Yesterday was Maple Tree's breakfast with Santa family event. Putting the event together took a lot of last minute assembly. I went to the school on friday afternoon and left after 3 hours, and even then there was still a lot left to do. the HIP coordinator stayed at the school pretty late. I helped her as much as I could, but I had friends coming over for poker night. Poker night was also good. we actually played poker this time, which was interesting. more people came and it was a pretty different group from last time, so it was interesting.
Saturday morning, I woke up bright and early at 7, picked up Angela, and headed to Maple Tree. Things were chaotic when we got there and everyone was scrambling to do some last-minute assembly. despite the stress of this, the event turned out to be a huge success! we got a good crowd of families and teachers. I spent the entire time with Pastor Dee helping with the read-alouds and making sure the kids didnt destroy the K-4 classroom that we used.
saturday night was the feed milwaukee charity gala at the harley davidson museum. a bunch of VISTAs were there, and it was nice to see them all. i didnt stay too long, though, since the place was packed and lizzy wasnt feeling well. we ended up going to roman coin to play pool and hang out.
i have been chained to the oven all afternoon today. i finished making my holiday presents for everyone and am now waiting for my pumpkin gingerbread to finish baking for tomorrow's staff brunch. i have a lot of ingredients leftover from the gifts i made, so i'm not sure what i'm going to do with them.
the next couple of days will be interesting. tomorrow is the staff brunch at maple tree and also the day that growing power is coming to deliver 50 market baskets that they're donating to the school. tuesday is the last day of school before the break, which means the day of the holiday program.
Sunday, December 20, 2009
Tuesday, December 8, 2009
rfffffffffeuilfnh.sd,fwel;jsdafed
the title of this post is me taking my frustration out on the keyboard of the computer i work on. healthy? no, but it's my best option without a fencing club to work with.
i just found out during last night's sgc meeting that the breakfast with santa event we planned as a fundraiser for maple tree's tot-lot is no longer a fundraiser, but a family event funded by coa. maple tree has a HIP coordinator who has to plan one family function a month. we wanted her to plan her's after the breakfast with santa event so we didn't run the risk of having too much going on in a short period of time. however, it was decided on tuesday by the HIP coordinator and the school principal that it would be easier for her to take over the event. because of this, it is no longer a fundraiser for the school's tot-lot, but a COA funded family event.
this frustrates me for two reasons: a) i was not told about this change until almost a week later, which means i have been giving people incorrect information all this time, and b) the work i put into this event will most likely be credited to the HIP coordinator. the energy i put into securing a guest to read books to the children that attend the event will go unnoticed, as will the time i put combing through google images looking for the perfect picture of a child sitting on santa's lap for the flyers. my name has been taken off the flyers and replaced with her's.
furthermore, i'm still expected to help out with the event. in fact, i'm still expected to have other VISTAs come help, too. i'm not sure if i'm ok with this. if this is a COA funded event, shouldn't the HIP coordinator take care of finding volunteers? don't get me wrong, i'm all for collaboration, but i wish that i had some say in this decision instead of finding out about it through some gossip in the teacher's lounge a week later.
/end rant.
there is also a snack order that had no room number on it, so it is sitting next to me until a teacher sends a student to me to complain. i'm hoping this happens soon, since there's yogurt and string cheese in the order. also, i may help myself to the cereal bar in the bag if no one claims it...
i just found out during last night's sgc meeting that the breakfast with santa event we planned as a fundraiser for maple tree's tot-lot is no longer a fundraiser, but a family event funded by coa. maple tree has a HIP coordinator who has to plan one family function a month. we wanted her to plan her's after the breakfast with santa event so we didn't run the risk of having too much going on in a short period of time. however, it was decided on tuesday by the HIP coordinator and the school principal that it would be easier for her to take over the event. because of this, it is no longer a fundraiser for the school's tot-lot, but a COA funded family event.
this frustrates me for two reasons: a) i was not told about this change until almost a week later, which means i have been giving people incorrect information all this time, and b) the work i put into this event will most likely be credited to the HIP coordinator. the energy i put into securing a guest to read books to the children that attend the event will go unnoticed, as will the time i put combing through google images looking for the perfect picture of a child sitting on santa's lap for the flyers. my name has been taken off the flyers and replaced with her's.
furthermore, i'm still expected to help out with the event. in fact, i'm still expected to have other VISTAs come help, too. i'm not sure if i'm ok with this. if this is a COA funded event, shouldn't the HIP coordinator take care of finding volunteers? don't get me wrong, i'm all for collaboration, but i wish that i had some say in this decision instead of finding out about it through some gossip in the teacher's lounge a week later.
/end rant.
there is also a snack order that had no room number on it, so it is sitting next to me until a teacher sends a student to me to complain. i'm hoping this happens soon, since there's yogurt and string cheese in the order. also, i may help myself to the cereal bar in the bag if no one claims it...
Saturday, December 5, 2009
"this easily could have been condensed into an hour"
this week has been pretty exhausting for me. mps' action team trainings started on monday, which was the date that maple tree was scheduled for. the day was filled with confusion for many of us, and i left the training feeling a little frustrated. i didn't think maple tree's action team understood how we were supposed to write our action plan, yet i couldn't voice this concern to them because of other people are our table distracting the group. we did set a date for our next meeting, though, so i'm hoping to get it all straightened out during the meeting. i think it will help that the entire group will be present, too.
tuesday was pretty normal at maple tree, except i had to go back to marshall high school afterwards to do childcare for an evening action team training. we were told we would have 7 children to look after, so 3 VISTAs went to do childcare. only one child came. however, he turned out to be the cutest and politest child i have met in the longest time. my favorite moment was when i walked into the room after filling up my water bottle and he looked up at me and said, "what are you drinking," and when i told him water, he said, "can i please have some?" obviously, i couldn't say no.
wednesday was a nice change for me, because i didn't have a staff/learning team meeting after school, so i got to leave a little earlier than i normally do on wednesdays. i took this opportunity to go to the gym, since i didn't have the energy to go on tuesday. thursday was pretty normal, too-spent most of the day getting things in order for monday's sgc meeting in terms of writing up something for a parentlink and such.
yesterday turned out to be interesting. sarah and i decided to instate a biweekly poker night for VISTAs, and this week would be the first one. except i'm smart and forgot to do the facebook invites until thursday afternoon. despite this, three people came over-mark, lizzy, and mary. lizzy and mary brought six packs and left a bunch of beer in my fridge. mark had his first encounter with brie (he actually thought it was a slice of cake) and ate crazy amounts of the crackers i bought at trader joe's. we played several rounds of various card games, had lots of laughs, and ended up at nomad at midnight.
next week's looking busy, too-SGC meeting on monday, staff meeting on wednesday, ATP on thursday, and breakfast with santa at ICS on saturday! stay tuned!
tuesday was pretty normal at maple tree, except i had to go back to marshall high school afterwards to do childcare for an evening action team training. we were told we would have 7 children to look after, so 3 VISTAs went to do childcare. only one child came. however, he turned out to be the cutest and politest child i have met in the longest time. my favorite moment was when i walked into the room after filling up my water bottle and he looked up at me and said, "what are you drinking," and when i told him water, he said, "can i please have some?" obviously, i couldn't say no.
wednesday was a nice change for me, because i didn't have a staff/learning team meeting after school, so i got to leave a little earlier than i normally do on wednesdays. i took this opportunity to go to the gym, since i didn't have the energy to go on tuesday. thursday was pretty normal, too-spent most of the day getting things in order for monday's sgc meeting in terms of writing up something for a parentlink and such.
yesterday turned out to be interesting. sarah and i decided to instate a biweekly poker night for VISTAs, and this week would be the first one. except i'm smart and forgot to do the facebook invites until thursday afternoon. despite this, three people came over-mark, lizzy, and mary. lizzy and mary brought six packs and left a bunch of beer in my fridge. mark had his first encounter with brie (he actually thought it was a slice of cake) and ate crazy amounts of the crackers i bought at trader joe's. we played several rounds of various card games, had lots of laughs, and ended up at nomad at midnight.
next week's looking busy, too-SGC meeting on monday, staff meeting on wednesday, ATP on thursday, and breakfast with santa at ICS on saturday! stay tuned!
Tuesday, November 24, 2009
Busy Times at Parents Plus
So I really do have an excuse for the lack of updates this time: I got very sick after I returned from the conference in Green Lake, and my workload multiplied by a million as soon as I had enough energy to do work. luckily, things have slowed down enough that i can give a decent update now.
unfortunately for anyone reading this, there is not a whole lot of exciting news to report. i'm going to report everything that passed in november on a weekly basis.
