Wrapping Up Part 1

Well, we're in our last week before Christmas break so I figured I would write an update of what's been going on lately. Since I've been slacking, there's a lot...

In-class support: My teacher came back from maternity leave last week. Things were really crazy with the sub so I'm excited she's back. My role changed drastically when Mrs. Lopez left because of the chaos in the classroom. Technically, I'm only in the class for support in reading and math. It transformed into behavior management. Well, attempted behavior management. I did what I could but the class was out of control. We went on a field trip to see "Where the Wild Things Are" which ended in the bus driver reporting one of the students to the Board of Education. I'm very thankful to have their regular teacher back.

After school: Our starfish programs are going as well as my behavior management techniques in class. Ok... not quite that bad. But it's been rough. I thin I've written this out before but the groups are broken up as follows: 4&5th grade boys (Group 5), 6th graders (Group 6), and 4th&5th grade girls (Group 4). After school for 5th grade and younger is called Starfish and 6th grade and above is Heroes. Generally, teams run either Starfish or Heroes, not both; but because we are in an outside organization, we are running it with the 6th graders upon the requeset of the Riis Staff. We've figured out that splitting the boys into smaller groups during the main activity combined with bribing them with free time is the best way to get them to behave. Unfortunately, we're still looking for material they find interesting enough to really pay attention too. Group 6 is our biggest challenge. After being split up for 4 years, Group 6 is the first year it goes back to co-ed. I know it's a strange age and I don't think being together makes it much easier but it's so interesting how much the girls change from Group 4 to Group 6. Our Group 4 still loves Starfish and gets into everything we do. They even came up with a remix to one of the dance moves we do. Group 6... it's hard to get them to pay attention for more than 30 seconds at a time. Even when we're doing activities they seem to like, there are certain students who refuse to fully participate. It's a struggle, but I've talked to a lot of other City Year people and they came up with some good ideas that we'll be trying in the new year.

Events: I don't think I've said anything about this yet. Ana and I were assigned to the events team. There are different roles for teams including: events, outreach, learning coordinator, resource and communication, and service team. Outreach is just like it sounds. Jason and Kate will be visiting schools, making phone calls or doing other events to recruit future City Year members. Learning Coordinators go over our lesson plans, take attendance and complete other tasks to make sure our lessons are following guidelines set by City Year. Resource and communication is left up to Jay who has done an amazing job in-kinding (or getting donations). He makes a newsletter to send to our sponsors as well. The service team will be creating service projects for us in our school. Their first idea was to do something with the playground. As it stands, it is a large fenced in area of blacktop. There is literally nothing else to it. After talking wtih our assistant principal, it looks like we may be able to paint some games or provide something this year. They are planning on redoing the playground sometime in the near future. So... as for events. Ana and I are taking care of that part. So far, we planned a teacher appreciation lunch and a canned food drive. Both events went better than planned. We had almost all of our food donated by local businesses like Costco, Subway and a bakery. The kids brought in over 750 cans of food for the food drive which was GREAT! They were so generous. We recorded the number of cans per class to determine a winner and ended up making gingerbread houses with a 6th grade class. It went so well and the kids loved it. If it wasn't illegal to post pictures of kids, I would... but it's illegal. We're kicking off next year with a penny drive, that they do annually, as well as a huge cultural festival.

Lunch clubs: I don't think I've talked about this either. During lunch a different club meets everyday. Right now, some of us are running clubs like, poetry, step/dance, performance, and board games. It's just a brief period of time since they also have to eat during this period but the kids enjoy it nonetheless. Next year, we're going to start a sports club of some sort. I'm really excited for this because I think some of the students will be really excited. Right now, the clubs are fun but many of the students are dropping out so they can spend more time with their friends. The limited amount of time and proper planning (there's no time!) means that the clubs are dwindling a bit. But sports, especially basketball, are easy to improvise and I know the kids will really want to join this club.

That's it for now. We have two days of work this week and then Christmas break begins! I'll be back in Michigan from Christmas Day until January 2nd so hopefully I'll see everyone! If not, Happy Holidays!

New York CARES!

