SJSU’s Center for Community Learning and Leadership received the 2019 Outstanding Community Partner Award from Third Street Community Center. Pictured here from left to right: Elena Klaw, CCLL faculty director and psychology professor, Rosemary Baez, executive director of Third Street Community Center and Patrick Day, vice president for Student Affairs pose for a photo.
Photo by: Karen Guerrero, ’19 Communications
San Jose State University’s Center for Community Learning and Leadership (CCLL) was recognized by the Third Street Community Center as its 2019 Outstanding Community Partner on Saturday, May 4. Vice President for Student Affairs Patrick Day joined faculty and staff members to accept the honor, which recognizes CCLL’s service learning and community engagement.
“We are honored that Third Street Community Center is recognizing the Center for Community Learning and Leadership and each college at San Jose State for our significant contributions,” said Psychology Professor Elena Klaw, who directs the CCLL, in addition to the Veterans Embracing Transition program. “Our center has partnered with Third Street Community Center for the past 19 years to educate, enrich, mentor and inspire downtown youths through course-based service-learning.”
During an event at Third Street Community Center, where SJSU’s Center for Community Learning and Leadership received the 2019 Outstanding Community Partner Award, a group poses for a photo. Left to right: Avizia Long, assistant professor of World Languages and Literatures; Kara Bench, SJSU Spanish student; Andrea Tully, CCLL coordinator; Sheryl Ehrman, dean of the Charles W. Davidson College of Engineering; Patrick Day, vice president of Student Affairs; Elena Klaw, CCLL faculty director and psychology professor; Peggy Arana, CCLL administrative support coordinator; and Mei-Yan Lu, educational leadership professor.
Photo by: Karen Guerrero, ’19 Communications
The Third Street Community Center provides comprehensive and enriching support to greater downtown San Jose youths, including college preparatory STEM education, peer role models and mentors, and family engagement in a safe and nurturing environment. Since 2010, SJSU has provided 1,518 service-learners to support academically at-risk children at the center. This year alone, SJSU students have provided more than 5,000 hours of service to academic enrichment programs—more than 70 percent of Third Street’s 2,102 volunteers since fall 2010. The Center for Community Learning and Leadership is proud to report that SJSU service-learning students provide 45,000 hours of service within the city of San Jose each year.
“The Center for Community Learning and Leadership has done an extraordinary job of providing service learning experiences for San Jose State University students,” said Day, who attended Saturday’s event. “Through their partnership with the Third Street Community Center, they have demonstrated an optimum example of community-engaged learning experiences that have a real impact on our neighbors in the city of San Jose. The leadership of Professor Elena Klaw and the staff in CCLL are a hallmark of an innovative urban university.”
The CCLL is staffed by a team of three that supports curricular service learning and assessment at San Jose State: Klaw; Andrea Tully, community engagement coordinator, and Peggy Arana, administrative support coordinator.