It's beginning to look a lot like... the Pacific Northwest.

It's that time of year. And, as excited as I am for snow and lights and (gluten-free) cookies, I'm not talking about Christmas.
I'm talking about the bad time.
The time of year where AmeriCorps members begin to realize they will have no money to buy Christmas presents for friends and family. When many members just spent their first Thanksgiving away from home. Also, the time of year, in this part of the world, where we get up in the dark and get home in the dark. We haven't seen the sun in what seems like years, and it's starting to get cold.
How do we get through this time of year? With good friends and family. We try to shrug off the fact that we will not be buying gifts for everyone we want to buy gifts for. My friends and family are getting homemade gifts - hats, scarves, gloves, and pickles that I made this summer. The good thing about the current economy is that everyone is cutting back, so I don't feel so bad, but it's still frustrating.

We had our first snow of the season on Sunday. Today school started 2 hours late because of icy roads. I still nearly died getting my car out of my driveway. You would think that, this far north, this city would have better plans for bad weather. At least they have snowplows now - three years ago the city all but shut down for a week due to snow, because, yeah - the city didn't own any snowplows. Now the snow is melting, they are calling this horrible stuff falling from the sky "freezing rain." I parked my car at the top of the hill and walked down to my house, and I felt like I was on Deadliest Catch - the frozen water pelting my face, trying desperately not to fall on my butt (at least I didn't have to worry about the frozen ocean...)
One of my team members is from Florida and had literally never seen snow before. Sorry, Kristine, winter is not all that pretty here. It's mostly wet and grey. As someone who grew up here, I am used to it, but it still gets me down a little. I am trying to focus on the good things - I like my co-workers, I have great friends, I have a fun little Christmas tree and holiday music to listen to. Seeing my students, even the ones who can be frustrating, always brightens my day.
So, although I may not be able to literally walk on the sunny side of the street, I'll be busy finding the metaphoric sunshine these next few weeks. Or months.

Thanks.

I don't usually post blogs from school, but I wanted to share this. Today, the director of the Heritage Flight Museum forwarded me an email that she got from one of the soldiers we sent letters to in October.

"I got the letters in the mail and they were fantastic. Especially now that Afghanistan is the big topic, its great to know that people back home are still thinking about deployed soldiers. I took some down to our CP and everyone thought they were great. I'm glad though that this time there wasn't glitter available, like there was last time. Please send everyone involved my thanks for their time, effort, and thoughts for everyone over here."

It's great to know that something so simple is such a big deal to them. (Also - even soldiers know that glitter is the herpes of crafting.)
Again, this isn't about supporting or opposing a war, it's about remembering that there are people, young people, in a dangerous place far from home.
We will be making Christmas/Holiday cards to send over at the open house later this month. I'm thinking of also finding a small gift for the kids to make and send. Something to send a little cheer.

....and I'm back!

Sometimes, a person just needs a little break.
I have seven blog entries saved that started as great ideas, and fell flat on their faces about two paragraphs in. Things just weren't clicking. So I stopped trying.
But, the break's over now. And here I am, back in the blogosphere.

I am incredibly lucky to have a family friend who is a life coach. A few weeks ago, I posted something on my Facebook about "Trying to figure out what to do with my life." She sent me a message offering to help.
So, last week, I had a session with a life coach.
It was fantastic. I had no idea what to expect, as the only place I had ever heard of a life coach was on the FX show Nip/Tuck. As is to be expected with that show, serious drama revolved around the character. Thankfully, Page is nothing like that.
She had me chart out how I felt about different aspects of my life, and then we discussed what I can do to raise up the ones that I marked as being low. I feel good about my friends and family, as well as my health - now that I've figured out I have a wheat allergy, I don't think I've ever felt healthier... but, the remainder of my life needs a little work.
Instead of saying "you need to do this and this and this to improve your life," we had a discussion about why I don't feel positive about those certain aspects of my life, and what I can do to improve them.
For example: Self-Growth. I am a person who loves to learn things. Right now, I feel like I am learning a lot about bureaucracy and passive-aggressiveness in the workplace. That is not the kind of thing I want to learn about. So, we decided that I set aside some time in my week to learn things. To read a book about a subject I find interesting, or to attend a class, or even to talk to my friends about what they are learning in school. I am also going to set aside some time to create art - crochet, paint, collage, whatever. I bought a book the other day called "The Big Ass Book Of Crafts," and it's awesome. If you know me, you will probably end up with a gift or two from this book.
Then we discussed career. As much as I love what I am doing, as much as I love working with these kids and watching them learn and grow, I sometimes feel like my career is stagnant. I am working the exact same job, for the exact same (tiny!) living stipend as I did when I graduated from college, three years ago. I do not know what I want to be when I "grow up." I thought I knew, and I have some ideas, but nothing definite. I am pretty sure I want to go to grad school... but no idea what I want to study.
The reality check here, was: It's ok. I'm twenty-five years old. It's ok to not have it figured out yet. Even the people who look like they have it figured out at twenty-five probably don't. So, I got another assignment. Leave my house and research things. Jobs that interest me. Graduate programs that interest me. Other opportunities. I have to leave my house, which is good because I am much too easily distracted, especially when I'm surrounded by things that "must" get done.
I was also assigned the "job" of taking at least a 30 minute walk every day. I've found some good places to walk even when it is dark (which happens at about 4pm!), and have had the added bonus of getting to see everyone's holiday lights go up.
So, yeah. I'm lucky. Not only do I have family who are willing to help me out, I have friends - from all walks of life - who are willing to do the same. That's the most important thing, right?

National Service (in which I might get a bit political)

Veteran's Day honors the men and women who have served our country in the armed forces. Many of those veterans went to war for our country, but many of them served in times of peace. My dad is a veteran. Several of my friends are veterans. I even have several friends who are currently serving in the military.
No matter what you think about this "war" that our country is currently involved in, there are still thousands of men and women who are a long way from home, in some pretty scary places, in the name of the USA, and in the name of the freedoms that we enjoy every day — even (especially!) the freedom to disagree with what our government is doing.
Last Wednesday, on Veteran's Day, the Heritage Flight Museum where I volunteer had free admission, activities, and fly-bys by several of the historic war planes that the museum owns. For a few hours in the morning, a local radio station had a live broadcast from the museum, inviting listeners to call in and share stories of service. My part of the event was inviting kids to make cards for a local soldier who is currently serving his third tour in Iraq. This is a program that the previous education director started, and something that I feel is worth continuing.

