Jurassic Publications

My, my, my, It has been awhile, hasn't.  I don't quite know why, but somehow writing the posts for this blog gets pushed to the back burner.  Although, I did have a good reason why I didn't write my post, but of course, now I can't remember it.

Well I guess there's nothing else for it, but to go back in time and tell you what has been happening here.

Ahem....A long time ago, in a galaxy far, fa- Wait a minute, that's not quite right. I think I'm just too excited for watching Star Wars this weekend.

Lets try again.

So last week Monday was a good day for YAC.  They had their Holiday Get-together, and seemed to have quite a bit of fun.  The community service project they did involved putting together kits to make the Easy-Peasy Snowmen. You can find a copy of the instructions for that here.  They ended up putting together forty-two kits and donated them to North Central Health Care for their residents.

They were very appreciative of them.  YAC also did a white elephant gift exchange, some of the things that were given included a game called Ring Around the Nosey, and a High School Musical lamp. Ahhhh white elephant. Gotta love it. Since we didn't do much planning at the get-together, the January meeting will probably be just planning for February.

My Holiday Gift tree that I put together only collected four gifts, but that is definitely much better than nothing, and helped make the Christmases of four children better.  I think what I will make sure gets set in motion before next year is partnering with Salvation Army or Neighbor's Place to adopt a family, or to just collect more gifts.  It was a really short notice thing this year, so now I know for next year!

The Leadership Summit is coming along nicely.  We're in the final planning stages.  I admit I'm not doing much for it because I'm not on the Summit planning committee.  I was on the Focus Group committee and those are done with now, so I'm just getting my own stuff ready for the Summit, which includes making a poster for 4-H and trying to recruit adult volunteers.  That will be next week's project.

Since our 4-H Program Advisor is leaving, I've taken over some of her immediate roles until the position is filled.  Things such as running Hand's On Day which is next Saturday.  I've got alot to do for it, I have to organize all the rooms, make sure the instructors are ready for it and know how many they are expecting. I've got to make sure everyone has nametags and knows where they are going, and I also have to get myself and my own session ready.  I'm teaching two sessions.  The first one will be Basic Cake Decorating and the second one is Intermediate Cake Decorating.  Since I'm the Cake Decorating Superintendent for the County, I thought this would be a fitting thing for me to teach.  Since numbers have been down for the county in Cake Decorating, this is a good way to expose it to others who may not otherwise have an opportunity, and show them that it really is  not difficult at all!  This will be a hectic day, but worth it.

My weekends in January are filling up.  On the 19th is the Financial Wellness Conference.  I met with one of the active 4-H leaders and she now has a better idea of what she will teach for the session.  I am hoping this will go as smoothly as I hope it will, but we still have a few weeks to prepare for it, so I am sure everything will go fine.

Other things I have to look forward to is starting the Camp Planning process, and Prefair Music, Drama, Dance, and Demonstrations.  That will be exciting.

As part of our LEAN process in the office we are doing some rearranging.  Part of this meant moving all the publications from the shelves by my desk to the filing cabinets near my desk.  The Ag Agents took care of theirs and got about six shelves into three drawers.  The CRD Agent took about four shelves and magically put it into two shelves. I was moving the 4-H publications and got about nine shelves into eight drawers. Not as magical as the others, but still quite an achievement.

On a more personal note, I received this in a Christmas card from one of our foreign exchange students that we have hosted in the past.  All the way from Germany, and she still manages to find a way to skip me.

I'll get you back one of these days, Kim!

The next few weeks will be busy.  Hopefully I'll remember to post!

Until Then!

Time Warp

Yes, I realize Time Warp is not the name of a cheesy sci-fi movie, but it is from a cheesy sci-fi movie.  Plus it accurately describes just how this last week has felt.  I think it has to do with the holidays.  The closer they get, the more time just passes me by.  I realized on Saturday that I hadn't posted my blog for the week.  So here it is.  I will also try to post one this coming Thursday, but if I don't have anything to write about then I won't.  Well this past week has been a whirlwind of activity.

Last Monday we had our Staff Retreat.  This was quite a bit of fun because we played some games, and we got to talk about our personality evaluation results. We took the Disc Indra and the Teamwork tests.  My Disc Indra put me between Patient and Modest. The descriptions that went along with it, I felt were pretty accurate. Its possibly the most accurate personality test I've ever taken.  I think that is what I liked most about it.  My Team role was the Flexor, but on the side of Refiner.  This means that I have the ability to fill any role which needs filling, and pay attention to details.  The flexor role definitely fits me.  In the office I'm always willing to do what needs to be done, whether its creating a program from scratch, or running a program that has already been established, or even participating in a program as a student.  This has always been true about me.  When I played softball I was flexible between right field and catcher....not two of the most thrilling positions, but I never complained in either position.  In fact, I enjoyed being catcher, I was pretty good at catching those foul balls. In high school on the Curling team I got the Team Player award because my coach said that I played every possible position and never once complained about it.  I have always been one to just roll with it. My boss says that quality alone could get me far in Extension. I hope so!

On Tuesday it was back to business as usual.  The week was fairly normal and uneventful.  Wednesday was the building Christmas potluck lunch.  That was alot of fun because we got to meet and interact with people that we rarely see.  I met a bunch of new people and had some very tasty food. The rest of the week I worked on busy work getting ready for the YAC Holiday Service project.

One big development is that our 4-H Program Advisor is leaving so I'm taking over some of her work. I pretty excited for that.  It will give me some really great experience for when I'm looking for a new job this summer.

Hopefully I'll have more to say on Thursday.  I'll prolly talk about the YAC thing.

Until then!

2012: A Holiday Odyssey

So as I got to the office this morning, I realized that I had never gotten around to writing this post.  I got distracted by my own awesomeness.

But lets back up for a moment.  Let us go back to Monday and find out what happened on Monday. *wavy wavy wavy dream sequence wavy*.....Monday started out much like any other Monday. It pretty much stayed that way too. Actually it was a very productive day for me (which isn't to say that Mondays aren't productive).  In the morning we had a training on some of the ins and outs to Outlook.  After that I did some desk work for awhile, had lunch.  Then I set up the Holiday Tree in our office. It looks beautiful! Then I got ready for my webinar.  This was on Micro-blogging through Twitter.  I got some very helpful tips on how to network and make connections through Twitter.  I've already increased the 4-H twitter follower number from two to eight.  I hope to be able to get more than that soon.  I heard that Facebook was on its way out and that Twitter is now popular with teens.  I've yet to see the truth in that. Who knows? Maybe its true.  That was it for my Monday. It was very productive and very good for my workload.

Tuesday was another work day, where I just did a lot of desk work.  I also started reading the binder of curriculum that we got from the conference in Wis. Dells a few weeks ago.  It has some very useful volunteer training materials in it.  I hope to be able to implement some of them soon.  Too bad we just held leader training for 4-H. To be honest I didn't know it was coming up so I wasn't able to put something together for it.  Oh well, maybe next year.

