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.
Showing posts with label flight museum. Show all posts
Showing posts with label flight museum. Show all posts
Thursday, December 10, 2009
Thursday, November 19, 2009
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.
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.
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:
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.
Wednesday, October 7, 2009
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!
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!
Thursday, October 1, 2009
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!
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!
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