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!
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