(Picture by Daniel Johnson, The Bellingham Herald)

In asking people to volunteer at the museum with me, I have gotten a (to me) suprising amount of negative response. People have told me "I just want to distance myself from anything that has to do with the war."
This response confuses the heck out of me. I don't care what you feel about the war, we are writing letters to a young man (my age) who is a long, long way from home. The letters from the kids say things like "I hope you are safe," and "you must miss your mom a lot." If you want to connect these statements - which are written by seven year olds - to a view on the war, to me they seem more anti-war than pro-war. I see nothing pro-war about wanting someone's son to get home safe.

The museum tries to be very clear that it is not a political entity. It is not a military museum. It does not support or oppose the war - it is a nonprofit museum dedicated to the history of American aviation. The thing about American aviation, though, is that a lot of it was developed by the military. Thus, we have a lot of warbirds. Plus, they are pretty awesome:

The way I see it, I am serving my country, for the second year. I am in National Service. I am doing it to help others, to work for what I believe in (education), and, honestly, because the government is giving me a (very) little money to use towards furthering my education. People who join the armed services - another form of National Service - do it to help others, to get an education, to work for what they believe in (such as democracy, human rights, and freedom), and so the government will help them pay for their education. We're really not so different.
But there are differences. I have a family who knows I am safe. They might not get to communicate with their families for weeks at a time. No one shoots guns at me or plants bombs where my car might be driving. So when I can help children make cards to send to someone my own age, who is thousands of miles from home, I jump at the opportunity.

Surviving on a Serving budget

One of the best workshops I took at the SERVES conference was on living well on an AmeriCorps Budget, presented by Washington State University Extension. As an AmeriCorps State member, I make $1050 a month before taxes. Not a lot. Any little bit of money I can save is worth it.

I am always worried that budget workshop teachers are going to tell me to give up having any sort of fun, ever, so I was pleasantly surprised when the first thing the presenter had us do was write down our top ten things we love to do. We marked the ones that cost $5 or more at a time, whether we do them with others or alone, and when we did the activity last. My top 10 things were this:

1. Go to the Movies
2. Go out to dinner
3. Go out for drinks
4. Go out for coffee
5. Watch TV
6. Hike
7. See live music
8. Read
9. Cook
10. Make things/crafts

We then looked over our lists and evaluated them. I like to go out. I like to spend time with my friends and do social things. I also like my alone time (reading). Half of my things often cost $5 or more at a time.

She then had us look at our lists and think about any changes we could make. If I cooked more and went out to dinner less, I would probably save money, especially since I get $200 in food stamps a month. I could invite friends over and have just as much fun. Same goes for getting coffee. I can at least get tea or an Americano instead of a latte.

Going out for drinks and seeing live music go hand-in-hand, as most shows I want to see are at the local bars. I’m not willing to give up on live music, but I can definitely budget myself and even not drink (shocking a concept as that seems).

I really liked that we were not told to give up the things we like doing, and instead we brainstormed how to still do them and afford to live.

We next talked about our expenses: fixed expenses are rent, bills, and car payment – things you absolutely have to pay. Flexible expenses are things that can change: gas and power bills (use CFL bulbs!), food and drink, putting gas in your car, and entertainment. There are also periodic expenses, like holiday gifts, birthdays, and vacations. She suggested figuring out how much you need to save, dividing it by 12, and making that amount a fixed expense. That way when December rolls around, you have been saving for gifts all year. (The same goes for taxes!)

When you subtract your expenses from your net (after tax) income, if you’re like me and most other AmeriCorps members who were in the workshop, you come up with a negative amount. Unfortunately, we are people and not the federal government, so we can’t operate our lives with a negative income.

The solution?

Increase Income or Decrease Spending.

I already figured out some good ways to decrease my spending – cook at home, don’t spend $20 at the bar, etc. I could also give up my Netflix account or my internet, but neither of those ideas sound like worthwhile sacrifices.

Therefore, I’m working on ways to increase my income. I already baby-sit for one local family, I’m sure I could find more gigs. I am thinking about making canvas grocery bags and selling them online or at my school. I have thought about offering my services as a tutor or an editor for college students. I got good grades in Theatre History! And I still have all my notes. I’ve been crocheting a lot as well and thought about either selling my creations or teaching crochet classes.

Do you have any ways that you bring in extra money? What about tricks to decrease your spending? I have looked into some online jobs but most of them seem very sketchy.

**Edited to add: You know that internet I refuse to give up? It hasn't worked in two days, so I'm posting this while sitting at The Woods Coffee shop. Drinking a $3 Americano. At least it's got the prettiest view of any coffee shop around. I'm watching the rain fall over the bay.

Auto-addiction

Today's lesson in frugality is: Stick up for yourself.
This applies to every aspect of your life, but specifically to car repair.
The majority of Americans can't repair their own cars. When I drove Volkswagens from the 80s, me, my friends, or my dad could pretty much fix anything that was wrong with them. Unfortunately, with newer cars the most I can do is change the oil and the filters. 
So, when my Ford Focus wouldn't start on Friday night, I had it towed to the local Ford dealership - Diehl Ford in Bellingham, WA. 
To make a long, frustrating story short, the dealership quoted me a price for the car I couldn't afford on my AmeriCorps budget. When a tow truck (sent by my insurance company) came to take the car to another repair shop, Deihl wouldn't release the car to the tow truck driver because they said I owed $120 for "diagnostics." After several back and forth phone calls, John in the service department yelled at me, refused to let me speak to his manager, and actually called me a liar. 
After work, I showed up at the dealership and met with the General Manager, Mike Diehl. He was very polite, and definitely upset that his employee treated me in the manner he did. He apoligized and offered to do the repairs for $100 less than what they originally quoted me. This is still more than the second shop, and I refused. Mike went back to get my keys from them, and the the service people had a brief pow-wow with him and agreed to do the repairs for the price the second shop quoted me. I made sure to get it in writing from Mike Diehl.
I picked my car up today and paid the price that I was promised. I am happy that my car is fixed, but still amazed that someone in customer service would speak to an employee like that.
The lesson? Don't back down, and stick up for yourself. If I had given in, I would have paid them $120 for doing nothing. I will never do business with them again, given the way their service department treated me. I have worked many retail and customer service jobs, and I can't fathom what would make a person in a service job feel that they can talk to a customer that way. He actually called me a liar! I am still in shock. 