So a while ago I was walking and saw a poster for an organization called New York Cares. It's a volunteer organization that links events or other organizations with people who want to volunteer. Overall, there are over 48,000 people who volunteer through this program. It's such an easy concept but so ingenious at the same time. I've volunteered for a couple of events through them. The first was with a group that played with developmentally delayed children for 2 hours so their parents could take a break or get other errands done. I played with an 8 year-old boy who ran around the gym for the last hour. We would run a lap around, weaving in and out of other kids playing basketball or bowling. We would rest against the wall and he would say, "Only 62 more."
"Oh man, I don't know if I can do it." "You can do it, Nicole. I believe in you." He was great.

A couple weeks ago, my roommate Ami and I did a larger event where kids from a homeless shelter made t-shirts for kids in the Congo. Besides the t-shirts, there were general arts and crafts, a writing station, a necklace/bracelet station and a photo booth. They had a dj and pizza and drinks and we took random dance breaks in which everyone was supposed to get up and dance. It was a really cool event that took place right in Manhattan in this beautiful ballroom. A few celebrities came, including Tate Donovan (who was on the O.C. and now on Damages on Abc(?)), Kyle Massey and his brother (they are on Disney Channel and Nickelodeon) and Corbin Bleu (the curly headed kid from High School Musical). The kids went crazy for the Disney Channel stars and it was really cool to see them enjoy the event.

I'm sure I'll do other projects in the future because it's such an awesome way to get involved.

The Halls in the Big Apple

My family visited... 3 week ago now. (Sorry it took so long!) It was quite the good time. We rode the subway in circles for fun. It was really great to see them though and fun to show them around the city a little bit. I also got two large bins of clothes and the carpet remnant from our living room. The carpet may seem like a small thing but since our living room has been (VERY) slowly coming together since we moved in, it's nice to have.

Run Like You Mean It

Today was the New York City Marathon! My roommate, Ami and I had the opportunity to volunteer by passing out Gatorade at the 15th mile. We got there around 10:30 when they were still waiting for the runners so we got to see the front runners. The women came around first and then the men. Overall, they said that there were 41,000 people running the race and they were from all over the world. It was really cool because people wrote their country or their name on their shirt so we could cheer them on a little more personally. It definitely inspired me and I'm considering training for the marathon next year. I will definitely run the NYC marathon before I die. It was a pretty cool experience!



Runners from up above.
This is where we were standing to hand out water.

We had to run to the other side so we could get our t-shirts so I ran we ran in the marathon for about 8 seconds!

Starfish!

Well, almost as promised, it's time for an update!

As I said before, last week was our first week of our after school program. We have a group of 4th & 5th grade boys on Tuesdays so today was our second lesson. Luckily, I can report that today went better than our first day! We quickly discovered on the first day that all but one of the boys had been through the program multiple times before. Therefore, all the call and responses, the starfish "pledge" and the rest of the starfish culture that we were trying to introduce was irrelevant.

This time around, we made both of the games competitive. To give you an idea of the challenge, the City Year team from last year advised us to make the boys run before trying to start the lesson. Last week, I had the boys stand on the line and told them to run to the end, run back and stop. They ran to the end, ran back and then went crazy. A few boys stayed at the line. Others ran back to the line, others ran to the other side of the gym. Considering it was our first activity, it didn't seem like a good sign. They still have a hard time listening to or following directions but we're working on it and trying to find ways around it. For instance, today I decided to change the game to a relay race. I cut out a bunch of starfish and put them on one side of the line. They got into teams and had to get the starfish from one end, run back to their team and place the starfish on a plate at the end of the line. This way, they had to take turns and it was a COMPETITION! This is probably the biggest thing with boys. Luckily, there were no sore losers today, even when some of the boys were bragging about their wins.

Overall, today felt like a breakthrough. After such a rough time last week, it was great to see the outcome of the day. We also played a game with carpet squares where they had to get across to the other side of the gym without touching the floor. They really had to work as a team to figure out how to get across. The best part for me was when a boy who didn't want to participate at all ended up winning the game. He was so excited and all the boys were really getting into the competition.

