This is the most exciting news from February!
Our Executive Director has earned a PHD in Sociology!
First Doctoral Thesis based on the Salesian Volunteer Program.
Yes, it is the first time in the history of the congregation that a Doctoral Thesis was dedicated to research what is happening with the Salesian Volunteer Movement at the world level. The research focused on the personal development that a volunteer goes through when a long term service takes place in our Salesian communities.
The author, Juan Carlos Montenegro, experienced one school year of volunteer service in 1994, when he served as assistant and teacher at Wasakentsa, a Salesian mission in the middle of the Amazon jungle in Ecuador. That experience changed his life forever, and he wanted to research and shared the fantastic gifts received when volunteering to take place.
The research was done to 428 volunteers from 28 different countries who served in 63 different countries. The 397 document in Spanish is divided into the theoretical frame that analyzed the meaning of international cooperation, the Salesians and volunteerism, and the reality of young people today. The second part talks about the instruments used to gather the information and the software used to analyze the data. The third part presents the results of the research and the fourth part of the conclusions and recommendations.
There is an exponential opportunity to transform the lives of young people through the Salesian Volunteer Programs in the world. This research shows that young people who have done one year of service are more likely to:
Be more social conscience
Be more pro-active
Be more emphatic
Increase the leadership capability
Be more creative
Develop social skills
Increment the capacity of cooperation
and more...
Some of the recommendations based on the research are:
To create a worldwide brand for the Salesian a volunteer movement
To develop guidelines on how new countries can develop a volunteer program
To develop a worldwide databases with the name of all the volunteers
To establish guidelines for formation for the new volunteers based on the research
To create a study that will focus on the communities that welcome the volunteers to see their perspective
and more.
The thesis was presented on February 14 at the Comillas University, a Jesuit Institution. The whole thesis defense is online at https://youtu.be/g-ikM3vauUw, and the thesis can be requested to his author at jc@salesianvolunteers.org
SHOUT - Coffee with the Principal
SHOUT attending Coffee with the Principal. Learning how parents can help at home to improve their child's reading, by using the library and achieve 3000. SHOUT is more informed in how to improve students' reading.
Celebrating Love and Friendship!
On valentine day, our children had fun dipping pretzels as a cooking activity!
Don Bosco Celebration
By Miriam Hernandez
The feast of St. John Bosco was not a one-day celebration here in Boyle Heights. A youth mass was celebrated on the second day Triduum for St. John Bosco’s feast day. With only two nights of practice teens performed a choreography to the Don Bosco song, Da Mihi Animas in his honor. During the homily Fr. Rafael Saiz, SDB encouraged the youth to strive for holiness and to always be cheerful. The following night youth gathered at the Youth Center where leaders from St. Dominic Savio Parish ran an oratory night. No one knew what to expect but all were agreeably surprised to see high school students such as themselves leading the activities. Michael Sandoval spoke to me later and said, “I was shocked to see that the person in charged of all the youth leaders is only sixteen, I cannot believe that she was able to run it all so smoothly. “The night was filled with prayer, icebreakers, a Salesian themed scavenger hunt followed by the traditional Good night. It was during the Good night that Executive Director, JC Montenegro invited the youth to take advantage of our facilities and to make of them a home. Our Salesian Family Youth Center along with Saint Mary’s Church have been working collaboratively to achieve Don Bosco’s mission for all Salesians, to lead people, especially the youth to Christ.
Construction training graduation for US Veterans
Bro Tom Mass lead a construction training for 8 weeks for US Veterans. Graduation took place on February 27. Most of the graduates have found a job in construction so far. Thank you so much Bro Tom and Mara Pelsman for your time and dedication in this project!
Thank you so much - Executive Services Corps
Executive Service Corps and the Dwight Stuart Youth Fund is excited to have our Executive Director participate in five months of peer-to-peer learning, resource sharing, and learning best practices to support your mission in serving youth.
Beautifying Boyle Heights
@DEKO_UNO an artist from Mexico came at the beginning of this month to help us paining a mural in our club. This is a way on how we can fight against graffiti in our building.
Raising Money to go to Youth Day!
To be able to participate at Youth Day our young people sold raffle tickets at St. Mary's church. Thanks to this fundraiser we were able to raise $256.16 dollars.
Here you have some pictures of the event!
Drill Team News
Competition season is here! Drill Team has been working hard and have been dedicated to their practices to compete against other schools to show their spirit. After a long day of competition the Drill Team students were able to enjoy some Krispy Creme Donuts. It was most of the students first time trying these donuts.
Gamer Club
Every Friday Gamers Club play a variety of games, this Friday they decided to play uno. It is always great to see them interact and challenge one another.
Drivers ED
Drivers Ed has inititated for the Spring semester; Mrs. Lolo introduced the curriculum and expectations of the course.
Valentines Day's campaign - Roosevelt HS
Students prepare materials for "Save a Sweetheart" campaign that was held of February 14, 2020. It is a partnership with Educare.
Mountain Hiking Trip
MT Baldy! On this trip our students were able to see the snow some for the first time and enjoy a good exercise. They took a break to create a nice snowman.We took a Ski Lift to the top of the mountain where we had a nice hike and they loved the opportunity to be able to ride it to the top. They were able to throw snowballs and had a amazing day.
Stewardship with WeWork
We are looking to find a way to engage new volunteers. We are collaborating with WeWork company to give more opportunities for people to volunteer with our organization and join our family!
Unifying Families!
Our Youth Center had the opportunity to be the place where families reunited After 30 years! This must be difficult for mother’s and for all in general. This event was possible because of the collaboration with Abuelitos of Boyle Heights.
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