So, when getting repairs done on a car (or anything) - here are my "frugal" rules:1) Shop around. Find the best price. Tell the repairmen/women what the best price you found was.
2) Stick up for yourself.
3) Do your research. Google is your friend - find out how much the parts needed are, figure out what the repair should cost.
4) Stick up for yourself. (Have I mentioned that already?)
5) Get all promises in writing. Otherwise there is no way to prove what they said to you.
6) If you aren't getting what you need, there is always someone higher up you can talk to. 
7) It's okay to cry. I did. But then take a breath, channel that emotion into rightous anger and, yes: stick up for yourself.



I apologize for this entry being about such a frustrating personal experience, but I feel like it is a good lesson for all of us who drive. I personally am rethinking my whole reliance on my car after this. It only rains 80% of the year here, who needs a car?

What A Week!

Happy Halloween!
This past week I went to the SERVES institute for Washington Service Corps. Nearly 1000 AmeriCorps members descended on Yakima, WA - the so-called "Palm Springs of Washington," (I've yet to figure out why they call it that) for workshops on everything from tutoring ELL students to lowering your ecological footprint.
I discovered it is impossible to sit down and write a blog after spending nine hours sitting in workshops. Impossible for me, at least. I am not a sitting-still kind of girl, so the past week was pretty much torturous.
Monday morning I woke up at 5:30 am (so begins the torture), picked up two team members and headed south and then east. After a long drive with several coffee breaks, we arrived at the Yakima Convention Center, just in time for lunch. When I asked one of the catering staff if the tortillas in the enchiladas were corn, she scoffed and asked if I was Vegan. Beyond not making any sense, that did not bode well for my future meals.
A big part of Washington Service Corps mission this year is Disaster Preparedness. Our opening keynote speaker was entertaining, but all I can remember is this: Live next to a Mormon, Have Chocolate and Toilet Paper in your disaster kit, and Women and Children First. Obviously, getting up at 5:30 and driving halfway across the state is not good for my mental capacity.
The second speaker was from the Red Cross and spoke about personal preparedness - having a disaster kit in your household, and knowing what to do in case of a disaster. We should all have some sort of disaster kit at the ready, and I know I myself am guilty of often thinking that's a good idea, and then not doing it. However, I would not do well if my power or water was turned off for any length of time. I have some lanterns and candles and that's about it. My new goal is to have some very basic supplies - water, food, battery or hand-crank operated radio, and first aid kit - in a disaster kit by the end of the year. Here is a list of the items the Red Cross recommends having in your family's kit.
Also, did you know that Washington State has the potential for more different types of disasters than any other state? Luckily we don't get hurricanes.

I took several great workshops that I would like to share with you, and I will over the next few days. I also have a new adventure to share - car repairs on an AmeriCorps stipend. Last night, my car would not start. The ignition tumbler will not turn. Unfortunately, this seems to be a common problem for this type of car, but not common enough to have a factory recall on. The car was towed to the local dealership, where it will hopefully be repaired on Monday. As a young, blonde, woman I am often very wary of dealing with mechanics and car dealers, but I do not have a choice. Luckily I am fairly educated on the subject of cars and it should be a simple thing to fix. One important lesson is this: Roadside assistance is WORTH IT. Whether it is through your insurance company or something like AAA, it is well worth the extra little bit of money to know that a tow truck will come save you when it is pouring down rain and your car won't start. (And you are wearing zombie makeup because it is the night before Halloween and live in a college town.)

No Pig Flu!

So here it is, Friday night. The week went by fast.
Monday I came home early from work - was not feeling well at all. I ended up staying home, with a fever and sore throat on Tuesday as well. Luckily, it was not The Swine Flu, just the regular flu.
Being sick messes up my whole life. Missing one and a half days of work somehow made the week seem longer.
I'm pretty terrified I'm going to get Swine Flu (I guess we are supposed to call it H1N1 now), and be sick for a long time. We are only allowed 8 sick days, and I've taken two and a half. And, children are walking petri dishes. They don't know how to cover their mouths when they cough, they touch everything, and they don't wash their hands. For some reason, I still love working with them. I am planning on getting the vaccine as soon as it is available, and hoping it won't be too late. Several of my team members (not at my school, thankfully) have already come down with H1N1.

Next week my whole team goes to Yakima to SERVES with the whole Washington Service Corps, which comprises about 1/3 of the AmeriCorps members in Washington State. We arrive on Monday and listen to people talk for the afternoon. Tuesday, Wednesday, and Thursday morning we get to attend a variety of workshops covering topics from using the education award to tutoring ELL students to lessening your environmental footprint. I've been planning out what workshops I want to take and I am planning on a class on Volunteer Management, one financial management on the AmeriCorps stipend, paying for graduate school, living a sustainable lifestyle, and one on avoiding burnout. There are a couple others I want to take but they conflict and I am having a hard time deciding! I am looking forward to the week, and I promise to share the good stuff I learn with you all.

Tomorrow is Make A Difference Day, billed as "America's largest day of doing good." According to the USA Weekend's official website, last year 3 million people participated in Make-A-Difference-Day. Our local Volunteer Center is hosting a big event, with a breakfast beforehand. I will be planting trees with four of my team members, and am hoping that it won't be pouring down rain. Even if it is, I am looking forward to it. I am excited to be doing some service that is different - being outside and not in a school at a desk sounds like a nice change of pace. I've been thinking that I would like to do some environmental education work, so this will be a nice way to dip my toes in and test the water.

So, what are you doing for Make A Difference Day? It's not too late to find a project - if your town has a volunteer center check with them, or your church, your school, check your newspaper, or just look around your neighborhood to see if anyone close to home might need an extra hand.

The Cycle (I ain't talkin' 'bout no bike)

On our Team Friday last week, we talked about the "National Service Cycle," as well as the Stages of Group Development, which both conveniently follow the same graph:

This graph and the "Stages of Group Development" were primarily developed by Charlie Ford, a private consultant for AmeriCorps programs. From my past experience in AmeriCorps, it is spot-on.

These stages describe what an individual in AmeriCorps might be going through, as well as how the entire group is working and relating with each other.

The first stage is Forming. As an individual, you are extremely excited to be starting AmeriCorps or starting another year of it. You have big plans (like writing a blog about it!) and know it's going to be awesome. As a group, you are excited to meet your teammates, and make big plans for the group (like 5 family events in the school year!).

The second stage is Storming. The thing about the Storming stage, and winter in the Pacific Northwest, is they come at pretty much the same time. Storming is when reality rears it's ugly head, nothing is going right, and you hate everything. You might apply for other jobs, cry on the phone with your parents, and eat way too much chocolate. You might. I'm not saying this from experience or anything. As a group, this stage is terrible. Fighting, anger, frustration.... I'm hoping my group has already had our little problems, and gotten through them. Fingers crossed.

