The cookie volunteers: Brigitte, Stephanie, and Jody   

With the success of the Holiday Pie Sale, there were suddenly cries for cookies - the perfect holiday gift! Francesca Fifis, TSS Program and Volunteer Manager, had no problem finding the perfect recipes nor the helping hands. So, with a lot of laughter, blending, grinding, measuring, melting, baking, and decorating, 28 volunteers produced 3,000 cookies!

 

Many thanks go to the cooks-for-the-day: Chris Argenziano, Lorraine Ashton, Susan Baldwin, Steve Cohen, William Cooper, Donna Dambach, Brigitte Doneaux, Julie Harkens, Jensen Hedley, Debby Kweller, Jody Leeds, Carmen Lopez, Pat Meier-Johnson, Jeanne Montague, Maureen O'Neil, Adrian Palenchar, Marcia Petersen, Spencer Phillips, Sydney Randazzo, Linda Ransom, Jose Rojas, Alejandra Ruiz, Lizbet Ruiz, Prisila Ruiz, Judy Scotchmoor, Randi Sherman, Stephanie Stubbs, and Eva Yearsley.

 ANOTHER READY TO WORK COHORT GRADUATES

The graduating Fall 2016 RTW Cohort along with their instructors and interviewers

Twenty-four teens started the RTW program at Sonoma Valley High School and twenty have now completed the full course. The classroom atmosphere has been invigorating and lively, and the teens have been highly engaged throughout. They were definitely prepared for the mock interviews held on December 15th (despite the torrential rain storm), and those doing the interviewing were impressed by the high level of confidence and professionalism shown by the teens. 

Lily Raca is interviewed by Allison Kilmer, Uppercase Tea LLC

The mock interviews were the last in a series of workshops during which the teens explored career options, learned about employee behavior and employer expectations, money management, building a resume, the application and hiring process, and interview techniques.

 

With the completion of the course, our "graduates" received their Ready to Work Certificates and enjoyed some celebratory cake with their friends, instructors, and local employers.

Kayla Alcorcha, Marco Alonzo-Mena, Lilli R.Baca, Jeremy Ceglia, Monserrat Escobar, Victor Escobar, Mary Gallo, Kurtis McIntyre, Riki Marechal, Victoria Mendez, Monzerrat Morales, Miriam Nolazco, Jocelyn Paredes, Alondra Perez, Grace Phillips, Lily Raka, Sydnie Raup, Jose Rojas, Victoria Santos, and Lyllie Singletary

And a special thanks to our interviewers:  Sondra Bernstein, The Girl and the Fig; Dino Diguilio, Body Best Automotive; Zac Weinberg, The Cottage Inn and Spa; Lorna Sheridan, Sonoma Index Tribune; Allison Kilmer, Uppercase Tea LLC; Celina Briggs, Sonoma Ecology Center; Susan Huggis, Starbucks; and Eileen Keister, Farmers Insurance. Thanks also to all of the consistent volunteer support and to Sonoma Valley High and their Work-based Learning Coordinator Wendy Swanson for teaching the Interviewing Workshop. 

DEBBY KWELLER RETURNS TO THE BOARD

With a love of cooking and fine wine, Debby and Bob Kweller moved to Sonoma Valley in 2001. Debby retired in 2013 as a senior executive in the disability insurance and financial management industry. Having led several national nonprofit boards during her career, she naturally transitioned to nonprofits in Sonoma. Debby joined Impact100 Sonoma in 2011 to network with other women and support greater collaboration among nonprofits. She became familiar with Sonoma Valley Teen Services. She joined the board in 2013-15 and looks forward to returning.

A SALUTE TO A LONG-TIME VOLUNTEER: JENNY SIMPSON RANDAL

The name Randall is an important part of TSS early history as John was the founder of Operation Youth - one of two organizations (the other being Valley of the Moon/El Nido Teen Center) that merged to eventually become Teen Services Sonoma. But here, we salute his wife, Jenny, who was there at the start (1997) working alongside her late husband, running the various entities within Operation Youth. She particularly enjoyed helping out at The Shop, the teen event center that provided a venue for many of the talented Valley musicians. She also volunteered to work with teens at the No Name Café and through Art Wednesday and the Homework Club.