Wednesday I went to Fanny Hill in Eau Claire for a conference about Tools for Engaging Youth. It was a two day conference that I was only able to go to one day for it.  I hope they got to the Engaging Youth part of it on the second day.  Don't get me wrong, it was a good conference, it just wasn't what I was expecting.  The first part of it was all about generations. We discussed four generations.  The Matures, the Boomers, Gen X, and Gen Y.  We discussed traits and characteristics about them, and working styles.  We discussed ways to make sure the four can mesh and work together.  I see how this can apply to engaging youth, obviously, but as I fall into the category of Gen Y, I think I would have liked to have seen more information on the new generation, Gen Z.  (Food for thought: What comes after Gen Z?)  After that we talked about a program called First Impressions.  This is essentially an exchange program where you go into a community similar to yours and you spend about four hours recording your first impressions of the town, the other town does the same to your town.  They then write up reports and exchange them.  This is a good way to find out what you are doing well and what could use some improvement. Many towns all over the U.S. and world have done something like this and have had great success.  The best thing about this program is that it can be adapted to fit anything, a workplace, a meeting, an event, a store, anything really.  We are considering doing something similar in our county...but I won't say what. ;)

Thursday was my day of brilliance.  I wish I had thought of it earlier.  It would have given myself more time to prepare for it, but it is what it is, and we will see how it goes.  What I did was set up a Holiday Gift Tree in our office. Here it is:

Each of the mittens has a gender and an age range.  These are not attached to a specific child, but rather are left general.  The gifts that are donated with be distributed to the local Neighbor's Place and Kids Count (The program that hep the children of incarcerated parents).  If you would like to donate please contact me! 

*wavy wavy dream sequence ending wavy wavy*

That was pretty much my week.  I forgot all about writing this because of the gift tree idea.  My head just filled with ideas about it and I wanted to put them all into action before I either forgot them or before it was too late. So we'll see how successful this is.  My hope is to get at least fifteen donations.  That is my goal. Maybe next year we can partner with the Neighbor's Place or Salvation Army. Cross your fingers!

Next week we have lots of Holiday things coming up.  I'll try to remember it this time.  

Close Encounters of the Community Kind

Wow...its been awhile since I've done this. I figured since not much happened last week, you know with Thanksgiving and all, that I might as well just wait until this week to write this.

So lets see whats been going on.....

After that conference I went to I've still been mulling ideas over in my head.  I've gotten so far as to develop one, so now all I have to do is post it on facebook to advertise it.

I met with someone from the from Girl Scouts, not so much to discuss work as to just get together for coffee.  We met at the Community Partners Fair at the local middle schools.  We did however get on the subject of work, and we are thinking about collaborating this summer to either do a Day Camp together or maybe doing one week of Summer Clubs together.  We still have a lot of details to work out on that.  We both thought it would be a good idea to talk about community collaboration and working together to create a functioning community that everyone participates it. Its also a good recruiting tool for both organizations.

One thing I forgot to mention two weeks ago, is that the wheels have started turning on a plan to get a school garden started at one of the elementary schools we work with a lot here.  I went to the initial meeting about it, and there are still many many details that need to be worked out, but I think we will get there before next spring.  I don't have a green thumb, but I like teaching, and failure is part of teaching I think. One of the things 4-H works hard to instill in people is the idea of learn by doing.  This can include all sorts of things, gardening is one of them.

I finally made it back to the JDC this week.  I haven't been going because I had other things going on.  We made flash cards to donate to a school.  We haven't decided which one yet, and I still have to sort them out and make sure all the ones that go together are together. We at least had fun working on them. And I think the boys there learned a little something too....shapes mostly....

While I was going through things in the closet, I found quite a few Halloween Decorations and party goods.  I talked it over with my supervisor and we decided to donate it to the Big Brothers Big Sisters of Northcentral Wisconsin for their Bowl for Kids' Sake, since their theme in February is "The Big Scare."  They were happy we donated them, and I'm excited for it because this will be the first time I am going, since I'm taking my little to it. :)

Its been a pretty quiet week otherwise.  I spent some time out of the office because my sisters have new babies.  So I have been pretty excited about that.

Next week should pick up some more, I've got a lot of busy work to do keeping up with and advertising the new 4-H social media sites.

Until Then!

Journey to the Center of the State

Phew! It has been quite the week. I'm glad its just about over.  This post is one day late, but I assure you, I have good reason!

This week I was at the State 4-H Youth Development Conference at the Chula Vista Resort in Wisconsin Dells.  It was amazing! I had so many great opportunities to meet people and network, as well as learn about a variety of new things and strategies that I hope to put into action as soon as possible!

It started out with a pep talk from Jeb Enck who had alot of good things to say about the power of positivity.  I think I might even try one of his strategies.

The conference was broken up into group sessions and breakout sessions.  My first break out session was called "4-H Club Presentations that Pop!"  This was all about different things we could do for making presentations to clubs about specific subjects, whether its community service, parliamentary procedure, working together, or just a general overview of 4-H.  There was alot of good information in this session.  Many helpful tips and guidelines that could easily be altered to fit the needs of the specific group.  One part of this session was a hands on planning part of our own.  I worked together with my group to make a presentation about 4-H being like a puzzle, all the different teams and projects have to work together to complete the puzzle and that without each piece, 4-H wouldn't be a whole picture.  This idea came out of a bigger picture idea that I had about 4-H being just one piece of the puzzle of the community and that it needs to partner with other members of the community to make a functioning community. I hope to be able to use this sometime in the future!

The second breakout session I went to was about a program being held in Green County called Passport to Reality.  This is an activity for schools to participate it.  Community partners get together and set up stations.  The students would each follow their own path through the stations, following a scenario that was given to them.  So one student might start out at a friends house, then move to the party room, then move to the police station, then court, then a counselor and so on.  I think this would be really good for Marathon County Schools to have.  I talked to the family living agent, and she said there was a grant being written to do something similar, except it would be financial based.  Hopefully we can merge the two, or something!

The next day started out with group sessions.  These consisted of small focus groups about the foundational topics that the State 4-H office is putting together and would eventually like all 4-H curriculum to meet the standards of these parameters.  Although I didn't understand most of what was going on, I still got some interesting insights into how the mind of Extension works. It was good!

My third breakout session was on Strengthening Youth Adult Partnerships in organizing, planning, participation, and evaluation.  This was good because they gave us quite a few good and free resources on how to encourage youth-adult resources. I also had a discussion with the new 4-H agent in Iron county and he gave me some ideas for what to do for this coming summer for camp! Its quite exciting!

For dinner afterward it was regions night out.  So all the VISTAs got together for cheese and wine, then went out to dinner.  It was quite a bit of fun, I really enjoyed it.

The next morning we had Table Talks (slightly different from Martin Luther's Table Talks) about different topics.  The two rotations I went to were Engaging with the Latino Community and National 4-H Resources and Webinars.  Both were very helpful.  These were probably the most helpful of all the things I went to this past week.  I now have some ideas to help me get programming into the Latino community, and have some people I can contact if I need help with something.  As well as having a great resource database in case I need some 4-H project lessons!

