Ivy Tech - Bloomington ASB 2007

This post was submitted by Ivy Tech student and ASB participant Carol M. Tuesday afternoon.

We all met and left very excited and without sleep at 6:00AM. We are still uncertain as to what we have really volunteered for. We have total confidence we will be successful and complete our personal missions. Upon arriving we were told all the rule of the apartment project applied to us also. Some of them seemed strange: we couldn’t set on the steps, we were not to be in the courtyard after dark and if we broke anything we would be evicted. Personally I have never lived in an apartment but to have nothing and have these rules added to that sounded very harsh, especially in light of the fact there is a waiting list. So you know they are enforced often.

The frustration of knowing if you throw a ball because you’re angry and it breaks a window could put your whole family on the street is a very heavy burden to live with.

One of the highlights of working with my group of children came the second day. This boy is about 9 or 10 years old. He seems to be a little slower with some things and allows himself to become irritated with every small thing that happens. The younger boys often pick at him just to start things even though they are scared of him. This day I decided to talk to him and try something different. I told him there were 12 of us all living in their after school facility. Then I ask him what he thought would happen if we all reacted whenever someone did anything that irritated us.

To watch this play out across his face was like watching a stage play.

First his forehead wrinkled and twisted. Then his eyes and nose continued the scene across his face. After a minute he had a slight grin and looked up at me and said “yeah”. It was like I had just watched 12 adults in a small area pick at each other, push, shove, hit and yell at each other on his face. It wasn’t really a pretty sight but in another way it was a little comical. He seemed to understand and I wondered what tomorrow would bring. Of course, He was full of questions. He had only seem four of us, the rest were in different after school programs. He found it hard to believe be were all in school, wanted to know our majors, what our spouses thought about us being in Virginia. This one he really had trouble with when I told him we were from Indiana, he thought we had to be Indians. It was really rewarding to see him open up and ask questions and learn more about those of us around him. He learned of many opportunities that are available to him in his future, 3 of which we had to explain what they were. We also showed him on the map where Indiana is. I didn’t think it was too far away. We still might be Indians.

We learned many new things as well. How to use the Community Circle to advantage was very informative. I had heard of this before but could never see it working. I didn’t know how it was suppose to work. I live in French Lick. The alternatives to rebuild an economy instead of building a casino were interesting. Working with Habitat for Humanity and learning to build a house was new for all of us. The history of the Baptist Cemetery was something not to be missed.

Getting to know each other has been one of the most rewarding parts of the entire break. In class we are like ships passing in the night; hopefully we will meet again. This group has bonds that nothing will ever break. We are all ready for ASB 2008 so everyone else is out of luck. We put in reservations and know what to pack and how strong Mark likes his coffee.

This post was submitted by Ivy Tech student and ASB participant Sonia L. Monday afternoon.

“Be compassionate. And take responsibility for each other. If we only learned those lessons, this world would be so much better a place” - Morrie Schwartz

This past week has been one of many memorable experiences involving others. However, this particular experience is different, I ventured out with 11 other likeminded individuals to serve those affiliated with Beans & Rice Inc. Though our mission was geared towards mentoring and getting to know at-risk youth isolated within a poverty stricken environment, we gained much more. We were awarded the opportunity to assist in the building of a home sponsored by Habitat for Humanity and revitalize a historic African American cemetery comprised of men, women, and children whom were born in to slavery or fought and died in the Civil War, WWI and WWII.

More over, I chose to mentor those in the Youth Leadership Program. Among the youth group there were seven young men and three young ladies who were highly energetic, semi-motivated, and determined to make a name for themselves. All of which is understandable at their age. The day to day challenges, derived from family stress, educational endeavors, and peer pressure can have a drastic effect on ones ability to rationalize the pros and cons of maintaining a particular behavior. Therefore, we have to understand that these particular individuals who have grown up in a low income, isolated, and impoverished neighborhood don’t have ideal role models. Their icons consist of superficial entities in the media and entertainment, rather than actual persons who have experienced a similar lifestyle.

I selected the quote above to describe my expedition/excursion with Beans & Rice Inc. I believe for many of us, this was an eye opening experience into the lives of others who are deprived of the adequate resources/tools to thrive within their community. Through the organizations continuous efforts they have provided as sanctuary for youth to develop and grow into pillars of their community. Both staff and volunteers demonstrated acts of compassion and responsibility for each other and their community. They have learned that it is not the materialistic things that define you in life, but the simplicity of helping others. When I look at you, I see a being that is willing to give unto others, compassionate, and noble. Who are these persons?