City Year is proving to be just as challenging as they promised. I can tell it's going to be a great year, I've already learned SO much and it's just the beginning. But we are doing so much work, especially because of the way our teams are set up. I am working on a teamlet with one other girl, Jen. Normally, when writing starfish lessons, the team would only need to write (or revise for the first unit) one set of lessons for all of their groups. Jen and I are working with 4/5 grade boys, 4/5 grade girls and also 6th graders. This goes back a ways but the first day I worked at the Riis (our after school facility; we work with their staff and into their program) was a... challenge. I sat in on the 6th grade classes art lesson. To say they were disruptive is an incredible understatement. They were lectured the whole time and hardly got through any of their lesson. It was clear that the respect for the teachers was lacking.

So when I heard that we were doing starfish with the 6th graders, I knew it would not work. Jen and I decided to change the program from the beginning. We didn't really know what we were changing it to but the introduction was pretty easy to wing. We tried to put the emphasis on community service and things they would like to talk about. We cut out a lot of the things they had done before, such as the pledge and PT (physical training). Anyway, because we are working with this group as well, we are writing extra lesson plans every week. It means we have to be extra creative and think of things that entertain a group that we have very little experience with. Because of the things the kids in this program are exposed to, it is unlike any situation I have been in or any kids I have worked with. It is going to take a while to gain their trust and figure out what they are really interested in but I have faith that we're going to find a way around our obstacles. Tomorrow will be our second day so we'll see how things go.

While the Riis is the most challenging part of my day, I'm also working for 4 periods with a 4th grade class at P.S. 111. They are amazing. The kids are really fun to be around. I walk around during their reading or writing sessions and have them read their work to me. There are quite a few who always want me to work with them which is great. I know I need to build the relationships so that I can help the substitute teacher when my current teacher goes on maternity leave in November. Overall, they're a great class. I feel very lucky because I sat through some pretty difficult classes during our observations.

While the students can be challenging, the teachers are probably everyone's biggest complaint. The disrespect, sarcasm and straight up rudeness is so sad to see. Burnout is so apparant in some of the teachers at the school. One of the girls in the program, Ana, is trying to get moved from her 2nd grade classroom because the teacher is extremely difficult to work with. The worst part for me is seeing how they are disrespected and how privileged I was as a student. It's so sad.

Remind me to tell you the story of how they take disruptive kids to the hospital...

Getting into P.S. 111

Sorry for the long delay in posts! So much has happened which is really exciting but it also means that we've been incredibly busy. Last week was our first official week in the school. We spent a lot of time in our "office". It's actually an old locker room. It's great though, nice and spacious and we have our own bathroom. Our mini-fridge and coffee maker are probably the highlights. We spent a lot of time planning last week. We were getting ready for the programs we are starting this week.

On Thursday, we had an assembly to introduce ourselves to the school (well, k-5). We were all a little nervous because most of the students already know City Year pretty well and the assembly was 50 minutes long. Fortunately, it went really well! The kids were as well behaved as could be expected for sitting in seats the whole time. We played Peel the Bananas with them which must be their favorite City Year activity. They all knew it and went crazy, even the 5th graders.
It goes: peel bananas, peel, peel bananas (repeat), smash bananas, smash, smash bananas (repeat) eat bananas, eat, eat bananas (repeat), Go bananas! Go, go bananas!
That is just so you all know the words when I come home and need someone to do the banana dance with. It's hilarious and the kids love it.

I'll post more soon (hopefully tomorrow!). I miss you all and love you!


