This was a pretty big week for us in City Year New Hampshire for a few reasons. First, it was our last week of service in 2009. The first four months wound down with a two week break that will allow us to rest up for the long haul beginning in January.
Second, nine corps members from CYNH and I traveled to Boston on Tuesday for NELA, the New England Leadership Academy. It was a three day conference bringing together corps members from the three New England City Year sites: Boston, Rhode Island and New Hampshire. It was an incredible opportunity to meet people from other sites and compare our approaches to service.
On the first day, we learned about the future of City Year and its approach to beginning new sites and strengthening existing ones. I think my favorite part of Tuesday was meeting my NELA team. We only spent a few days together, but learned a lot from each other. Obviously we discussed the way our different sites operate -- I plan on bringing back this information to my team in January -- but we also had the chance to learn about each other as people. We discussed the problems with the American education system during our IJ session. Idealist Journey sessions are times for corps members to discuss ideas about service or ask for help with problems we may be having. At the end of the night, we participated in Big Night. This was a time for each of us to talk briefly about something that inspires us. I talked about the writings of Ralph Waldo Emerson, American transcendentalist. His work made me realize I should do things because I want to, not because society says so -- a realization that has led me to City Year.
I had a chance to lead PT on Wednesday morning as part of the NELA PT crew. PT is physical training, a power tool we use many mornings to prepare ourselves for a great day of service. I am not on the CYNH PT crew, something I lament every time I do PT. I loved being able to introduce corps members from Boston and Rhode Island to exercises that we do often in New Hampshire. Leading PT may have been part of my time at NELA.
Friday, we were all reunited as a site. After lunch, we had a Mentor Cookie Extravaganza. Since CYNH is located in Timberland's headquarters, corps members are paired up with Timberland employees who serve as mentors throughout the year. It's a great way for corps members to meet and talk with people outside of City Year and get guidance and support from others. I spent the hour eating cookies and talking with my mentor about City Year and other things in my life. We closed the day with a Community Meeting led by the corps members serving in Nashua's Phoenix Program. The Community Meeting is a gathering of all corps members and staff at a site and gives us a chance to reflect on our work. It was a glorious way to end the week and begin our break. I am already looking forward to getting back with my team, but for now its time to recharge!
Monday, December 21, 2009
Tuesday, December 15, 2009
Paul In Seabrook: Part 1
Monday's day of work started with a small snowball fight in the parking lot of Timberland. It was a great way to return to service after the weekend but also a reminder that we won’t have many more sixty-degree days until May. The winter season is coming, and things will get rough.
Thankfully, I am having some success in the classroom. I am connecting with many of my targeted students as well as others in the class. In fact, my joy for Monday was when two students, including one of my targeted students, decided to begin going to our Homework Help club after school during the week. On Tuesdays, Wednesdays and Thursdays, a few corps members stay at Seabrook Middle School to help students out with whatever homework they have. One of the students that is signing up is driven to do better and while she struggles with her classwork at times, she is making an attempt to do better – an essential first step. She came to Homework Help on Tuesday and spent time working with another student. Though she was only there for an hour, she got a lot accomplished and plans on returning.
Outside of our classroom service, our team has been working on combating the misuse of words such as "gay" and "retarded" as derogatory terms. On Monday, we interacted with a person who referred to a lame joke as "gay" but I said nothing. It really bothered me that I shut down instead of speaking up -- I allowed unacceptable behavior to remain unchallenged, making me complicit in the action. However, I put a positive spin on it and declared it to be my delta for the day; I had an area for improvement. The next day, I was working in an English class when I heard two students mocking the movements and speech patterns of handicapped people instead of working on an assignment. Because of what happened the day before and my reflection on it, I was prepared. I firmly told the two students, "Making fun of people for things they can't control is offensive and unacceptable, so stop what you're doing and get back to work." However, I know that I still need to work on my approach to these situations. I should have explained more about why the behavior was unacceptable instead of simply giving an order to follow. Still, challenging such common misuses of these words requires small victories each day.