Like the new green grass peeking it's head out of the snow (or, let's be serious - mud), Norming is when things start to get good again. As an individual, you begin to realize that this is really worth it. As a group, you begin to realize that yes, you can work together.

Performing! Doing what you came here to do! Getting things done! Kids are learning to read, your group is working together beautifully, life is wonderful.

Adjourning - this is when you realize that, just after it started to get good, your time in AmeriCorps or your time with this group has to come to an end - and soon. People get cranky, especially if they don't know what they are doing next. People get upset when other people get excited about the time being over. This part is TOUGH.

Then, it's done. Hopefully you stuck it out and are still alive to move on to the next step.

Know what? Sitting through this workshop was so much better the second time. Because it is SO TRUE. By the time I was in the middle of Storming in my last year, I had completely forgotten about this. They promised us it would get better! I should have listened.
I distinctly remember going to an interview at the Cingular interview (because I thought I HAD to get out of AmeriCorps), and it was windy and rainy and the power went out, so I had to reschedule my interview. Poetic, huh? In my "Storming" phase in a big storm, which prevented me from getting a job that would take me out of AmeriCorps? Well, I think so.

So, if you're storming: Remember, it gets better! I'm sure I will come back and read this entry several times in the next few months, to remind myself of that very fact.

If you would like to read more about the Stages of Group Development, check out: http://www.nationalserviceresources.org/stages-group

The Wild Things Are Here!

After four weeks of planning (which felt, at times, like four years or four days), we held our first Family Literacy Event last night.

Our theme was the book Where the Wild Things Are, by Maurice Sendak. We planned to have it this week because the movie adaptation, directed by Spike Jonze, opens tomorrow. It looks amazing and I, for one, am really excited to go see it.

Our Family Night included two art projects, readings of the story in both English and Spanish, a raffle, and refreshments.

Since it was Washington Reading Corps first event at the school, we had no idea how many people to expect. I had a brief moment of panic yesterday afternoon when I was convinced that we were going to have fifteen volunteers and five families. As it turned out, we had 47 families attend, and that’s only counting the ones who signed in – I’m sure there were a few who got past us. Forty-seven families – most families consisted of three people, be it two parents and a student, one parent and two students, and even some families with grandparents in tow. So that comes to approximately 141 people attending our very first event! Very exciting.

We have a great community of staff members at our school – we had several teachers and students teachers attend and many of them helped out with parts of the event. Our librarian showed a short movie version of the book in both English and Spanish, and read the book in English. Our Principal Intern read the book in Spanish, which was very exciting for a lot of our Spanish-speaking students and families. Our PTA donated movie tickets and a copy of Where the Wild Things Are for the raffle, and my favorite local bookstore, Village Books, donated two books – Where the Wild Things Are and a bilingual (English/Spanish) book. Each family got a raffle ticket as they walked in.

Many community businesses donated food and supplies for our event, which is awesome. It is great when businesses, small and large, participate in community events such as this. They get great advertising and publicity, and we get things that we wouldn’t be able to otherwise afford. 

Falling into Fall

I know it's been too long, friends, and I am sorry. I wish I could say I have simply been too busy to blog - and that is partly true, I have been very busy - but in fact, it's been a frustrating week.
I am loving working with students (finally) but the whole education system is, in my opinion, pretty messed up. We have spent more time giving these kids different assessments (tests) then we have spent reading with them, and we are more than a month into the school year! The district wants to implement a new assessment program, the Title 1 program uses a different type of assessment, every student in school has to take another kind of assessment so teachers know where they need support... all these kids do is get tested!
Additionally, our site supervisor has just been offered a new job in the district, so now we will be assigned a new supervisor. (Luckily we have already been working with her and she is fantastic, and knows a little bit about what we are doing.) I keep hoping things are going to settle down and then something changes, mixing everything up again.
There have been a lot of little things this week, that by themselves are no big deal, but altogether... well, it was a frustrating week, like I said. I feel ineffective and a little bit unwanted. No, not unwanted - everyone is really excited to have us at the school. I feel like no one wants to deal with us. Which is beyond frustrating.
When I have actually gotten the chance to work with kids, it has been great. I love getting to know the students, and I am still amazed at how excited each and every one of them is about reading. I have never been at a school where so many students were excited about books. I don't know what it is, but something good is happening. Even the fifth grade boys (who, in my experience, don't like anything) are getting excited about the books we are reading.

I am constantly reminded of how difficult these kids' lives are. These are kids with foster parents, who go hungry because there is no food in the house, who don't have warm winter coats. However, they refuse to let life get them down. Every day they tell me something good that happened to them, whether it's playing with their cousin, learning a new game, or being praised by their teacher. I am working with third graders who read at a kindergarten level, fifth graders who read at a first grade level, but each and every one of them is excited to read, even when they think it is hard. If we could all go after things like that, if we could all focus on the good things in our lives, how much happier would we be?

Today I met with the director of the Heritage Flight Museum. I am "officially" their new Volunteer Education Coordinator. To start with, I will be expanding the education programs they have on their open house Saturdays. In the future, I will be creating programs for school groups that come to the museum, and hopefully for in-school programs such as residencies and maybe even after-school programs. I am so incredibly excited for this opportunity, I hope it goes well!

One Month In

Today marks the end of the first month of my second year of service. The beginning of my second month. I am still feeling good about deciding to sign up for a second term. It won't be easy, especially paying my bills in the winter months (when I'm sure my gas bill won't be small - it gets COLD here!), but I know I can do it.
Today was also the first day I got to spend tutoring. I work with third graders first thing in the morning, then first and second graders. After lunch, I go to a fourth grade classroom where I will be working with several students who are just below grade level. When I finish there, I go to the afternoon Kindergarten program for 45 minutes. After the Kindergartners go home, I finish up my day working with two fifth graders. It's a full day but it is so nice to actually be working with students. We will be starting a morning reading program in November as well.
One thing I have noticed while talking with my students today, something that really impressed me, was how excited all these kids are about reading. Every single kid I worked with was thrilled to tell me about the books they are reading, the books they want to read, and the kind of books they like to read.
The fourth grade teacher has asked us to work with his students on choosing good books to read - books at the right level, books that will help them be better readers. My team member and I were discussing how we are pretty sure no one ever talked to us about that when we were in school. A lot of these kids want to read what their peers are reading - even if those books are really too hard for them. It is exciting that they want to read Harry Potter, but if they are reading at a second grade level, Harry Potter is going to be way too difficult for them. They will get there, they just have to work up to it.
I have also been asked to lead a local Girl Scout Troop. I'm extremely excited about that. I was a scout up through Cadettes, in early high school. My troop kind of fell apart, but these girls are all sophomores in high school and want to see it through. I spoke to one of the girls today and she sounded very excited to have a troop leader who isn't a mom. (Because what 15-year old girl wants to hang out with her mom?)
In addition to the Girl Scouts, it looks like I will be volunteering as the Education Coordinator at the Heritage Flight Museum. I am absolutely thrilled to have been offered this opportunity. I will be creating education programs for open house days, school tours, and in-school workshops. Since I am trying to get my private pilot's license, and love to work with kids, it is the ideal opportunity for me. I have an official interview on Wednesday for the position, but I am confident I will get it. I can count the time towards my  required AmeriCorps service hours, and will hopefully stay in the position after my term is up. Simply getting to put "Education Coordinator" on my resume will be amazing.
This year, I plan on taking full advantage of the opportunities that AmeriCorps offers. I have registered for a Grant Writing class at the community college and will probably have the opportunity to write grants for the flight museum. AmeriCorps itself is a great experience, but there are so many more things I can do this year. I look forward to them!

