Silent Garden

Earlier today I was talking to my Aunt, she pointed out that she was looking forward to my next post.  Well Sandy, here's looking at you!

In other news, this past week has been busy, but fantastic.

This week at the JDC I worked with three very nice teenagers. One I had met with before, and the others were new to me.  When I got there one of the boys was hiding in his room.  when he came out he sat at the table and put his head down. I could tell he didn't want to be there so I hoped he was going to be willing to do my activity.  That morning, when I got to the office I started preparing the Mexican Clay for use.  Since it hasn't been used since last summer, it was a little dry.  Its self-drying clay, but it was still usable.  When I started getting the stuff out for clay, the boy with his head down perked up a bit and looked like this was something he really wanted to do.  It turned out he enjoyed art class and working with clay.  He was telling me about how he was looking forward to the ceramics class he would be taking in the fall.  The rest of the group was great, they all had fun working with the clay and building their favorite animals.  It was a good experience at the Shelter.

The same day I had my Community Connection program.  This week I tied theater with gardening.  We did some theater/forensics warm ups, played "10 Second Objects," Mirrors, and germinated some seeds.   So maybe the seed germination isn't exactly theater related, but it was good to be able to give the youth something to take home.   Next week we will be learning about the water cycle by playing the Water Cycle Game. I love the game, and I hope they do too!

The same evening we had the fourth session of the Summer Gardening Series.  It went pretty well.  The youth learned about soil and the different layers of soil.  They also used old cds to make Deer Deflectors to take home with them.  After that they has some dirt cake, and we sent them outside to harvest the radishes and lettuce in the garden. They seemed to really enjoy it.

As part of the VISTA term, I've been writing a series of articles for the local paper.  Here is the latest one that was published! (If the link doesn't work it means that it cycled off the website.  I don't believe there is any way to retrieve it...so read it soon!)

I have lots to get ready for next week! I think then I'll write about the class I'm taking right now too!

Until then!

The Last Starcamper

Time sure does fly when you're having fun.  It also flies when summer rolls around.

So far this summer, I've been keeping really busy with different programs.

Lets start with the Gardening Series.  For the past three summers, the North Central Wisconsin Master Gardeners have partnered with 4-H to present a Summer Gardening Series for families who have little to no experience in gardening, or do not have a lot of space to work with for a garden.  The Master Gardeners teach the adults, and 4-H does a lesson for the youth.  After the lessons are done, everyone goes out to the garden to work together.  This year, I was in charge of the youth portion.  There are six sessions; so far, we've had three of them.  Our first one, we discussed the basics of gardening and made ice cream cone seed starters. The following week, we talked about what to plant where in a garden and planted radish seeds to see which variety of radish would grow the fastest.  This past week we talk about water.  Since water is so important for the growth of plants, I felt it was important to talk about the water cycle and play the water cycle game.

The next session, the youth will learn about soil and conduct soil analysis experiments. So far the youth have been enjoying it.  I think it is a fun way to learn about gardening.

I've gotten back into a regular schedule for the JDC.  I'm now going every other Wednesday morning (every week if I can swing it).  Last week I just had one girl, but she really enjoyed working on a baby hat with the Knifty Knitter.  That hat, when it is finished, will be donated to the newborns at the hospital.

The Marathon County Leadership Coalition, the thing I did the focus groups for, has been put under the jurisdiction of the Marathon County Diversity Commission.  At their last meeting, they decided that they will create an "Implementation Committee" to make sure that there are events and programs happening to encourage residents of Marathon County to become more involved and to make them more aware of things that happen around the area.  If I stay in the area, that is something I would like to continue with on my own time.

Since summer has rolled around, it also means the start of the 4-H Summer Club program.  For the past few summers we have partnered with the local School District and work with a program called Community Connection.  This means that in the afternoon, at five locations, community partners come in and run programs with the K-4 youth.  For the past three summers I was a 4-H intern, but since I am in a different role this year, I am not as involved.  I have, however, helped out a little before the Summer VISTAs started for extra hands.  This year their theme is Discovery Camp.  This is a science based program where they will cover topics ranging from biology to astronomy.  I am still involved with Community Connection, though.  The Wisconsin Nutrition Education Program runs the school garden at one of the locations.  I am running one of three rotations for them.  There is one in the garden, one making crafts, and my rotation: a Theater/Gardening rotation.  Our first week, last week, we talked about miming.  This week we will cover expressions, warm-ups, and play a game of Garden Charades.  The kids really seemed to enjoy it last week, so hopefully they will enjoy the upcoming weeks!

So far this summer has been more like "fall."  Out of the first nine days of June, it has rained for seven of them.  After last year's drought, we should be thankful for all the rain....but it has started causing problems for farmers.  We were, however, grateful for the two days of beautiful weather we got for Junior Camp.  The counselors were great, the kids had a blast, and the Y staff was incredibly helpful, as usual! It was all around, a great experience. Here are some pictures to go with it!

As the Fair gets ever closer and closer, I'm working harder to prepare for the 2nd Annual Wisconsin Valley Fair FUN RUN/Walk.  This 2 mile run races around the fairgrounds.  Proceeds from this run will be donated to Peyton's Promise.

Our YAC group did a great job last night working with one of the local 4-H clubs.  They talked a little bit about YAC and what members do as part of it.  They also did the "Putting Together the 4-H Puzzle" activity that I helped create at the conference at the Chula Vista Resort early in my service term. YAC did a good job, and I will miss working with them after I leave.

Well, I have many exciting project coming up, so hopefully they go well!

Until Then!