Friday brought a half day of service. My team for the day was responsible for steam vacuuming rooms at New Generation, a home for homeless women who are pregnant or recently had children. We worked with other corps members to clean the women's bedrooms and other areas of the home. I was a bit stressed since I hadn't gotten enough sleep all week and as with most service projects, it took us some time to figure out how best to tackle the project. Once we got into a rhythm, we were able to get a lot accomplished, cleaning most of what we had been assigned. I'm glad we could help out this place, even if it was only in a few small ways.
Thankfully, I am having some success in the classroom. I am connecting with many of my targeted students as well as others in the class. In fact, my joy for Monday was when two students, including one of my targeted students, decided to begin going to our Homework Help club after school during the week. On Tuesdays, Wednesdays and Thursdays, a few corps members stay at Seabrook Middle School to help students out with whatever homework they have. One of the students that is signing up is driven to do better and while she struggles with her classwork at times, she is making an attempt to do better – an essential first step. She came to Homework Help on Tuesday and spent time working with another student. Though she was only there for an hour, she got a lot accomplished and plans on returning.
Outside of our classroom service, our team has been working on combating the misuse of words such as "gay" and "retarded" as derogatory terms. On Monday, we interacted with a person who referred to a lame joke as "gay" but I said nothing. It really bothered me that I shut down instead of speaking up -- I allowed unacceptable behavior to remain unchallenged, making me complicit in the action. However, I put a positive spin on it and declared it to be my delta for the day; I had an area for improvement. The next day, I was working in an English class when I heard two students mocking the movements and speech patterns of handicapped people instead of working on an assignment. Because of what happened the day before and my reflection on it, I was prepared. I firmly told the two students, "Making fun of people for things they can't control is offensive and unacceptable, so stop what you're doing and get back to work." However, I know that I still need to work on my approach to these situations. I should have explained more about why the behavior was unacceptable instead of simply giving an order to follow. Still, challenging such common misuses of these words requires small victories each day.
Friday brought a half day of service. My team for the day was responsible for steam vacuuming rooms at New Generation, a home for homeless women who are pregnant or recently had children. We worked with other corps members to clean the women's bedrooms and other areas of the home. I was a bit stressed since I hadn't gotten enough sleep all week and as with most service projects, it took us some time to figure out how best to tackle the project. Once we got into a rhythm, we were able to get a lot accomplished, cleaning most of what we had been assigned. I'm glad we could help out this place, even if it was only in a few small ways.
Monday, December 14, 2009
Glossary
Here are some common terms that I reference in my weekly entries. Hopefully they help you understand what I'm talking about.
Community Meeting -- Once a month, the entire corps and staff of CYNH gets together for a Community Meeting. These gatherings are intended to unite us in reflection of our service as well as to give us a chance to learn more about other people at our site.
Deltas -- A term used to refer to things that should be changed.
The Gorge -- The cafeteria in the Timberland building, where the headquarters for CYNH is located.
GYSD -- Global Youth Service Day is a day for students across the globe to participate in a day of service to improve their schools and communitites.
Idealist Journey -- Something we do on Fridays to help us step back and reflect on our service. We have a workbook with exercises that guide us in our contemplations. Also, during these sessions, corps members bring questions for discussion on the topics of service and our work.
In-kind -- A donation of something other than money (like food or materials for a service project) made to City Year.
Leadership Compass -- A tool that highlights the four main styles of leadership. It gives us a common language to use when discussing the way we operate when leading. It uses the four compass points for the four styles. A North is associated with action; this is when someone likes to jump into things with a sense of urgency to accomplish a goal.
Learning Lab -- A period during the day at Seabrook Middle School when students can get a jump start on homework, meet with teachers to make up tests and late assignments or meet with clubs.
Moccasins -- The concept of resisting judgement of others until you've walked a lifetime in their moccasins. Basically it means remembering that everyone has different backgrounds that shape their behaviors and thoughts.
NELA -- NELA stands for New England Leadership Academy. It was a three day conference in Boston at the end of December with members from the City Year Boston, New Hampshire and Rhode Island corps. You can read more about this week here.
Power Greeting -- A City Year power tool we use to create a welcoming environment. We usually use it to pump up the people we're greeting.
PITW -- Putting Idealism to Work. Basically, these are words of wisdom to keep corps members and others at City Year motivated and focused.
Pod -- At Seabrook Middle School, the four grades (5th-8th) are separated. Each has a central room, called the pod, connected to four classrooms. The pod features a few desks and computers for students to use during class.
PT -- Physical training, a power tool we use many mornings to prepare ourselves for a great day of service.
Ripples and Joys -- A ripple is an instance in which a person displayed idealism and courage. A joy is something positive that we've seen or heard.
Q2Q -- Like a cue-to-cue in plays, a Q2Q is a very specific breakdown of major CY events. They include times for all pieces of the event, from preparation to clean-up, and the point people for each task.
Readiness Check -- Something we do each morning as a team to make sure we have each piece of our uniform and a good mental frame. One person leads the readiness check by calling out each item ("Boots and shoes!" "Mind ready to serve!" for example) and the rest of the team shouts out a word in response.
WSWC -- This acronym stands for "Whole School, Whole Child" and describes our approach to our in-school services. Teams that work in the schools Monday through Thursday serve not only the students who are at-risk for dropping out but also the school community as a whole by serving as positive role models and an injection of joy and excitement.
Community Meeting -- Once a month, the entire corps and staff of CYNH gets together for a Community Meeting. These gatherings are intended to unite us in reflection of our service as well as to give us a chance to learn more about other people at our site.
Deltas -- A term used to refer to things that should be changed.
The Gorge -- The cafeteria in the Timberland building, where the headquarters for CYNH is located.
GYSD -- Global Youth Service Day is a day for students across the globe to participate in a day of service to improve their schools and communitites.
Idealist Journey -- Something we do on Fridays to help us step back and reflect on our service. We have a workbook with exercises that guide us in our contemplations. Also, during these sessions, corps members bring questions for discussion on the topics of service and our work.
In-kind -- A donation of something other than money (like food or materials for a service project) made to City Year.
Leadership Compass -- A tool that highlights the four main styles of leadership. It gives us a common language to use when discussing the way we operate when leading. It uses the four compass points for the four styles. A North is associated with action; this is when someone likes to jump into things with a sense of urgency to accomplish a goal.
Learning Lab -- A period during the day at Seabrook Middle School when students can get a jump start on homework, meet with teachers to make up tests and late assignments or meet with clubs.
Moccasins -- The concept of resisting judgement of others until you've walked a lifetime in their moccasins. Basically it means remembering that everyone has different backgrounds that shape their behaviors and thoughts.
NELA -- NELA stands for New England Leadership Academy. It was a three day conference in Boston at the end of December with members from the City Year Boston, New Hampshire and Rhode Island corps. You can read more about this week here.
Power Greeting -- A City Year power tool we use to create a welcoming environment. We usually use it to pump up the people we're greeting.
PITW -- Putting Idealism to Work. Basically, these are words of wisdom to keep corps members and others at City Year motivated and focused.
Pod -- At Seabrook Middle School, the four grades (5th-8th) are separated. Each has a central room, called the pod, connected to four classrooms. The pod features a few desks and computers for students to use during class.
PT -- Physical training, a power tool we use many mornings to prepare ourselves for a great day of service.
Ripples and Joys -- A ripple is an instance in which a person displayed idealism and courage. A joy is something positive that we've seen or heard.
Q2Q -- Like a cue-to-cue in plays, a Q2Q is a very specific breakdown of major CY events. They include times for all pieces of the event, from preparation to clean-up, and the point people for each task.
Readiness Check -- Something we do each morning as a team to make sure we have each piece of our uniform and a good mental frame. One person leads the readiness check by calling out each item ("Boots and shoes!" "Mind ready to serve!" for example) and the rest of the team shouts out a word in response.
WSWC -- This acronym stands for "Whole School, Whole Child" and describes our approach to our in-school services. Teams that work in the schools Monday through Thursday serve not only the students who are at-risk for dropping out but also the school community as a whole by serving as positive role models and an injection of joy and excitement.
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)