What's the point?

Today I was asked for some advice from a fellow AmeriCorps member who was feeling like she couldn't make it through the next nine and a half months.

I know exactly where she was coming from.

My first year in AmeriCorps, I wanted to quit more times than I could count. I went so far as to apply for jobs, and was even offered a pretty good one in Seattle, but I decided I had to see it through or I would forever regret it.
AmeriCorps is not easy. It's not all fun family events and helping the less fortunate and feeling good about yourself. It's being too strapped for cash to go to movies with your friends. It's being too tired to even see your friends. It can be really hard to remember what great things you are doing when you are worrying about how you're going to make your car payment, or your electric bill.

One particular moment from my first year of service sticks out in my mind - I was hating my job, hating the program I was teaching, feeling like the kids hated me and didn't want to be there - and then, as the first graders were walking past my desk to the bus, one of them called out "Bye Miss Rosie! I'll miss you!"
I cried.
That was all the validation I needed - I was doing something right, for this child to say he would miss me.

The long term benefits of serving are great - the education award, the nonprofit experience - AmeriCorps has whole studies on the benefits of service - apparently 86% of AmeriCorps State Alumni are satisfied with their careers. (You can read all about the benefits of service, according to AmeriCorps, here.)
Keeping our eyes on the big picture is great, but often impossible. We have to find the joy in the little moments. In the kid who tells us they will miss us. In the hugs we get in the hallways. In the smile of a child the first time they read a word without help.

Being an AmeriCorps Member isn't easy. It's anything but easy. But we are here, serving our communities, to make their lives a little easier. It's only a year. A year that will affect us (and the people we serve) for the rest of our lives.

Here's a little reminder of our purpose as AmeriCorps Members.
(This is the real, official deal, straight from AmeriCorps.gov):

The AmeriCorps Pledge


I will get things done for America -
to make our people safer,
smarter, and healthier.
I will bring Americans together
to strengthen our communities.
Faced with apathy,
I will take action.
Faced with conflict,
I will seek common ground.
Faced with adversity,
I will persevere.
I will carry this commitment
with me this year and beyond.
I am an AmeriCorps member,
and I will get things done.


We are here to make America a better place. The education award is a nice reward at the end, but when we focus on the money (and it's really not that much money), we lose sight of the real reason we are here.

A question for my readers, AmeriCorps members or no: Have you had a day (or week, or hour) where you thought you had made the completely wrong decision for your life? What did you do about it?

Getting Something for Nothing

Living on a stipend, I have to watch every penny. I don't often have extra pennies to spend on things like music, movies, and new clothes. However, I have found several good resources for free stuff. And who doesn't like free?

1) Craigslist free section - This stuff usually goes really fast, especially in my college town. However, I have found some great stuff like a vintage bedframe. If you are unfamiliar with Craigslist, perhaps because you have been living in a cave somewhere, it's a free classified ads website with specific pages for almost every major metropolitan area in the world. Go to Craigslist.org and select your location, then click on "free," and go wild.

2) Freecycle™- Freecycle™ is a "nonprofit group of people," with over 6 million members from around the world. The idea is to give and take free stuff, kind of like a big swap. I have given a bread machine (I'm not even sure why I had that - I don't eat bread!) and clothes and taken things like tomato cages and bookshelves. If you have something you don't use (like a bread machine) laying around the house, post it on Freecycle™ and if anyone is in need of one, they will contact you. If you are in need of something (like tomato cages), post that, and if someone has the thing you are looking for, they will contact you. It takes some work, but it is worth it. 


3) iTunes  - I have a gadget on my Google homepage that lists all of the new free downloads form iTunes. I have gotten some great music, and there are also often tv shows or videos. There is also always a list of free donwloads on the iTunes store front page. There are also a lot of free podcasts out there - my favorite is This American Life.


4) Volunteer - I would never volunteer for something with the expectation to get something out of it other than personal satisfaction and AmeriCorps service hours, but the honest truth is you can often walk away from volunteering with something that has monetary value. Volunteering at the food bank often ends in some free produce - especially stuff that will go bad soon. When I volunteered with Rock the Bulb last week, I got ten free CFL bulbs. If you volunteer to usher at a theater, you will get to see most of the show for free. 


5) Check out your local scene - My town has a free monthly art walk, this summer there was a free concert series, and there are free tai chi classes in one of the parks. Most bars have open mic nights or other shows with no cover. The local bookstore has authors in the store or other free events nearly every night. We have an annual Human Rights Film Festival to which admission is always free. There is usually something free going on in my town, and it's not big. Two cities I have lived in have First Thursdays - admission to all participating museums is free on the first Thursday of each month. Basically you just have to stay informed - most of these free events don't have big publicity budgets. Check out your city webpage, do a Google search for "free (your town)." There's a lot to do, and you might discover some pretty cool things about the place you live.


6) The internet - There are a lot of scams, a lot of "sign up for a loan and we'll give you a free gift card," but there is some legitimate free stuff out there. You can watch movies and TV shows for free on Hulu. There are a lot of websites with lists of stuff you can get for "free." Be careful with these! Often they are looking for a way to get your information and get you to sign up for things. I have, however, found some  great stuff on these sites, such as the iTunes code to download the Austin City Limits Sampler CD for free. Just be smart, and remember what mom always told you: If it sounds too good to be true, it probably is.


