SMAS Student Shelley Cheng's Letter to Governor Newsom

With the COVID pandemic, we have many challenges - including economic problems. The Legislature and the Governor must agree on a new budget for our new situation. This is the time when we need to tell them what we need and want in the new budget.

San Mateo Adult School Student Shelley Cheng shares her letter on this topic to Governor Newsom:

Shelley Cheng

Dear Governor Newsom,

I am Shelley Cheng, from China. My family moved to the U.S. two and a half years ago because my husband’s job brought him here. Now my daughter is in a public high school in Burlingame, and I am an ESL student at San Mateo Adult School in California.

I deeply appreciate the strong actions that you and your administration have taken on protecting California populations from the spread of COVID-19. Today, I wrote this letter to you to ask you and your administration to protect the funding for adult education, which may be possible budget cutting for some public institutions and agencies to balance budgets in California.

Undoubtedly, adult education is an essential component for California, which is home to almost 11 million immigrants. Adult educators help thousands of immigrants find a better job and life. Even during the quarantine, all the teachers and staff have still been doing their best to make connections with all students by remote classes to teach and support us. Take me as an example, while I was working in China, I didn’t have a chance to use English, so my English skills were very inadequate. Thus I felt anxious and lost my confidence when I first came to the U.S. I was even afraid to communicate with people who speak English. I still remember when my daughter's school teacher first called me, I couldn’t understand anything she said. I was defeated with nowhere to go and nothing to do. My life was stranded because of my language restriction. Fortunately , taking involvement in our school’s classes and programs have improved not only my English skills but also my soft skills. I have made many new friends who are from different countries with different cultures, and we have supported each other like family members and shared information to overcome common barriers. Eventually, I regained my confidence and self-esteem while I volunteered both inside and outside of our school.

In addition, in order to build our self-confidence and to guide us in our new lives here in the USA, our school has built a good connection with the local community to offer opportunities for students to contribute to our school and community. Thus, Some classmates found jobs by taking job searching classes or other career training programs. As a student ambassador, I can help new students adapt to the new environment of our school; as the Census 2020 ambassador, I have visited other adult schools and did presentations to help more people feel comfortable to participate in being counted in the Bay Area.

I am just an ordinary person who has benefited from Adult Education and is capable of giving back to the society in California, United States of America. In order to help more people and families, please don’t cut the budget from adult education.

Thank you again for your continuing leadership and for considering Adult Education. I am proud to stand with you, other advocates for Adult Education, and all people to keep our communities safe and healthy.


Sincerely,


Shelley Cheng

San Mateo, CA, 94401

SMAS Success at the CCAE 2019 Bay Section Conference

CCAE Diamond Jubilee Celebration

On Saturday, February 24th, CCAE - the California Council for Adult Education - Bay Section celebrated 75 years of CCAE - the diamond jubilee of CCAE.

CCAE Bay Section 

CCAE is an organization that is focused on Adult Education and Adult Schools.  It is divided into sections.  SMAS Assistant Director Eric Saavedra is President of the Bay Section.  SMAS Administrative Assistant Stefanie Wright is secretary of the Bay Section. 

CCAE Bay Section Conference

The sections have conferences every year.  Everyone who cares about Adult Education - teachers, students, staff, administrators - comes together to talk about how to make Adult Ed the best it can be. 

Stephanie Wright
and Carlota Zuniga

Carlota and Stefanie worked with volunteers from SMAS and Fremont Adult school to prepare a delightful breakfast and lunch and decorate the tables in honor of the diamond jubilee.  

SMAS Student Volunteers sold #Red4AdultEd t-shirts, buttons, pencils and bumper stickers to carry the message that #AdultEducationMatters.

At breakfast and lunchtime, everyone listened to speakers talk about the history of Adult Education 

and the need to advocate - to use our voices - for Adult Education.

