Bittersweet Day

Yesterday was what I would define as a bittersweet day. The talent show at school finally happened and went very smoothly. I think it was resounding success and all the time and energy our team put into planning and producing the talent show was well worth it. Of course there was about an hour when we weren't sure if the show would go on.

On Monday night, a seventh grade girl at L'Ouverture died. We found out yesterday morning a few hours before the show was planned. The administrative team decided to wait to inform the rest of the staff until the end of the day and to announce it to the students the following day. Despite none of us mentoring Laura, I think we were all crushed by her passing. She was a tiny little girl, but always had a smile on her face. In a school filled with students trying to act and be tough, Laura remained sweet. Even when she messed around it was more childish behavior then outright disobedience. One of my first weeks at L'Ouverture, I decided to eat lunch in the cafeteria just to interact with some of the students. When I first got down there I was overwhelmed by the scene, and was almost ready to return to the office to eat my lunch, but Laura came up to me and introduced herself and asked me what I did at the school. At that moment I felt a sense of acceptance.

One of the things I find saddest about her passing is that she was one of those students who is often overlooked by teachers and other students because she didn't go out of her way to get attention. It's unfortunate that so much time is spent dealing with the troubled students, that kids like Laura are forgotten. She obviously displayed excellent character in that she never let the chaos around her break her innocence. I will always remember that sweet smile, and how it was the quiet little girl at L'Ouverture that made me first feel like a member of this community.

Nearly Finished

All right so I thought after Saturday our major events at school would be done. Unfortunately due to some extenuating circumstances I don't want to go into, our talent show was cancelled on Friday and pused back to Tuesday. So now tomorrow will be the end of the major events our team has planned at our school.

Saturday we organized a service day at school for parents, students and staff to attend. We had several students and staff come to help us paint murals, plant flowers and help with a car wash. The day was a resounding success and apparently we even received compliments from some residents in the neighborhood. I had a ton of fun and after this year I'm much more confident in painting murals, but I still wouldn't consider myself an artist.

After the day was over on Saturday, I decided to go camping with a group of other AmeriCorps members. We had a blast despite a pretty bad thunderstorm and pouring rain. I'm never quite sure how I find the energy to do these things, and I think it explains why I never feel like I have a weekend, but I just hate having to miss an opportunity to have some fun and do something different. Sure I pay for it on Monday morning, but there are some things that are worth losing sleep over.

After tomorrow, I'll be able to focus the rest of my energy in closing things out with the kids I mentor and start planning some fun activities during summer school (City Museum, wall climb, Cardinals' game, etc.)

I hope everyone else is doing well, and enjoy the long Memorial Day weekend.

Olympic Retreat and Other Happenings

This weekend went very well and I think all of the kids that went on the Middle School Olympic Retreat had fun. Aside from a thunderstorm Friday night and being a little wet Saturday morning, we had excellent weather and with a few adjustments, all events that were scheduled took place. It's amazing that these kids live in a city rated one of the most dangerous in the nation and they show little fear, but you put them in the woods away from most civilization and any creek or howl sends them flying around as if the world is coming to an end. I guess it just goes to show that most people are uncomfortable in a foreign setting.

I also found out that next year I'll be in charge of member recruitment at AmeriCorps St. Louis. While I'll miss working with the kids, I look at this as a unique opportunity to gain invaluable experience as well as giving me a chance to promote a program that has been integral in helping me realize where my passion lies. Through out the summer I'll be spending the mornings at summer school before going to the office to start training for the new position. I'll be working with 3 or 4 other members responsible for various other tasks for the Corps. The other members are all people I get along with well, and I expect that we will work well as a team in providing support for the rest of the Corps while getting our name out to the public.

Aside from AmeriCorps, yesterday I had my first Ultimate Frisbee game of the season. I joined a rec league that goes through most of the summer. I'm looking forward to meeting new people from outside of the Corps while playing one of my favorite sports. After last night, I still have a ways to go before I'm in peak shape for ultimate. Despite losing, it was nice to get out on the field again. I'm still hoping to get into a beach volleyball league, but if not I'll have my Mondays taken care of for the rest of the summer.

That's all I have for now, I hope everyone is doing well.

Busy, Busy, Busy

As everyone can tell from my title, I (actually the entire Corps) have been and will continue to be very busy. I've felt like these last few weeks that every time one thing gets done, I find another thing waiting on the horizon. I've had some time to get in fun including a trip to Kansas City this past weekend to take part in a Crawl for Cancer (crawl being a pub crawl in this case).

So what have I been up to? Our team has been planning a talent show at school that will be next Friday. Between auditions, figuring out decorations and finalizing a list, I've learned that putting on a talent show is no easy task. We're also in the midst of planning a day of service around the school for parents, students and staff. Those are just the things we've been doing at school on top of our regular workload.

Outside of school, we're having our Middle School Olympic Retreat this weekend at the same camp we went to for Spring Retreat. I haven't been involved in the planning for this, but have had to try and select students from our school and put together music for music trivia. It should be a really fun weekend for members and the kids at all the different middle schools we serve. Hopefully we'll have good weather (not rainy or too hot).

To top it all off, I interview this afternoon for a position in the office for next year. I'm a little nervous for it, but I think it should be fine. I hope to find out in the next week or two if I get the position.

After next weekend, things should hopefully let up a little bit. We'll only have 3 weeks of school left and I have a nice long weekend Memorial Day weekend to relax maybe in Chicago. If you don't hear from me in the next two weeks it's probably because I'm wrapped up in finishing up the school year.