The Heyman Interages^®Center is a program

of JCA^® - Jewish Council for the Aging of Greater Washington.

See volunteer opportunities anytime through our

Volunteer Portal

Please note: all opportunities require

preregistration and background check.

SEEKING VOLUNTEERS! NEW Program

🌟 Make a Difference at Maryvale Elementary School! 🌟

Join our partnership with JCA Interages and Linkages to Learning and become a volunteer for our enriching programs! Located at 1010 1st St., Rockville, MD 20876, our sessions run from 4:00 pm to 5:30 pm on a day of the week to be determined. Engage with students from Kindergarten to 5th grade, choosing your preferred grade level and working one-on-one or in small groups with teacher guidance. Your commitment will shape young minds and foster a love for learning in our community. Contact us today to get involved and inspire the next generation of learners at Maryvale Elementary School! Background check and application required. If interested, please get in touch with Indira at idingledine@accessjca.org.

SEEKING VOLUNTEERS!

📚 Explore the Joy of Reading with Grandreader Volunteer Opportunities!

Unlock the magic of literacy and make a lasting impact on a child's social emotional well being by becoming a Grandreader volunteer. We have exciting opportunities available at various elementary schools, and we invite you to join us in fostering a love for reading. No experience necessary—just a passion for making a difference! Seeking volunteers aged 50+. Join programs currently underway at any time.

Locations:

Greencastle Elementary School

• Address: 13611 Robey Rd, Silver Spring, MD 20904
• Time: Tuesdays, 2:45-3:15 pm
• Duration: May or June end

Spark Matsunaga Elementary School

• Address: 13902 Bromfield Rd, Germantown, MD 20874
• Time: Wednesdays, 3:00 – 3:30 pm
• Duration: Through May 7

Wheaton Woods Elementary School

• Address: 4510 Faroe Pl, Rockville, MD 20853
• Time: Tuesdays, 3:00 – 3:45 pm
• Duration Through May 7

How to Get Involved:

• Contact: Reach out to Indira Dingledine at idingledine@accessjca.org.
• Requirements: A background check and application
• Commitment: Be matched with a child and share the joy of reading throughout the academic year.

Join us in creating a brighter future—one page at a time. Become a Grandreader volunteer and embark on a rewarding adventure with young minds. Let's inspire the next generation of readers together!

Dear Volunteers, we are so grateful for your participation in JCA Interages.  We are proud of our program—and also of all the other ways JCA makes an impact on the lives of older adults and their families. we've been asked by our senior leadership team to help spread the word about our work so that more people learn about our programs and services.

We have a short program for people to see our work firsthand. I’d love to have you join me on a 45-minute Zoom call to meet some of our great staff and volunteers. You won’t be asked to make any financial contribution, but a JCA staff member, whom you will meet on the tour, will call you once to ask for your advice and see if you’d like to help us spread the word even further.

If you can join us, you can easily register at this link: https://accessjca.org/jca-generation-to-generation-tours/ for the tour we are hosting on March 6 at 9:30am. There are other options listed in the drop-down menu if you would prefer another day. Please note that this registration form will just provide our colleague with a way to communicate with you about the tour.

Thank for considering it. I hope you can join me.

Seeking volunteers! Bridges is back! New background information.

🌟The Intergenerational Bridges at Daly Elementary School program offers friendship and support to recent immigrant students as they adjust to living in the U.S. and learning English. Many Bridges students have lived in the U.S. for 3 years or less and are learning English at school as EMLs Emergent Multilingual Learners. 

JCA Interages volunteers play a crucial role in supporting and celebrating these students as they grow in self-confidence and gain comfort with their new language and home. EML students at Daly ES come from different countries such as Togo, Congo, Uganda, Peru, El Salvador, among others. 

Because of the differences in the educational systems in their native countries, their educational needs vary immensely. There are some students who have never attended schools or have formal education in their native countries. Most of the students' parents or caregivers don't speak English and their native language is spoken at home making it more difficult for these children to incorporate English. There are currently ten students in the program from 3^rd to 5^th grade. A couple of them have very recently arrived in Maryland. Volunteers and students get together for an hour after school where they talk, read, and play! In the picture above, Maria is with a child with whom she volunteered three years ago and presently.

 To participate as a volunteer, a foreign language is helpful, but not necessary.

✨If you are interested in volunteering, contact Indira Dingledine at idingledine@accessjca.org. Background check and application required.

Glen Haven Elementary School

10900 Inwood Ave, Wheaton-Glenmont, MD 20902

Wednesdays 2:20 – 2:50 pm

Background check and application required. If interested, please contact Indira Dingledine, idingledine@accessjca.org .