Nov. 2nd-Nov. 8th: We had our monthly SGC meeting on November 2nd. attendance was nowhere near as impressive as the previous month's meeting, which proves that parentlinks are not the best way to relay information. I'm going to stick to flyers and phone calls from now on. We discussed details on a breakfast with santa fundraiser that we're planning to help rebuild the tot-lot. The next day, i went to west allis to see a fellow VISTA's Action Team training for his school. things got a little crazy during my commute to his site, because when I called to tell him that traffic on I-94 was terrible and that I would be 15 minutes late, his response was to ask me if I could babysit during the meeting. the girl who was supposed to provide childcare still hadn't shown up and he couldn't get in touch with her. i told him i would, but naturally the girl showed up just as i got to the school. november 4th was the neighborhood meeting from hell. i'll leave it at that.
Nov. 9th- Nov. 15th: i went to a dpi regional meeting in johnson creek with other VISTAs and their supervisors on nov. 10th. it was nice to see everyone again and have a chance to have some large group conversations, though i did get a little embarassed when my supervisor told everyone that my ATP would be having their first meeting that thursday. i wanted to tell everyone that it was more of a Q&A session for people who are interested than anything else, but i decided to keep my mouth shut. i think this worked in my favor. this brings us to thursday, the date of the ATP meeting. I walked into the conference room with an expectation that more parents than teachers would be present. however, i was shocked to realize that the only parent who showed up was the school's HIP coordinator (who is super-awesome). I was happy with the overall turnout, though, and think we have a strong group.
Nov. 16th-Nov. 22nd.: went to an atp facilitator training from mps on monday, during which i was told that VISTAs are expected to solicit donations from businesses as incentives for parents to come to the trainings, as well as take care of childcare for the evening sessions. it took a lot of self-control not to rip my hair out over this. we also went over the powerpoint and agenda for the meetings, which just confused me. i was on information overload and felt like i was going to throw up from the stress. i was feeling tense, especially because of the busy couple of days i had ahead of me. a poverty simulation organized by another VISTA was scheduled for the next day. however, after battling traffic on I-94 and getting very lost, the event was canceled because there were not enough facilitators or participants for an effective simulation. I was disappointed to hear this, but at least it gave me some time to sit in my apartment and have some well-deserved me time. i really needed this to get through wednesday's two-hour staff meeting at maple tree. i need to start bringing seat cushions to those, because those chairs are so ridiculously uncomfortable. Seeing Sarah W. on Saturday night was also nice. we talked about how VISTAs seem to have no social lives, so we created a biweekly VISTA poker group. i'm excited to see if this works out.
so now we've made it to this week!
yesterday i spoke to a pastor of a nearby church about participating in our breakfast with santa fundraiser, and he told me that his church may be able to make a monetary contribution to the fundraiser in addition to donating his time, which im really happy about. yesterday was also the rsvp deadline for the one-day action team trainings, so i spent most of my day frantically calling parents and community members about whether or not they could come. two parents are going to the alternate evening sessions for parents and community members, and a representative from growing power will be at the meeting with the maple tree staff, which i'm super-excited about!
so, there it is...you're all caught up with my life!
unfortunately for anyone reading this, there is not a whole lot of exciting news to report. i'm going to report everything that passed in november on a weekly basis.
Nov. 2nd-Nov. 8th: We had our monthly SGC meeting on November 2nd. attendance was nowhere near as impressive as the previous month's meeting, which proves that parentlinks are not the best way to relay information. I'm going to stick to flyers and phone calls from now on. We discussed details on a breakfast with santa fundraiser that we're planning to help rebuild the tot-lot. The next day, i went to west allis to see a fellow VISTA's Action Team training for his school. things got a little crazy during my commute to his site, because when I called to tell him that traffic on I-94 was terrible and that I would be 15 minutes late, his response was to ask me if I could babysit during the meeting. the girl who was supposed to provide childcare still hadn't shown up and he couldn't get in touch with her. i told him i would, but naturally the girl showed up just as i got to the school. november 4th was the neighborhood meeting from hell. i'll leave it at that.
Nov. 9th- Nov. 15th: i went to a dpi regional meeting in johnson creek with other VISTAs and their supervisors on nov. 10th. it was nice to see everyone again and have a chance to have some large group conversations, though i did get a little embarassed when my supervisor told everyone that my ATP would be having their first meeting that thursday. i wanted to tell everyone that it was more of a Q&A session for people who are interested than anything else, but i decided to keep my mouth shut. i think this worked in my favor. this brings us to thursday, the date of the ATP meeting. I walked into the conference room with an expectation that more parents than teachers would be present. however, i was shocked to realize that the only parent who showed up was the school's HIP coordinator (who is super-awesome). I was happy with the overall turnout, though, and think we have a strong group.
Nov. 16th-Nov. 22nd.: went to an atp facilitator training from mps on monday, during which i was told that VISTAs are expected to solicit donations from businesses as incentives for parents to come to the trainings, as well as take care of childcare for the evening sessions. it took a lot of self-control not to rip my hair out over this. we also went over the powerpoint and agenda for the meetings, which just confused me. i was on information overload and felt like i was going to throw up from the stress. i was feeling tense, especially because of the busy couple of days i had ahead of me. a poverty simulation organized by another VISTA was scheduled for the next day. however, after battling traffic on I-94 and getting very lost, the event was canceled because there were not enough facilitators or participants for an effective simulation. I was disappointed to hear this, but at least it gave me some time to sit in my apartment and have some well-deserved me time. i really needed this to get through wednesday's two-hour staff meeting at maple tree. i need to start bringing seat cushions to those, because those chairs are so ridiculously uncomfortable. Seeing Sarah W. on Saturday night was also nice. we talked about how VISTAs seem to have no social lives, so we created a biweekly VISTA poker group. i'm excited to see if this works out.
so now we've made it to this week!
yesterday i spoke to a pastor of a nearby church about participating in our breakfast with santa fundraiser, and he told me that his church may be able to make a monetary contribution to the fundraiser in addition to donating his time, which im really happy about. yesterday was also the rsvp deadline for the one-day action team trainings, so i spent most of my day frantically calling parents and community members about whether or not they could come. two parents are going to the alternate evening sessions for parents and community members, and a representative from growing power will be at the meeting with the maple tree staff, which i'm super-excited about!
so, there it is...you're all caught up with my life!
Thursday, October 29, 2009
Reassurance at its Finest
i feel very happy with how this week has gone.
betsy, penny, and patrice came to maple tree on tuesday for a site visit and meeting with myself and my two site supervisors. i was a little anxious at first for several reasons. first, they were coming to maple tree after visiting another school, and i wasn't sure how i would compare. would they share my disappointment in the lack of feedback from parent and staff surveys that i distributed? would they share my enthusiasm for my ideas?
i was so relieved to hear the kind words that maple tree's principal shared with the group. i was also told that given my circumstances, i've made a good amount of progress and should keep going in this direction. i was also reminded not to compare myself to other VISTAs and/or sites. it was exactly the encouragement i needed to press on with my ATP.
maple tree's principal sent me an email right before dismissal on tuesday to ask me if i could attend a meeting about school attendance for her the next morning, which i agreed to do. the meeting was pretty informative, though definitely pertained more to high schools and other large schools in the district. patrice happened to be at the meeting, too, which was kind of funny. i was given a date for ATP training for our cluster, which i was glad to have information on. we're scheduled for November 30th. i am pushing for the group to meet once beforehand, though, so we can have a solid group that fully understands the goals of the action team and what their role(s) will be.
after the meeting, i drove over to maple tree for a surprise good-bye party for two staff members that are transferring to different schools in the district. i made a couscous salad the night before and was looking forward to seeing how people liked it. of course, only three people tried it! i'm planning to bring the leftovers to parents plus tomorrow, especially because cara said she would try some. i also met with the principal to discuss updating my VAD (VISTA activity description) for the school. we agreed that all that we needed to change were a couple of minor things.
today was the Americorps Opening Ceremony in Green Lake. though it was optional for the Parents Plus VISTAs, i decided to go because my school was closed for conventions. i met some great people doing some wonderful projects in Wisconsin, which made me proud to be a member of the Americorps community. the drive to and from Green Lake was great, too: me, cara, mark, and lizzy...
i finally got a new camera, so i'm going to post some pictures of things soon!