Everyone must understand that Adult Education matters.  Legislators and the governor must understand that Adult Education needs more money.  With more money, Adult Education can help more people in California reach their goals and create a great state.

Awards and Raffles

Teacher Patricia Brown
holding her award

Two SMAS staff members received awards:  

Director Tim Doyle with
Stefanie Wright - holding her award

Stefanie Wright for Excellence in Support Service 

Patricia Brown for Excellence in Teaching.

There was a raffle with many prizes and several SMAS students won.   

SMAS Student Leadership Workshop A Big Success

There were many workshops at the conference. Some topics were: advocacy, wellness, and how to be a good teacher.  The SMAS Student Council presented a workshop about expanding opportunities for leadership. They presented their workshop twice and each time everyone loved it.

Read the presentations from the workshop:

Shelly Cheng:  The Importance of Establishing Student Leadership

Carlos Diaz:  Student Council:  Leadership Opportunities in Student Council

Shereen Lata:  Leadership Opportunities in the Student Ambassador Program

Shelley Cheng:  Leadership Opportunities in the Health and Wellness Program

Claudia Asselborn:  Leadership Opportunities in the ESL City Government Academy

Olivia Velazquez:  Leadership Opportunities in School Clubs

Simone Coelho:  Leadership Opportunities in Community Volunteering

Shereen, Simone, Ana, Tim, Shelley, Olivia, Carlos, Simone

Thank you to everyone who came together to create such a wonderful conference!

Carlos Diaz: Leadership Opportunities in Student Council

SMAS 2018-2019 Student Council gave an outstanding presentation at the CCAE 2019 Bay Section Conference. The title of their presentation was "Expanding Leadership Opportunities for Students."   Here is Carlos Diaz's section about student council.

Carlos Diaz

Hello everyone! My name is Carlos Diaz.

I am currently studying at San Mateo Adult School and am serving in the role of evening student council President.

Today I will talk with you about the leadership opportunities the San Mateo Adult School student council provides for our student community.

The San Mateo Adult School was formed more than 20 years ago and is a role model for student councils at the adult school. It is a form of government intended to integrated communications and decision making between students, faculty, staff, and administration to create a cohesive and informed school campus.

Slide from Presentation
Photos of Student Council Officers
Shelley, Shereen, Claudia, Ai
Carlos, Olivia, Simone

The student council leadership is made up of the positions of President, Vice president, and Secretary. As an adult school, we have a unique situation in which we have both morning and evening classes at our school so we have two student councils, one for each, to represent the student population.

The process of electing student council leadership is quite similar to that of federal, state, and local government elections in the United States in which the people elect their representatives by voting for the candidates they feel will best represent them. At San Mateo Adult School, all students participate in the election process.

What is the leadership opportunity that student council provides?

You may be wondering, why is it important to have a student council?

How will this improve my School?

Student leadership requires that each position have initiative and vision,

a commitment of responsibility and a willingness to represent others in their school community.

It requires developing leadership skills by listening to others and organizing and carrying out school programs, activities and service projects.

Student leadership is about creating a more harmonious and organized school environment.

We are the voice of our classmates and we are tasked with motivating other students to take initiative and get involved.

The student government advocates for adult education speaking with elected officials, community advisory councils, and presenting at conferences on the local, state, and national levels.

The student council plans events each year to provide opportunities for community engagement including:

Halloween parties and contests

Thanksgiving turkey giveaways

and International Day and International Night.

We also organize fundraisers to support people in our communities as well as in other countries where people have suffered the harmful effects of natural disasters.

Some of the cases in which we have helped to collect and send money for relief efforts are

in 2017 and 2018 the tsunami in Indonesia,

the earthquake in Mexico,

and the hurricane in Puerto Rico.

Most recently we held a fundraiser for the survivors of the devastating fires in Paradise, California.

We are really proud of the generosity of our school community.

Making the decision to run for student council and become part of the leadership team has given all of us here today the opportunity to make and grow our networks,

take initiative and solve problems,

And motivate others both within our school community and outside in the broader community.