(the crazy P.S 111 team)

P.S 111

Today was our first day in P.S. 111! It was great! We walked around the school and then saw our office, which is an old locker room. It's a great space and we have our own bathroom. It may seem small but we have a secure place to keep our things and work on lesson plans for the programs we'll be running. Other teams have a closet sized space for their office. After getting the tour we observed a couple classrooms. I watched kindergarten, second grade and a fifth grade room. We didn't interact with them much until 5th grade when Ana and I helped with an experiment. A lot of students said hi to us in the hallways and every time we walked by a classroom we'd hear: "There's City Year!" It was really great to hear the excitement in their voices.
We sat in on their lunch period and I hung out with a group of 3rd graders. One girl talked for 5 minutes straight but they were all really excited and had a lot of questions. She latched onto my arm and told me she didn't want me to leave when they were going out for recess. The group was really diverse, as is the school. The one boy at the table was from Ecuador, one girl from somewhere in Indonesia, and another girl from Bangladesh. They were quite entertaining and it's great to see such diversity. I'm sure they'll have great stories. In the 2nd grade classroom a boy read a composition in front of the class and the teacher congratulated him. She said he had come from Mexico last year and couldn't speak any English when he first arrived. It's already inspiring.
It was something of a realty check being in the school, though. I know I've been sheltered but it really surprised me that a recurring fascination was my blond hair. A 5th grader even felt it and asked why it felt so soft. I knew that I would stick out a little bit because I'm white but I didn't realize how my blond hair would be such an attraction as well.
I can tell that I'm going to have a lot of stories throughout the year just after being there one day. The kids were hilarious. Sadly, two of the teachers we observed were... rough. They were quite short with the kids, even a little sarcastic. But the 5th grade classroom was observed was great. The kids were really into the science experiment and the teacher had strict, but fair, expectations of them. I realize that everything is different when there is an observer in the classroom so we'll see how the year lays out. It was a great first day though!
We are going back to the school tomorrow morning for more observation and then we'll be at the Basic Training Retreat in New Jersey Wednesday through Friday. It should be fun, an experience that will take me back to Camp Concordia, I'm sure. Then, the following week we'll continue observations and have our Opening Day Ceremony. Full-blown school is coming soon!

The Power of the Uniform

Tonight, I had one of those experiences that I'll probably remember for the rest of my life. For me, it's usually the simple things that stick with me. There are a few stories from Beaners, an influential teacher, and a couple of memorable moments that I will probably always remember. (If you're ever wondering what they are, ask me. I love talking about them because they are probably the most influential events in my life.)

It all starts with trying to get a library card from the New York Public Library. If New York City is a Zoo, the library would be the monkey exhibit. I had gotten out of training and thought I would quickly walk down to the library. One of the rules in City Year is that you're not supposed to jay walk when you're wearing your uniform. Well, the library was about 25 blocks from training and stopping at almost every street corner mean that the walk was not quick. Anyway, I made it into the line to get my library card. As it turns out, I let one person go ahead of me and got cut in line by another woman. It took 30 minutes of standing in line to get to the desk and when I got there, the man said his desk was closing. He gave me the form and told me to meet him at the other desk. By the time I finished filling it out, everyone had gotten ahead of me again. I decided to fill out the application online.

Here's the real story (finally!). =)
I got off the subway at our station and passed a man with a cane about to go up the stairs. He looked pretty unsteady and was carrying a bag in one hand. I asked if I could carry his bag up the stairs for him. He obliged and we made the 20 minute trek up the stairs. Robert talked to me the whole way up. I learned that he was in the service for 15 years and served during the Cold War. Well, we got to the top of the stairs where there's a fruit stand maybe 5 yards away. Unfortunately, for this man, that is quite a distance. He asked if I could buy him some fruit and told me to pick something out for myself. The lady at the fruit stand knew him and gave me a free banana for helping him.

I then accompanied him across the street to a convenience store to buy the paper. He then insisted on buying me a cup of tea at the donut store on the corner. When we first sat down, another man came in off the street and approached me, saying that he had heard of City Year (I was still wearing my t-shirt) and he told me that he appreciated everything we were doing. But I sat with Robert for half an hour while we drank tea.

Luckily his residence was on the way back to my apartment so I carried his bags back for him (which took half an hour to walk one block). Robert lives and works in a Christian housing facility for people who would otherwise be homeless. He started living there after he returned from the Veterans Hospital. He was never homeless but lives there to help out with the day to day functions and oversight of the apartments.

All in all, the trip took over 2 hours but it was completely worth every minute I spent with him. When we got back to his apartment, we stopped to pray. He thanked God for me and prayed that He would keep me safe.