betsy, penny, and patrice came to maple tree on tuesday for a site visit and meeting with myself and my two site supervisors. i was a little anxious at first for several reasons. first, they were coming to maple tree after visiting another school, and i wasn't sure how i would compare. would they share my disappointment in the lack of feedback from parent and staff surveys that i distributed? would they share my enthusiasm for my ideas?
i was so relieved to hear the kind words that maple tree's principal shared with the group. i was also told that given my circumstances, i've made a good amount of progress and should keep going in this direction. i was also reminded not to compare myself to other VISTAs and/or sites. it was exactly the encouragement i needed to press on with my ATP.
maple tree's principal sent me an email right before dismissal on tuesday to ask me if i could attend a meeting about school attendance for her the next morning, which i agreed to do. the meeting was pretty informative, though definitely pertained more to high schools and other large schools in the district. patrice happened to be at the meeting, too, which was kind of funny. i was given a date for ATP training for our cluster, which i was glad to have information on. we're scheduled for November 30th. i am pushing for the group to meet once beforehand, though, so we can have a solid group that fully understands the goals of the action team and what their role(s) will be.
after the meeting, i drove over to maple tree for a surprise good-bye party for two staff members that are transferring to different schools in the district. i made a couscous salad the night before and was looking forward to seeing how people liked it. of course, only three people tried it! i'm planning to bring the leftovers to parents plus tomorrow, especially because cara said she would try some. i also met with the principal to discuss updating my VAD (VISTA activity description) for the school. we agreed that all that we needed to change were a couple of minor things.
today was the Americorps Opening Ceremony in Green Lake. though it was optional for the Parents Plus VISTAs, i decided to go because my school was closed for conventions. i met some great people doing some wonderful projects in Wisconsin, which made me proud to be a member of the Americorps community. the drive to and from Green Lake was great, too: me, cara, mark, and lizzy...
i finally got a new camera, so i'm going to post some pictures of things soon!
Monday, October 26, 2009
I'm Not Going to Make Excuses...
but i do apologize for the lack of updates.
in my defense, i've been a busy bee with several things. two weeks ago, i had after school events at vincent high school and maple tree on tuesday, wednesday, and thursday. my quarterly report was also due that week, so i was scrambling to compile information from the (lack of) surveys returned to be me by staff and parents.
that week wasn't all bad, though. kelly came here for mid-semester break. she came up on thursday night and left sunday afternoon. during her time here we ate a lot of yummy food, went to the milwaukee art museum, saw where the wild things are, went shopping, ate dinner at safehouse, and went to panera twice. i had a lot of first-time experiences during her visit, actually. on her first night here we went to an indian restaurant right around the corner from me that i never tried before (turned out to be great, and they deliver!). friday was the first time i've gone to the milwaukee art museum, too. we also went to the movies at fox bay cinema grill, which i've never been to before, either. it's a really cool theater, since they serve real food during the movie (sandwiches, pizza, etc). the first thing i said when we walked inside the lobby was an exclamation at the fact that they have a full bar in the lobby. we went to baker's square after the movie, which was not such a great experience. on saturday night we went to safehouse for dinner, which was quite an experience. we had to dance an irish jig to get inside, which we were applauded for. 'nuff said.
so now all the work i did last week and everything coming up this week seems mundane in comparison to the craziness of that week.
i was feeling a little sick this weekend, though. the sore throat came and went in no time, so i'm just feeling congestion right now. of course, i still went to the ingrid michaelson concert. i did leave after ten or so songs, but it was already 10:15, and I'm usually in bed by 10. it was a great concert, so i'm glad i went.
i'm really excited about going to green lake on thursday. it'll be a great way to reconnect with non-dpi vistas in the area.
in my defense, i've been a busy bee with several things. two weeks ago, i had after school events at vincent high school and maple tree on tuesday, wednesday, and thursday. my quarterly report was also due that week, so i was scrambling to compile information from the (lack of) surveys returned to be me by staff and parents.
that week wasn't all bad, though. kelly came here for mid-semester break. she came up on thursday night and left sunday afternoon. during her time here we ate a lot of yummy food, went to the milwaukee art museum, saw where the wild things are, went shopping, ate dinner at safehouse, and went to panera twice. i had a lot of first-time experiences during her visit, actually. on her first night here we went to an indian restaurant right around the corner from me that i never tried before (turned out to be great, and they deliver!). friday was the first time i've gone to the milwaukee art museum, too. we also went to the movies at fox bay cinema grill, which i've never been to before, either. it's a really cool theater, since they serve real food during the movie (sandwiches, pizza, etc). the first thing i said when we walked inside the lobby was an exclamation at the fact that they have a full bar in the lobby. we went to baker's square after the movie, which was not such a great experience. on saturday night we went to safehouse for dinner, which was quite an experience. we had to dance an irish jig to get inside, which we were applauded for. 'nuff said.
so now all the work i did last week and everything coming up this week seems mundane in comparison to the craziness of that week.
i was feeling a little sick this weekend, though. the sore throat came and went in no time, so i'm just feeling congestion right now. of course, i still went to the ingrid michaelson concert. i did leave after ten or so songs, but it was already 10:15, and I'm usually in bed by 10. it was a great concert, so i'm glad i went.
i'm really excited about going to green lake on thursday. it'll be a great way to reconnect with non-dpi vistas in the area.
Wednesday, October 14, 2009
Thinking, Waiting, Wishing
i'm starting to think i should pay more attention to the news.
last night was the fall open house for prospective students of vincent high school. i went to distribute information from parents plus. earlier that day, i learned that five students had been arrested during a fight in the school's cafeteria the day before, which may be the reason why only sixteen families showed up.
what i did not find out until this morning was that an additional six students had been arrested the day of the open house, as well as the fact that a student had been tasered during the fight in the cafeteria. two assistant educators had been attacked during the events that led to the arrests, too.
i don't know if i would have gone to the open house if i knew about this.
as easy as it will be for the media to point fingers at the families of these students, i cant help but wonder how involved their teachers are in their lives. it's easy for students to feel like their teachers don't care, especially in a school as large as vincent. teachers tend to only have an individual relationship with the students that excel in class or fall behind. what happens to the average students? they slip through the cracks...
last night was the fall open house for prospective students of vincent high school. i went to distribute information from parents plus. earlier that day, i learned that five students had been arrested during a fight in the school's cafeteria the day before, which may be the reason why only sixteen families showed up.
what i did not find out until this morning was that an additional six students had been arrested the day of the open house, as well as the fact that a student had been tasered during the fight in the cafeteria. two assistant educators had been attacked during the events that led to the arrests, too.
i don't know if i would have gone to the open house if i knew about this.
as easy as it will be for the media to point fingers at the families of these students, i cant help but wonder how involved their teachers are in their lives. it's easy for students to feel like their teachers don't care, especially in a school as large as vincent. teachers tend to only have an individual relationship with the students that excel in class or fall behind. what happens to the average students? they slip through the cracks...
Sunday, October 11, 2009
all i can do is keep breathing...
this past week has been pretty stressful on me. i've been dealing with the task of putting an ATP (the acronym for action team) together for my school, and i'm getting very little support from the teachers. i'm going to continue to press on with putting my atp together, with or without their support, though. after making that decision, i got in contact with ms. christie (the only full-time specialist in the school who they somehow managed to keep on staff after a short scare) and a third grade teacher who want to be involved. i know that two of the early childhood teachers active with the school governance council will be involved, too, along with the principal. this all the staff support i need for a school as small as maple tree, so i'm satisfied with this outcome.
i'm still trying to get in touch with two parents who i've left voicemails for. they both have email addresses, so i'm going to email them tomorrow. i also want to get one more community member involved and am hoping that either the granville society or west granville presbyterian will find someone to represent them.
i was feeling pretty stressed over this on wednesday evening. it was my last day at the school for the week, and i was pressing for my atp to meet by the end of the month. i headed to my workshop with joyce epstein on thursday morning a good deal of skepticism weighing me down. i lost the sparkle in my eye. i hadnt felt this way since the end of my first full day of pso, when all we did was eat and talk about poverty.
things changed by the end of our two-day workshop, though. i feel like i have a better idea of what's going on. i also know that i am not alone. in fact, mps will be scheduling a one-day training for my school's atp in december or january, which means i can take a deep breath and not push the idea of meeting by the end of the month. it also gives me time to recruit more people to get involved. mark told me that im pretty far ahead of everyone else in terms of recruitment, though, so i think i should take some time to focus on everything else that needs to be done.
