When it comes to new homesapartment communities and retail centers in the Inland Empire it is well known that the Lewis name is the leader in the business. Equally important, the Lewis Group of Companies’ is actively involved in giving back to the community through outreach programs. Randall Lewis has played an enormous role in supporting the League of California Cities (LOCC) as a League Partner. LOCC works to strengthen California cities through advocacy and education.

“Students want to help their own communities”

Currently, Sarah Jonny, a sophomore at the University of Riverside, is Randall Lewis’ intern in representing the Inland Empire division of LOCC. She is heavily involved and is dedicated in her efforts to bridge the gap between local city government and student success in public education. She is a firm believer in empowering students to make a difference in their own future and in turn the future of others. In her research she discovered that students often times believe they don’t have the means to make a difference or the resources to even begin to do so. In an effort to make an impact, Sarah created a “Modeling Our Future” toolkit of best practices to be used as a resource to better facilitate the communication between school districts and city government and presented it alongside Randall Lewis at the LOCC dinner event. She describes the toolkit as a three step process for facilitating collaboration: get talking, get involved, and get inspired!

“Get talking! Get Involved! Get inspired!”

Step One: Get talking! Sarah describes “communication as key” when it comes to resolution. This step encourages city officials and school board members to meet to discuss hot topics that adversely effect students in public school.

Step Two: Get involved! Go out there and get your feet wet! Sarah outlines best practices that city officials can implement as a resource for public school attendees such as creating writing workshops or art galleries to display student work.

Step Three: Get Inspired! Sarah provides a list of projects that other cities are currently modeling to increase the student success rate as a way to build their own community and encourage growth. Efforts include public safety, Library on Wheels, mentor-ship programs, “Teen Town Hall”, and much more.

The link to Sarah Jonny’s “Modeling Our Future” toolkit can be found here.

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