Students

"Dear Mr. Roth, thank you for all your help. You are a helpful man and you work so hard. No matter what we will still be friends."
  - Dominique, Grade 2

"Thank you for helping us at Burbank School. We feel happy because you help us clean and be proud of our place."
  - Chau, Grade 1

"Thank you for helping us on the school yard. Thank you for bringing Ms. Freeman and Mr. Anderson."
  - Quanisha, Grade 4

"Thank you for bringing people here to Burbank school."
  - Jeffrey, Grade 4

Teachers

"Thank you so very much for all that you do. I know we don't always show how much we appreciate you, but I would be hugging you all day if I did."
  - Lisa Oler, Burckhalter Elementary

"Once again you've proven that your organization is filled with phenomenal people."
  - Barbara Temple, Burckhalter Elementary

"I just wanted to express my sincere appreciation for the consistent effort and support you have been providing for Burbank's staff and children. Your presence on our campus has truly been a stabilizing factor for us all. May God Almighty bless you all for walking the walk as well as talking the talk..."
  - Ali Rashid Abdullah, Burbank Elementary

"Many thanks from Whittier School community for your continued support, i.e., for providing many of our children with uniforms and for the wonderful lunch   - the staff was so thrilled."
  - Carla Anders, Whittier Elementary

"Now that the Excel Reading Tutors have begun a second year at Lakeview School, I am so glad that they have returned. Their arrival has brought a sense of hope, excitement, and fulfillment to our class.

Since I am serving my fifteenth year as an urban teacher at Lakeview School, I have had time to learn about the needs of our students. Not only do your tutors help the children with reading support, but they also provide greatly needed attention for many students who lack high quality personal, social, and academic interaction. Tutoring supports their development through improved reading, increased cultural awareness, and also through relationships which nurture children emotionally. Students not served directly through tutoring also benefit indirectly by witnessing the action and spirit of volunteerism. As their classmates improve individually, the class becomes stronger as a whole. Although the complete affects of this work are ultimately immeasurable, I do know that your program offers a model for some of the most powerful and influential experiences in elementary education. If we as educators seek to understand the needs of children as unique individuals, then plan to serve these needs, we will make a significant difference in their lives.

Personally, as I have seen the positive influences of this work, your Piedmont Community Church volunteers have been an inspiration for me. Some have gone well beyond our initial agreements, by taking an interest in supporting our class in a variety of ways. Last year, I was surprised and moved by the unexpected additional support. The year ended with a wonderful class party provided by the volunteers. This was an uplifting and festive way to conclude as we looked forward to the new year.

Since the challenges of urban teaching can easily be overwhelming, one must maintain a disciplined focus on what is good. Your volunteers are a regular reminder of all the very best in our community. As our new tutoring year has begun, I must share that I myself am inspired by your program which provides us with exceptional people without preexisting personal ties to our children or faculty. I am not only privileged to experience this pure form of volunteerism, but I am extraordinarily fortunate to have them as a part of our classroom community. Our volunteers represent one important reason why I have chosen to remain at Lakeview. Your volunteers truly live up to the name Faith Network. It is faith that they represent and it is a feeling of faith that I experience when I think of them. Thank you for all you have done and for all you are doing."
  - John Panagos, Lakeview Elementary School Oakland, California

Principals

"We continue to move forward academically since we have worked together. I don’t think this would have been possible without our partnership. You provided many of our students with inspiration and consistency. You are our extended family. Thank you from the bottom of our hearts."
  - Principal Wendi Caporicci, Emerson Elementary

"Faith Network has been a wonderful support, motivation and implementer of incentives that improve student performance.   Dr. Randy Roth has been so faithful and diligent in supporting our school's needs and objectives by providing individuals that inspire growth and improvements in performance."
  - Principal Hattie Tate, Dewey High School

"Faith Network volunteers have worked one on one with students in class and with groups of students after school, assisting them with homework, playing (and providing) learning games, and creating a warm and supportive atmosphere in which students can thrive. The volunteers show genuine concern for our students, which makes them eager to attend the after school program."
  - Principal Michael Scott, Education for Change (E. Morris Cox Elementary)

"On behalf of Burckhalter teachers and staff, thank you for another wonderful appreciation luncheon. Often our days are so busy, we don’t take time to sit, eat and talk with each other. The Faith Network Luncheons provide us with delicious, healthy food and a time for gathering together to share stories and relax. In addition to the help in our classrooms, Faith Network is to be commended for your kindness in sporting this event. Thank you all!"
  - Carin Geathers, Principal of Burckhalter Elementary

"Thanks again for the service you help provide. You are very much appreciated because you WALK the TALK of your beliefs."
  - Cheryl Wilson, Principal of LeConte Elementary

Volunteers

"It gives me great joy to contribute to a cause which is inspired and propelled by the Lord. Faith Network is a blessed organization, which brings hope, skills and empowerment to so many young people and their families. Thank you for the wonderful work you, your staff and volunteers continue to do in Oakland. You have developed programs that WORK, and that is really something."
  - Amy

School Officials

"Your commitment to the children of Oakland Unified Schools and particularly the Lockwood community is greatly appreciated. Your outstanding volunteer service is a valuable resource...We look forward to a continued relationship."
  - Randolph Ward, State Administrator

"The most important activity Faith Network assisted the school with was the recruitment, screening, and training of volunteers, matching several dozen junior high, high school and adult tutors and reading buddies to at-risk learners.   Such volunteers are essential for at-risk students since it is often the lack of older role models who read which places students at risk in the first place."
  - Stuart Richardson, Coordinator of Community-Linked Services for Fruitvale Elementary

"Thank you for all of your hard work and your continued commitment to the children of Oakland."
  - Wilma Chan, Assemblywoman 16th AD

 

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