Agency: Pueblo Vista Elementary School
Support Needed: $6,125
Purpose: Cross-cultural activities and leadership groups

It's a tale of two cities at Pueblo Vista Elementary, and students there are doing something revolutionary about it. For 20 years, two distinct schools--Pueblo Vista Elementary (PV Traditional) and Pueblo Vista Alternative (PVA)--have operated on the same campus. The demographics of the students at each couldn't be more different: PV Traditional has 250 students; more than half come from low-income Latino families who live in the neighborhood. PVA has 150 students, and most are from middle-class Anglo families that do not live in the neighborhood. All classes are separate, including physical education. While both schools share a playground, the students don't interact with each other. Last year, a fourth-grader took notice and decided to start a group, shared by both schools, where kids could make friends. The result: a pilot program, called "Bridges," that launched in February. Bridges is open to fourth- and fifth-graders, and participants meet once a week during their lunch/recess period. Students play icebreaker games while eating together. After lunch, they participate in a group activity that is fun, physical and promotes team-building. Games like elbow tag, relay races, untying human knots, as well as drama warm-up exercises all have proven popular. A facilitator, who is a credentialed teacher but not an employee of Napa Valley Unified School District, helps the children plan the week's activities, provides supervision, and coordinates with staff from both schools. Response has been positive. For example, 30-plus kids voluntarily attended each week (40 percent were from PVA), and faculty noticed more cooperation among students, who promoted Bridges in third-grade classrooms to recruit for fall term. Plans for the upcoming school year include continuation of the lunch-time program, plus a new afterschool student leadership group, which will design school-wide activities that cut across both PV Traditional and PVA. Total budget for Bridges is $6,125: $5,000 for the coordinator's time; and, the balance for supplies, four "celebration" meetings and a retreat for the leadership group. Your support would help these committed students continue to bridge divides and create a more inclusive community.

Agency: Junior Achievement of The Bay Area, Inc.
Support Needed: $10,000
Purpose: Financial and career classes for kids in public schools

Junior Achievement of The Bay Area (JABA) wants kids to get smart--smart about how money makes the world go 'round. The nonprofit is an affiliate of JA Worldwide, which has been around since the 1950s. JABA has been working in Napa County for 10 years and currently brings its curriculum to roughly 4,500 students--3,000 elementary-age kids, 1,000 middle-schoolers, and a few hundred high school students. Adult volunteers, who are working professionals, deliver JABA's curriculum in the classroom. Topics run the gamut from career choice to economic risks in business; each program is based on grade level or age. For instance, tellers from Wells Fargo read stories to kindergarteners at Napa Junction Elementary in American Canyon--the stories weave in themes of helping, working, earning and saving. After each story, the students do writing, coloring and drawing activities that reinforce the concepts. Middle- and high-school curricula cover global economics, entrepreneurship, how to manage personal finances, linking education to career-readiness, and how to manage a company. All JABA lesson plans are designed to follow state and federal standards for each grade level. Lessons typically are delivered once a week, during one class period, for about eight weeks in succession. The broader goals JABA has for its students include providing an adult role model of a working professional and inspiring youth to finish high school. Benefits of the program include fewer absences for middle-schoolers. This year, 180 JABA volunteers delivered lessons in 17 public schools across Napa County. The nonprofit wants to increase the number of classrooms served on each campus--it costs between $5,000 and $10,000 to cover an entire school. JABA, which has a local advisory board for Napa Valley, serves 19 counties and has an annual operating budget of about $2.3 million; Napa County programs account for $115,000 of that total. About $53,000 covers employee compensation, and $30,000 pays for education materials. Support of this program could help kids learn how to pursue the dream of prosperity.

Agency: CyberMill, Inc.
Support Needed: $11,200
Purpose: Tuition subsidies for summertime digital workshops

It's a clubhouse, but instead of baseballs and gloves, dolls and crayons, it's chock full of computers, digital cameras, a recording studio, and loads of software. Nine years ago, CyberMill, an afterschool technology program, began offering computer camps, so kids would have something creative and productive to do--while improving their technical literacy--during summer break. The nonprofit, which serves youths between the ages of 9 and 18, has a core audience of fourth-through-ninth graders. High school and community college students also participate, but as mentors and volunteers that assist CyberMill's staff to work with the youngsters. About 40 percent of CyberMill's clients are Latino, and half of all attendees qualify for free or reduced lunches at school, which means they come from low-income families. This summer's offerings are 20 different week-long camps, for up to 10 students each. Tuition for each camp is $125 per child. Every Tuesday, the campers go on a field trip that is relevant to the project theme "From Local Farm to Local Table." Destinations include: the Napa Farmer's Market, Harms Vineyards & Lavender Fields and Long Meadow Ranch. During the excursions, students not only study farming and food production, but they also collect photographs, videos, and stories--to be used in their assignments and projects. Back in the clubhouse, kids learn and apply: the technical and creative sides of digital photography; how to create a personal website; designing posters, t-shirts and print materials using digital graphics software; how to make an animated video game; and, how to develop fiction and non-fiction stories, narrate them and put them to video and music. Other goals of the program are for children to practice critical thinking and increase their self-confidence. What's needed now is for CyberMill to raise enough money so it can offer tuition subsidies to at least half of summer camp attendees; roughly $11,200 would provide 48 full and 54 partial subsidies. Your support would help low-income students have a positive learning experience while discovering their creative and technical abilities.