Recently, SOME embarked upon an in-depth industry and market survey to evaluate the effectiveness of the skill areas taught at CET and the demand for additional skill areas in the Washington area. Based on the results of this study, SOME has reorganized the Center for Employment Training and will focus on three curriculum tracks: Business & Customer Relations Associate; Medical Administrative Assistant; and Building Maintenance Service Tech. In celebration of Labor Day, SOME CET will have a Re- Dedication and Open House.

We invite you to join us for the celebration and to learn more about SOME CET.

The mission of SOME Center for Employment Training (SOME CET) is to empower people out of poverty and into living wage careers through marketable skills training, human development, basic education and job development. SOME CET, a program of So Others Might Eat based upon the nationally-recognized CET model from San Jose, California, has successfully graduated hundreds of trainees into living wage careers.

The survey's goal is to help funders, boards, and other nonprofit stakeholders learn more about the career paths, tenure, challenges, and professional development needs of nonprofit executive directors so they can better support these critical leaders. The survey, which takes about 15 minutes to complete, is confidential and anonymous, and is for executive directors only. (If you are not an executive director, please forward this to your ED; if you are an executive director, feel free to forward this survey to colleagues in other organizations in the Washington region.)

Data will be collected and analyzed by CompassPoint, and the report summarizing national and regional data will be published in December and distributed widely to grantmakers and nonprofits. Meyer will also use the survey results to create new leadership development opportunities for grantees and to strengthen its Management Assistance Program.

If you have problems or questions, please contact Jeanne Peters, project director, at jeannep@compasspoint.org

Also, in the Washington Post written by, Nick Anderson

Camp Tranforms Schools

Some activists are jumping into schools with programs that are likely to pay dividends whether gangs are active or not. One of them is a summer school program at Nicholas Orem Middle School in Hyattsville.

The University of Maryland's Democracy Collaborative, a community initiative to seed good works and build bridges between the public and private sectors, teamed up with the school to provide a tuition-free afternoon camp for summer school students after they finished with morning reading and mathematics classes.

The project, which tapped artistic impulses of 125 kids, remade the appearance of a 44-year-old school that had been showing its age. Now abstract murals and stenciled designs adorn the walls. A courtyard garden is growing peppers, crepe myrtle, basil, sunflowers and other herbs, vegetables and flowers. The Latin American Youth Center funded the project with a $65,000 grant, a major step into Maryland for a nonprofit group based in the District. The university group pitched in about $35,000 worth of in-kind services. The Boys & Girls Club of Greater Washington helped with transportation for field trips. The project helped rejuvenate a school that serves a low-income area and is seeking to boost academic performance.

Orem Principal Kenneth Calvin , as he showed off the makeover just before school opened this week, said: "I tell my children we are the shining light in the middle of the abyss."

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VOLUNTEER

Opportunities in Adult Literacy

Find out how you can:

• Help an adult learn to read
• Become a tutor or teacher
• Serve as a literacy program board member
• Assist with office and computer tasks

The National Institute for Literacy's activities to strengthen literacy across the lifespan are authorized by the U.S. Congress under two laws, the Adult Education and Family Literacy Act (AEFLA) in the Workforce Investment Act and the No Child Left Behind Act (NCLB). The AEFLA directs the Institute to provide national leadership regarding literacy, coordinate literacy services and policy, and serve as a national resource for adult education and literacy programs. The NCLB law directs the Institute to disseminate information on scientifically based reading research pertaining to children, youth, and adults as well as information about development and implementation of classroom reading programs based on the research.

For more information, call 202-727-1616

This summer The Catholic University of America played host to a six-week youth leadership camp, extending the university?s growing relationship with Brookland Manor, a local government-subsidized apartment complex in Northeast Washington, D.C.

The camp, titled Youth Leadership Academy (YLA), brought 48 local teenagers from low-income backgrounds, including several Brookland Manor residents, to campus daily for activities teaching effective social, business, and technology-related life skills. Participants, aged 14-15, were offered motivational talks, computer and writing workshops, theater and résumé-building sessions, and field trips.

If you would like to share any announcements from your organization or campus with the CoRAL Network community, send a brief blurb to kcarter@coralnetwork.org by close of business each Thursday for inclusion in the following Monday's Newsbits.

Please note that submissions MUST be about local events, news, opportunities and activities that are related to community affairs in the District of Columbia, Maryland, or Northern Virginia.