In all, I really enjoyed working with the Youth Leadership Program; those kids have the potential to do great things. I’m thankful for Beans & Rice Inc for providing children K-12 with the opportunity to gain more out of life given their circumstances.

Sonia

This post was submitted by Ivy Tech student and ASB participant Anita S. Saturday morning.

My first blog was on “the anticipation of the trip that lies ahead,” and now I sit at the very end of our journey with the same blog. Anticipation for spring ‘08 ASB has now taken over my mind. Where will it be? What will I do? Who will I meet? I think I will never leave Ivy Tech now; I will get my degree and get a job with my beloved school so I can go on ASBs every year. Ivy Tech could never know the impact this trip has had on me and what impact this will have on my entire family.

A lot of the people working for Beans & Rice are part of a program called Americorps. My understanding of this program is they volunteer as a full time job. This fascinated me since my family and I do quite a bit of volunteering. I have been inspired to look into this program not just for me but for my sons as well.

I want to thank Ivy Tech for everything you have given me on this trip, everything from the gas in our cars and the food in our bellies to the fantastic leaders: Mark and Neil. Thank you Ivy Tech from the deepest pit of my heart you have changed who I am, what I will become and you have changed the lives of some special kids you will probably never be blessed to meet.

A BIG HUG & A small tear,
Anita

This post was submitted by Meg M., Anita S., Sam S., Neil F and Mark H. Friday evening.

The photos below include the beginning of our travel back to Bloomington from Radford, our service learning reflection session, our visit to Mountain Lake (where a good portion of the movie Dirty Dancing was filmed!) and the rather unexpected winter storm we encountered along the way. Please stay tuned as we continue to expand on our thoughts and reflect upon our experience.

This post was submitted by Ivy Tech student and ASB participant Sam S. Friday evening.

Today was our last day in Virginia. We were blessed with excellent weather through out the week, but today was different. It was gloomy, rainy and cold. In a way I believe that it reflected on how all of us felt as we were upset to leave. Reflection time this morning was when we all realized that the trip was over. We discussed what had impacted us the most, what we gained from the trip and what will we do with it when we get home. I loved listening to all the stories about the Beans and Rice kids and how they made an impact on our lives. I just hope that we made some sort of an impact on them.

Yesterday we went to a roller skating rink so that the kids could skate and play laser tag. It was the first time skating for most of the kids. Skate, fall and then get back up. They kept tying and trying and never gave up. I saw Nakia, a first grade girl trying to help Mark up one time when he fell. She was so small compared to him and yet she did her best to get him back on his feet.

The kids were all different, and I loved meeting every one of them. There was one girl at the elementary school that I was at that stood out to me. She was one that had a behavioral problem. I believe that she heard what we said but was not really listening. You can never look at a kid and guess how bad their home life is. Judging is one thing strangers do when they meet these kids and judging is one thing that I will never do again - I am no longer a stranger. My perspective is totally changed and I would recommend a trip like this to anyone. It is one week I will never forget and the most memorable spring break I will ever have.

One project that I was glad to have participated in was the graveyard clean up. I got a chance to talk to talk to Mrs. Turner. She was one of the ladies that helps at the graveyard. I not only talked to her but I learned a lot about the history of the site. I want to see what it looks like when it is completely done as I think it will be beautiful. When it was time to go she said: “I want to give my new buddy a hug.” That made me feel so good.

I made so many new friends on this trip and I’ve cherished every moment of it.

Sam

This post was submitted by Neil F. Thursday evening.

This has been a wonderful trip. Working in the Enrollment Services Department of the College, I seldom get the opportunity to really get to know our students once they are past that initial enrollment step. So, at six am last Sunday, I showed up in front of the college with my travel gear to drive half this group to Virginia for a first ever Ivy Tech Community College – Bloomington Alternative Spring Break. You could say we all really dove headfirst into something new, took the risk of getting outside of our comfort zones in order to learn and maybe impact the lives of others who are less fortunate than us and hopefully learn something in the process. After five days together, I can safely say we have melded together as a group incredibly well and have really done a beautiful job of rolling up the sleeves and getting involved in the youth mentoring and other activities that have occupied our time.

