Author Archives: vivek

Prarthana recognized as Distinguished Finalist by The Prudential Spirit of Community Awards

Prarthana was recognized for her service in bringing free weekly math program for students in kindergarten to third grade to her local community libraries, working with kids, training other high school tutors, and coordinating with parents and librarians. Congratulations Prarthana!

You may find more information about the recognition here.

The Prudential Spirit of Community Awards program is the United States’ largest youth recognition program based exclusively on volunteer community service.

Created in 1995 by Prudential and the National Association of Secondary School Principals (NASSP), the program honors middle level and high school students for outstanding service to others at the local, state and national level.

Spring 2019 Parent Survey Results now available

As we do at the end of every semester, we conducted a parent survey for all enrolled students in Spring 2019.

All of you (who participated in the survey) told us that the program helped your child increase confidence, generate more interest in math, and/or improve performance in school! This is what we aspire for!

All of you told us you would recommend OneInMath program! We are humbled by your universal support for the program.

As usual the program was oversubscribed in most libraries. There were several requests to increase frequency of classes to twice a week, to make the program year-round, and to start in more libraries.

Good news is we have added Nichols Library in Fall 2019. We are looking to open more branches. This is a 100% volunteer run program. We are always looking for adult volunteers and young high school students who are passionate in making a difference to help start program in a library near you. If you are interested, please contact-us.

You may view the full survey at parent-survey-spring-2019.

Prarthana Receives NextUp Award for outstanding Volunteer work!

Congratulations to Prarthana for winning the NextUp Award, March 12, 2019.

Congratulations to Prarthana for winning the NextUp Blood Science Foundation service award in 13-15 Age category, on March 12, 2019! For this award, Prarthana has received $2500 in scholarship.

Blood Science Foundation, the fundraising and philanthropic arm of Vitalant(formerly LifeSource), is preparing to honor some of Chicagoland’s outstanding youth by hosting the organization’s first edition of The NextUp Awards.

Launched this winter by Blood Science Foundation, the fundraising and philanthropic arm of Vitalant, the NextUp Awards provides scholarships to deserving young people across the area who have shown a transformative commitment to their communities – through fundraising, the development of charitable programs, volunteering, leadership and philanthropy.

School districts, organizations and students themselves had the opportunity to nominate young people for the awards program. Nominees were required to live within the Vitalant service area in Chicagoland and had to have completed a charitable or philanthropic activity in the past 18 months that could be replicated in other cities.

A committee chosen by Blood Science Foundation selected three finalists from each of the age categories. One winner in each category received a $2,500 scholarship.

High School Students Create OneInMath Informational Video

Yet another passionate work by the OneInMath team in Chicagoland! Congratulations to Prarthana Prashanth the lead for all OneInMath programs in Chicagoland, session leads and tutors for brainstorming and putting together a five minute video trailer about the program currently running in Eola, Santori and 95th Street  libraries in Chicago!

Special thanks to Andrew Wang, senior in high school and OIM volunteer, for offering to film and create the video. He spent two months to film students in class, carried out interviews of tutors, Session Leads, Session Managers, and librarians, and finally after multiple edits, the OneInMath Trailer is complete! Thank you Andrew for your great effort and all the students, volunteers, and librarians for their continuous support and cooperation.

We hope you enjoy this video and continue spreading this word about OneInMath!

We encourage potential volunteers interested in volunteering in any capacity (tutors, substitute tutors, session leaders, session managers) who aspire to be part of the OneInMath program, as well as parents of kindergarten to 3rd grades who want to enroll their children in the program  to view the video and feel the program in action!

Tutors design theme t-shirts!

Congratulations to Ruju Talati for designing the winning OneInMath t-shirt! While multiple designs were considered,  Ruju’s design was most voted on by current OneInMath tutors in the Chicagoland libraries. Through this t-shirt we hope to unite OneInMath tutors and students, and help spread the word about this program. Below, Ruju’s design is shown.

San Jose City Council Commendation

Urvi San Jose Council Commendation Council member Rose Herrera of District 8, along with San Jose City Mayor Chuck Reed, Council member Xavier Campos of District 5, and Council member Kansen Chu of District 4, commended  Urvi Gupta for her outstanding volunteer service through her OneInMath tutoring programs at the Evergreen, Hillview, and Berryessa Branch Libraries at the City Council meeting on June 11th, 2013.

See video of the commendation presentation:

2013 Library Volunteer of the Year

Urvi Evergreen Times Volunteer of the Year Article May 10 2013Every year, each of our branches and units select a Volunteer of the Year. From these nominees one volunteer is selected for recognition as San Jose Public Library’s Volunteer of the Year. We congratulate Urvi Gupta who won the award 2013.

Published in Evergreen Times Newspaper, Page 16, May 10 – May 23, 2013 Edition by Vidya Kilambi.

SJPL Volunteer of the Year 2013

Urvi SJPL Volunteer of the Year Award 2013 Each year, each of the twenty two branches of the San Jose Public Libraries nominates one volunteer to compete for system wide recognition. Urvi was selected as the San Jose Public Library Volunteer of the Year for 2013.

The award was presented by San Jose Public Library Division Manager Sandra Stewart on April 25, 2013.

Her name is etched on the perpetual plaque and will reside in Evergreen branch for 2013. She will also have a book plate dedicate to her and the books will be distributed in all three libraries where she currently offers OneInMath program.

OneInMath Pilot Soars @ San Jose Public Library

A full page article about OneInMath program was published in the January 2013 edition of California Library Association (CLA) Briefings. It appears on page 14 of the 25 page publication. The article highlights the program’s success from its simple beginnings in Nov 2011 with just 6 kids to over 125 kids and 20 volunteers in just one and a half year.

California Library Association Briefings January 2013 (Page 14 – OneInMath Pilot Soars)

California Library Association Briefings January 2013 (Full Briefing)

About CLA:
Established in 1895, CLA has nearly 3000 individual, business and institutional members. CLA provides professional development and advocacy support for its members and the California library community at large. Additionally, CLA supports the administration of the California Summer Reading Program as well as further summer enrichment programs funded by the David and Lucille Packard Foundation.