because of all this pent-up stress, i decided i needed a vacation from the world for the weekend. i closed my blinds, made some tea, and watched arrested development on dvd. today i did back-to-back fitness classes at the gym (powerflex followed by yoga...not my best idea). i have not left my apartment since then. as of now, i only plan to leave when i walk over to blockbuster to return some movies.
i've also taken this time to catch up on my housework, especially because kelly's coming to visit me on thursday! this is perfect timing, because i think it'll be good for me to see/interact with someone who isn't a VISTA right now. especially considering that tomorrow is my only normal day before her arrival, too...i'm working the open house at vincent high school from 6-8 on tuesday and parent-teacher conferences at maple tree on wednesday 4:30-7:30 (only 30 minutes after the learning team meeting ends) and thursday 2:45-5:50.
i think i need to work on being practical about how much i can commit to without burning out. i worked 92 hours in my last pay period and worked extra hours this week so i can take friday off. from now on, i'm going to try harder to stick to 40 hour work weeks.
i'm still trying to get in touch with two parents who i've left voicemails for. they both have email addresses, so i'm going to email them tomorrow. i also want to get one more community member involved and am hoping that either the granville society or west granville presbyterian will find someone to represent them.
i was feeling pretty stressed over this on wednesday evening. it was my last day at the school for the week, and i was pressing for my atp to meet by the end of the month. i headed to my workshop with joyce epstein on thursday morning a good deal of skepticism weighing me down. i lost the sparkle in my eye. i hadnt felt this way since the end of my first full day of pso, when all we did was eat and talk about poverty.
things changed by the end of our two-day workshop, though. i feel like i have a better idea of what's going on. i also know that i am not alone. in fact, mps will be scheduling a one-day training for my school's atp in december or january, which means i can take a deep breath and not push the idea of meeting by the end of the month. it also gives me time to recruit more people to get involved. mark told me that im pretty far ahead of everyone else in terms of recruitment, though, so i think i should take some time to focus on everything else that needs to be done.
because of all this pent-up stress, i decided i needed a vacation from the world for the weekend. i closed my blinds, made some tea, and watched arrested development on dvd. today i did back-to-back fitness classes at the gym (powerflex followed by yoga...not my best idea). i have not left my apartment since then. as of now, i only plan to leave when i walk over to blockbuster to return some movies.
i've also taken this time to catch up on my housework, especially because kelly's coming to visit me on thursday! this is perfect timing, because i think it'll be good for me to see/interact with someone who isn't a VISTA right now. especially considering that tomorrow is my only normal day before her arrival, too...i'm working the open house at vincent high school from 6-8 on tuesday and parent-teacher conferences at maple tree on wednesday 4:30-7:30 (only 30 minutes after the learning team meeting ends) and thursday 2:45-5:50.
i think i need to work on being practical about how much i can commit to without burning out. i worked 92 hours in my last pay period and worked extra hours this week so i can take friday off. from now on, i'm going to try harder to stick to 40 hour work weeks.
Tuesday, October 6, 2009
We're Captive on the Carousel of Time
yesterday was interesting, to say the least.
i have been struggling with getting in contact with vincent high school. i need to be present at their open house and parent-teacher conferences to distribute information from parents plus, since they are a seyfey school. tomorrow is their open house. i was frustrated by the fact that they were not responding to my calls and emails, so i decided to just show up and talk to the principal. when i got there, i was told in a cold manner by a school secretary that the principal was unavailable and that i needed to schedule a meeting. when i asked her if i could schedule one while i was there, she did not respond. i brought my copy of Beyond the Bake Sale and was prepared to wait, but the harsh glance i received from the secretary gave me the vibe that i wasn't welcome to wait there. i plan on calling to schedule an appointment today after i grab my phone from my car, since their area code is 262 and i cannot dial long distance on the school phone.
despite this setback, i was very happy with the turnout for this month's governance council meeting. we had six parents show up, which is a vast improvement from the two that came last month. we planned some future fundraisers for parent-teacher conferences and discussed homeroom changes. i did get some harshness about the fact that the ATP will be a separate entity from the SGC, though. several teachers were under the impression that everything would be under the umbrella of SGC now, which is not the case for my ATP. luckily, we settled the situation before things got out of hand.
lesson of the day from yesterday: always stretch thoroughly before running. otherwise, you will regret it in the morning...
i have been struggling with getting in contact with vincent high school. i need to be present at their open house and parent-teacher conferences to distribute information from parents plus, since they are a seyfey school. tomorrow is their open house. i was frustrated by the fact that they were not responding to my calls and emails, so i decided to just show up and talk to the principal. when i got there, i was told in a cold manner by a school secretary that the principal was unavailable and that i needed to schedule a meeting. when i asked her if i could schedule one while i was there, she did not respond. i brought my copy of Beyond the Bake Sale and was prepared to wait, but the harsh glance i received from the secretary gave me the vibe that i wasn't welcome to wait there. i plan on calling to schedule an appointment today after i grab my phone from my car, since their area code is 262 and i cannot dial long distance on the school phone.
despite this setback, i was very happy with the turnout for this month's governance council meeting. we had six parents show up, which is a vast improvement from the two that came last month. we planned some future fundraisers for parent-teacher conferences and discussed homeroom changes. i did get some harshness about the fact that the ATP will be a separate entity from the SGC, though. several teachers were under the impression that everything would be under the umbrella of SGC now, which is not the case for my ATP. luckily, we settled the situation before things got out of hand.
lesson of the day from yesterday: always stretch thoroughly before running. otherwise, you will regret it in the morning...
Saturday, October 3, 2009
More Than a Feeling
i'm completely in love with milwaukee in the fall. today was the fall harvest festival on brady street, and it was so much fun to walk around and enjoy the beauty of the season.
the meet and greet at maple tree was very successful for us! i now have connections with the pastor of west granville presbyterian, a society for community members in granville, and growing power, and they all want to be involved in maple tree's Action Team! i'm getting very little enthusiasm from teachers, though. having discussed this at friday's team meeting at parents plus, i'm deciding to schedule our first meeting for October 22nd. this will give me time to talk to teachers about getting involved, even though i plan on holding the meeting either way. if no teachers join by then, my hope is that they will express interest once they learn more about what the Action Team will do.
things are really picking up right now schedule-wise. last night i went to a resource fair for latino families at south division high school with cara after we finished work at parents plus. im attending two days worth of workshops by joyce epstein this coming week (SO excited!!!). maple tree has parent-teacher conferences on next friday and saturday, which will coincide with kelly's visit. Of course, there's also the governance council meeting on this coming monday and vincent high school's open house on the 13th, which i have to attend so i can pass out ses materials.
i'm getting a lot of positive responses from parents about attending the governance council meeting, which im very happy about! well, except from the one parent who yelled at me about the PTO's decision to give treats to students who come to school in uniform. i'm still amazed that i kept my cool during that conversation.
and now for the good news...MY QUEST CARD CAME IN THE MAIL TODAY!!!!!!!!!!!!
of course, it came after i went food shopping
my concern is that yesterday i received a letter from foodshare that they need proof of citizenship and a copy of my lease, both of which i faxed to them in august. im going to call them on monday to see whats going on with that.
anyway, im baking brownies in celebration, so im going to get started on that!
the meet and greet at maple tree was very successful for us! i now have connections with the pastor of west granville presbyterian, a society for community members in granville, and growing power, and they all want to be involved in maple tree's Action Team! i'm getting very little enthusiasm from teachers, though. having discussed this at friday's team meeting at parents plus, i'm deciding to schedule our first meeting for October 22nd. this will give me time to talk to teachers about getting involved, even though i plan on holding the meeting either way. if no teachers join by then, my hope is that they will express interest once they learn more about what the Action Team will do.
things are really picking up right now schedule-wise. last night i went to a resource fair for latino families at south division high school with cara after we finished work at parents plus. im attending two days worth of workshops by joyce epstein this coming week (SO excited!!!). maple tree has parent-teacher conferences on next friday and saturday, which will coincide with kelly's visit. Of course, there's also the governance council meeting on this coming monday and vincent high school's open house on the 13th, which i have to attend so i can pass out ses materials.
i'm getting a lot of positive responses from parents about attending the governance council meeting, which im very happy about! well, except from the one parent who yelled at me about the PTO's decision to give treats to students who come to school in uniform. i'm still amazed that i kept my cool during that conversation.
and now for the good news...MY QUEST CARD CAME IN THE MAIL TODAY!!!!!!!!!!!!
of course, it came after i went food shopping
my concern is that yesterday i received a letter from foodshare that they need proof of citizenship and a copy of my lease, both of which i faxed to them in august. im going to call them on monday to see whats going on with that.
anyway, im baking brownies in celebration, so im going to get started on that!
