Año 1, Vol. 1
January 26, 2014
Concéntrico! Circulo Cultural’s Newsletter
Editor’s notes
We welcomed 2014 in CIRCULO CULTURAL in our favorite way: with plenty of activities to fulfill our mission, which is to provide a creative, educational and recreational opportunities for the Hispanic families in San Francisco’s Bay Area, while promoting Hispanic art, culture and traditions. In other words: making Hispanic families feeling at home.!
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Therefore, our meeting point is CASA CIRCULO. Here, there is room for everyone: children , fathers, mothers, grandmothers, the retired. Thanks to all the volunteer community members, we keep growing and being able to offer more workshops, courses, events, exhibitions, tv and radio content. !
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For example, this January we opened a Reader’s Club, a Writing Workshop, a Film Debate, art singing and piano lessons, in addition to our already well-known classes: Tae-kwan-do, zumba, chess and drama group. This first month of 2014 marked the start 1
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of this newsletter in order to keep our supporters, volunteers, members and authorities informed of who we are and what we are doing . !
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CASA CIRCULO’s facilities are located at 1757 E Bay Shore Rd Suite 23 in Redwood City, California. https://www.facebook.com/ CasaCirculo!
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Why in Spanish? ! All activities in CIRCULO CULTURAL are carefully designed and supervised by its founder , Ms. Verónica Escámez. This aims to meet a quality standard because, unlike any other lessons or activities in the area, ours serve the purpose to stimulate and motivate community members to practice or remember Spanish, their mother tongue. !
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Since CIRCULO CULTURAL has its headquarters in California’s Silicon Valley of California, all community members are involved in an English-spoken society. For many children, attending CASA CIRCULO is their only chance to get close to their roots. Many of them already know Spanish as their mother tongue but they lack of The language we speak at home……
practice on reading and writing it. The children themselves pointed a reason: " now we can communicate with our parents!”, in the sense that CIRCULO CULTURAL’s activities are nourished by Mexican and Latin American traditions, sayings, music, food, pictures and history.!
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This opportunity of multicultural coexistence, strengthens their l a n g u a g e o f o r i g i n a n d b e c o m e s a ke y e l e m e n t i n t h e i r development as healthy children and youth. As this has been proven over more than 150 research papers over 35 years, when a child is exposed to two or more languages, his/her brain has TWICE the resources to read, write and understand what he/she communicates.That is, the child doubles her capacity to learn*. However, if the languages and skills are not practiced, they are lost. !
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Hence, on CIRCULO CULTURAL we are interested on the continuous upgrade of our educational, recreational and cultural offer. All in Spanish for the whole family.!
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* Cummins, Jim. Ph.D Bilingual children's mother tongue , Toronto, 2001.!
The power of volunteering.!
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Nothing strengthens a community as a shared goal. And if that goal is focused on culture, the results of the efforts can be surprising. Their positive effects can be noticed on short, medium and long term.!
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A study published in England * established the positive social effects of volunteering in society . Some of these effects are:!
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1. Promotes social transformation: when people participate as volunteers, violence rates are reduced, there is a better educational performance and community members are more open to change.!
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2. Dilutes social differences: when people of different interests or areas meet to volunteer, conflict and intolerance between them decrease.!
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3. Expands the scope: nonprofit organizations can create events implementing plans and ideas on a large scale due to the amount of effort, support and enthusiasm of volunteers. (Ask us about the events of the Day of the Dead !)!
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4. Promotes the exchange of knowledge and skills as well as communication between generations. Everyone can contribute and feel useful.!
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5. Lays a structure for participation: the more people are involved in an organization, the more attention they get f rom the authorities. Let’s not forget that each volunteer is a citizen and civil participation is essential for democracy.!
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Future events
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February 8 El Palomazo en Casa CĂrculo
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January 26, 2014
6. Supports teamwork: A fundamental skill at work and at school and for the welfare of the community.!
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7. Promotes economic relations between the community, based on barter, tequio and donation. Barter ( exchange of goods ) and
March 8 The Vagina Monologues
tequio (exchange of services) were a fundamental part of the
Marzo 22 Abuelita de Batman in Redwood City
8. It's a motivator: volunteers who feel motivated and appreciated
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Marzo 29 Abuelita de Batman in San Francisco
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Abril 12 Abuelita de Batman in Vallejo
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Prehispanic economy and, interestingly, one of the models of selfsustainability among nonprofit organizations .!
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while sharing their time and knowledge, have fun, learn and get to know more people. Ultimately, these factors contribute to family stability and to good health .!
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* The Institute for Volunteering Research and Volunteering England . " Volunteer works : volunteering and social policy" , England, 2007.!
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For further information about volunteering opportunities at CIRCULO CULTURAL, contact us (650) 346-8468.!
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www.circulocultural.org
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