7) Ask - I know, duh, right? But what happens to that banana at the grocery store that is a little too brown? What about the grapes that fell out of those fancy bags? Ask the produce manager, and often you can get those things for free. Those grapes make great raisins, if you have a dehydrator. We need books for our program at school, and will be asking local thrift stores and used book stores to keep us in mind - some thrift stores will give you first dibs, especially if you are representing a non-profit organization and not just yourself (although it never hurts to ask for yourself as well).


Happy Free-Stuff Finding!

How many volunteers does it take to screw in a Compact Fluorescent Lightbulb?

The answer is - a lot.
Today I volunteered at Rock the Bulb with Project Porchlight, which is part of One Change, an organization that educates the public about energy use and the idea that changing one thing can make a big impact.

Project Porchlight's "Rock the Bulb" is a lightbulb exchange and an education program, with lots of really cool activities that demonstrate why we should use Compact Fluorescent Bulbs as opposed to traditional incandescent ones.
For the first half of the day, I was at a booth with two human-powered generators - one hooked up to a bicycle and one with a hand crank - with a switch box with a CFL and an incandescent bulb. The idea was to show people just how much energy it takes to power an incandescent bulb vs a CFL. We always hear that the CFLs use less energy, but it is really cool to actually see and feel how much of a difference there is between the two.
For the second half of the day, I worked in the Bulb Exchange, getting people their free CFL bulbs in exchange for the incandescent ones that they brought in.
I learned a whole lot about Compact Fluorescent Bulbs today. They make them now that you can put in recessed lighting, they make dimmable ones (if used in a fixture made after 1995), they come in all different shapes and sizes.
A LOT of people came through the event. I think the final count was a little less than 2,000. Most of them brought in 10 lightbulbs to exchange - that's 20,000 lightbulbs exchanged! The amount of energy saved by switching those bulbs is extraordinary.

One Change says that they are an organization that is dedicated to letting all people, regardless of race, economic status, or political views, know what they can do to make a difference. I was sort of reminded of AmeriCorps, because they reach out across those boundaries that normally exist, especially in environmental campaigns. It is a shame that our environmental groups tend to target the upper socio-economic classes, and One Change tries to break that tradition - very well, I believe. The majority of our citizens can't afford to put solar panels on their roof or collect rainwater in cisterns. A lot of people can't even afford to purchase CFLs - they are pretty expensive. The opportunity to exchange the bulbs they already had and to learn about how the CFLs will be saving them money is a great first step - a simple, easy change - toward more responsible energy use.

I overheard one of the power company employees talking to a customer who asked him if there was a noticeable drop in energy consumption in areas after they had evens like this. He said there absolutely always is - how cool is that?

Building a community

Last night the ELL (English as a Learning Language) program at our school held the first of it's monthly ELL Family Nights.
No other school that I have ever worked at or even heard of has a program like this. I think it's amazing. A lot of the time, non-English speaking families want to get involved in the school but feel they cannot, because they do not know how. The language barrier is extreme, and often schools miss out on great parent involvement because of it.
The ELL family night was held in the library. We walked into the school and were greeted by the ELL Paraeducator - she is basically an "aid" - not a certificated teacher, but so dedicated to the school and her students that she organizes these events every month. We were offered nametags and directed to the library by signs in many languages.
In the library, there were three tables labeled "Spanish," one labeled "Punjabi," one "Vietnamese," and one "Russian/Ukraine." At each table, a translator. A volunteer translator. One of the Spanish translators was one of our "Office ladies," and the others were volunteers that the ELL teacher has found throughout the years.
Our school principal spoke first, welcoming the families and telling them about the school and why we have these nights. She said that often the ELL families are the most informed about the school because they come to these nights. Whenever anyone spoke, it took over twice as long as it usually would - the speaker would say a phrase, then wait for it to be translated, and the library was abuzz with all the different languages. Though there were five different languages being spoken in the room, I was overwhelmed with a feeling of community. These families care about their children's education and their futures. They are looking forward to giving their children opportunities that they might not have had growing up, and are working toward that future.
A PTA (Parent - Teacher Association) officer spoke about volunteer opportunities - the fundraiser, the vision and hearing check, and other upcoming events. She and the principal encouraged the family members in attendance to sign up to help out. Many of them did.
I am so heartened by the simple idea of these family nights. One of the most important things that our principal said to the families was that our school is proud of it's diversity. It doesn't matter if you don't speak English well enough to read a newsletter - if you want to be involved in your child's education, you should be. I am excited to be at a school that offers families opportunities to do so.

New Friends

Today we had a "Southern Culture Lesson" at the home of one of my new team members. She has moved here from North Carolina to be a VISTA for the Reading Corps. She wanted to share some of her favorite foods with us, which is something I can happily agree to. I love food. Especially when it's fried.

My new team members, all of whom I have known less than three weeks, all checked ingredients and read labels to make sure there was some wheat-free food I could eat. I missed out on the fried chicken and the biscuits, but ate some delicious cheesy-grits, fried green tomatoes, collard greens, black-eyed-peas, and sweet tea. Delicious.

AmeriCorps may be all about helping others and fighting poverty, but one of the best fringe benefits is the people you meet. I am still friends with several people I served with three years ago, and am sure that I am forging lasting friendships now, with people from across the country. These are people I probably wouldn't meet in my daily life without AmeriCorps - but we are all here, united by a common goal.

And by food. Especially those fried green tomatoes. Yum.

Patriot's Day

"Everybody can be great... because anybody can serve. You don't have to have a college degree to serve. You don't have to make your subject and verb agree to serve. You only need a heart full of grace. A soul generated by love." 
--Martin Luther King, Jr


By signing the Edward M. Kennedy Serve America Act in April, President Obama declared today, September 11, a National Day of Service.  (The Serve America Act also triples the size of AmeriCorps and raised my stipend, among other things.) A day to remember, to mourn, and to improve our county. September 11, eight years ago: a tragedy, a horrible attack, a shock.
I was a senior in high school, and got to school for zero period at 6:15, PST. The first plane hit the first tower right at about the time I was eating my breakfast. Before first period, I heard people talking about planes hitting buildings, and thought they were talking about a movie. Even when my first period teacher said "I'm sure you've all heard about the horrible accident in New York..." I wasn't sure what to believe. Our school principal told the teachers they were not to turn on the news, but my government teacher believed that we were living through one of the most significant events that we would ever see, and turned it on. 
The images are still burned in my head. 


I'm sure we all have stories like this, just as my mother remembers where she was when JFK was shot, we will all remember where we were when the towers fell.


