SHINE Updates
Volunteer Opportunities
Classes and Training
Conferences and Lectures
Immigration and Citizenship News
Teach and Travel
Scholarships and Fellowships
For Learners

SHINE Updates 

A new issue of Rise and SHINE, Project SHINE Philadelphia's biannual newsletter, is now available.  Read it here.   

Please join our student discussion group!

Volunteer Opportunities 

Senior Technology Awareness Program

Friday, March 16, 2007, 10:00 a.m.-12:00 p.m.

Mann Older Adult Center, a Project SHINE Community Partner 

Contact: Wendy Harper (215-686-1460)

Mann Older Adult Center needs several Spanish-speaking volunteers to provide language support and assistance at a computer skills workshop.  This workshop is fifth in the series and will be attended by older Latino immigrants (some of whom are bilingual) who have recently received their own computers. There will be a minimum of six students present, and 2 or 3 volunteers are needed.  Volunteers don’t need to be completely fluent in Spanish, and no special knowledge about computers is necessary.  The workshop will be focused on internet access, internet searching, and e-mail.
 

Mandarin Speaking SHINE Tutor Needed

March 23 & 24 and April 26 & 27, 2007, 10:00 a.m.-12:30 p.m.

Independence Charter School

Contact: Celia Chen (cchen@temple.edu or 215-204-7134) 

Project SHINE and the Asian Pacific Senior Resource Center at Coffee Cup are partnering with kindergarten teachers at Independence Charter School (ICS) to invite Chinese seniors into the classroom to bring lessons about China to life. In support of this work, SHINE is looking for 1-2 Volunteers to help seniors practice their English before their ICS class visits or provide interpretation/language support in Chinese and English in the classroom so that the children, teachers and seniors can communicate to the best of their ability in the language of their choice.
 

Health Fair

Tuesday, April 10, 2007, 1:00 p.m.-4:00 p.m.

Somerset Villas, a Project SHINE Community Partner

Contact: Debra Lytle (prjshine@temple.edu or 215-204-2354) 

Somerset Villas, a senior residence in North Philadelphia that serves the Latino community, needs several volunteers to help at a health fair for its residents.  A total of 70 residents are expected to attend this even to gain health and wellness information on topics including diabetes, blood pressure, cancer safety techniques, and insurance.  Volunteers will be serving food and assisting with the event.

Classes and Training 

Spanish as a Second Language

Saturdays, March 10-April 28, 12:00 p.m.-3:00 p.m.

Proyecto Sin Fronteras/Open Borders Project, a Project SHINE Community Partner 

Contact: Tessa Landreau-Grasmuck (tessamicaela@gmail.com or 215-226-5888)

Details: Flyer, Registration form 

Always wanted to learn Spanish?  Want to build relationships with the larger Latino community in Philly?  Proyecto Sin Fronteras/Open Borders Project’s Spanish as a Second Language class is starting soon.  The class meets on Saturday afternoons from 12-3 starting on March 10 and will run for eight weeks. 

Conferences and Lectures 

Many Englishes

What ESL students have to teach us about writing instruction

Friday, April 27, 2007, 8:30 a.m.-5:30 p.m.

Temple University Student Center North, 2nd floor

Contact: Jennifer Maloy (maloy@temple.edu)

Registration deadline: April 10, 2007

Registration: free for full-time students, $10 for faculty 

This conference for instructors, students, and community educators focuses on the teaching and learning of English as a Second Language, promoting language diversity in the classroom, and re-envisioning literacy instruction in light of new research in the field of second language writing. 

Virtual Language and Linguistics Center
Distinguished Guest Lecture Series

Details:  The Fox School of Business

Analyzing bilingual phonology:  Methods, techniques, and selected results

Dr. Ferenc Bunta, Communication Sciences, Temple University

Wednesday, March 21, 2007, 3:30 p.m.

Tuttleman 303AB

Meaning—the essence of grammar, the core of pragmatics:  A cross-linguistic, cross-cultural illustration using Korean, Japanese, and American English

Susan Strauss, Pennsylvania State University

Wednesday, April 4, 2007, 3:30 p.m.