Beans and Rice is the non-profit organization that has provided the program structure for our Alternative Spring Break. We have worked as mentors for after-school youth programs at three locations including at the pubic housing project we have been staying at. Carol, Debbie, Evan, and I have worked with five kids ranging in age from six to ten year olds. Working with young children, it is easy to get attached to their genuine nature even when it’s hidden behind a lot of acting out or aggressive behavior. In our group, the boys in particular act out their version of macho behavior as much as they express all the other spirit and excitement of being a kid.

Wednesday evening as I was sitting next to a window in our ground level apartment a couple of the boys we have been working with tapped on the window and motioned for me to open it. Devon, who has a lot of charm and bravado, wanted to whisper a few secrets in my ear and D’Maerya was basically checking in to say hi. I reminded Devon to get his permission slip in for a field trip the next day and he immediately when bolting to his house to get the paper and I reminded D’Maerya to put the five dollar bill he had folded up in his hand in his pocket. D’Maerya then got up to leave too but, at the last second, leaned over to me and whispered, “Can I have a hug?” Well, that made my trip all by itself.

He may have thought I was only giving a hug but a got one of the best hugs I have ever had. I don’t think it’s hard to figure out that we lack traditional father figures for so many of the children growing up in our world. I think we all have grown attached to these children we have worked with on this trip and we know what more could be done. I hope we can all take this experience, learn from it, and aspire to create the change where we see the need.

Neil

This post was submitted by Meg M., Anita S. and Neil F. Thursday evening.

This post was submitted by Ivy Tech student and ASB participant Meg M. Thursday evening.

Our service projects are done and although I’m relieved I’m also pretty heart broken having to leave the kids behind. Although I look forward to what is to come on our trip I’m saddened to know that we won’t see our new, little friends again.

Today’s trip to Adventure World was a nice farewell. Seeing their smiling faces with pure joy when many of them laced on roller skates for the first time and ventured out onto the rink, trying their toes at making it around, made the whole trip worth while for me. Not to mention the conversation I had with James on the road trip there. He had the whole van of adults rolling with laughter with many of his topics, which he was being completely serious about. His simple, child-like way of thinking was just adorable and his additions of words such as “dadgum” and a heavy southern accent made it even better!

While receiving and giving hugs good bye, along with hearing “bye Miss Meg,” I realized how much I would miss seeing each and everyone of them. I wonder what is to come in each of their lives, I know they all could do wonderful things but unfortunately many of them won’t have the opportunities to excel due to their environments. Although heartbreaking, it is the simple truth. (Just for an example, I’m suffering from a throat ache today because one of the girls I was working with passed it onto me when she had to come to school sick because her mom couldn’t afford to miss another day of work.)

I wish that it wasn’t the truth but it is, however it’s no reason to give up on any of these smiling faces. I believe that this after school program is about the best thing that has happened to a few of the kids and I’m honored to have had the chance to be a part of it.

This week has been a life changing experience for me and one of the best times of my life. Being out of my comfort zone has been a challenge but has opened my eyes to many different things. In the time awaiting our trip I was more than excited about it. It was all that I could think about until the night before when I realized what I had actually gotten myself into. That night it donned on me that I would be living with fourteen strangers (which ended up being twelve) for a whole week and I really didn’t know what to expect with the trip in general. Being completely honest, I was scared to death about working with the kids until I actually got to meet them. I’m not sure what I was so frightened of, perhaps letting them down in some type of way. I’m really not sure. I realized that my bubble that I lived in was going to have pressure on the rim and I was just suddenly terrified of the whole trip. Little did I know that my bubble would not just have some dents but be popped completely yet possibly be one of the best weeks of my life.

Everything has worked out better than I could have ever hoped. One of my major fears was how our group would actually get along. Surprisingly to me and most, we all get along better than could have ever been imagined. If we would have not been able to get along or had tension between us, our week would have been a bit of a failure. Luckily, we didn’t have that problem at all! I’m going to be sad when we all arrive back in B-town and part our separate ways. I don’t want to lose contact with any of my new friends because we all shared this huge chapter of our lives together. Although the hour will come I’d rather just not think about it now.

Well, once again it’s late and the day has worn me thin. Cleaning up the cemetery and being with those kids each was exhausting on their own not to mention our Sonic supper (YAY!) and long game of Pictionary. I’m off to pack up my things then dream away on my air mattress and be on the road again tomorrow afternoon. Good night y’all!

Meg

This post was submitted by Ivy Tech student and ASB participant Allison M. Thursday evening.