But what about the people who were too young to understand what was happening? What about my children, will they understand what 9/11 means? Or will it be to them what Veterans Day is to me and many people I know - a day off from school and work? Making 9/11 into a day of service and remembrance, asking people to give back to their community and their country, ensures that we will not forget. Even Fox News thinks that the day of service is a good idea, and we usually don't agree on anything. (I do, however, know what the iron curtain was.)


Today, the Northwest Washington Reading Corps team went to the Citipoint Food Bank's new location and helped them unpack and organize. We folded and sorted clothes, built shelves, sorted food, repackaged food, organized dry goods, and basically tried to make sense of a warehouse shoved full of food, household items, furniture, and everything else under the sun. (For example, we found a framed sketch of the Pope.)


After three hours of work, it was declared that we were "done." They have a long way to go, but things certainly looked better than they did when we walked in. 
Before we left, the ladies in charge asked us to please take any perishable food items that we wanted. The food bank will still not be open for a few days and the produce and baked goods were already well on their way to rotten. 
So, in addition to the good feelings I got for participating in the first ever Patriot Day and National Day of Service, I now have a kitchen full of fresh vegetables and fruit. Which is very nice when a girl is living off of $6 a day for food! 


Did you do anything to commemorate today? Did you participate in one of the many service projects across the country? Even if you missed the opportunity to serve today, you can do it tomorrow!

First Day of School

The title says it all: Today was the First Day of School. First day for students, first day for teachers, first day for us Washington Reading Corps members.
Unfortunately, the fact that is was the First Day is pretty much the most exciting thing about the day.
We met our site supervisor, the principal, and the other teachers we will be working with. We got a brief tour of the school - I was surprised at how much room there is in the school. With 362 students, they still have spare rooms for reading specialists, Title 1, and other specialists. The largest class is 32 students, which is very large, but not unheard of.
We will be working with our site supervisor and other staff members over the coming few weeks to figure out where our role should be, as we are the first AmeriCorps/WRC members to be at our school. We will plan our tutoring times as well as other programs, hopefully including a breakfast reading club and an after-school group.
We will be spending the rest of the week getting settled, and Friday our whole NWWRC team is participating in a day of service for Patriot's Day. I wasn't even aware that "Patriot's Day" was an official holiday, but there it is, written in my calendar. As a National Service organization, it makes sense that AmeriCorps would participate in a day of remembrance and service. Are you doing anything to commemorate 9/11?

Food Stamps

Yesterday, another AmeriCorps member and I went to the Department of Social and Health Services to get our Food Assistance. I applied online on Monday, providing information such as my income, rent amount, average energy bill, and so on.
On Thursday I got a letter saying that my application had been received and reviewed, and I was to come in for an interview with documentation that what I had put on my application was true. I brought in a copy of my lease, my photo ID, Social Security Card, car registration, electric bill, and a bank statement.
We arrived at DSHS at 7:45am and checked in with the automated system.
At 9:00 I was called for my interview.
The interviewer briefly went over my application. I showed her the letter from my AmeriCorps supervisor stating that I am and AmeriCorps state member covered under the National and Community Service Trust Act of 1993, and that my monthly living stipend is excluded as income for all DSHS assistance programs. Because my income, as far as DSHS is concerned, is $0 a month, I qualify to receive the maximum amount of food assistance - $200 a month.
Then, after I got to sit an wait for a while longer, I finally got my Electronic Benefits Card.
By 9:30, the other member I was with had not been called for her interview yet. She and I checked in at the same time, and just when she was about to ask what was going on, she got called back. At 10am. Two hours after we checked in... wow.
Funding for DSHS has been cut recently, even while the amount of food assistance offered to people has gone up (three years ago, the maximum benefits were $150 a month). DSHS has had to cut back on their hours and staffing, even though the number of people they are serving has increased. Since June of 2008, the number of Americans receiving food stamps has increased by 22%. (Source)
Recently, National Public Radio did a short piece on this trend. They interviewed Congressman Jim McGovern (D-MA), who, in 2007, took part in the Congressional Food Stamp Challenge. He lived on a food stamp budget for one month. You can read or listen to the interview here.

I have a challenge to all of our Government Representatives - live off a food stamp budget not for one month, but for a full year. 


Even with the increase in benefits, I will be able to spend a little more than $6 a day on food. That's not much. I want to see the people in control of the governments spending do the same thing, and then, with a straight face, tell the people of America that we are spending too much money on welfare programs such as food stamps.

Do you think you could live off of $6 a day for food?

Day 2

Yesterday was much of the same stuff as Monday, and I was exhausted, so I didn't post anything. Did you miss me?
Today began with our community scavenger hunt. Our program managers came up with a list of things for us to find in the communities we are serving. Since I am lucky enough this year to be working in the same city I live in, I got to explore my town.
I discovered that I live only a few blocks from many of my team members, so we all met at the college campus to carpool. Five of us crowded into one car, and we were off, discovering exciting things about our community.
Funny thing was, all of us have lived here for a while.
But, while we may not have discovered anything truly "new" about this awesome town, we did get to drive around like mad and take pictures while we did it.
Some of my favorite things on the scavenger hunt list were:
-"Take photos of two of your favorite outdoor sculptures downtown." (Our town has recently spent quite a bit of money on public art. Most locals hate it. I love it because of it's ridiculousness. )

-"Take a picture with a rocket. Any rocket. Even a REAL rocket."

Now, here's where I did learn something new:
-In 2005, the Wall Street Journal's Market Watch ranked our town 4th in the United States for the most coffee shops per capita - 2.1 shops per person! ...Take a picture of your group at a coffee shop.

So, when people ask if Pacific Northwesterners really do drink a lot of coffee, I guess the answer is a definite yes. I don't even know how 2.1 shops per person is possible - but it is a college town, so I guess it makes sense.


This afternoon some of the group leaders got to get together and discuss what we would like to do in small groups the rest of the year. I think we came up with some good ideas, one of them being "how to actually live off your AmeriCorps stipend." $1050 a month doesn't really sound that bad at first, especially when you are right out of college and haven't really had to do things like pay rent, utilities, etc, on your own. I am scared to death I will miss a credit card payment or forget to pay my electric bill one of these months, and I've been doing this for a while.

There are also a lot of resources available to low-income people in this state and in this country. I had no idea how to take advantage of many of them my first year, and I am still learning now. For example, the local Community Action Agency/Opportunity Council provides assistance in paying heating bills. You have to provide proof of income and expenses, as well as a bill for your primary source of heat. I have not had my gas turned on yet, but when I do I will see if I qualify for this program.