Tuttleman 303AB

Language Learning in Study Abroad: Case Studies of Americans in France

Celeste Kinginger, Pennsylvania State University

Wednesday, April 11, 2007, 3:30 p.m.

Tuttleman 101 

Immigration and Citizenship News 

Hazelton Trial

Monday, March 12, 2007

Scranton, PA 

Monday, March 12 is the first day of the Hazleton trial.  The City of Hazelton is going to Federal District Court for its anti-immigrant ordinance which targets landlords and employers.  This is the first trial in the country on a local anti-immigrant ordinance.  Dozens of local ordinances have been passed in the country (many of them in Pennsylvania), and still more have been placed on hold, pending the outcome of this trial.  What happens in Scranton could determine the fate of anti-immigrant ordinances in communities across the nation.  The United States Chamber of Commerce filed an amicus brief in support of the lawsuit on Monday, March 5.  Read the filed brief, which details the various reasons for the Chamber’s action. 
 

Building an Immigration Service for the Twenty-First Century

U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS)

U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS) is proposing a new fee structure that ensures appropriate funding to meet national security requirements and customer service needs, and modernizes an outdated business infrastructure. The proposed new fee structure is built around a foundation of Strategic Pillars designed to enhance and sustain a secure and efficient immigration system. Those pillars are enhancing the security and integrity of the immigration system, improving service delivery, and modernizing business infrastructure.

To learn about USCIS' plans for the next few years, based upon this new fee structure, see a message from USCIS Director Emilio Gonzalez, and read the proposed rule of the new fee structure, click here.
 

Citizenship Test Redesign

U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS)

The USCIS plans to redesign the test for US citizenship.  Read more about the proposed pilot test.

Teach and Travel

Teach Chile

May 20-November 30, 2007

Contact: Carly Pervreall (cpevreall@allianceabroad.com)

Details:  Alliance Abroad 

Teach Chile, a program sponsored by the Chilean Ministry of Education and the United Nations Development Fund, has positions available.  This program creates new and real opportunities for both Chilean students and teachers to practice English with native English speakers. Participants work in the public school systems and are assigned to work with a Chilean English teachers. They teach classes as well as organize extracurricular activities like English conversation groups, dance classes, art projects, and English fairs. They may also work with interested teachers to develop their oral proficiency and/or to design materials or activities for use in English classrooms.  Participants live with local Chilean families who provide not only a nice home and meals, but also invaluable insight into the Chilean culture.   
 

Language and Culture Assistants

Education Office of the Embassy of Spain

October 2007-May 2008

Application deadline: April 16, 2007

Details: Consejería de Educación, Application

The Education Office of the Embassy of Spain in the U.S.A. is glad announce the opening of the period for applications for its program of Language and Culture Assistants in Spain 2007-08.  The Assistants will have the opportunity to learn about the Spanish language and culture and use their experience upon their return to the United States or Canada, thus helping to develop cultural understanding between the citizens of Spain and the United States of America and Canada. At the same time, the program provides Spanish students and teachers of English an opportunity to broaden and increase their knowledge of the English language and North American culture through interaction with native speakers.

Scholarships and Fellowships 

Diversity Fellowship Program

Associated Grant Makers

September 2007-June 2008

Details: Associated Grant Makers

Application deadline: April 12, 2007 

This fellowship program aims to inspire the next generation of philanthropic leaders among people of color by offering training and support to a select group of passionate, emerging professionals. Associated Grant Makers strives to increase the number and proportion of people of color as staff—and executives—in the field of philanthropy.  The program will provide individuals of color who would like to explore a career in philanthropy with $30,000 and training for a nine-month working fellowship.

For Learners 

Free Legal Clinic

Tuesday, March 13, 2007, 3:00 p.m.-6:00 p.m.

Welcoming Center for New Pennsylvanians, One Penn Center

Contact: Margaret Hilsdon (margaret@welcomingcenter.org or 215-557-2859)

Details: General Aims

Flyers: English, Spanish, French, Chinese, Russian, Vietnamese, Indonesian

This clinic is for anyone in the immigrant community who needs to speak to an attorney.  The attorneys volunteer their time for the clinic, which is free of charge. Clinics are held on a monthly basis and advance registration is required.