The neatest thing happened today! I found a femur, a tibia, and a few other assorted bones in an old graveyard for the black community. I turned the bones over for further examination by Radford University; they could be deer bones, bear bones, or (GASP!) HUMAN BONES! The cemetery we worked in today is a very neglected historical site. The cemetery is in ruins! Once overrun with trees, the trees were cleared out, and stumps now dot the ground like bad acne. The removal of trees caused the gravesites to sink into the ground. Many graves were marked only by a big dip in the land. Truly, it could be a setting for a low budget horror flick. I would never step foot on the land after dark!

I had never seen a grave of a person born into slavery before, and I found out that if you were born into slavery and lucky enough to be able to afford a proper tombstone, chain links are on either side of your name. Some graves had only cinderblocks with the names like “HENRY” painted. At least half of the graves were marked by a solitary rock. Yes, just a plain rock sits on many a grave.

Several years ago, our dog died, and we buried him in our yard, marking the grave with a cemented doggie print. It seemed a better idea than sticking a cement block over his dead body. I have mixed feelings about the rocks, but find that the most accurate description is “unsettling.” The graveyard work was interesting from a historical point of view, and humbling from a personal view.

The bones? Ah, yes, I seem to be quite the bone finder. I found a femur while digging at the Habitat for Humanity House on Tuesday. Now, I found more bones in the cemetery today. One of the organizers of our cemetery clean up project told me that “hobos” (black and white, alike) had just been tossed into the cemetery when it was overgrown. So, who knows what (or who) those bones came from?! This historical cemetery holds many answers to many questions that people do not even know to ask, as it has been in disrepair for quite some time. I hope that the few hours of labor we gave today will facilitate the formation of the right questions from the community. As the community explores this rich history, I pray they discover the right answers.

Allison

This post was submitted by Ivy Tech student and ASB participant Pam W. Thursday evening.

(Picture above) Logan is an amazing little boy who I have had the pleasure of working with this week. This little boy is a little high strung but very lovable. I sometimes have to convince him to do his homework, but for the most part he will do it with out any trouble. Yesterday we worked on math and let me tell you he knows how to divide; he does it so fast I can hardly keep up. We also spent a little time working on spelling and then we got to do what ever we wanted, so we decided to draw and that is when he drew this picture for me. He really likes to draw flames and play video games. I am going to miss him very much; he has really touched my heart.

(Pictures above) Casey is so cute and full of fight. She is always telling me about someone she had trouble with. However, the time I have spent with her she has been very pleasant. We became close on the very first day and I am not sure why, but I love it. Yesterday we did the usual stuff and during one of the play times she made me these pictures - one is of her special friend.

Pam

This post was submitted by Ivy Tech student and ASB participant Meg M. Wednesday evening.

6:00 a.m. came early for me this morning when I awoke to wash away the dirt and grime from the day before. I would have showered last night but we have a hot water problem. I had dreamt of being back under the house throughout the night so I was happy to finally be able to get that shower. (Sam and I worked under the humanity house yesterday pulling insulation through in the dark, dirty crawl space. Hard, painful, and dirty yet totally self-satisfying!) We all had an early morning, with our “be ready” time at 8:00.

Things went very smoothly which I’m excited about. It’s amazing how well we all mesh together. The moms of the group really keep us all straitened out and it’s great! If it weren’t for them, none of us would know what was going on, we’d all run out the door without our sack lunches and have to eat our lunch with dirty hands. Thank goodness for those beautiful, kind ladies.

Moving on. All twelve of us, plus several Beans and Rice people, piled into three separate vehicles and were given an “economic tour” of the Radford/Pulaski area. It was pretty much amazing. People get in trouble for having their dog in the conditions that many of these people live in. It’s really shocking when you think about it. I don’t know what I would do without running water and heat! It’s shocking that people still live like that, and they have to. I do believe that there were several broken hearts on that trip. Besides the sad living conditions and sad parts of the trip in general we saw how beautiful the area is. We drove up countless numbers of hills through trees and wonderful sites.

Later, when we all arrived at the habitat house, Sam, Neil, and I were put to work on the deck out the back. Due to a bow in the plywood behind the deck, it wasn’t setting up against the house smooth so we had to take part of it down, fix the bow, then we put it all back together. It really touched a place in my heart, knowing how proud Dad would be of me.

The kids were great today. We began by burning some energy on the playground and it was very successful. The kids ran and ran and ran today! I could tell that each and everyone was having a blast, including our biggest kid, Mark. When he slid down the slide it was possibly one of the funniest things I have ever witnessed.