My final breakout session was about Native American tribes in Wisconsin.  This was alot of fun because we even learned a very basic powwow dance. My calves hurt quite a bit afterward, but it was well worth it!

One of the best things about this week was making a connection with the VISTA from Portage county.  She and I (along with out agents) shared a room and had the opportunity to get to know each other pretty well.  I hope to work together with her on projects in the future.

All in all, this was a wonderful, educational, and exhausting week.  I'm so glad I had the opportunity to go.  Now I have to write down all my ideas for things I want to work on in the future.

Then its back to work!

Until then!

Invasion of the Volunteer Snatchers

I think I've decided to title these posts by making parodies of sci-fi movie titles. We'll see how long I can keep that up.

So this week has been pretty interesting.  Not my most successful week, I'll admit, but it also hasn't been terrible.

Monday was spent cleaning up the mess I had made last week.  So I definitely got my work out.  Just need to keep that up.  I might go for a walk once I finish writing this.  Hope I have my iPod with me.

Monday night I went to the group home to be with them while they did more Fly Tying with the volunteers from Trout Unlimited.  They had a new boy come in to stay with them, and he at first didn't seem too interested when he heard that 4-H was coming in. I had had him at the JDC, and he once told me that 4-H was something he didn't need in his life.  He has survived just fine without it. He perked up once he heard that we were doing fly tying.  Fishing is something he really enjoys and is interested in.  On the downside, the county has decided to close the doors of the group home on December 1st.  The funding just wasn't there to keep it going.  They didn't have enough boys to fill the rooms and make it worth while.  I don't know where the boys will be sent, but I wish them luck and success on the road to recovery.  They really aren't a bad bunch of kids, just misguided. I think if they put their minds to it, they could be quite successful in life.  One guy wants to be a mechanic for Mercedes.  I applaud his goals.  I hope me meets them.

Other things that have happened this week include two of my programs getting put on hold. The Spanish Reading program will have to wait until next semester because we only had two students who had the time in their schedules.  So hopefully next semester will work out better.  I was also thinking of talking to the folks at the other area high school to see if they might have more time.  But that might just get complicated with with three different schools and three different scheduling systems.  All I can do is wait. 

The afterschool program might end up having to wait too.  Of the three people who volunteered, I've only heard back from one of them, and that was to say that she wouldn't be able to do it. This is a particularly bad time for college students since it is so close to finals.  The next session starts in February.  I hope I have some people by then. I would really like for this program to work out.  I've put alot of work into it.

As far as the Financial Wellness Conference is going, I think I've found someone to lead my session.  She is a 4-H leader who has been around as long as I can remember.  She is very talented and enjoys doing things for 4-H.  I'm hoping this works out too.  If it doesn't, I'm not going to have been very successful for the first quarter of my VISTA term.

I know that soon things will start looking up for me.  I have lots of ideas.  I just need to find successful ways of implementing them. 

Next week I'm going to a conference all about 4-H and Youth Development.  I'm sure I'll get some great information and tips there.

Until Then!

The Week the Work Stood Still....

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Well this week has been full of fun and exciting things! I feel like I've been on a treasure hunt.

It started on Monday when I cleared out the closet where we keep all our craft supplies and whatever else we might need in any and every eventuality. I put it all into one of the conference rooms which I had booked for the entire week (except for a meeting that was already there on Tuesday night). I filled up four tables with boxes upon boxes of stuff and started going through some of it.

Why am I doing that, you might ask? I'm kind of doing an inventory. I'm making lists of what all we have so that our summer interns can plan activities around what we already have or can plan ahead for things that we know we will need. I'm also getting rid of really old things that are no good anymore, like paint thats dried up and fabric with mouse holes in it. Yes, thats right, our closet had a mouse it in at some point and it had gotten into some stuff.

Tuesday was much of the same. I kept it all in one corner of the room so that I wasn't overwhelming the room because there was still going to be a meeting there that night. On Wednesday I was finally able to let it explode all over the room. I took over at least six more tables with stuff just trying to count and keep track of what all we had. Hopefully I will have it all cleaned up and put away by the end of the day tomorrow. I was going to stay after work and finish it, but then I scheduled an event with my Little, so now I have a solid deadline. I guess I could let it sit until Monday, but we have staff meeting in that room first thing. So I can let some of it sit there, but we really do need the tables cleared off. At least the ones in the front of the room.

This hasn't been the only thing I've been doing, though. I had the idea of doing something like a Hands-On day for community members. As part of Martin Luther King Day of Service, VISTA wanted to have a statewide event where all the VISTAs in the state do something for this day. So I thought it would be good to have a day where people could come and do sessions on budgeting, financial literacy, meal planning on a budget, re-purposing clothes, patching and hemming, as well as anything else I could think of and find volunteers for. Well it seems I wasn't the only one who had this idea. On the same weekend I was looking at for this event, one of the community partners that Extension works with is having a Financial Wellness Conference where they are having some of the exact same programs I was thinking of having at mine. So when I talked to the Family Living agent about it, she said I could probably hold a session of my own and do the sewing or other craft piece of it. Now my task is to find a volunteer willing to teach adults and older youth. Ideally I would like it to be about sewing, but I'm flexible. The title of my session is “Back to Basics.” I guess I'm really looking for anyone willing to teach anything that falls under that category. I've only got until January to find people for this. I also need people willing to man a table at the “fair” portion of this event. One idea was to have people just sitting there sewing a hem or a button on, and then people can stop by and quickly learn the basics of fixing clothes. This may be more work that I had originally anticipated, and I'm only trying to do one session instead of organizing an entire program!

Speaking of programming, my after school program is coming along very nicely. I received emails from three students at the local UW expressing interest in teaching. I responded and am waiting to hear back from them about when they would be available for a training or if they are even still interested.

I'm excited for upcoming JDC visits because in my digging through tubs of supplies, I've gotten lots of ideas for community service projects that they can do while I'm there. These include making basic math flash cards, painting wooden snakes to donate to a food pantry as toys for young kids, painting wooden Christmas ornaments to donate to food pantries. As Christmas approaches I'm thinking about donating stuff for families who may not have a whole lot. I'm supposed to be living in poverty. Even though I'm living with my parents, I am living in poverty. For the last few years, we haven't had much for Christmas, so I know that around the holidays every little bit is appreciated. While I am still more fortunate than some, I can still appreciate a generous gesture from someone I've never met.

On a similar note, the YAC Trick-or-Treating event was on Wednesday. I was dressed as a very fashionable young lady from the 80s. I had a grey cut, off the shoulder sweatshirt with a dragon on the front, bright blue gym shorts, purple tights, orange socks, and light green high-tops. I was pretty snazzy. We only had two youth show up, but we were also competing with trick-or-treating with friends, work, sports, and other Wednesday night events. In two hours, those two kids managed to cover three neighborhoods and collect 115 lbs of food to be donated to the Community Center of Hope. I've very proud of them!

Next week I'm back at my desk doing more planning and organizing for different events. I'm sure I'll survive just fine.