Many times in life we don’t really know what we want for our lives or where we are going to be in future. Sometimes this is due to a lack of courage or not having the kind of skills that make us successful, but,

it never is too late to develop and get the knowledge and skills we need even if we are already adults.

We believe that every student must be involved and have a voice in what is surrounding them at school, in their neighborhoods, and at home.

Student Council doesn’t just work at school, it is also a bridge into the community.

Together we make great things happen at our school serving as role models of leadership for our own and other school communities.

Now let me introduce Shereen Lata to talk with you about the Student Ambassador program.

Olivia Velazquez: Leadership Opportunities in Student Clubs

Olivia Velazquez
Alt Text:  Smiling woman
with short hair and bright orange scarf

SMAS 2018-2019 Student Council gave an outstanding presentation at the CCAE 2019 Bay Section Conference. The title of their presentation was "Expanding Leadership Opportunities for Students."   Here is Olivia Velazquez's section about student clubs.

Hello Everyone, my name is Olivia Velazquez and I am a student at San Mateo Adult School and the evening student council Vice President.

Today I will talk with you about how school clubs provide leadership opportunities for students.

What is leadership?

Leadership is when a person creates ideas for others to motivate them to do a good job.

Every project needs to have a leader that will lead the group.

This leader needs to listen to other people’s ideas, have a vision and share it with others.

This creates a democracy in which all the people in the project have a input.

School Clubs provide students great opportunities to develop leadership skills, like Vision, Motivation, Service, Empathy, Creativity, Management and Team building.  

Slide from Presentation
Green Team Flyer - Chess Club - Garden Club

Clubs focus on a specific vision.

This vision is then shared with others to help them get inspired to work towards a common goal.

A good example of this would be the Green Team club at San Mateo Adult School.

The Green Team club was established to help make our school campus more environmentally-friendly by composting at class parties, teaching students and staff how to save energy and use less plastic, learning about climate change, and more.

Leaders of a club need to motivate the club members and get them excited to do their best to achieve the common goal.

They need to make club members feel supported and appreciated.

Club leaders need to have emotional intelligence and put themselves in the place of others to understand their concerns and help them solve problems.

Good leaders need to create an environment in which the club members feel inspired to create new and better ideas.

They need to guide and manage the club always reaching for the common goal.

And, good leaders make the club members feel like part of the team.

Student club leadership is necessary to help clubs distribute the tools and growth strategies for they require to function and influence others to join.

San Mateo Adult School clubs that offer leadership opportunities include the Chess Club, the Garden club, and the Green Team Club.

Now let me introduce Simone Coelho who will talk about leadership in Community Volunteering.

Simone Coelho: Leadership Opportunities in Community Volunteering

SMAS 2018-2019 Student Council gave an outstanding presentation at the CCAE 2019 Bay Section Conference. The title of their presentation was "Expanding Leadership Opportunities for Students."   Here is Simone Coelho's section about community volunteering.

Community  Volunteer

Hello Everyone,

My name is Simone Coelho.  I am a GED student and secretary for the evening Student Council at San Mateo Adult School.

Simone Coelho
Alt Text:  Smiling woman
with dark hair and dark jacket

Today,  I am going to talk to you  about leadership and opportunities through community volunteering.

Alt Text:  Powerpoint slide about Community Volunteering
Scenes of SMAS students working as volunteers
many in red t-shirts

Community volunteering is when an individual applies to work serving their neighborhood and community by doing specific tasks.

Volunteers play a very important role in their communities doing good for others and making things happen.

They are role models for their neighbors, friends, and family.

Volunteers are good example of guidance, respect and effort.

There are many benefits a volunteer can gain by doing this type of work such as:

Gaining new skills and the feeling of accomplishment by helping others.

Bringing a positive impact to their community based on the reflection of their good work.