I apologize for this incredibly long story and I probably lost everyone after the first, boring paragraph. :) But this is exactly the type of impact I wanted to have when I came to New York. Fortunately, the community and its members are also having a huge impact on me as well. I'm going to learn a lot more than I initially imagined.

First week of City Year!!

This past week was our first week of training. We'll be training for a month, hopefully to be fully integrated into the school by October. It's been really great so far, which I partially attribute to having a really fun group. We were divided into teams of around 10 people. It's similar to the way we'll be divided when we get into the schools. I ended up in the same group as my roommate, Ami, and we got pretty tight with our group. Next week we're reassigned to different groups to see how we interact with different people. It will be interesting to be with a different team but I like the emphasis they are putting on forming effective group dynamics. Other than that, there's been a lot of team building exercises and general training about the areas we'll be working in. For instance, we learned about Hunt's Point in the Bronx where four teams will be serving. Only 24% of middle school students meet city and state standards for math and only 26% meet the standards for reading. 84% of the students in the school district get free lunches. Although this is probably one of the worst neighborhoods that City Year is involved in, it's likely not much worse than Long Island City.

Overall, City Year has done a really good job at inspiring me. Some of the things that I initially thought were childish make perfect sense to me now. They use simple tools like one person raises their hand when the group is talking and slowly the rest of the group will raise theirs and stop talking. When I first saw it, it reminded me of summer camp in middle school. But with almost 400 people in one room, simple things like that help focus the group. The uniform was another thing that I was hesitant about. Then, they talked about how the kids, teachers, and community recognize the uniform and automatically assume positive things about City Year members. I think it will be a great feeling to walk into school the first day and have kids get excited to see me there, just based on the reputation of the organization.

Since I haven't taken any pictures in orientation, I'll post a few quotes instead. =)

"This world demands the qualities of youth: not a time of life but a state of mind, a temper of the will, a quality of imagination, a predominance of courage over timidity, of the appetite for adventure over the love of ease." - Robert Kennedy

"Our deepest fear is not that we are inadequate. Our deepest fear is that we are powerful beyond measure. It is our light, not our darkness that most frightens us. We ask ourselves, Who am I to be brilliant, gorgeous, talented, fabulous? Actually, who are you not to be? You are a child of God. Your playing small does not serve the world. There is nothing enlightened about shrinking so that other people won't feel insecure around you. We are all meant to shine, as children do. We were born to make manifest the glory of God that is within us. It is not just in some of us; it is in everyone. And as we let our own light shine, we unconsciously give other people permission to do the same. As we are liberated from our own fear, our presence automatically liberates others." - Marianne Williamson

Also, I'll post a few links to the youtube videos from City Year.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AiVKDXLlh9w&feature=channel
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Y1s1KJJ3Ir8
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6baLf10vstQ&feature=channel

Coney Island

Ami and I took a trip to Coney Island one night. We went right around sunset so it was really pretty. I guess that this will be the last year for Coney Island. Next year (or sometime soon?) they'll be converting it into condos. It seems pretty sad to me because it's something of a New York landmark. Here's some pictures from the mini-trip.

Staten Island

Staten Island. What can I say? The idea basically came from the movie, How To Lose a Guy in 10 Days when Matthew McConaughey takes Kate Hudson to meet his family. He teaches her how to ride a motorcycle on the boardwalk there. For some reason, that stuck with me and inspired our trip. So a few days ago, my roommates and I made the journey over there. It started with a 40-minutes subway ride down to the ferry, then the boat ride over and we finally got to the boardwalk on South Beach after a 45-minute bus ride. We then spent half an hour on the beach and made the trip all the way back to Astoria.

The great part was that the (FREE!) ferry to Staten Island took us right past the Statue of Liberty. The boardwalk was really pretty as well and it was my first time in the Atlantic Ocean (well, besides Florida). The trip was worth it just to see the Statue and I would consider running on the boardwalk at sunrise at some point, just for the experience.