Until then!

VandalEyes = Distraction

Well its been a quiet week here in Lake Wobegon...wait a minute.  That doesn't sound right. Ah yes....now I remember...

Well its been a quiet week here near Lake Wausau.  I say quiet because most of the office is at a meeting or on vacation. That doesn't mean it hasn't been busy though.  I've been working on quite a bit.

Monday was spent organizing and cleaning my desk.  I'm working on trying to at least straighten it up everyday.  It only sometimes happens like that.  Monday was also the day that I made my game plan for re-organizing the craft closet.  I've booked all of next week for working on that. Literally, I've booked one of the conference rooms all week so I can spread out. I'm actually pretty excited to do it.  I don't mind doing work like that. Its pretty relaxing.

Tuesday was spend figuring out what I was going to be doing with my JDC kids on Wednesday.  I did finally come up with something, as well as coming up with something for the next week.  I also started putting together everything the YAC kids need for their Trick-or-Treating event on Halloween.  This meant making copies, cutting out door-hangers, making new copies because I made a mistake on them, and cutting out the new ones.  Its going to take me awhile, but again, its kind of relaxing work sometimes. 

Yesterday was a good day at the JDC.  We made dog toys with jute twine and tennis balls.  These will be donated to the Humane Society, and possibly a food pantry, if I hear back from them soon.  While I was there we were talking about what they wanted to do after high school.  Many of them had no idea what they wanted to do, but they are still young.  They have time to decide.  Perhaps I should find an activity that would start those wheels turning and they can come up with ideas so they have something to work toward.  One kid there has already decided what he wants to do.  I don't think he realizes that he has to start working toward getting out of trouble before he can start doing what he wants to do.  He was talking about how they wanted to put him in the Group Home I have a program with, but he had some very interesting reasons for not wanting to be placed there.  I don't think he put it together that the reasons he doesn't want to be there will keep him from reaching his goal of becoming a mechanic for Mercedes. I hope he does go to the Group Home, I think it will be good for him. He once told me that 4-H was not a necessary thing in his life.  He had gotten along without it.  I resisted the urge to point out to him that maybe if he had had some 4-H in his life, or some other program or sport, maybe he wouldn't have ended up in a shelter home for three weeks with the possibility of going to a group home.  Since I am not trained in anything like this, however, I cannot say for sure.  That is just my opinion. Before I left one of the women who works there gave me some more knitted hats that the youth had made.  One girl can crochet, so she even made some little baby mittens.  I'm excited to deliver those to the Hospital.

Today has been filled with more work cutting out door hangers, planning out JDC, planning logistics for the Trick-or-Treating thing, and getting ready for upcoming events.

One thing that I'm really excited about is the Financial Wellness Conference in January.  VISTA hopes to have many service projects all going on simultaneously for Martin Luther King day.  I had an idea to have a Hands On type day for community members where there would be sessions like meal planning on a budget, re-purposing clothes, fixing holes and others.  When I discussed it with people in the office I discovered that the day I wanted to do it, there is a Financial Wellness Conference going on.  So I've made inquires and I hope to partner with them and find volunteers to teach a few classes.  I have some ideas already as to who to ask.  I'm excited to get going on this project.

As far as my Spanish Reading Program goes, we've made some progress, but are waiting to hear back from a few people to figure out logistics and everything.

I'm also waiting to hear back from people about my After School program.  Hopefully that gets going soon. 

One distraction I found today was at VandalEyes.net  Well to be more specific, as I got on Blogger to write this, I saw that Wil Wheaton had a blog post that I hadn't read yet, so I read it, which lead me to his wife's website with all these adorable pictures of things that have been...well...VandalEyes'd.  Really you should just go to the website.  That would be easiest.  I spent my entire lunch break on it.  It kinda makes me want to find the googly eyes in the closet while I'm cleaning and after work one day VandalEyes things around the office....hmm.....

Until Then!

Pencils, Origami, Runners, and Tickld....oh dear....

After a weekend of being sick, but still getting to spend my time with doing something fun, I went back to work hoping to have lots of ambition.

I mostly do.

Monday was good, I put together the agenda for the YAC meeting that night.  Getting some last minute details together for the Trick-or-Treating event they are doing. They are going trick-or-treating for non-perishable food items and donating them to the Community Center of Hope.  They youth have also decided that for Christmas they want to donate to Heifer International. Their goal is to donate enough to give the Gift of the Gardener's Basket.  If not then they will get shares of a flock of chicks, a llama, and a pig.  This, however, is not all they will do.  They will also give gifts to North Central Health Care Center. The November meeting will be for decided what exactly they will give.

Tuesday was productive because I had a meeting with one of the Spanish teachers at a local high school about my Spanish Reading Program.  There are alot of details to work out, so we will see if this will even be possible.  There is alot of red tape and hoops to jump through before we can get there.  I hope this pans out.

Wednesday was the first day of an Activities Fair at the two middle schools here.  It was good.  There were alot of kids who seemed interested in 4-H and joining and took information home with them.  Of course there were also the kids who just wanted the tattoos and pencils.  Who would have thought that in a world of mechanical pencils and fun pens, ordinary pencils would be so attractive to middle schoolers. Huh. Not this girl!  The second day of this fair was more revealing about the difference in ages.  The sixth graders took the information just because it was there.  Very few of them actually seemed interested in what was being offered.  They ran me dry of pin and almost my pencils.  The eighth graders seemed hardly interested at all.  In fact very few of them walked through our little set up at all.  The seventh graders were much more enthralled.  They gave me hope that our YAC and our 4-H numbers might go up.  All in all, it was a good experience and I'm glad I had the opportunity to spread the word.  I was also able to do some networking while I was there.  I met a very nice woman from the Girl Scouts, so I was thinking I might try to put together some sort of program partnering with them.  Possibly for MLK day.  We'll see.

My visit to the JDC was interesting this week.  For starters, I had never had as many as I did that day.  We worked on some origami.  I admit that it is not the most necessary of life skills, but I told them that it taught patience, which was always a good life skill.  The second thing was that while I was there, one of the kid's moms came to visit, and after a conversation with her the kid made a run for it.  Out the door he went. This is entirely possible because I was on the shelter side.  Shelter is not necessarily for detention.  It is also for protection, they do not lock the kids in.  I never heard if they found him or not. Hopefully they did.  He was supposed to get out the next day.  Well...that doesn't look like thats going to happen. 

So my goal for this next week is to start putting together some ideas for something that we could do for MLK day. I've got to get my brain in gear.  I have some ideas floating around.  I suppose I should put them on paper before I forget...or maybe Tickld....I think I've got an addiction....