I applied online for my Food Assistance on Monday and have not yet heard from DSHS. I will be calling them tomorrow to find out what the hold up is - their website says your application should be processed in the next business day. I gave them three days, I think that's fair. Hopefully by this weekend I will have my EBT card and can eat something besides tuna and beans.

First Day (version 1.0)

Today was my first day back in AmeriCorps. I'm calling it "version 1.0" because tomorrow is the official first day. Today was a "group leader" orientation, for those of us who have been in the Northwest Washington Reading Corps before. Most everyone else was on the team last year, so they all know each other, and then there's me. I did this three years ago. Wow.
We did a brief review of what we will be doing during the remainder of the week, because as small group leaders we will be facilitating some of the training. There are something like 80 members on our team, which is crazy and awesome at the same time. So small groups are pretty necessary.
We discussed the "Pillars" of the Washington Reading Corps. These 5 pillars describe what we as WRC members do. It's easy to say "I'm a reading tutor," but tutoring is only one of the five pillars.
We briefly went over the other four pillars, and we will be going over them in more detail with our small groups tomorrow.

The Five Pillars of the Reading Corps are:
Tutoring
Sustainability
Community Partnerships
Volunteering
Family Involvement

Although we can easily describe our jobs as "reading tutor," the other four carry just as much importance as the actual tutoring.

-Sustainability: We are trying to create programs in the schools that will last much longer than our year (or two) of service. Ideally, we want to create a system of volunteers so the program can continue without AmeriCorps support.

-Community Partnerships: Our goal is to create a strong connection between our schools and the local community. This includes training volunteers, creating community partnerships such as sponsoring events, and having events such as literacy nights at our schools. This is a big part of being in the WRC. My first year I spent a lot of time talking to community organizations and businesses, getting them to take part in one event or another. I hope to have even more success this year.

-Volunteering: We are, essentially, volunteers in the schools. We are lucky enough to participate in a program where the government supports us while we do this, but we are still volunteers. No one is getting rich in AmeriCorps. In addition to working in our schools, we do a lot of other service projects in our community. We also recruit volunteers to come into our schools as tutors and mentors.


-Family Involvement: According to The National PTA, when parents are involved, students achieve more and have a more positive attitude towards school, regardless of socio-economic status, ethnic/racial background, or the parents’ education level. Often, low-income and non-English speaking parents are unsure of how to become involved in their child's school. As WRC members, we organize family events, provide reading materials for children to take home (often in their native language), and many other things to include families in the education of their children. 
During my first year, my team was very successful in the Family Involvement Pillar. We organized some of the best family events our school had ever seen, and had a great time doing it. I hope to have similar, and better, events at my school this year.


So, tomorrow is the first "official" day of training. I'm looking forward to meeting my team members and learning more about how my year is going to go.

Yes we can!

On February 24th, President Obama gave his first address to congress as the 44th president of the United States. After watching that speech, I wrote this note on my Facebook:

Dear President Obama,
I listened to your speech tonight. Good job.
You make me want to join AmeriCorps again and make sure that kids go to college. You make me want to go back to school and become a scientist and create a car that runs on methane or something similar. You make me want to make this country a better place.
So, thanks for that. I'm excited to live in the USA at this moment in time.

So I can trace back to this exact date the moment I decided to sign up for AmeriCorps again. Pretty cool.

Here's a short part of that speech, the beginning of the section where he spoke about education reform:

Tips for Frugal Living

A lot of websites and articles about saving money give advice like "give up your morning latte," "cut your own hair," and "buy in bulk." I already do these things. I paid for a haircut in February, for the first time in over a year. I cut my own bangs. I rarely buy coffee. I don't get manicures. I buy in bulk not only because it is much less expensive, it also reduces the amount of waste I create.

So, what's a girl to do when she's already following these "tips," and trying to save even more money?

I've found some websites that have pretty decent advice, and I think the best advice can often be found from other people living on a strict budget. The internet is my greatest resource. (It's not even a remote idea that I will cut my internet bill out of my budget. I'd rather give up drinking. Hopefully it won't come to that.)

First of all, this is a fantastic article on eating "ethically" on a food stamp budget. I have a wheat allergy and don't like to eat meat or many fruits/veggies that aren't organically grown, so I do most of my shopping at our local food Co-op. It's nice to know that it is possible to eat organics on a food stamp budget.

Can We Afford to Eat Ethically?

The British government published a book called "Mend and Make Do" during WWII, when supplies were short. It's being reprinted with some modern touches, but the sentiment is still the same. There is no need to throw away a sock or a shirt just because it has a hole - Mend and Make Do! Read about it here.

The great thing about going "green" is you often end up saving money in the process. Just like buying in bulk, many green tips are about reducing your waste and consumption, which is why we end up saving money. Some of my favorite green living sites are:

Green is Sexy

Eartheasy

The Green Guide - National Geographic's green living website!

Green Living - the online version of the magazine

Some more websites and other blogs with good frugal living tips:

How to save money when you don't have much to begin with

Hillbilly Housewife

MSN's article on eating well while using coupons

There are several forums out there for living on the cheap, and here's a list of my favorites

Frugal Village Forums

Frugal Mom Forums - good even for those of us who aren't moms.

Budget 101 Forums - has coupons, budget tips, recipes and more

That's all for now! Please let me know if you have any good websites to add to the list.

Welcome!

So it begins.

In four days I start my second year of service with AmeriCorps. I am looking forward to it, but it will be a challenge. One of the most challenging parts will be living off of my AmeriCorps stipend - $1050 a month.

I will be writing about my experience as a member of the Washington Reading Corps, what I learn about the education system and myself as an educator, as well as how I survive off of $1050 a month.

Making $12,600 annually will put me slightly above the federal poverty line, which is $10,830 per year, but not by much. That extra $148 a month will mostly be going to my car payment, which is something I'm not willing to give up at this time (well, getting rid of the payment would be great, but I'm keeping the car), and which is an expense I doubt many people living below the poverty line have. Luckily in my new position it looks like I will be able to bus to work every day, but living in my town without a car could be very difficult. Who knows, maybe I'll try it eventually.

Luckily, the AmeriCorps stipend does not count as income to qualify for food stamps from DSHS. I will be getting $200 a month in food benefits, which I can use for anything but hot food and alcohol.

Also, I am cheating just a little bit - my parents pay my car insurance and my cell phone. Without them, I would not be able to afford my awesome apartment (which will be difficult anyway, but I will manage!)

So, my basic budget looks like this:

Income: $1050

Rent: $575

Car Payment: $132

Money Left for expenses: $343/month

It's going to be interesting! Thanks for your support.