(The Statue of Liberty from the ferry)


(from left to right: Christine, Ami, Angie)

(view of Manhattan from the ferry)

(the boardwalk on Staten Island)

The Apartment Hunt

We got an apartment! It's kind of old news to us now, but it's still pretty exciting. We ended up in Astoria, Queens, which is exactly where we had wanted in the first place. Well, I didn't really know anything about the area, but Christine had heard that it was a nice area. (For future reference, my roommates are Christine, Angie, and Ami.) It was the 3rd apartment we looked at but it was by far the best. While it was at the top of our price range, the benefits outweighed the costs. It's in a great location, somewhat residential but close to some busy streets. The subway is only three blocks away and the R will take us pretty much anywhere.



The apartment is a great size (maybe too big considering we don't have any furniture. haha.) Christine and I are sharing a bedroom just to cut down on cost but our bedroom is pretty large. There's also a half bath attached to our room, which is great. They recently remodeled the main bathroom and they did a wonderful job. From Angie & Ami's bedrooms, and from the shower and kitchen window, you can see part of the Manhattan skyline, including the Empire State Building. It's great. The best part is that we have a balcony!

Our landlords are an elderly Greek couple and they are so sweet. They raised their family in this apartment so they're a little protective of the place. For instance, they wouldn't let guys live here again because of the last tennants and they were strict with their no animal rule. Thank goodness too, because a group of girls were ready to pay their money and then admitted to having a cat. It had just come back on the market the morning we went into the brokers office.

We're slowly getting things for the apartment. We don't have some of the basics, like a couch or tv (or internet, which we pick up spottily from someone around us). Oh, and we bought a dining room table at Goodwill but we don't have chairs yet. But Mr. and Mrs. A (I can't spell, let alone pronouce, their last name) left two outdoor chairs for our patio that we've used a lot. And a family friend of Christine's family gave us a few things, including a coffee table. We've been sitting on the ground around the coffee table to eat. But hey, it's New York City. There are so many better places to spend time than our apartment. And we'll get around to decorating.

Here's a link with a few pictures. Unfortuntely, the internet I'm picking up is a pretty weak signal so I can't upload pictures. I will as soon as we get our own internet though!

(I'm updating!)



Pictures!

Landed in NYC

I've been in NYC for a week now and this is my first blog! Needless to say, there's a lot to write about so I'm going to divide things up a bit. (When you're reading the blog, the newest addition will be at the top, so hopefully this isn't the last one you're reading!)

I guess it makes sense to start at the beginning. I took off from Flint with a 2 hour lay over in Detroit, then landed in NYC around 11:30. I took a shuttle to my hostel that was only 3 blocks from Central Park. Since it was the first time I've ever been in a hostel, I don't have much to compare it to. However, NYC seemed to be going through a heat streak and our room didn't have air conditioning. Thank goodness I was exhausted at the end of each day. Also, I had made a reservation for a 4 bed, female room. What I got was exactly the opposite. There were 3 guys from England in there with me. I had talked to them quite a bit so it wasn't too awkward sleeping. I also met a group of 8 students from Austria who had just finished a program at... I'm blanking on the school... but they were really nice as well. Overall, I liked the hostel. It wasn't a substitute for home but it was a good place to sleep.


Being completely new in such a big city like this is quite exciting and often hilarious. I'm happy to have enough self-confidence (and the ability to laugh at myself) to deal with some of the situations that I have. For instance, the first time I rode the bus. When I got on I was looking for a place to put my dollar bills, which the driver informed me, they do not take. Someone swiped their metro card and I paid him the money. Then, when I finally got to my stop, I hadn't positioned myself very well, so I was climbing over a bunch of people and pushing my way to the back door. Since it had taken so long, I was afraid that the bus driver was getting ready to leave. Now, at MSU the bus driver had to open the doors. So, I stood stupidly looking at the door and then yelled up to the the driver "Could you open the door please?!". Some people around me said, "Just push it." It was hilarious. The subway became my favorite means of transportation.

Moving from the hostel to our new apartment meant a trip on the subway with my suitcase. It was like weightlifting every time I had to climb the stairs up and down. But, like I said, I'm happy that I have enough self-confidence to do these things. I'm embracing the chance to look like a tourist as much as possible. :)