Tweet First...then Blog

Fall is in the air.  Yesterday I scraped frost off my car windows for the first time this season. It was wonderful. I am very much a winter person.  I could do without summer.  The other thing I really like in summer is the Fair.  And I would probably enjoy that more if there was snow on the ground.  Don't get me wrong, I love the Fair, but sometimes its not so fun when you are sitting in a building in ninety degree weather, 100% humidity, no air conditioning and no air flow.  I'm excited for all the things winter brings: apple cider, hot chocolate, snow fall, snowmen, baking, pumpkin pies, sweatshirts, and mittens! I've been working on crocheting alot lately.  I've made a few pairs of fingerless mittens and have given two pairs as gifts because I liked mine so much and they are a super easy pattern.  I can finish one pair in just a few hours.  I'm also working on a pair of texting gloves right now, meaning they have flaps for the index finger and thumb.  I'm excited for these.  I also hope that this year I get to go on a tractor ride through the snow....I'll have to drop a hint in someone's ear.

As far as work goes, its been a typical week I think.  On Monday we had a staff meeting as usual.  Then I just planned out what I wanted to get accomplished this week.  The Community Resource Development Agent in my office told me about the Marathon County Life Report.  I was intrigued, so I started reading it.  Basically, it is a book of all the data collected through surveys and the census about different aspects of the community.  These include diversity, economics, education, resources, safety, social amenties, unemployment, alcohol and drugs, obesity, basic needs, aging, domestic abuse, and many other categories.  This report breaks down each of these categories, defines it, explains what the county is doing well, what it needs to work on, and gives an action plan to make it better.  This study is done about every two years so it gives an update as to how the are doing since last year and all that.  It was really interesting to read since I've lived here all my life and have never really thought of my community in the ways they are describing. 

I've also been working on cleaning the craft closet a little more.  I'm just reorganizing things and finding project ideas that I could suggest to the leaders of the afterschool science program I'm putting together.  I've decided to just take it one box at a time.  My idea was that I would do one box a day, but maybe it will be one a week.... yeah....

As far as the afterschool program goes, I've gotten as far as writing a position description for a leader for the program.  The roles of this leader will include writing the lesson, organizing supplies, and teaching the lesson.  My role in this is just to help the leader, and to organize the volunteers.  This is one of the important things about VISTA.  Our goal is to build sustainability, so what I am trying to do build a relationship with the UWMC for a service learning project that the next VISTA can just keep going.  Hopefully this goes well.

The youth at the JDC finished painting the bowls for the Empty Bowls benefit.  Hopefully I will be able to post pictures of the finished ones.  I've got before and after pictures. Now I just need pictures of the final project.  But I should be getting those soon after they are fired. I think the best part of that, was discussing our Zombie Apocalypse plans with one another while they painted.

Next week looks like much of the same as this week.  If anything super exciting happens it will not be here first. Probably on Twitter actually...but it will make its way here eventually.

Until Then!

And the Beat goes on...

This week was one of those more mundane weeks. But thats ok, I still managed to get work done.

On Monday I had a staff meeting. I managed to get the majority of a crocheting project done during it.  Don't worry, I was still paying attention.  Apparently studies show that you retain information better when you have something to do with your hands. So doodling in class is good for you! 

Monday night I went to the Group Home for the first time and met with the boys there.  They are really a good group of kids. Or at least they were for the two hours I was with them.  We had a few people from Trout Unlimited come in and teach them how to tie flies.  It went really well.  Since there were only three boys there, they were able to work one-on-one and they seemed to pick it up really well.  The newest boy there did not seem that interested there.  But he had only been there for a few days so he was still trying to find his place in the house, he picked up on it really fast and was really good at it.  Hopefully he will be more open to doing it more when we come next month.  It was a good activity that I think they enjoyed very much.

Tuesday was mostly office work, but I did get to meet with one of the Bilingual teachers at Thomas Jefferson and she was excited about the Spanish Reading Program I'm trying to put together.  The next step is to talk to the High School teacher again about it, and see if we can find some times that will work for her students to come to the elementary school and read.  After that we need to find some good books to use for this.

Wednesday was fun because I went to the Secure side of the JDC.  I had not been on that side yet, it was an eye opening experience.  Now, it wasn't as eye opening as say going to Africa and seeing all the hunger and AIDS, it was more like the kids that were there did not seem like they wanted to change anything in their lives.  One of them said "if you come here once, you always come a second time."  When we asked them what they wanted to do when they "grew up" one responded with "I can't do much, I'm a felon."  I guess I never thought much about how kids in detention centers like this feel.  None of the kids there seemed to have much hope for themselves.  I guess I wish I knew that there was something I could do for them other than give them a fun project to do.  I think what I need to do is get them thinking about how to not only help themselves, but to help other people as well.  I think giving them the opportunity to think about how they can help others will help them improve their situations.  That could be wishful thinking on my part, but it never hurts to give it a whirl. 

The project we did with them was painting bowls from the local Clay Corner Studio so they can be donated for the Empty Bowls Benefit coming up at the end of October.  They seemed to really enjoy it.  it was something they could do with their hands.   I think they will turn out looking pretty cool.  Today I'm going back again to the Shelter side to paint the rest of the bowls we bought.  In all we will be donating six bowls.  I think I can count this as a success story.

Next week, I'm hoping to finish up some planning and projects!

Until Then!

Walking Toward Utopia

In case any of you were worried, I have not been attacted by zombies. My post is late because I was in Madison all day for a conference and did not have time to write out a post. I've also been buried under quite a bit of work.

This is the current state of my desk.

I'm off topic. I also keep getting distracted. Today is one of those days where all I want to do is crochet...or bake. I'm not really picky. I kinda just want to do something domestic. Well maybe I'll do that this weekend. We'll see.

This week has been about as busy as any other week. A few of my projects have gotten to move forward, which is very exciting.

On Monday I was here for the Focus Group I was putting together.  I did not sit in on it, but I kind of wish I had now. From what I've heard from the facilitator, it went well.  I was supposed to have six people show up, but only three came. It was ok though, because it was just a pilot group and it has given us some tips on what does and does not work for gathering a group together. 

Tuesday was just a normal work day, I think I mostly worked on sorting and untangling embroidery floss.  Although, I've discovered there is even more in the craft closet that needs to be sorted.  I think I also might re-reorganize the closet.  It was done once this summer, but I'm just going to put all of one thing in one place. I was looking for clothes pins the other day, and I found them in six different boxes. Everything in the closet is nicely labeled, I'll give the girls who did that kudos. I'm just gonna move everything. Maybe next summer they can re-label. (ps. I have no idea if they read this or not.)

Wednesday was exciting because I went to the JDC again and had, what I think was a fun activitiy.  We did the 4-H Eco-Bot challenge where they had to work together to build a small robot from a toothbrush head, a watch battery, a pager motor, and tape.  They were then able to use dixie cups, straws, and tape to figure out a way to get the "hazardous chemical" (birdseed) out of the contaminated bay.  By the time we left, they had not achieved their goal, but they had some good ideas about what they could do to achieve it.  Hopefully they are continuing to work with it. The hardest part about that was trying to get both of them to work together.  One of the kids there was not applying herself very well. But that's just one challenge that I need to learn to work around and overcome. Next week, I hope to paint bowls with them for the Empty Bowls fundraiser.

Yesterday, as I said, I was down in Madison. I went with our Family Living Agent to a seminar about working with Mexican Youth.  UW-Extension got a one time fund, I believe, to bring up two individuals who work with La Jugarreta in Mexico.  In my brilliance, I forgot to bring a legal pad with me, so I took the notes on the back of an agenda from a previous meeting. Heres what they looked like.

 La Jugarreta is a community organization that encourages youth and adults to work together to improve and create unity with in thier society.  For more information you can visit their website. http://www.lajugarreta.org.mx/index.php?cs=2&l=2 

The first thing we did in this program was talk about what the words democracy, citizenship, and participation mean. Some ideas that we came up with were:

Democracy:

• Everyone has a voice
• everyone has the right to be ugly
• sense of change
• author of your own fate
• cannot happen without participation

Citizenship:

• give natives do not earn
• belonging
• built with participation

Participation:

• engaged/engagement
• using gifts

In my own effort to understand this, I drew this picture. Citizenship is the plant. It can exsist without the protection of the Participation Umbrella, in that if you are born in the US you are a citizen.  But without participation the rain will flood the plant, and it won't look so nice.  The Decadent Democracy Duck wouldn't survive at all without the umbrella.  It would melt away into a sad pile of goop. So I wasn't just doodling. I was trying to better understand the ideas being discussed. :)

To help us understand how they see these three connected in Mexico, they gave us these ideas:

Democracy: Lifestyle, social order built by the same people who use it, self-determined (not of divine origin or from the gods), each person has a role and a responsibility.

Citenzenship: right to vote, but also have rights because you are human, and they have the capacity to transform the enviornment, therefore children are also citizens.

Participation: the ways we change our environment.

So these are pretty similar, but with very subtle differences. One thing that struck me was that one of the presenters was talking about how everyone participates.  Everyone helps out, without questioning why.  She described it as walking toward a Utopia.  You don't know why your walking there, you don't know what is there, and you know you won't get there, but you are still walking toward it.

One point they made was that the idea of community and collaboration is big for them.  But only for their own community.  They do not often see a reason to help another community when they have their own problems to solve first, but they see great importance of helping their community and their family, whether blood related or not.

Unfortunately I did not get to stay the whole time. We had to be back for something else.  But what I was able to hear was fantastic, and I learned so much.  It made me think about the differences in our cultures and how to better communicate with the hispanic population in my area.

Well I have a busy weekend coming up, I'm headed to my Alma Mater for the homecoming football game, so that should be fun. Plus tonight I'm going to a Josh Turner concert! YAY!

Until Then!

Any Zombie Apocalypse Questions?

Wow, Thursdays really sneak up on you if you aren't paying attention.

If you haven't noticed I've been trying to do this every Thursday.  I'm trying to keep a routine so I don't forget to do it and leave weeks between posts.  Everyone one needs a little regularity in their lives.

So lets see....what have I been up to this week...hmm...

My Monday was filled with meetings.  First thing in the morning, I had a staff meeting.  That was ok.  It feels good to be a part of the staff in that way.  It was, however, quite long...or maybe it just felt that way. After that I had a Community Partners Meeting at the School District Admin Building.

That was really good for me.  It gave me a chance to meet with some of the schools who are looking for afterschool programs. I just happen to be looking for schools to hold my afterschool program.  The purpose of VISTA is not to do direct service, but rather create sustainability for the future.  So my goal is not to start an afterschool program and run it myself.  It is, however, to start an afterschool program and recruit volunteers to run the program. I'm just supposed to be the contact person. After talking to my supervisors we've come up with the idea of approaching the local college and offering this as a service learning project.  Many students are in need of a good service learning opportunity, and what could be better than running a science program for fourth and fifth graders as well as possibly some middle schoolers!  I also came up with some more topics, but I'm gonna have to mull those over some more. (Did I just use the word "gonna" in a blog sentence? I don't know whether to be ashamed, or to shrug it off and say Welcome to the modern age of technology and SMS lingo, Sharon.)

After this meeting I went back to work for awhile, then went to coffee with a friend, much needed coffee of course, and then had a YAC (Youth Action Council) meeting.  In my brilliance I got the time wrong and missed most of it. Oops...I think I'll have to be more on the ball next time about that. It wasn't all for nought of course. We did get some planning done for our Trick-or-Treating event. One thing that YAC is trying to do every year is go around, during the Trick-Or-Treating times, and instead of asking for candy we will be asking for non-perishable food donations to be given to one of the food pantries that serves some of the smaller towns in Marathon County.  My role in this is more of an organizational piece. I will be going out with the youth, but as a supervisor.  They will be doing the majority of the collecting.

Tuesday was pretty uneventful, mostly I just worked on looking at project ideas and little things.

Wednesday was more exciting.  I went down to Stevens Point for the UW-Extension Central District Meeting.  One of our first orders of business was introducing everyone who was there.  We did this by county.  When we got to our county I was introduced as the staff member who started in 4-H at a young age, was part of the teen group in 4-H, stayed active in 4-H, and worked in the 4-H office in the summers, and is still in the 4-H office.  I'm also the only one who has a plan for the Zombie Apocalypse. (I'm prepared. I always have hot wax within reach, and have food stored in the cabinet above my desk.)  After the business and budget portion of the meeting we broke out into smaller groups by department.  So the Ag Educators went to one room, the CRD people when to another, and so on. The 4-H/FLP/WNEP went to one of two sessions. I chose the one on Autism.

I learned alot in this session. I've never known too much about it, but this two hour session helped me understand it alot more.  I learned that:

 Autism Spectrum Disorder

Pervasive Developmental Disorder     Autistic Disorder     Asperger's Syndrome

The Pervasive Developmental Disorder (PDD NOS) is when there are some symptoms showing but not all.  This is the least severe off the three. 

When all the symptoms present themselves, it can be diagnosed as Autistic Disorder. Even this in itself can mean many different things.  No child with Autism is the same.  The presenter, Jackie Carattini, said that when you say you know one child with Autism, you know one child with Autism. There are different levels, and abilities in these children.  Each as unique as the next.

The final one is Asperger's Syndrome.  People who are diagnosed with Asperger's tend to be higher functioning, with a higher IQ, high memorization skills, and high splinter skills.

The cause for Autism is unknown, but evidence seems to suggest it could be environmental. 

There is no known cure. There is no medication for Autism.  A child can take medication for other symptoms associated with it, but there is nothing that can help the Autism itself.  Its been suggested that a completely gluten free/casein free diet can help.  Twenty three percent of families with an Autistic family member have tried this, and those that have tried it saw a ninety percent improvement.  Jenny McCarthy claims to have cured her son of Autism.  She put him on this diet, and has seen improvement in him, but he is by no means cured.

