Harriet Tubman Elementary School

 

Wow!!  What an experience!!  This was my first service trip ever and also, my first trip to New Orleans.  This trip started out a little rocky for me.  At the last minute, my friend that was supposed to be joining us was unable to attend.  I looked at the weather for the week and saw that it was supposed to rain the entire time I was there!  My spirits were a little low when the trip began and I was very nervous about going and not really knowing anyone.  The first person I met face to face was, the one and only, Eunice!  She immediately relaxed me a little.  She had a smile on her face and was so genuinely excited for what was in store for us.  It was hard for her spirit to not rub off on me!



Lindsay and Amanda

 The first few days I continued to be nervous about not really knowing anyone (I know Erica, but it had been years since we'd seen each other).  That feeling very quickly faded!!  What made it easier for me open up a little and get along with people was the fact that I couldn't help but be smacked in the face with the reality that we were all there for the same purpose.  To help the people of New Orleans.  To help the schools that the veterans of these trips have become so passionate about.  That is what I will remember most about this trip and what, ultimately, helped me to feel so connected to everyone.  The passion for the work that we were doing.  As I listened to people that have been on more than one trip talk about their experiences and what things were like last year, I was moved.  You can hear in their voices, the things that they speak about and the WAY they say them that these trips are more than just trips to them.  It is a chance to connect with people that have absolutely nothing to do with your daily life, a chance to improve a city that was once in shambles, and an opportunity to really give some meaning to your life and your choices. 



With our stations set up, we were getting a lot accomplished!

As the week progressed I took notice of the work ethic of this group.  It was, in a word, insane!  What most people would take as a vacation, time away from their regular job, their kids or crazy spouses, the members of our team took as an opportunity to make a difference.  People were always moving, always asking what else needed to be done after finishing a task, staying late and coming in early.  We wanted to get things done!  We wanted to leave knowing that Harriet Tubman School would have a great library that the teachers and children could take advantage of.
 It was kind of strange how quickly everyone settled into the routine of eating a continental breakfast, following Michael's directions to the school, putting on music and getting to work, having a quick lunch before returning to work and taking the bus back to the hotel.  By the end of the week I'd almost forgotten about my normal life. I was sad that I wouldn't be returning to the school, sad that I would have to part from the new friends I had made and sad that I was leaving a city that I was beginning to fall in love with.  This trip will most definately not be my last.  I truly admire the team that I worked with and each one of them for different reasons.  I will tell stories about this trip for years to come with the hopes of inspiring people to make a difference, do more and find something they are passionate about.  Until next year..... 

 Our first day, this is what we walked into!!!  Thousands of books just piled up in the library and there was another huge pile in a back room!!
 

 

 

 At the end of the second day, this is what we had accomplished!! It may not look like much, but all the books in these boxes have been given a reading level, stickered and organized!!

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Team members working hard!!

 



By the end of our last full day at the school we had organized, labeled and boxed or shelved thousands of books!!



 

 

The Partnerships In Education Week 2 Team        

My week in NOLA

What an interesting time I had during my week in New Orleans, Louisiana. We worked part of the time while we explored part of the time. I tried my first gumbo and shrimp creole at a restaurant in the French Quarter and liked both of them! The school we worked at is the Harriet Tubman Charter School in the Algiers bank of the Mississippi River. We worked in the library, helping organize the books in the shelves. Sometimes it rained (hard!) during our week in NOLA. One of the most interesting places we visited in New Orleans is the Lower 9th Ward, which resembled a ghost town. I even took Eunice and Kate to the Audubon Zoo. One evening, my dad came to New Orleans for a meeting and I had dinner with him. It is interesting how the bus system also goes everywhere like Chicago, but buses come less frequently. I might return to the Big Easy someday soon...

Trip #3... and More to Come

Every year around this time, I am worried about where I will be teaching and what my end of year will be like.  August is always full of uncertainty, but one thing is always certain.  I will be back with my NOLA Family at some point in August, and I look forward to this trip every year.

This year was a bit different for me, because I was on the administrative/planning side.  There were a few hiccups, but everything seemed to go as close to plan as possible.  Everyone went to New Orleans with a vision and purpose, and we all returned with sad hearts that the week had to end so soon.  Every minute we spend in one of our New Orleans schools humbles us and makes us wish we could do more.