Leading by example so others notice and may want to become a volunteer.

Volunteers have the opportunity to develop good communication skills while interacting with people which leads to more confidence, relationship building, and teamwork.

There are many places you can help within your community like:

Volunteer at a local library by helping at the front desk, organizing books or reading at kids’ book clubs.

Volunteers are always needed at local schools.

Become a member of the Community Emergency Response Team (CERT) to be prepared to help yourself and others in the event of a disaster.

Volunteers  can offer to drive for people who can not drive for themselves,  work at charitable kitchens preparing and serving meals or at local Food Banks.

At San Mateo Adult School, volunteers play important leadership by:

Demonstrating servant leadership in the evening hot meal service - Every Thursday night,  student council leaders, student volunteers and staff gather together to serve free dinner for students.

The garden club -  volunteers work in a sustainable way to cultivate the school community garden, grow and harvest organic produce which is then sold to the school community through a weekly school farmers market at affordable prices.

This provides an added benefit of good health and nutrition to the school community.

Student council class representatives -  Once a month, San Mateo Adult School classes send representatives to the student council meetings to participate in the planning of future activities and have their voices heard and votes recorded in the decision making process of the student government.

The next day following the meetings, leader representatives report  the minutes of these meetings and decisions to their class.

These are just some of the leadership opportunities available in both our schools and the greater community.

Remember, as a volunteer and servant leader, always choose to work with what you like to do and enjoy giving back to your community.

Shereen Lata: Leadership Opportunities in the Student Ambassador Program

SMAS 2018-2019 Student Council gave an outstanding presentation at the CCAE 2019 Bay Section Conference. The title of their presentation was "Expanding Leadership Opportunities for Students."   Here is Shereen Lata's section about student leadership.

Shereen Lata
Alt Text:
Woman with dark hair
n blue sweater

Hello  everyone! My name is Shereen Lata  and I am the morning Student Council Vice President and a GED student at San Mateo Adult School.

Today I am going to talk about a leadership opportunity called the Student Ambassador Program that is offered at our school.

Alt Text: Slide from Powerpoint about Student Ambassador Program
with scenes of Student Ambassadors in action

The Student Ambassador Program is a volunteer position for bilingual High Intermediate and Advanced English as a Second Language students.

Student Ambassadors are an integral part of the school system who work with diverse populations and perform duties in which they have the opportunity to learn and grow their leadership skills.  

What do Student Ambassadors do?

Student Ambassadors greet new incoming students during ESL Orientation, helping them to feel welcome and complete their registration forms by interpreting and translating instructions.

Shelley Cheng: The Importance of Establishing Student Leadership

SMAS 2018-2019 Student Council gave an outstanding presentation at the CCAE 2019 Bay Section Conference. The title of their presentation was "Expanding Leadership Opportunities for Students."   Here is Shelley Cheng's section about student leadership.

Importance of Establishing Student Leadership

In the Adult School

Morning Student Council President
Shelly Cheng

Good morning, everyone, my name is Shelley Cheng. I am a student at San Mateo Adult School and also president of the morning student council.

Our team would like to thank you for giving us the chance to present “Expanding Leadership Opportunities for students” at San Mateo Adult School.

Over the course of this presentation, I shall be speaking in the first part about “the Importance of the establishing of the student leadership in our school.”

What is student leadership?

Alt Text:  Photo of SMAS staff and students in red

When we refer to leadership ,we usually define it with such words as, cooperative, supportive, creative, confident, responsible, guided, and active. But when I seriously thought about and studied the leadership projects provided by our school, I found that we have a common and also unique definition of it:

• We use actions to set examples

• We challenge the status quo and improve our communication skills

• We make sure everyone can have a vision of a better future

• We cultivate cooperation and build mutual trust

• We establish an excellent community culture

• And, we Inspire students to get involved

So How does our school expand leadership opportunities for students?

San Mateo Adult School provides many projects to turn these abstract leadership concepts into living, valuable and actionable approaches, and our team today will provide more information about these programs.

These activities not only provide students with a development of interest, creating a special space, but also foster opportunities for independent thinking and resilience, as well as opportunities for students to develop and enhance our leadership, bringing it to the broader stage outside our school in the community.

Many students, including me, through bridge-building and continuous efforts, turn our passion into ideas, recruit small partners, become servant leaders, and give back to our school and community, all while gaining experience and improving our leadership skills.

Why is student leadership important in the Adult school?

According to Timothy R. Clark, a management expert “Leadership is an applied discipline, not an illusory concept.” Yes, it is science that can be proved by theory and practice. Master this discipline and apply it better, “We will have more opportunities to pursue progress, overcome setbacks, change lives and benefit all things.”

As adult students, we all have a common goal when we choose to study in an Adult School; that is we hope we can have a better future and lives.

Adult education schools have turned this amazing desire into reality.

In today’s society, at our school, leadership isn’t minority behavior, but a skill that everyone needs to master. We must learn to lead ourselves and others rather than lazily relying on the leadership of others. Sometimes, we lack the confidence to reach into our greatness.

But, the good news is, by participating in these projects provided by our school, we find that we are not as weak in leadership as we think. More leadership potential, our genes have already carried enough potential to make us leaders, and we have countless leadership treasures waiting to be discovered. It is time to dig them out.

Over the course of this presentation our team will detail the leadership opportunities we are provided at San Mateo Adult School, including the Student Council, Student Ambassador program, Health and wellness program,  ESL City Government Academy, School Clubs, and Community Volunteering. At the end we will leave time for questions and answers.

Now let me introduce Carlos Diaz who will speak about the student council leadership.

Shelley Cheng: Leadership Opportunities in the Health and Wellness Program

SMAS 2018-2019 Student Council gave an outstanding presentation at the CCAE 2019 Bay Section Conference. The title of their presentation was "Expanding Leadership Opportunities for Students."  Here is Shelley Cheng's presentation about the Health and Wellness program.

HEALTH AND WELLNESS PROGRAM

Alt Text: Photos from Health & Wellness Program
Students exercising; Flyer for program; Health Fair; Flyer

Everyone knows health is important to us but I wonder, what have you done to keep yourself healthy, both physically and mentally?

Today I want to share with you the Health and Wellness Program at San Mateo Adult School and the leadership opportunities it provides for our students.

What is the Health and Wellness Program at San Mateo Adult School?

When a school has healthy teachers, students and staff, the school establishes a good student campus environment. Properly designed health programs can increase learning efficiency, enhance ethics, reduce stress, and provide students with more opportunities to volunteer and work through connections and mutual visits to the community.

The Health and Wellness Program at San Mateo Adult School provides various kinds of leadership positions which are included in the Eat Healthy Be Active health classes, our Hot meal service, and Zumba dancing classes during break times.

When San Mateo Adult School ESL student Kimie Soto took the Eat Healthy Be Active class, teacher Stephanie took all students to visit the San Mateo Senior Center.

Kimie Soto
in a black apron
at the Senior Center

At that time she got information on how to become a volunteer there. She applied for the lunch program and a volunteer coordinator emailed her a few months later. She visited once and had an interview.

The first few times, she was a little nervous but all of the staff were kind and told her how to do it. She now thinks volunteering is a great chance to involve native communities!

A second leadership opportunity the and Wellness program provides is volunteering for our weekly evening hot meal service for students.

This partnership between San Mateo Adult School and the non-profit organization Peninsula Food Runners, who organizes the food donations, offers students the opportunity to participant in a servant leadership role.

Studies have shown that attending classes on full stomachs help students to have better. Volunteering their time one Thursday a month for 3 hours, students prepare and serve the hot meals which help the student population to improve their studying environment and health status.

A third example of leadership in the Health and Wellness program is the story of Hannah.