SEEKING VOLUNTEERS!

Photo: Students at Glen Haven Elementary School and JCA Interages volunteers enjoying Readers Theater

Reader’s theater is a style of theater in which the readers gather in small groups to convey stories using vocal expression to help the audience understand it. Reader’s theater increases reading comprehension and reading motivation and helps develop fluency through repeated exposure to text

Interages Volunteer(s) Highlight

Ron and Sherry Kabran embody a captivating narrative of lifelong dedication to education, community service, and family. Hailing from Washington, D.C., Ron's roots trace back to Hyattsville, where he grew up near the original Ledo's pizza. His professional journey led him to join the family's coin laundromat business, a commitment he maintained until his retirement in 2021. Meanwhile, Sherry embarked on a distinguished career in education, beginning in 1972 as an elementary school teacher in Houston, Texas. Her passion for teaching spanned nearly four decades, including a pivotal role in establishing the Learning Disabilities Department at Langley High School in McLean, VA.

Their paths converged in 1976 when Ron's best friend's girlfriend introduced him to Sherry, and the couple married the following year in Houston. Together, they became a force for positive change in their community, actively engaging in volunteerism and leadership roles. Their involvement with the Jewish Federation, Ohr Kodesh Congregation, and Hadassah showcased their commitment to philanthropy and community building. The Kabrans, now retired, continue to make a meaningful impact through programs such as the Rainbow Community Church's food distribution and JCA's Grandreaders' initiative. Ron's involvement in delivering meals for Food and Friends and Sherry's dedication to education through Interages reflect their shared values and a desire to leave a lasting legacy of compassion and service. As grandparents, they joyfully pass on these values to their grandchildren, creating a multi-generational tapestry of commitment to community and family.

Ron and Sherry read with children at Greencastle Elementary weekly. They said, " now at Greencastle Elementary School, children clamor to be in the Interages Grandreader Program. Often children not on the list will come to participate, which speaks to the success of the program." These firsthand accounts capture the positive outcomes of the Readers Theater experience and the widespread enthusiasm for the Interages Grandreader Program at Greencastle Elementary School.

MONTHLY READING TUTOR

TRAINING SERIES

We hope you will join us on Zoom for our monthly Reading Tutor Training series. These sessions are helpful for any volunteers. We are so grateful to presenter Megan Bainbridge, Reading Specialist of the Captain James E. Daly Elementary School, who is providing the sessions. Each session focuses on a different Reading Tutor Training topic, and lasts about an hour. Pre-registration online is required. 

Please note: these sessions provide broad tips and are not intended to be certification level training.

Here is a pre recorded Reading Tutor Training about Reading and Learning Differences/Dyslexia.

https://mcpsmd.zoom.us/rec/share/YeEP8fXN5VG9k3QXXEeXp3giRjou6-TjgaZ6Kse34f2ik77RU21Il9BlOjf99Ff1.0nB0ENkEw68uh7gd

Passcode: 7mh95dx!

Due to school testing, there will be no session in March

Reading Tutor Training: April 15 at 2:00pm TOPIC TBD 

Register in advance for this meeting:

https://us02web.zoom.us/meeting/register/tZYuduqvqjMpHNHl03FM7jQmQIj5QmnfOpJA 

After registering, you will receive a confirmation email containing information about joining the meeting.

Photo by Kimberly Farmer on Unsplash

RECORDED SESSIONS

To view past recordings of the Reading Tutor Training sessions, visit our Volunteer Portal.

BLACK HISTORY MONTH VIRTUAL FESTIVAL

ASALH will hold innovative virtual programming in February, celebrating the 2024 Black History Theme: African Americans and the Arts.

This year’s festival will celebrate the theme of African Americans and the Arts in the past present AND FUTURE. For more information, please visit https://asalh.org/festival/. ASALH The mission of the Association for the Study of African American Life and History (ASALH®) is to promote, research, preserve, interpret and disseminate information about Black life, history and culture to the global community.

Make a gift to support the good work that we do.

You can designate your gift to intergenerational programs on the donation form.

"Kindness, like a boomerang, always returns."

- Author Unknown

For your convenience, past issues of the JCA Interages Connector are available on the JCA Interages website. Or hold your phone camera over this QR code or take a screenshot of the QR code and it will take you to our website.

Jewish Council for the Aging of Greater Washington

"Jewish Council for the Aging," "JCA," "Helping All Seniors Thrive" and "Interages" are registered trademarks of the Jewish Council for the Aging of Greater Washington, Inc. Visit us at AccessJCA.org.© 2024 Jewish Council for the Aging® All rights reserved.