Crisis Response
The Village Initiative has responded to times of crisis in our community by stepping up to support our students and families.
COVID-19
Response
When the coronavirus pandemic struck in early 2020, The Village took action.
The Village Initiative served the WJCC community during the 2020 pandemic by collecting and donating food, toiletries, and clothing to our families in need in collaboration with other organizations and local faith leaders
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Just one cart of groceries donated by supporters of the Village on a weekly basis during the COVID-19 pandemic.
the Village distributes and donates food in collaboration with Williamsburg's Christian Learning Center on a weekly basis during the COVID-19 pandemic.
Black Lives Matter
The Village Initiative speaks out against the ongoing national police brutality crisis, which disproportionately affects Black Americans.
In 2020, after the murder of George Floyd, Breonna Taylor, and in memory of countless Black Americans who have been murdered by police, the Village organized the Families' Walk for Justice and Peace.
The Village was joined by local faith leaders and political figures from our community to bring peace, healing, and togetherness while calling for justice. Dozens of community members came to join a convoy of cars through Williamsburg's historic Black neighborhoods followed by messages from our speakers and joyful music outside First Baptist Church.
Rev. Laura Horton-Ludwig (left) of the Williamsburg Unitarian Universalists and Philip Canaday (right) of the Village
Supporters of the Village and #BlackLivesMatter gather outside the historic First Baptist Church
Tutoring & Mentoring
The Village Initiative has offered various tutoring and mentoring programs in partnership with the WJCC Schools since its inception in 2016.
Tutoring Program
Since 2017, The Village Initiative has recruited, supervised, and supported up to 40 volunteer tutors in the WJCC Schools each year.
Due to the COVID-19 pandemic our tutoring program is on hold. Please join our email list or follow us on Facebook to receive updates.
The Village Tutoring Program 2019-2020
16 TUTORS
50% from the Community
50% William & Mary Students
THREE SCHOOLS
Bright Beginnings
James River Elementary
James Blair Middle School
An estimated 350 hours of volunteer tutoring per year across the three schools.
Community member Dr. Satoshi Ito tutors young learners with The Village at James River
To Volunteer, Please ContacT US:
villagewjcc@gmail.com
W&M Student Mentors
Through a partnership with The Village Initiative and the WJCC Schools, W&M professors, Jennifer Bickham-Mendez and John "Rio" Riofrio, developed and offered a course entitled, “Educational Justice and Marginalized Communities” in the Spring 2019 and Spring 2020 semesters.
Village member Jennifer Bickham Mendez named "Volunteer of the Year" at James Blair Middle School for her work with ELL students and their families
Through coursework, academic and policy-oriented readings, and discussion, W&M students in the course explored issues related to educational disparities and structural barriers to education in US public schools.
W&M tutor/mentors visited James Blair Middle School for an hour every week to work and build mentoring relationships with students, including groups of newcomer English-language learners.
2019
288 hours of tutoring
24 W&M students
2020
126 hours of tutoring
21 W&M students
(cut short due to COVID-19)
CLASSROOM & FAMILY SUPPORT FOR ENGLISH LANGUAGE LEARNERS
SUPPORTING STUDENTS
In partnership with the World Language Department at WJCC, Village members collaborate with English as a Second Language high school teachers to provide classroom support, including dual language, co-curricular workshops and learning modules.
We are currently developing study to assess intervention, including interviews with students, classroom observations, and a curriculum review.