For trip 2, Harriet Tubman Elementary called us back this year, and we were a bit nervous about being put back on the task of organizing the library.  I personally envisioned two rooms filled with books that were just kept there and never moved since last summer.  This was thankfully not the case, yet there was lots of work to be done.  Once we were able to see the actual teacher resource library, we knew what needed to be accomplished   There were plenty of books on the shelves and thousands that still needed to be leveled, labeled, and shelved.  We delegated tasks and were able to provide a functioning teacher resource library for Harriet Tubman and felt a great sense of accomplishment.

We made friends, had laughs, ate beignets, and formed an attachment to the work we do in New Orleans.  I am certainly look forward to the next trip which can't come soon enough, but has lots of work and planning to get us there.

Let the good times roll!!!!!

Summer in NOLA

I had a wonderful time volunteering along with my wonderful daughter Adrienne, my Mother and my niece Morgan and working with a great group of teachers from Chicago.  I don't live near my Mom or my niece and Adrienne lives in Chicago which brought us together as the girls family trip out in "Nau Leans", LA.  We left the cranky men home. This trip encouraged me to give more of me to others and have fun doing so.  We all "paid it forward".  I'm still looking back on that week with "Partnerships in Education" with a smile, a short giggle and appreciated insight of the joyful people of New Orleans.  This is a trip I will never forget.  Arthur Ashe is a beautiful school nestled in a reviving quaint neighborhood.  It was wonderful to see the joy and appreciation in the eyes of the administrators, teachers, parents and students. The excitement in the halls and classrooms vibrated through everyone in the building. We learned from them that good things can come your way after a devastating event that changed the lives of the people NOLA.  With patience the students, parents and teachers waited a long time to be housed in such a beautiful building.  My first day (Monday) at Arthur Ashe we organized the IT room, set up computers in several classrooms and then moved on to a few odd jobs.  Day 2 (Tuesday) Christine and I organized the school concession stand. WOW the paraphernalia is really "Sweet"!  My afternoon tasked was my least favorite and that was "leveling" books.  YUK!! Hated it.  There has to be a better wwaaaayyyyy. Grrrr!  It's hard for me to believe that administrators place so much on the teachers by making them level the reading books.  Well I guess it must be done.  That task that can take weeks.  Wednesday, I organized the office supply closet with my Mom and Adrienne.  We worked wonderfully together.  Now, I was very surprised and happy with the flow we created with each other to accomplish that task without any "yappity yak" from any of us three. That closet was whipped into shape in no time. Great job Mom and Adrienne.  Hugs to ya.  Thursday I spent with my my Mom in a Kindergarten classroom.  The teachers of that classroom were the neatest and well organized pair.  Loved it.  They left great instructions and clear directions to decorate their 5 bulletin boards.  Now I enjoyed dressing the bulletin boards with my Mom.  We worked exceptionally well together which doesn't come to a surprise.  She taught me well and I listened. Every evening we ventured out to the French Quarter to window shop and to dinner.  We enjoyed the company of fellow volunteers.  I love delivering "Olympic Breaking News" (when permitted) on the bus and streetcar ride back to the French Quarter. GREAT TRIP!!! See ya next year.

5 Times...

This year marks round number 5...

5 times the friends,
5 times the work,
5 times the sweat,
5 times the cuisine,
5 times the memories,
5 times the laughs,
5 times the love...

I honestly cannot imagine my life without this trip every year. I look so forward to it, that life seems to revolve around the beginning of August. Since last year, I have moved across the country from Chicago, the place that I call home.

Two weeks prior to the trip, Erica and Genie Skyped me into the Orientation so I had a chance to say hello, express my excitement and meet all of our new participants. My excitement surged. Last year I promised and I have since kept my promise to rendez-vous with all of my friends, family and loves, down here in our favorite place. I was able to come in a few days early, to enjoy the last few days Trip One was down here, and see Caroline, Jennifer, Genie, Adrienne and her family. My parents came in to spend another few hours with me, before the Trip 2 arrived. When we all were finally together, on Sunday, we picked right up, as if we'd all never been seperated, chattering, swimming, and getting to know all of the new people.

Today is Thursday, and the bulk of us have left with Tony for a tour of the 9th Ward. The rest of us are here, finishing the little bits of work we have left and blogging. We have taken tens of thousands of books, and leveled them, according to reading level, labelled them with colored dots and letters, and shelved them in an actual library!  This is so very exciting to know that the children, who start school next week, will have a giant, carpetted room, with big fluffly couches and chairs to come into, and get lost in a world of books.