Wednesday, September 30, 2009
Both Hands
i'm thinking that i need to either eat my lunch somewhere besides the teacher's lounge or eat in the lounge when there's no staff in there.
several teachers have taken to discussing school politics in the staff lounge during their lunch break. while i agree with the fact that everyone's entitled to their opinion, it puts me in a bind when they make direct eye contact with me while voicing their opinion. i've explained a couple of times that i refuse to blame anyone for a child who is struggling in school academically or behaviorally (or the combination of both struggles), and that i'm here to help children that are struggling. i relocated my life fr0m the east coast to the northwest not for the scenery or the weather, but because i want to help these students.
having said this, a couple of teachers now feel that it is ok to just vent their feelings on parents to me, knowing that i will not agree with them or defend the action of the parents of their students. i told these teachers that if they feel strongly about this issue, they should make the time to be involved in Maple Tree's ATP. several teachers laughed. the thing is, i wasn't joking.
i usually don't eat lunch with these teachers, since i usually eat later in the day, but i had to take my lunch a little earlier than i normally do today. the staff members i usually eat with will talk about subjects that i have no problem discussing.
anyway, on to something a little more lighthearted...
this morning i made and distributed copies of a flyer for teachers about Maple Tree's Action Team. I've got parents and community members ready to get involved and the support of the school principal. because i put the flyers in the teacher mailboxes after they all collected their mail, i'm going to give them until the end of the school week to get back to me (basically, the end of tomorrow, since i'm not at the school on fridays). after that, im going to start taking the time to talk to as many individual teachers as i need to in order to get staff support on my ATP.
i'm also glad to report that i'm starting to get responses from the parents surveys i sent out with yesterday's tuesday folder! i've also placed two parent volunteers in the library and will be training another parent volunteer for snack distribution tomorrow morning. i have information for two other parents who are interested in volunteering, but i'm hanging to one for when we start doing snack 5 days a week (right now it's just tuesdays and thursdays). the other parent said that she could not commit to volunteering a regular basis but would like to when she has the time, so i'm hanging onto her information for future events we may need volunteers for.
Maple Tree's principal is having a meet and greet this afternoon that i'm sticking around for. someone from growing power and west granville presbyterian will be here for it, so i want to talk to them about the ATP.
it's going to take a lot of caffeine to get through today...
several teachers have taken to discussing school politics in the staff lounge during their lunch break. while i agree with the fact that everyone's entitled to their opinion, it puts me in a bind when they make direct eye contact with me while voicing their opinion. i've explained a couple of times that i refuse to blame anyone for a child who is struggling in school academically or behaviorally (or the combination of both struggles), and that i'm here to help children that are struggling. i relocated my life fr0m the east coast to the northwest not for the scenery or the weather, but because i want to help these students.
having said this, a couple of teachers now feel that it is ok to just vent their feelings on parents to me, knowing that i will not agree with them or defend the action of the parents of their students. i told these teachers that if they feel strongly about this issue, they should make the time to be involved in Maple Tree's ATP. several teachers laughed. the thing is, i wasn't joking.
i usually don't eat lunch with these teachers, since i usually eat later in the day, but i had to take my lunch a little earlier than i normally do today. the staff members i usually eat with will talk about subjects that i have no problem discussing.
anyway, on to something a little more lighthearted...
this morning i made and distributed copies of a flyer for teachers about Maple Tree's Action Team. I've got parents and community members ready to get involved and the support of the school principal. because i put the flyers in the teacher mailboxes after they all collected their mail, i'm going to give them until the end of the school week to get back to me (basically, the end of tomorrow, since i'm not at the school on fridays). after that, im going to start taking the time to talk to as many individual teachers as i need to in order to get staff support on my ATP.
i'm also glad to report that i'm starting to get responses from the parents surveys i sent out with yesterday's tuesday folder! i've also placed two parent volunteers in the library and will be training another parent volunteer for snack distribution tomorrow morning. i have information for two other parents who are interested in volunteering, but i'm hanging to one for when we start doing snack 5 days a week (right now it's just tuesdays and thursdays). the other parent said that she could not commit to volunteering a regular basis but would like to when she has the time, so i'm hanging onto her information for future events we may need volunteers for.
Maple Tree's principal is having a meet and greet this afternoon that i'm sticking around for. someone from growing power and west granville presbyterian will be here for it, so i want to talk to them about the ATP.
it's going to take a lot of caffeine to get through today...
Saturday, September 26, 2009
"I'd run if it didn't mean moving..."
(props to cara for the quote that i used in the title of this blog)
what.a.week.
let's start with wednesday after school...
i took this afternoon as time to prepare for the next few days. after maple tree dismissed at 2:30 i drove down to the parents plus office to pick up materials for thursday's fall open house at maple tree. counted out 300 copies of various pamphlets and magnets, i filled out a pirc form and was on my way to my my apartment so i could get the quiche recipe i planned on using for friday's potluck at parents plus (i'll include the recipe at the end of this entry). got a start on soaking the lentils for the recipe while running to the grocery store to pick up eggs, milk, and cheese for the quiche. i started working on the quiche as soon as i got home, then started working on dinner.
of course, i didn't realize i had done all of this in the skirt, button down shirt, and heels that i wore to the school that day. words cannot describe how good it felt to put my pajamas on that evening. went to bed at 10.
thursday: the big day...Back to school night!!!!!!
i spent the morning frantically calling parents to confirm who could and could not donate baked goods for the PTO bakesale that we were holding during the open house when a teacher who was supposed to collect the baked goods told me that no one had brought anything in. about seven parents said they would bring something (insert sigh of relief here).
after school dismissed, i decided to drive down to milwaukee outreach center to talk to the director there. i met with him in august to establish connections with him as a resource center, but he had not been returning my calls about getting him or a representative from the center involved in maple tree's action team. when i got there, he told me that they are currently understaffed and cannot make a commitment to being a part of the action team right now. considering that i showed up unannounced, he was pretty darn polite.
after grabbing some snacks at walgreens (in other words, a bag of peanuts...i dont understand my recent addiction to peanuts and peanut products), i went back to maple tree to set up for the open house. i was given a table in a narrow hallway of classrooms. the bad part about this set up was that i was not front and center like i wanted to be. the goods news was that because the hallway was relatively narrow and had several tables set up, parents had no choice but to talk to me while being stuck in front of my table. ms. christy showed up later and took it upon herself to move me to the main entrance area.
my set up was pretty simple: i put together two handouts and a magnet from parents plus in a little information packet that i had out to distribute parents, and i also set out a volunteer sign-up sheet, next to which i put a list of where the school needs parents to volunteer. i also ran off some copies of the action team flyer that i sent home on tuesday, since i had not gotten any responses. by the end of the open house, seven parents signed up to volunteer in the school, and four filled out the form for the action team. considering the light turnout for the open house, this was a pretty big deal for me.
after the open house, i ran home for the season premiere of grey's anatomy. adrian came over to hang out, since i realized that i haven't had much social interaction with people recently.
adrian sends me a text at 1:45 in the morning saying that he's sick. i ask him if i can help in any way, but he says no. not having the energy to insist that i take him to the er, i fall asleep.
i wake up on friday with a sore throat. thinking nothing of it, i drink some cold care tea and head out to parents plus, quiche in tow! at 8:30, adrian texts me and says that he needs to know how i'm feeling. i tell him about my sore throat, but that otherwise i feel normal. he tells me that i need to see a doctor immediately, because a sore throat is the first symptom of swine flu and he had been up all night vomiting and feeling nauseous. i drop off the quiche at parents plus, explain my situation to patrice, then get going on finding a doctor. i left my insurance card at home, so i had to go grab that so i could call them about finding a doctor. got a name of one nearby that doesnt take appointments, drive over there, sit in a waiting room with a surgical mask over my mouth only to be given the inevitable news that i do not have swine flu. big sigh of relief. they took a strep test and stuck a needle down my nose to make me cough as precautions, but they think it's nothing more than a cold. return to parents plus in time for the potluck.
because my birthday was this month, i was given a gift (a mug filled with lollipops) and a card from everyone at parents plus! i also got a card from penny and betsy, which was really sweet. I hung up the cards on my bulletin board at parents plus and plan on bringing the mug to maple tree.
i also talked to suzy about meeting with her friend who runs a therapeutic riding facility, and we set a date to go out there on sunday! i'm so excited to go riding again!