The main purpose of this session was to inform and to give tips.  These were tips for making things run smoothly when there is an autistic child in a classroom, afterschool program, summer club, or day camp.  Some of these included:

• Taking sensory breaks. Studies show that children need joint impact in their daily lives.  This is the theory behind recess at schools.  Autistic children shouldn't go more than half an hour without a break of some sorts.
• Making sure kids are aware of whats going on.  Make sure Autistic children are aware of what is happening so they are not throw off by the change in a schedule.  Autistic children like to have things planned and scheduled so they can prepare for what is going to happen.
• Have an agenda.  This will prevent the need to ask questions like "What are we doing next? When are we moving on? How long until you are done with this?"
• Provide Visual Organizers. Have a calendar posted in the classroom so they will know in advance.
• Labels.  Autistic children often have a need to know what is behind every door and in every cupboard. If things are clearly labeled ahead of time, this satisfies their need to know. 
• Clarify the Unknown.  In order to prevent any interruptions, it is best to clarify anything that is an unknown, so they don't have to disrupt things by asking about them.

This is what I learned. I will find this extremely useful in my future, and I am very grateful I had the opportunity to attend.

So far today, I've typed up some stuff. Sent a few emails, and got my new shirt and shorts in the mail.

I'm excited.

Until then!

Day-to-Day

This week I've felt more or less like real office staff.  The office is going through a LEAN process and I had to got to the introduction of it.  For those of you who don't know what LEAN is, its essentially taking a process in the office, mapping out all the steps of it, and seeing where things can be cut out to make things go faster.  The introduction that was bright and early Monday morning just introduced us to what it was, and sort of how the process would work, and showed us some examples of successful LEAN projects.  One specific example was a process at Western Union, which originally took on average nineteen days, but they were able to cut it down to twenty two minutes.  Unbelievable! Yet, true.  On Friday I get to find out what all they did this week, and hopefully put it into action.

As far as my other VISTA projects are going, they are coming together quite nicely.  I've spent lots of time trying to decide what I want to do at the JDC, and figuring out what activities will give them the greatest benefits.  I also am working on writing a curriculum for whoever takes this over so they won't have to plan as much, and all the activities will be tested and tweaked, so things will run smoothly. I think I want to try to come up with a mission statement or a goal for the year with JDC.  I know it won't be the same kids over and over again working on this goal, but I think it needs to be a small goal that they can start reaching on their own.  We didn't go this week because of the LEAN training, but that is ok, it gave me a chance to do some more planning.  I think maybe next week I will try to do the Eco-Bot project with them.  With this, they have to build an eco-bot out of supplies I provide, and then do some problem solving with it.  Not only will this enhance their skills and abilities with robotics and problem solving, but team work as well. Hopefully they enjoy it.  I enjoyed building it.

For the Leadership grant that we're working on with WIPPS and the United Way, I'm supposed to be putting together a focus group of eight to ten 4-H youth ages 16 and up.  I've sent out three handfuls of emails and facebook messages, but so far I have two people tell me they are coming.  Everything else has been radio silent.  Hopefully I hear something soon, otherwise I will have to resort to phone calls.  I guess I should have mentioned there would be food available. I'll do that in my next round of emails.

Planning for the group home is going well.  I met with the Wisconsin River Valley chapter of Trout Unlimited and found some volunteers who are willing to teach the boys how to tie flies.  They also donated some vises for the boys to use as well as some other tying supplies.  Now we just need to work out some dates for them.  The guys at Trout Unlimited said this activity will work best spread out over several sessions over the course of several weeks.  This should be fun.  I'm excited for it, plus it will give the boys something to do with their spare time.  Something they can focus on rather than getting into trouble.  Its good to have hobbies other than shenanigans and hooliganism. (Not that the group home boys are hooligans of course.)

I've also been working on putting together an after school science program for fourth and fifth grade students at the low income schools.  I'm hoping I will be able to find students at the local colleges who would be willing to run this program and continue it in the future.  I need to start advertising and looking for people. As well as talking to the schools about it.

I also gotten a hold of the Spanish teachers at one of the high schools here, and she is excited about the Spanish Reading Program.  Now I just need to get a hold of one of the Elementary schools to see who else is interested in it.  Cross your fingers!

Well I suppose i should get back to planning.

Until then!

Finally Getting Settled In

I think this week has marked where I've started finally feeling like I've got a set schedule and and things are starting to feel settled and less insane.  I've been fairly productive in this last week.

The main thing I've been working on is writing the Marathon County 4-H Family Handbook.  This is just a small publication that includes just about everything one needs to know about joining 4-H in Marathon County, some helpful tips in being an active 4-H member, and even some of the activities that one can do as a member of 4-H.  Luckily, I didn't have to start from scratch.  I used the Burnnett County 4-H Family Handbook as a guide.  It was a good place to start for my work. I think I did pretty well, if I do say so myself.  Hopefully it will be posted online soon, so maybe you will be able to see my handy work. Any complaints, comments, or found typos can be written on a piece of paper, tied to a balloon, and released into the air.  I'm sure they will make their way to me eventually.

Yesterday was my first day at the JDC where I was leading the lesson.  We made macrame bracelets using hemp cord.  It was pretty fun.  There were two guys and one girl there.  One guy already knew how to do it, and just took off on his project, he succeeded quite well. The other guy caught on very quickly and revealed to us that he was quite proficient in the craft area, including sewing, quilting, and knitting.  The girl struggled a little more with it, but thats ok because not everyone is fantastic at everything, and it can be confusing sometimes.  Everyone has a different style of learning.  I think it will just take some practice for her.  We left the directions there if they would like to continue working on it.  I was thinking next week I might have them make Knifty Knitter hats, but I think I might do the Eco-Bot project with them instead.

Today I visited a Group Home for my orientation and tour.  It was amazing! First off, the house was gorgeous!  It was over a hundred years old, with hard wood floors all through the house, and three floors of gorgeous room after gorgeous room, with one spacious bathroom per floor....but I digress. I should also mention that the program itself is a fantastic program.  They take adolescent boys ranging in ages from twelve to seventeen who were court ordered there.  While they are there they get counseling and training to help them get back into thier original homes, or foster care, or living with relatives.  They do this through a variety of programs and activites through community resources, such as 4-H and the Boys and Girls Club.  While there are at the House they learn about how to live independently through chores, cooking, and financial management.  They also attend school, and must learn responsibility through study time.  It sounds like a great program and I'm excited to start working with them.  I will be working along side a colleague in the office to run an education program for them based on service learning, as well as life skills and fun activities.  They have apparently made a request to learn how to tie flies....So now either I need to learn how to tie flies, or I need to find someone who can help teach them how to do it.  So if anyone knows of someone who might be willing to help out with this just let me know!

I've been settling into my office in other ways.  I now have a candle warmer, and bought some candles for it.  I got Spring Rain, Pumpkin Spice, and Mulled Cider.  As you can tell, I'm excited for Fall to be here. I can't wait for Winter, but I know Fall has to come first.  I also repotted an Aloe plant and its sitting on my desk thriving.  I've got a few trinkets that hold meaning for me, as well as a Beatles calendar, and a motivational poster with a quotation from Barney Stinson. :) I try to keep it as clean as possible, but....we'll see.

I suppose now I should figure out what I'm doing for next week.

Until then!

Nose is on the Grindstone

Well, now that I've actually gotten a start on my work, I feel like I have something I can write about.