 

After the merger, Jenny remained involved and helped install and maintain our perimeter garden, adapting the raised beds to food or landscape according to the needs of the Teen Center and planting new flowers each spring to keep the garden looking fresh and colorful.  More recently, Jenny worked with teens of the Operation Bicycle program to install "bike art," using old bike parts and attaching them to the retaining wall to give the parking lot a fun and funky vibe.

 

And if all this were not enough, a few years ago, Jenny bought the Teen Center a wonderful gift of a washer and dryer allowing us to launder our No Name Café and Lovin' Oven linens, aprons, and other uniforms at the Center instead of having staff haul them home to wash.

 

After nearly 20 years of volunteering, Jenny is ready to move on, but we couldn't let her go without a special mention. Jenny, you have been a true champion to the teens of Sonoma Valley and to Teen Services Sonoma. We are honored to have your involvement for so many years and cannot thank you enough for all you have done. 

In 2007, Jason Davis hung a piece of art up in the No Name Café on the Sonoma Valley High School campus.  As Jason described to us, the café "became my home away from home for 3+ years...  I mostly worked on my own art projects, but I also worked on community art projects, put on art shows, volunteered at Teen Services events, tutored students, and just hung out. 

 

[Through Teen Services], I learned how to be creative, how to teach, and how to be OK with being a bit weird... They care so much about every person who wants to be a part of their programs, and the experiences you have with [Teen Services] are incredibly rewarding, enriching, and precious."

Jason is one of hundreds of teens who have benefitted from Teen Services Sonoma. Because of your generosity, 11 young people were able to attend a 42-hour summer welding program, 91 earned Work Readiness Certification, 24 received assistance resulting in employment at local businesses, 21 obtained jobs on their own after completing our program, and another 21 went off to post-secondary education. The Teen Center received 4134 visits from teens and signed up 150 new members. These are just some of our successes in 2016.

 

Please consider a generous donation to kick off 2017 and support Teen Services Sonoma to ensure that teens like Jason are able to follow their personal journeys.  

Individuals

Dorothy Abbott

Marcus Alphin

Barry and Ali Ansell

Chris Argenziano and Donna Dambach

Simon and Kimberly Blattner

Isabelle and Richard Chesley

Susan Chew

John and Sara Donnelly

Janet Engelbrecht

Patti England

Margaret Evans

Whitney Evans

Rodger Fedigan

Francesca Fifis and Mary Cardenas

Terry Garbin

Avram Goldman

Susan and Joseph Gorin

Jean Hopeman Chambers and Dave Chambers

Audrey and Ronald Chapman

Rodney Jackson and Darla Hillard

Mary Clark Janis

Joseph and Carole LaTorre

Judith Landa

Carmen Lopez

Marguerite LaDue

Kathleen Lukefahr-Jewell

Renea and Damien Magnani

Carole and Don McClain

Mirja and John Muncy

Elsa and Gary Nelson

Jim and Barbara Nelson

William Oran

Emily Ord

Diana Sanson and Ben Compton

Judy Scotchmoor and Roland Gangloff

Schon Shurecht

Catherine Wade Shepard

Berna-Denise and Rey Silver

Karen Taylor

Foundations

First Congregational Church

Rotary Club of Glen Ellen Kenwood

Sanderson Family Foundation/Mabeth and Bill Sanderson

Sonoma Community Foundation

Speedway Children's Charity

United Way

Wells Fargo Foundation

Women's Fellowship/First Congregational Church

Businesses

Enterprise Vineyards 

Sabrina Pellegrini/Fitness Revolution Sonoma

Doug Hanford/Hanford ARC

Nelson Family of Companies

Diane and Rich Merlo/ North Counties Drywall Inc.

Sonoma Raceway