of course, despite the day's earlier health scare, i still went to the gym. if you don't know this already, let's clear it up: i am an exercise junkie.
i wanted to leave half an hour ago to go to the library to distribute SES materials, but seeing as i'm already behind schedule, here's that quiche recipe:
Lentil Quiche
what.a.week.
let's start with wednesday after school...
i took this afternoon as time to prepare for the next few days. after maple tree dismissed at 2:30 i drove down to the parents plus office to pick up materials for thursday's fall open house at maple tree. counted out 300 copies of various pamphlets and magnets, i filled out a pirc form and was on my way to my my apartment so i could get the quiche recipe i planned on using for friday's potluck at parents plus (i'll include the recipe at the end of this entry). got a start on soaking the lentils for the recipe while running to the grocery store to pick up eggs, milk, and cheese for the quiche. i started working on the quiche as soon as i got home, then started working on dinner.
of course, i didn't realize i had done all of this in the skirt, button down shirt, and heels that i wore to the school that day. words cannot describe how good it felt to put my pajamas on that evening. went to bed at 10.
thursday: the big day...Back to school night!!!!!!
i spent the morning frantically calling parents to confirm who could and could not donate baked goods for the PTO bakesale that we were holding during the open house when a teacher who was supposed to collect the baked goods told me that no one had brought anything in. about seven parents said they would bring something (insert sigh of relief here).
after school dismissed, i decided to drive down to milwaukee outreach center to talk to the director there. i met with him in august to establish connections with him as a resource center, but he had not been returning my calls about getting him or a representative from the center involved in maple tree's action team. when i got there, he told me that they are currently understaffed and cannot make a commitment to being a part of the action team right now. considering that i showed up unannounced, he was pretty darn polite.
after grabbing some snacks at walgreens (in other words, a bag of peanuts...i dont understand my recent addiction to peanuts and peanut products), i went back to maple tree to set up for the open house. i was given a table in a narrow hallway of classrooms. the bad part about this set up was that i was not front and center like i wanted to be. the goods news was that because the hallway was relatively narrow and had several tables set up, parents had no choice but to talk to me while being stuck in front of my table. ms. christy showed up later and took it upon herself to move me to the main entrance area.
my set up was pretty simple: i put together two handouts and a magnet from parents plus in a little information packet that i had out to distribute parents, and i also set out a volunteer sign-up sheet, next to which i put a list of where the school needs parents to volunteer. i also ran off some copies of the action team flyer that i sent home on tuesday, since i had not gotten any responses. by the end of the open house, seven parents signed up to volunteer in the school, and four filled out the form for the action team. considering the light turnout for the open house, this was a pretty big deal for me.
after the open house, i ran home for the season premiere of grey's anatomy. adrian came over to hang out, since i realized that i haven't had much social interaction with people recently.
adrian sends me a text at 1:45 in the morning saying that he's sick. i ask him if i can help in any way, but he says no. not having the energy to insist that i take him to the er, i fall asleep.
i wake up on friday with a sore throat. thinking nothing of it, i drink some cold care tea and head out to parents plus, quiche in tow! at 8:30, adrian texts me and says that he needs to know how i'm feeling. i tell him about my sore throat, but that otherwise i feel normal. he tells me that i need to see a doctor immediately, because a sore throat is the first symptom of swine flu and he had been up all night vomiting and feeling nauseous. i drop off the quiche at parents plus, explain my situation to patrice, then get going on finding a doctor. i left my insurance card at home, so i had to go grab that so i could call them about finding a doctor. got a name of one nearby that doesnt take appointments, drive over there, sit in a waiting room with a surgical mask over my mouth only to be given the inevitable news that i do not have swine flu. big sigh of relief. they took a strep test and stuck a needle down my nose to make me cough as precautions, but they think it's nothing more than a cold. return to parents plus in time for the potluck.
because my birthday was this month, i was given a gift (a mug filled with lollipops) and a card from everyone at parents plus! i also got a card from penny and betsy, which was really sweet. I hung up the cards on my bulletin board at parents plus and plan on bringing the mug to maple tree.
i also talked to suzy about meeting with her friend who runs a therapeutic riding facility, and we set a date to go out there on sunday! i'm so excited to go riding again!
of course, despite the day's earlier health scare, i still went to the gym. if you don't know this already, let's clear it up: i am an exercise junkie.
i wanted to leave half an hour ago to go to the library to distribute SES materials, but seeing as i'm already behind schedule, here's that quiche recipe:
Lentil Quiche
- 1 cup chopped onion
- 2 tablespoons olive oil
- 1/2 cup dried lentils
- 2 cups water
- 2 cups broccoli florets
- 1 cup chopped fresh tomatoes
- 4 eggs, beaten
- 1 cup milk
- 1 teaspoon salt
- ground black pepper to taste
- 2 teaspoons Italian seasoning
- 1/2 cup shredded Cheddar cheese (optional)
DIRECTIONS
- Preheat the oven to 375 degrees F (190 degrees C). Place the onion and olive oil into a 9 inch deep-dish pie plate. Bake for about 15 minutes, or until onion is tender.
- Place the lentils and water into a saucepan, and bring to a boil. Cook for about 20 minutes, or until lentils are tender. Drain most of the water off, then place the broccoli florets on top of the lentils. Cover and cook for about 5 minutes. This will dry the lentils, and cook the broccoli.
- Transfer the lentils, broccoli and tomatoes to the pie plate with the onions, and stir to evenly distribute each item. Stir in cheese at this time if using. In a medium bowl, whisk together the eggs, milk, salt, pepper, and Italian seasoning. Pour over the ingredients in the pie plate.
- Bake for 45 minutes in the preheated oven, or until the center is firm when the quiche is jiggled. Cool for a few minutes before slicing and serving.
Wednesday, September 23, 2009
Winds of Change
happy belated fall equinox!
also, i'd like to devote this entry to the death of the carafe from my coffeemaker. i am unsure of how i will go on until the replacement arrives. im not sure if i can afford to maintain my caffeine addiction if i go to the mcdonalds drive-thru everyday until it arrives.
it's definitely starting to feel like fall here. though it's still muggy outside, i'm starting to feel cravings for hot apple cider and have spotted pumpkins for sale at pick 'n save. i'm very excited to make pumpkin ravioli soon! if only i had my quest card...
for those of you who are unaware of my situation with foodshare, i'm stuck in a waiting period right now. i submitted my application on august 20th and was told that i qualified for immediate assistance, since i have no income. however, two weeks went by without being contacted by esc. i finally called them on my last day of training at parents plus. the woman i spoke to was very helpful and told me that it was good that i called, because they have received a large amount of applications and it would have taken them awhile to contact me. she then told me exactly what to fax in: a copy of my lease agreement, a letter from americorps, and a copy of my driver's license. i faxed in all three the next day.
when i got home after faxing them the information, i received a letter saying that they needed proof of employment from american eagle. after several phone calls, i was told that the store was undergoing management overhaul and that they were bringing in a new head manager for the store. several unreturned phone calls later, i finally spoke to her, and she referred me to the work number. the work number is a service used by many corporations for social service and benefits purposes. I called ESC again and got the information to them last friday. i was told that it will take 10 business days to process this information. i plan on calling them tomorrow or friday to follow up and make sure that they are making progress on this.
the good news is that the money will be pro-rated from the date i submitted my application, so i'm looking at another $200 on my card.
also, i'm pretty sure my supervisor at maple tree has esp, because she came in with a gift bag with goodies that included gift cards and chocolate that she was given to give to me after orientation right after i thought to myself how i really needed some chocolate.
also, i'd like to devote this entry to the death of the carafe from my coffeemaker. i am unsure of how i will go on until the replacement arrives. im not sure if i can afford to maintain my caffeine addiction if i go to the mcdonalds drive-thru everyday until it arrives.
it's definitely starting to feel like fall here. though it's still muggy outside, i'm starting to feel cravings for hot apple cider and have spotted pumpkins for sale at pick 'n save. i'm very excited to make pumpkin ravioli soon! if only i had my quest card...
for those of you who are unaware of my situation with foodshare, i'm stuck in a waiting period right now. i submitted my application on august 20th and was told that i qualified for immediate assistance, since i have no income. however, two weeks went by without being contacted by esc. i finally called them on my last day of training at parents plus. the woman i spoke to was very helpful and told me that it was good that i called, because they have received a large amount of applications and it would have taken them awhile to contact me. she then told me exactly what to fax in: a copy of my lease agreement, a letter from americorps, and a copy of my driver's license. i faxed in all three the next day.
when i got home after faxing them the information, i received a letter saying that they needed proof of employment from american eagle. after several phone calls, i was told that the store was undergoing management overhaul and that they were bringing in a new head manager for the store. several unreturned phone calls later, i finally spoke to her, and she referred me to the work number. the work number is a service used by many corporations for social service and benefits purposes. I called ESC again and got the information to them last friday. i was told that it will take 10 business days to process this information. i plan on calling them tomorrow or friday to follow up and make sure that they are making progress on this.
the good news is that the money will be pro-rated from the date i submitted my application, so i'm looking at another $200 on my card.
also, i'm pretty sure my supervisor at maple tree has esp, because she came in with a gift bag with goodies that included gift cards and chocolate that she was given to give to me after orientation right after i thought to myself how i really needed some chocolate.
Tuesday, September 22, 2009
the start of something new
today was the CNCS conference in milwaukee. the point of the conference was for volunteers and supervisors involved in various americorps programs, faith-based organizations, volunteer programs, and government officials to come together to help draft wisconsin's state plan for national service. once the plan is finalized, it will be sent out to the corporation for national and community service. volunteers came from milwaukee, racine, kenosha, waukesha, and sheboygan to assist in this process.
the conference mainly consisted of several open-ended questions that we addressed in small groups of seven, leaving time to come together as a large group to share what we said. though it was a good learning experience and a great chance to network with other volunteers, i could not help but feel like it was hard for me to voice my opinions. three women at my table were very outspoken, to the point where they would talk for several minutes, turn to the rest of us and ask what our opinions were, then continue to talk before any of us could open our mouths. i found myself interrupting the women several times because i knew that there was no other way i could voice my feelings. i was also criticized for moving from the east coast to take a position in milwaukee, because others felt that it would take someone in my position a long time to become accustomed to the location, which would have a negative effect on their work. i pointed out that i moved here about a month before my contract started so i could get a chance to learn the city beforehand, but they stood by their opinion that it is best to take on local volunteers than to relocate someone.
after the conference, i drove as fast as i could in downpour to the school, just so i could distribute flyers for students to take home about forming an Action Team. I can only cross my fingers that parents will send back the form saying that they want to be active.
I met with growing power yesterday and took a tour of their facility. I'm hoping to get them involved in the action team, as well, and they seemed pretty optomistic about it. I was very happy when they asked me if i'm a VISTA when i mentioned that i'm only with the school until next august. i also wish i had a green thumb, because their program is incredible. here is their website:
http://growingpower.org/
today i received a housewarming present from my aunt: a framed photograph of yellow flowers that i picked out for the place. minor redecoration may be in order, because i am unsure of where to put it. i am debating between hanging it in the kitchen area or above my futon. if i hang it above my futon, though, it means moving my peace flag so it will hang over my tv/computer area, which means moving my peace sign photograph to the kitchen area...looks like i've got plans for saturday!
the conference mainly consisted of several open-ended questions that we addressed in small groups of seven, leaving time to come together as a large group to share what we said. though it was a good learning experience and a great chance to network with other volunteers, i could not help but feel like it was hard for me to voice my opinions. three women at my table were very outspoken, to the point where they would talk for several minutes, turn to the rest of us and ask what our opinions were, then continue to talk before any of us could open our mouths. i found myself interrupting the women several times because i knew that there was no other way i could voice my feelings. i was also criticized for moving from the east coast to take a position in milwaukee, because others felt that it would take someone in my position a long time to become accustomed to the location, which would have a negative effect on their work. i pointed out that i moved here about a month before my contract started so i could get a chance to learn the city beforehand, but they stood by their opinion that it is best to take on local volunteers than to relocate someone.
after the conference, i drove as fast as i could in downpour to the school, just so i could distribute flyers for students to take home about forming an Action Team. I can only cross my fingers that parents will send back the form saying that they want to be active.
I met with growing power yesterday and took a tour of their facility. I'm hoping to get them involved in the action team, as well, and they seemed pretty optomistic about it. I was very happy when they asked me if i'm a VISTA when i mentioned that i'm only with the school until next august. i also wish i had a green thumb, because their program is incredible. here is their website:
http://growingpower.org/
today i received a housewarming present from my aunt: a framed photograph of yellow flowers that i picked out for the place. minor redecoration may be in order, because i am unsure of where to put it. i am debating between hanging it in the kitchen area or above my futon. if i hang it above my futon, though, it means moving my peace flag so it will hang over my tv/computer area, which means moving my peace sign photograph to the kitchen area...looks like i've got plans for saturday!
Thursday, September 17, 2009
PTO and Cheesy Nacho Jokes
it's only thursday, but i'm definitely feeling ready for the weekend. this feeling was made evident this morning when i realized that i left my travel mug of coffee, breakfast bar, and lunch at my apartment when i ran back up there to get my car key (even though it was in my purse the whole time). of course, i didn't realize this until was about five minutes away from the school, and did not have the time/energy to turn around and drive another 30 minutes back to my apartment to grab everything. i happened to be near a gas station at the time, so i ran in and grabbed a large cup of coffee there. i didnt realize i forgot my lunch until i was in the school parking lot, so my options are to either run to a convenience store to grab some food or subside on the trail mix and chips i have in my purse. the trail mix was my breakfast, which proved to be very filling. i'm starting to think i can make the rest of the school day on this. i'm actually more concerned about the yogurt i left out in my apartment.
yesterday was a very long day for me (i actually logged 10 hours, which means i should be able to get flex hours for next week). i spent the majority of the school day reading Beyond the Bake Sale in order to get some ideas for school events. I got a lot of good ideas down, but I need to form an Action Team before i can plan anything. we had a staff meeting after school, during which i learned that the school has to let go of the art/music/health teacher, ms. christy. i'll miss her terribly, since she was so welcoming to me and open to collaborating with me on some of my ideas.
after the meeting i ran to walgreens to get some snacks, ended up sitting in traffic for 30 minutes because of an accident, and then ran back to the school for the PTO meeting. about 20 parents said they would come, but only two actually showed up. talked about a lot of things, including writing letters to the school board about ms. christy. got home at around 8:00 and immediately started working on dinner before i even got changed. yes folks, i made dinner in a dress and heels. managed to get my pajamas on while dinner was in the oven, though.
tomorrow is third friday count. this is an important day for mps schools, because this is when they take the official student count, which determines how much money the school gets. schools will usually schedule a movie day or picture day as incentive for students to show up. maple tree is doing a nacho party and giving away free books to students. because i will be here for the party, i will be telling my cheesy nacho joke all day!
yesterday was a very long day for me (i actually logged 10 hours, which means i should be able to get flex hours for next week). i spent the majority of the school day reading Beyond the Bake Sale in order to get some ideas for school events. I got a lot of good ideas down, but I need to form an Action Team before i can plan anything. we had a staff meeting after school, during which i learned that the school has to let go of the art/music/health teacher, ms. christy. i'll miss her terribly, since she was so welcoming to me and open to collaborating with me on some of my ideas.
after the meeting i ran to walgreens to get some snacks, ended up sitting in traffic for 30 minutes because of an accident, and then ran back to the school for the PTO meeting. about 20 parents said they would come, but only two actually showed up. talked about a lot of things, including writing letters to the school board about ms. christy. got home at around 8:00 and immediately started working on dinner before i even got changed. yes folks, i made dinner in a dress and heels. managed to get my pajamas on while dinner was in the oven, though.
tomorrow is third friday count. this is an important day for mps schools, because this is when they take the official student count, which determines how much money the school gets. schools will usually schedule a movie day or picture day as incentive for students to show up. maple tree is doing a nacho party and giving away free books to students. because i will be here for the party, i will be telling my cheesy nacho joke all day!