She wanted to organize Zumba dancing exercises during the break time because she was a professional dancer in her country before she came to the US. First she talked to teacher Stephanie about her plan and looked for the help from SC.

Stephanie promoted at both teacher and student meetings. Then, as you can see, as part of Health & Wellness Program , every Tuesday at break time, teachers and students do dancing on campus to the music .

Finally, the Health and Wellness Program will be organizing a student health advisory committee this summer, the members of which will be the school health community leaders that inform the program moving forward.

Through these experiences, it is easy to see how the Health and Wellness Program at our school,develops the talents and leadership skills of students ,so they are able to have a platform to use their skills.

Their courage and action not only set an example for other students, but also deeply affect their participation in the leadership activities to improve the quality of their lives and others.

This is the significance our Health & Wellness Program creates.

Now let me introduce Claudia Asselborn who will speak about leadership opportunities through the ESL City Government Academy Program.

Claudia Asselborn: Leadership Opportunities in the ESL City Government Academy

SMAS 2018-2019 Student Council gave an outstanding presentation at the CCAE 2019 Bay Section Conference. The title of their presentation was "Expanding Leadership Opportunities for Students."  Here is Claudia Asselborn's presentation about the ESL City Government Academy.

2019 CCAE: Expanding Leadership Opportunities for Students at San Mateo Adult School

Leadership through the ESL City Government Academy

Hello everyone! My name is Claudia Asselborn. I am a student at San Mateo Adult School and Secretary of the Morning Student Council.

Claudia Asselborn
Alt text:  Smiling woman
with long, blonde hair

Today I will introduce you to the “ESL City Government Academy”, a program that was designed to help students feel empowered and comfortable to access City services and feel prepared to engage further with the City.

The “ESL City Government Academy” is a program offered by San Mateo Adult School for ESL students that provides access to learn more about the City of San Mateo. The program is not a tourist tour for San Mateo, it is a carefully organized plan with an educational intent.

The program is a partnership between the San Mateo Adult School and the City of San Mateo. In the “ESL City Government Academy” students:'

• Continue to learn English as a second language, but do it connected to and immersed in the community where they study and/or live.
• They increase their vocabulary.
• Learn about rules and laws.
• Become familiar with the staff that works for the city.
• Get information about volunteering.
• Learn how to apply for jobs.
• And gain access to places in the government sector, that if not for this program, might never be discovered.

Alt Text:  Photos of ESL City Government Academy in action

I have been part of this program and would like to share our experience with you:

• First, we Learned about the City Hall of San Mateo. The City staff welcomed us with kindness and joy. We even had the opportunity to meet and talk with Mayor Rick Bonilla who is a big supporter of this program.
• Next, we were given a presentation by the City Attorney which was very educational because he explained how to create a law step by step.
• At the Main Library of San Mateo, we discovered many new things including the "Automatic Library Sorting System" they use.
• We then went to the wastewater treatment plant which helped us to understand how our water is treated and what happens to it after that.
• We also had the opportunity to meet the police SWAT team. This was an extraordinary experience because we were able to find out how the team operates and the importance of their work.
• We also discovered many other services that City Hall provides, for example, if someone wants to start a business or fix your house, it is a good idea to go to the City Hall and get information on how to do it and avoid future problems.
• Last, we learned how important it is for the City of San Mateo to provide a high-quality environment for their community. Proof of this is the respect and care of the trees and parks.

Another thing that made the ESL City Government Academy program a unique and enriching experience was when we had the opportunity to participate in the visioning workshop for the City’s new general plan. We were able to talk about our own vision and participate in developing a plan about future policies affecting housing, transportation, open space, sustainability and other issues that are central to our community.

In summary, the ESL City Government Academy program expands student awareness of local government and City services while providing opportunities for civic engagement, leadership, and volunteering, and also for immigrants to integrate into the community.

____________________

Claudia Asselborn

Secretary

Morning Student Council