Courtney, a very shy first grader, is really warming up to several of us and it’s touching to see the change she has shown in just the past few days. All of the kids really seem to be warming up to us and I’ll be sad to say farewell tomorrow. I know they’re all in great hands though.

Just a little interesting tidbit is that the bus driver that drives all of the elementary school kids back to their homes truly cares about each and every one of them and was telling me today about how sad it is to see them having to live in the conditions that they do. He could tell us all kinds of things about each student. It’s nice to know that he does care so much.

When our day came to an end, and we were all in need of some clothes washing, our prayers were answered by Cook’s Laundry Mat, which we visited to actually use their facilities. Thank goodness! Now it’s late and my air mattress is calling my name. I must bid farewell for now.

Meg

This post was submitted by Ivy Tech student and ASB participant Allison M. Wednesday evening.

I love hanging out with the kids at the after school program! I’ve made some second grade buddies that really like to roll dice and count them. For the last two days, we have been making up games with the dice, and they love it! Yesterday, I played a game that could be called, “Highest roll wins.” It is not revolutionary, but it is a big deal to the kids. Players compare scores every round, and then add up the total at the end. Today I changed it up a little and made it into a subtraction game.

The second graders are working hard to get better at adding, but the third graders could use the game to multiply.(That is, if the second-graders will let anyone else near the dice!) The dice are actually each one die inside of a transparent die, so I’ve got a great
idea for a game: Since every roll makes a rattling noise (they love THAT!), I will call it “SHAKE RATTLE AND ROLL,” and it will be a sort of “Yahtzee.” I am working on the details.

This week’s spelling list for the second graders includes the word, “which.” In going over the homework yesterday, one child had written
“witch.” So, I asked the kids, “Which witch is it? Which or witch?” I was not sure if they got the joke or not, but we did come to the consensus that the word for the week is “which.” Today, on the playground, second-grader James started talking to me about which or witch. He spelled them both, and cracked up when I cackled like a witch and made a witch hat with my hands. This was, in fact, during a game of “tag,” in WHICH I was “IT,” no matter what.

James has been refusing to do homework all week, so I engaged James in the dice game, and it was really great to see his math skills sharpening as we went along. I feel so happy when I think about all of the kids getting a little bit “smarter” every day. They are happy to see us volunteers when they arrive after school is out. I hope they look forward to playing outside with us, playing games, and even doing homework. Maybe I will look into working with an after school program when I get back to Bloomington. James left for the day and hollered, “Bye, Wicked Witch!” Funny little devil, isn’t he?

Allison

This post was submitted by Sam S. and Meg M. Wednesday evening.

Some pictures:

This post was submitted by Mark H. Wednesday evening.

One of the students on our trip, Carol Moffatt, was telling a story to our group yesterday about a conversation she had with a little boy at the Willow Woods after school program.

She told us that during their long – and apparently deep - conversation, he had asked her how much the group of students from Ivy Tech got paid for coming down to Radford to work with the kids from Beans and Rice and also Habitat for Humanity. As our group chuckled at that question (as you may be doing right now), the answer to the young man’s question came to me immediately.

Now, bear with me for this story… our group has been giving me grief for my apparent sensitive side for things like this.

The answer to the young man’s question about our pay, at least for me, comes from moments like this:

Part of our group’s activity during the after school program is heading out to the playground for 30-40 minutes after snack time to blow off steam each day. (Thank you!) Yesterday, when our group of volunteers was escorting the kids out to the playground to get started (actually, it’s quite a long distance), one of the second-grade boys in our after school group struck up a conversation with me.

This conversation started with simple banter like “how was your day,” “nice weather today,” etc. After we got that out of the way, he started with twenty questions. Following the first half or so of the twenty questions, he got down to business and it went a little something like this:

Kid: “Do you have any pets?”

Me: “Yes, a cat.”

Kid: “Where are you from?”

Me: “Indiana.”

Kid: “Do you have a son?”

Me: “No.”

Kid: “Do you have a girlfriend?”

Me: “No.”

Kid: “Do you have a wife?”

Me: “No.”

Kid: “Well, my mom is single.”

It’s little moments like this that provide the kids that we work with the opportunity to thank us without ever actually thanking us for playing games with them, helping them with their homework, paying attention to them and just being there. That’s all the payment I need to leave my “normal” life behind for a week to come to Radford and give a few hours of my time.

Be well.

Mark

This post was submitted by Ivy Tech student and ASB participant Evan N. