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What we've done! |
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What We've Done!
On January 21, 2008 the Centre County AmeriCorps team held an event open to the entire community. An African dance show was performed by students of Mount Nittany Middle School, followed by activities reflecting the works and life and Martin Luther King, Jr. People of all ages were invited to help create wall hangings that spread messages of peace and equality. The wall hangings will be displayed publicly in State College and the surrounding areas. Many hours and many days of preparation went into making this even happen. I was not sure what to expect on the day of the event itself; I was worried that there would be little turn out, or even worse, no one would enjoy it. I recognized a few of the people that attended. One teenage girl I knew from the tutoring center I host at the State College Area High School. She did not show strong emotions one way or the other at the event, and I assumed she was there because she was forced to attend. When I saw her at the tutoring center the following week I asked what she thought of the MLK Day event. Unlike her normal self, reticent and quiet, she opened up without hesitation. "I thought the dancing was really good". Then she continued, smiling, "but I have to say my favorite part of the entire day was painting the patches. I loved it." Out of all the times I have talked to her, not once did she seem this happy. I then realized that all of the hard work we put into this project was about this one moment, this one life touched. - Misha: AC Member VIPS “Great story for June is every day after the summer camp the parents tell us how great it is that we’re doing the camp and giving the kids something positive to do during the summer. These parents really appreciate it and the kids have a lot of fun. It’s a good thing.” - Kassie: AC Member Street Outreach “I got to take a group of kids from Black Hawk out to Shavers Creek. The kids had a really great time hiking the trails and catching salamanders and frog. The kids really enjoyed getting out into the wild and just running around. We also got to see the birds of prey exhibit. Where the kids learned about different birds of prey that are commonly found in this area and what they eat and how big they can get. They were really surprised to find out that a bald eagles wingspan is over 6 ft tall. After looking at the birds we walked down to the lake to look around and taught the kids how to skip rocks on the lake because they have never skipped rocks before. I was really happy to see that a little trip to Shavers Creek could put such a smile on the kids’ faces and teach them so much at the same time.” - Matt: AC Member Burrowes Street Youth Haven “The Green Coalition, an environmental awareness group at the State College Area High School, has been working to beautify the school and make the staff, faculty, and students more environmentally conscious. A student approached us asking if he could assist us in our efforts. He also told us that he has Aspergers Syndrome, which impairs social interactions. I have been working with him, one-on-one on different Green Coalition projects, such as weeding, gardening, and painting. Since we have been working closely for about a month, his inhibitions to open up have diminished. He has not only made personal progress, but has helped the Green Coalition and the high school become a better place.” - Misha: AC Member VIPS
“This month we held our new revamped Core Training for volunteers. I was very proud of the new program and thought that it was much more effective and helpful for our volunteers. I was also happy to see that 3 of my volunteers attended and had questions and stories to share! It was nice to be able to interact with the volunteers in this way and to hear some of their struggles and challenges in dealing with the kids. It really gave me a deeper understanding of what it is like to be a community based mentor. I’m looking forward to hearing their responses after they fill out our evaluation forms. I think that we really pulled together as a team to create a useful, informative Core Training session.” - Katie: AC Member BBBS “Before Easter, I was put in charge of taking two young girls to do something informal for their scheduled counseling session. I had many ideas of what to do with the girls, but because of the poor weather conditions and other factors was unable to take the girls to do what I had planned originally. With the help of my site supervisor and another Americorp member, I was able to plan a community service project within a few hours. We wrote messages on strips of paper and attached ribbons to single stem flowers. I made arrangements with the Hearthside Nursing Home to bring the flowers to one of their units and have the girls hand them out. The girls were excited about the project and enjoyed doing something nice for those in the nursing home. A week after this, I repeated the project with another girl at a different nursing home. She enjoyed the project even more than the first two girls, and asked if she could go back in the following months. The girls really seemed to enjoy getting out into the community and giving something to others.” - Alyson: AC Member YFS
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Copyright © 2010
Centre County Youth Service Bureau
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