Programs

The Draper Center for Community Partnerships offers an assortment of engagement opportunities through its student-coordinated programs. Each of the following provides a mutually-beneficial opportunity to get involved in the world around you. For more information, or to get involved, contact the program coordinators or stop by the Draper Center office.

Alternabreak (Every Spring)
Email the Draper Center for more information, or read about the 2012 trips.  
Alternabreak is a week-long community engagement trip during Spring Break. Students commit their break to volunteering with organizations in the larger community, addressing social issues such as environmental justice, homelessness, and hunger. Coordinators lead three trips each spring, in San Francisco, San Diego, and Los Angeles. You can sign up to join a planning committee in winter or to participate on a trip in spring.

K-12 Campus Programs
2012-13 Coordinators: Eric Cornejo, Praise Iyiewuare, Josh Nomkin, Viridiana Chabolla
The Draper Center is committed to educational outreach, serving various schools and programs in the Inland Valley and LA areas by organizing visits to Pomona College. We are especially committed to introducing underrepresented students to the Claremont Colleges. We create visit events that can include tours, student panels, team building activities, college prep workshops, and age-appropriate issue discussions. To learn more about what we can do for you and your students, email the Campus Programs team at the Draper Center.

English as a Second Language Tutoring
2012-13 Coordinators: Diana Ortiz, Mauricio Navarro, David Rosas, Viridiana Chabolla
The English as a Second Language (ESL) Tutoring Program gives staff at Pomona College the opportunity to improve their English speaking, writing, and reading skills though one-on-one meetings with students. Interested staff sign-up and are paired with one or more 5C students who put together weekly lesson plans. The program is a great opportunity for staff and students to build valuable relationships and learn from each other. Email the Draper Center for more information.

Food Rescue
2012-13 Coordinator: Nick Murphy, Angelica Townsend, David Rosas
Food Rescue organizes student volunteer drivers to pick up left over food from the dining halls and deliver it to local shelters. We simultaneously reduce food waste at the Claremont Colleges and provide reliable, nutritious food for those in need. We partner with the dining halls, Inland Valley Hope Partners, and local churches to maximize our food-rescue potential and breadth. We hope to embark on new projects such as a hunger awareness event and a partnership with Food Not Bombs.

Coronado Garden Project
2012-13 Coordinators: David Rosas, Rebecca Baiman
In collaboration with Coronado High School, Draper Center volunteers maintain a school garden and implement a curriculum about local food systems, the industrial food system, and food justice to frame the garden as a relevant, necessary project that combats concrete, pressing issues. The project hopes to empower Coronado’s students to create positive change by growing their own food. It has built meaningful connections between West Covina high school students and Pomona College students.

Learning IN Collaboration
2012-13 Coordinators: Hong gao, Josh Nomkin, Sarai Jimenez
LINC partners Pomona College tutors with local under-resourced schools. Volunteers will work one on one with elementary school students during and after the school day to help students develop their literacy skills and improve their overall performance in school. The program hopes to both engage students in reading and to make learning more inclusive for families. Email the Draper Center for more information.

Pomona Partners
2012-13 Coordinators: Isabel Garcia, Sonya Zhu, Jackie Ching, Sarah Bucchorn
Pomona Partners is a non-academic mentor program for Fremont Academy students focusing on self-realization, empowerment, and social awareness. With coordination through the Draper Center for Community Partnerships, volunteers design and implement a curriculum that includes weekly visits to Fremont as well as two off-site field trips per semester. Pomona Partners hopes to cultivate mentor relationships and foster a peer group for success in high school and a college future. To get involved, or to find out more, send an email to the coordinator team or drop by the Draper Center.

Rooftop Garden Mentoring Program
2012-2013 Coordinators: Erika Parks, Praise Iyiewuare, Sarai Jimenez
The Rooftop Garden Mentoring Program is a collaboration between Pomona College and Teen Green, a part of Uncommon Good. The program aims to increase activism and awareness around environmental justice, sustainability, and gardening; build leadership and presentation skills; and develop positive mentoring relationships between Pomona and Teen Green students. Environmentors and mentees work together to develop short workshops and collaborate with other members of the program to cultivate a garden on top of Sontag Residence Hall. We meet biweekly on Thursdays from 4 to 5:30. Send an email to the Rooftop Gardening mentors directly or to the Draper Center for more information.

Sagehens Engage!
2012-13 Coordinators: Angelica Townsend, Erika Parks, Praise Iyiewuare, Nick Murphy, Sarah Bucchorn [Email the Draper Center for more info]
Sagehens, Engage! is a low-commitment opportunity to get Pomona students (Sagehens) involved in community work (Engage!) by providing weekly, one-time activities on Saturdays working for causes as varied as homelessness, environmental justice, education, and senior citizen care. It gives students the opportunity to experiment by trying varied engagement activities, while striving to be a bridge to long-term engagement.