Thursday, September 10, 2009
Good Times in Madison
i have returned safe and sound from madison! i tried to update while i was there, but my computer decided to die as soon as i opened blogger.
i had a great time in madison, though! i finally got to meet some of the vista leaders that i've only communicated with through phone calls and emails, so it was nice to finally speak with them in person. it was nice to re-connect with the vistas i met at pso, too, since we finally had a chance to all be together and discuss our success and struggles with each other, knowing that we were all basically doing the same projects. of course, the super-nice hotel and delicious free food wasn't too bad, either (mm, fresh vegetables). my supervisor came up for today's discussions, so i'm hoping we'll put some of our ideas to use over the course of this year.
we had a fair amount of laughs during the conference, too. mark kept me in stitches, as always, just by being himself. mary anne got a good laugh out of me, too. a group of us went out after dinner and walked around the city for a couple of hours and checked out several bars. birthday plans were also decided for next saturday, which is good.
madison is a great city and was a lot of fun, but i'm glad to be back in milwaukee. betsy asked me if i liked milwaukee more than nyc, and i told her that i like both cities for their unique qualities. in milwaukee's case, i like how it's easy to be surrounded by people and have the opportunity to do a lot of people-watching, but at the same time i can easily find space to be by myself and near nature.
also, good news: I FINALLY GOT PAID!!!!!!! woohoo for my first living stipend installment! however, direct deposit has not set in yet, so i need to bring the check to the bank tomorrow so i can go back to being a responsible adult and pay my bills and buy food.
i'm still exhausted from these past two days, so im going to put my pajamas on and watch tv.
i had a great time in madison, though! i finally got to meet some of the vista leaders that i've only communicated with through phone calls and emails, so it was nice to finally speak with them in person. it was nice to re-connect with the vistas i met at pso, too, since we finally had a chance to all be together and discuss our success and struggles with each other, knowing that we were all basically doing the same projects. of course, the super-nice hotel and delicious free food wasn't too bad, either (mm, fresh vegetables). my supervisor came up for today's discussions, so i'm hoping we'll put some of our ideas to use over the course of this year.
we had a fair amount of laughs during the conference, too. mark kept me in stitches, as always, just by being himself. mary anne got a good laugh out of me, too. a group of us went out after dinner and walked around the city for a couple of hours and checked out several bars. birthday plans were also decided for next saturday, which is good.
madison is a great city and was a lot of fun, but i'm glad to be back in milwaukee. betsy asked me if i liked milwaukee more than nyc, and i told her that i like both cities for their unique qualities. in milwaukee's case, i like how it's easy to be surrounded by people and have the opportunity to do a lot of people-watching, but at the same time i can easily find space to be by myself and near nature.
also, good news: I FINALLY GOT PAID!!!!!!! woohoo for my first living stipend installment! however, direct deposit has not set in yet, so i need to bring the check to the bank tomorrow so i can go back to being a responsible adult and pay my bills and buy food.
i'm still exhausted from these past two days, so im going to put my pajamas on and watch tv.
Tuesday, September 8, 2009
welcome!
as always, good ideas never come to me in a timely manner, and this blog is no exception to the rule. the point of this blog is to catalog the events that take place over the course of my year of service as a VISTA. it is also around so people will no longer have to ask me what i'm doing in milwaukee.
Just some things i want to clarify up front...
1. VISTA=volunteers in service to America. it existed before Americorps, but it is considered a subdivision of Americorps now.
2. I do work in a school, but i do not teach.
3. yes, this is the first time living by myself. no, i am not scared about this. well, until that wasp comes into my apartment like it does every afternoon. then i'm scared shitless.
4. by now, you're probably realizing that this blog is not child-friendly. deal with it. my life is not child-friendly, and this is going to be my life in text form.
i moved to milwaukee on August 2nd. I came up two weeks earlier with my dad to secure a studio apartment on the east side of the city, as well as a car (a 2000 toyota corolla named judy. if you understand my love for belle and sebastian, you will understand the name). I left for pre-service orientation on the 20th of August, and it took me all that time to get this place set up. actually, it technically took longer, because i later decided to purchase a desk and a computer chair from cvs and craig's list (side note: never buy furniture from cvs).
pre-service orientation summed up (even though it probably deserves its own post):
DAY 1: arrive in Indianapolis way too early in the morning. shuttle to the conference center, only to find out that i no longer have a room there, because the colts are staying there and they were overbooked. about 20 of us later find out that we were moved to the holiday inn. we all bonded quickly over our disappointment of not being in the same hotel as orientation, as well as our excitement over the fact that we, unlike those staying at the conference center, do not have to pay to use the pool or wellness center. Ate an incredible dinner, during which Adetokunbo jumped on me and surprised/scared the crap out of me. Went out for beers later that night, during which my phone got a beer bath from my roommate.
DAY 2: we spent all of our time in orientation talking about poverty and eating really incredible food. I'm not exaggerating at all. I was very excited to talk about poverty at the beginning of the session, but quickly decided that all i wanted to do was go back to the hotel and crawl into bed. definitely not feeling the take-on-the-world feeling i had coming into orientation.
DAY 3: things got a little more interactive. still ate a lot of delicious food while talking about poverty, but there were more discussions and activities to do, including a group interpretive dance and listening to people sing about vistas failing at life. went out for margaritas with some friends and krista.
DAY 4: we got to pick our workshops for this day. I went to one on recruiting volunteers, which was fun. the woman running my workshop went to a quaker school, so we talked about that for a little. got sworn in, grabbed our box lunches (because we didnt eat enough during the rest of orientation), boarded our respective planes, and left indianapolis.
after pso, we had a week of training with parents plus, which is the non-profit that i am operating through. everyone there is very nice and fun to be with, even though they laughed at me for having a bachelor's degree in square dancing.
last week was my first week at maple tree elementary, which is the school i'm working at. i spent most of my time calling parents about the upcoming PTO meeting (september 16th) and getting acquainted with the school at the long-ass commute that i make every day to get there.
today is september 8th. though it is only a tuesday, it is the only day that i'll be at maple tree for the week. school was closed yesterday for labor day, i'm going to a conference in madison tomorrow and thursday, and friday i'm back at parents plus.
that's all for now. updates will continue. expect the next one to be from madison!
Just some things i want to clarify up front...
1. VISTA=volunteers in service to America. it existed before Americorps, but it is considered a subdivision of Americorps now.
2. I do work in a school, but i do not teach.
3. yes, this is the first time living by myself. no, i am not scared about this. well, until that wasp comes into my apartment like it does every afternoon. then i'm scared shitless.
4. by now, you're probably realizing that this blog is not child-friendly. deal with it. my life is not child-friendly, and this is going to be my life in text form.
i moved to milwaukee on August 2nd. I came up two weeks earlier with my dad to secure a studio apartment on the east side of the city, as well as a car (a 2000 toyota corolla named judy. if you understand my love for belle and sebastian, you will understand the name). I left for pre-service orientation on the 20th of August, and it took me all that time to get this place set up. actually, it technically took longer, because i later decided to purchase a desk and a computer chair from cvs and craig's list (side note: never buy furniture from cvs).
pre-service orientation summed up (even though it probably deserves its own post):
DAY 1: arrive in Indianapolis way too early in the morning. shuttle to the conference center, only to find out that i no longer have a room there, because the colts are staying there and they were overbooked. about 20 of us later find out that we were moved to the holiday inn. we all bonded quickly over our disappointment of not being in the same hotel as orientation, as well as our excitement over the fact that we, unlike those staying at the conference center, do not have to pay to use the pool or wellness center. Ate an incredible dinner, during which Adetokunbo jumped on me and surprised/scared the crap out of me. Went out for beers later that night, during which my phone got a beer bath from my roommate.
DAY 2: we spent all of our time in orientation talking about poverty and eating really incredible food. I'm not exaggerating at all. I was very excited to talk about poverty at the beginning of the session, but quickly decided that all i wanted to do was go back to the hotel and crawl into bed. definitely not feeling the take-on-the-world feeling i had coming into orientation.
DAY 3: things got a little more interactive. still ate a lot of delicious food while talking about poverty, but there were more discussions and activities to do, including a group interpretive dance and listening to people sing about vistas failing at life. went out for margaritas with some friends and krista.
DAY 4: we got to pick our workshops for this day. I went to one on recruiting volunteers, which was fun. the woman running my workshop went to a quaker school, so we talked about that for a little. got sworn in, grabbed our box lunches (because we didnt eat enough during the rest of orientation), boarded our respective planes, and left indianapolis.
after pso, we had a week of training with parents plus, which is the non-profit that i am operating through. everyone there is very nice and fun to be with, even though they laughed at me for having a bachelor's degree in square dancing.
last week was my first week at maple tree elementary, which is the school i'm working at. i spent most of my time calling parents about the upcoming PTO meeting (september 16th) and getting acquainted with the school at the long-ass commute that i make every day to get there.
today is september 8th. though it is only a tuesday, it is the only day that i'll be at maple tree for the week. school was closed yesterday for labor day, i'm going to a conference in madison tomorrow and thursday, and friday i'm back at parents plus.
that's all for now. updates will continue. expect the next one to be from madison!
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