Roundball

With the Packers going out early and me looking for ways to spend my free time, I've been spending more time watching college basketball and preparing myself for my first ever Final Four.

The past few weekends I've been home on Saturdays and Sundays watching college basketball. In fact this past weekend I had one game on the TV on mute while I listened to the Badgers go on the road and beat Michigan. As hard as is it is to believe, I don't think I've ever followed college basketball so much in my entire life.

Just to give you an idea, I went to a bar last night to watch the Badgers last night, I'm probably going to the Marquette-SLU game on Saturday and I just bought tickets for the Missouri Valley Conference tournament for the first weekend of March here in St. Louis. On top of that, every chance I get to catch a game on TV or read up on basketball on the internet I do.

To make things even better, I'm keeping up with the NDA and 7th grade St. Matt's boys' seasons. With both teams working on undefeated seasons, I couldn't be more excited. So while I haven't been able to find my way into coaching or even playing much basketball lately, I'm finding ways to stay in-tuned with the game. So while all of you are waiting about a month for March Madness to begin, I'm getting a headstart by immersing myself in basketball so come the Madness I'll be fully prepared for the ride.

By the way, I wrote this post more to display to my excitement level about basketball right now more than to update you. Like I said early on, this blog is also a way for me to vent whether it's frustration, concern or even excitement.

Strike Averted and Other News

For those of you who didn't know, the St. Louis teachers were on the brink of striking. Since returning to school at the beginning of January there was a lot of uncertainty of what we at AmeriCorps St. Louis would do in the event of a strike and whether or not it jeopardized the program as a whole. The past couple of weeks at school have been less than ideal with teachers, students and administration all preparing for a possible strike. Needless to say it didn't make things very easy for those of us who had an obligation to work with students, but didn't want to disrupt our relationship with staff at the school.

Luckily, the whole situation is moot, because the teacher's union voted to approve the latest contract offer by the school board, so it was business as usual at school. It seemed like a pretty normal day considering all that had gone on over the long weekend.

In other news, our team has decided to raise money to go towards the tsunami relief. Our school and team has been a little slow in reacting to situation and we thought it would be a good way for us to rally the students and teachers around a common cause. We'll be doing the fundraising throughout the month of February and hope to raise $300. It's a modest amount, but our take is any amount is helpful and we're not exactly dealing with students and families that are able to contribute large chunks of money. I've been researching some of the different aid organizations trying to find a few in which the money will go to help kids in South Asia. Once the ball gets rolling, I have a feeling the campaign will be very successful.

This is one of the many things that we'll be working on in the coming months. I think we've come up with some really good ideas for bigger activities that will stretch us until the end of the year and keep us busy.

I hope everyone else is doing well!

Long Weekend

I finally have a chance to catch up on the blog after a long weekend. The past week I was preparing for the MLK Jr. holiday. As a member of the planning committee for the event, I had quite a busy, but fun week last week.

To celebrate the weekend, we organized a service day on Saturday. Each member got to bring 1 of their students with them to provide service to others. The middle schoolers went out to a couple of nursing homes in the area and a day shelter for people with mental issues. It gave the kids a chance to be exposed to service to others and in particular to marginalized members of society. The elementary students stayed at the office working on writing letters to troops overseas, making placemats for Meals on Wheels and making friendship bracelets for one another. Overall, the day was very successful and something I'm very proud that I could be a part of.

Saturday night I spent the night watching the Rams fall apart and playing poker with some of the guys that I work with. It was definitely a nice change of pace. I didn't win, but I held my own, and it's only a matter of time before I can bring home a small prize. (It's only a $5 buy in, so nothing outrageous.)

Last night, I went to a Heat Wave party. It was nice to throw on some shorts and flip-flops despite the cold temperatures and pretend that it was warm outside. I didn't indulge in the tropical drinks knowing that we had to be up this morning for the MLK Jr. March. It ended up being a late night, but it was one of those deals where it got to the end of the night and 7 or 8 of us were hanging out and talking about the rigors and joys of work. I have to say it's nice to have a good group of friends who are very supportive of one another.

Today of course was the march along with a ceremony at the courthouse before the march. There were a few very great speakers who emphasized the need to continue Dr. King's work. Since joining the committee to plan the MLK weekend I've made an effort to learn more about MLK Jr. and his work. I guess I always knew he was an incredible man, but after reading some of his sermons, speeches and papers I've come away very impressed with him and in particular on the role of service in building bridges and his theme of non-violence. His place in American history is obviously very prominent evidenced by being only one of three people whose birthdays are celebrated nationally, and the others are Presidents Washington and Lincoln. After taking part in commemorating his life and work, I think I'll make it a point to find a way to celebrate on this weekend every year. As I heard over and over again, this isn't a day off, it's a day on.

Past Week

Well, the first back from break was very quiet. Last Monday it seemed like everyone in the school had a Christmas break hangover. As the week went on, I was glad to be back to work. I think I'll be presented with many more challenges as the year goes on, but I'm prepared to really make the most of these next 7 months. I want to leave knowing I gave it my all. As part of that I've been working a lot harder to talk to the teachers so they can give me feedback as well as speaking to parents. The more communication I have with parents and teachers, the easier it will be for me to figure out how to deal with certain situations that arise and finding the best way to help the students.

This past weekend I had some visitors in St. Louis, when my brother Pete and Matt Paprocki made it down to St. Louis on Thursday night. They got a chance to meet some of my students and sit down and talk with them as well as see the school in action. We also took the Budweiser brewery tour and I fulfilled a life-long dream of becoming a brewmaster, granted it's only honorary, but I have a certificate to prove it. (Matt also was awarded an honorary brewmaster's certificate.) They also got a chance to meet some of the teachers at the school and some of my friends from AmeriCorps later on that evening. It was a lot of fun, perhaps even too much fun, but I think they enjoyed their time here and it was nice to have people come to see me. If anyone else is thinking about coming let me know, I'll be happy to accomodate anyone and there's plenty of room. If you happen to be in town for a school day I'd be happy to show you around the school and introduce you to some of my students. I know my students would be excited to meet more of my family and friends from home.

I hope everything is going well for everyone else and everyone has a great week.