Much like last year, when we spent all week leveling books, periodically someone would yell out the title of a book that sparked a memory from their own childhood, or just something that made us giggle:

"Mr. Popper's Penguins! I remember reading this with my Dad at bed time!!"
"Chicken Soup With Rice! Who remembers the cartoon starring Carole King??"
"Tyler's Shy! HA, no he's not!"
"I Am A Duck!"
"Do Unto Otters!"
"The World's Biggest Baby!"
"The Terrible, Horrible, No Good, Very Bad Day!"
"Raging Hormones, The Unofficial Guide to PMS!"
"Why War Is Never A Good Idea"
"Quotes From Women! This book is almost a thousand pages, looks like women have a lot to say!"

Most of the time, I felt that this banter bonded us together. Finding such a commonality in literature... Almost like an unspoken, secret language. And, quite honestly, I feel as though laughter is the glue of humanity. If you can't laugh, or even crack a smile, you're missing out on a huge part of life.

Truthfully, after 5 years, this might be what I look forward to the absolute most, year after year: The laughter.

I think it's safe to say that I'm addicted to New Orleans, and our Service Projects. I cannot imagine one without the other, whatsoever. And I like it this way.

<3 Always... 5 times!

At home and thinking...

I am back in Chicago and it is a lot cooler.
I want to thank Adrienne for getting us home. She was my hero! If she hadn't decided to have us all go to the airport we would not have been available for the flight she got us on!  Yeah Adrienne!
I hope Jennifer will make her pictures available to all of us. She was drawing all of the time--and she is a great artist.
Being part of this group was an amazing experience. Thank you to all of you!
Thank  you to Tony for showing us the levees--new and old-- and the lower 9th so I could understand how much suffering there was and still is. I am glad to be a part of  a group that is trying to make a difference.
I can't wait to see all of your pictures.
Eunice

August 2, 2012
I have been in New Orleans since Sunday and it has been an amazing experience from many aspects. First, this is one of the most diverse groups I have worked with. The experience has been very enriching for me. I have learned so much from each and every person. We have laughed and sweated and worked hard. We have also watched the Olympics together.

Second being in New Orleans has been very interesting and new to me. Yes, it has been hot. I am
almost used to the heat. It is raining right now for the first time. I will see what that does to the temperature. I have found people to be very warm and friendly. People on the bus have given us recommendations about places to go. The bus driver always makes sure he is close to the curb so it is easy to get on and off. I was shocked when someone got up to give me a seat--not because it wasn't extremely polite--but I didn't think I looked old enough to get the attention. Oh well! Then there was the lady with her grandchildren who told me not to take the seat because it was always harder to get up once you sit down! The bar tender at Ryan's told us about his different careers. I was extremely  happy to hear that he loved math! and used it everyday.  The man at the mask store made sure I had seen the full collection of masks and then helped me rule out the one that wasn't quite as attractive as one of the others. Our waiter, Judah, was great tonight at the oldest bar in New Orleans. You may wonder what made him so great. It was his love of my giant framed glasses. He made such a fuss over them that it was almost as good as making a fuss over me! Walking around the area with the dance bars and venues for music--including the sidewalks was very exciting. Ending up at the Snug Harbor Jazz bistro with
Delfeayo Marsalis was a real treat. We were all pleasantly surprised when 16 mean cameup on stage with their instruments. There was such joy on their faces as they marched in. It was fun to see the good time they had with each other --and the marvelous tones that filled the room.

I took a long time getting here--but I am at the reason we came to New Orleans in the first place--to work at Arthur Ashe School. Each day we have taken a bus and a streetcar to get to the school. It has been a long time since I did that. We then walk the block or so to get to the school. It is such a lovely place. It is a new school and very impressive. We have met many of the teachers and they are a dedicated group. I loved talking to Chris, one of the math teachers. I think I would enjoy seeing him teach. He sounds like he really knows what he is doing and yet is always anxious to get new ideas....the perfect life-long learner.  It excited me to hear that their new plans involved adding more depth to the basic math understandings. For example, he said they were going to spend a lot of time developing number sense. My assignments were varied. I sharpened 1000 pencils, organized a closet of resources, and found levels for library books.It felt good to be part of a group that was trying to help teachers by doing whatever they needed help with.

I am so glad I made the decision to go on this trip.
I'll write more another time.

Eunicw