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...
Wednesday, September 30, 2009
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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