school's history. Felix Fornino, SIATech teacher and 2008 Mentor of the Year, wrote about the graduation day. The essay shares comments from a special student named Mirwais Yaqoobi, an immigrant from Afghanistan who gave praise to his teachers and looked forward to finding "a beautiful life in the future." Read more...