Lets see...what have I worked on...

Well I went to the Juvenile Detention Center for the first time. That was actually pretty fun.  There were three kids, we made felt bags with them.  They seemed to enjoy it.  Although one of the kids was skeptical when I told him that this was my first time making felt bags. He thought I was too good at it for it to be my first time. What he doesn't know is that I didn't cut quite enough holes in it to thread the string properly. Its a learning experience.

I've also been planning what I want to do with the youth at the JDC in upcoming weeks.  I think I'm going to do things like friendship bracelets, knifty knitter hats for babies that will be donated to the local hospital, an activity involving eco-bots made out of vibrating pager motors, watch batteries and toothbrushes, decorating and donating bowls for the Empty Bowls Benefit at the end of October, and making dog toys and treats for the Humane Society.  All of these activities and projects have lessons to go with them...or at least they will when I write the curriculum for whoever takes over this program in the future.

I've sent out a few emails about starting a literacy program involving Spanish and English children's books.  I'll tell you more about that one when it gets off the ground...if it does. Which I really hope it does, because it sounds like a fun program.

You know, when  I sat down to type this I felt like it had been a productive day, but now that I've written it all out, it doesn't look as productive as I thought.  I mean, I still did work, but mostly its planning and organizing is what I've been working on.  Planning what I'm going to be doing in upcoming weeks. 

Things will pick up soon, like next week.

Until then!

Training. Pt. 2 (Hey maybe I should always put a title here....)

So I realize I'm a little late with this.  This last week has been busy and filled with end of the summer activities.  I'm finally going to finish telling you about training. 

The first session was focused again on poverty and finding ways to combat poverty.  The main idea behind the in depth study of poverty was so that we would know how to handle it and what to do in certain situations.  There were people at the training who had never been exposed to any kind of poverty. 

The facilitator asked us to write down what our take away was from these sessions.  I wrote, "People are more concerned with third world countries that with what is in their own backyard.  While they feel sympathetic to domestic poverty (once they knew it was there) they have high expectations as to what can be done about it." 

Perhaps this response was unfair.  When I wrote it I was slightly upset since I felt like I was the only one who had any semblance of what low-income living was like.  I did not have a privileged childhood such as they did.  This was also only one of five breakout groups.  I'm sure it would have been a different situation in the other groups. 

Moving off the topic of poverty was good for me.  We were finally able to focus on our VAD (Volunteer Assignment Description).  This contains a brief description of everything we would be doing over the next year.  Our main goal was to come up with a list of questions to ask our supervisor.  These were mainly things about the VAD that we were unclear on or needed some help achieving.  As a group these were some useful questions we came up with:
- What are some of the norms or ground rules I need to observe?
- What are capacity building activities?
- How can I identify the cultural guide?
- What has a potential for working?
- What is the interest level in a specific program?
- What is the context of the people in the community so I can create an effective program?
- Am I meeting the needs of the community?

Some of these questions are more helpful for me than for others, and vise versa. I have a slight advantage of being familiar with the community in which I am serving, and in fact the office in which I'm serving.  I've worked in this office for the past three summers as an intern, so I'm familiar with the office and how it works. 

On my VAD there is a main goal that I will be working to achieve:
"Increase Extension Outreach to underserved youth and families."

There are four main activities on my VAD that I am supposed to be working toward to make this happen.

1) Marathon County will adopt a Homelessness Plan
- I will be working in conjunction with the United Way to look at the homelessness problem in our community and come up with some ideas about what to do about it.

2) Assist with Marathon County Diversity Commission/WIPPS work
- These organizations have been working together to look at youth leadership in our community, and looking at what causes people to leave or stay, and how engaged they feel in their communities.  There will be a leadership summit in January about this, and I am on the planning committee for the focus groups that will be done before hand.

3) Youth Detention and Shelter Home
- Every week I am going to go to the Juvenile Detention Center to run a short program with the youth that are in the shelter home and on the secure side of the center.  These will be little projects that will hopefully enrich their lives just a little and teach them something they may not have known before.  There are many different things I can do there and hopefully I touch many peoples lives and make a difference.  My other goal with this project is to set up an outside volunteer to take this program over when I leave.

4) Develop volunteer leadership within Extension Youth and Family Programs
- This essentially means that I will be working with the Youth Action Council by helping them run several different community service programs and projects throughout the year.

There are a few other activites and programs I would like to get started while I'm here, including either starting a Hmong 4-H club, or continuing the Latino 4-H club.  I would also like to start a reading program where high school Spanish students go into the elementary schools and read books in both Spanish and English to ESL (English as a Second Language) students.

I have lofty goals for this year.  Hopefully I reach them.

I may post either later today or later next week about the projects I have started and what I have on the immediate horizon.  Not sure when I will get to it.  Hopefully soon!

Until then!

Well the first full day of training is complete.

Let's back up for a second.

-Day One:
Because of the bus schedule it ended up that it made the most sense to drive.   It was about a five hour drive. Not too many problems.  Not too bad of a drive.  I had a little trouble finding the hotel, but once I got there I was surprised at how fancy dancy it was.  I'm talking doormen, valet parking, bathrobe in the bathroom, ten dollar a day internet, but no chocolates on the pillow.  In other words a lot fancier than I'm used to. Its good, though, to experience new places and venues.  (PS - The food is to DIE FOR here.)

Since everyone was arriving throughout the day, the festivities didn't begin until 6:30.  Mostly we were welcomed several times, and then given a history of the Americorps group. 

After that I went back to my room and slept in my outstandingly wonderful bed.

-Day Two:

This was our first introduction into the nitty gritty of what VISTA is all about.  Put simply: VISTA is working to eliminate poverty in America.

The idea of poverty was then broken down and discussed in groups lead by highly qualified facilitators and trainers. (I say highly qualified because they know their audience.  They provided play-doh to give us something to do with our hands.)

The first question we were asked to think about was "What is Poverty?"
 - The group agreed that poverty was essentially the lack of basic life-needs, whether that means food, shelter, support, or any sort of stability.

We were then asked to consider what the causes of poverty were.  There were many responses, but none of them were the sole cause of poverty.  Some of the responses that were tossed out included:
- lack of opportunities
- job loss
- socio-economic standards
- cost of living
- physical/mental health status
- Race (though this was heavily debated as to whether it was a cause or a correlation, or if it was even relevant at all.)

While discussing poverty, we talked about the different types of poverty.
-Situational: Living in poverty for a short time
-Generational: Two or more generations of one family living in poverty
 (The majority of people living in poverty are generational.)

Poverty is also defined as a lack of resources.  These resources include Mental, Financial, Emotional, Social, and Role models.

Our discussion ended on an unfinished note that will be continued tomorrow.

Until then!

This summer I was hired as an Americorps VISTA in Wisconsin. 

This means that I will have a job for another year.  WOOT!

This is the start of my blog about my experience. I'm hoping I will be able to keep up with this for the entire year.  My goal will be to post something every week. Later this week I will post about my pre-service training in Chicago.

Until then!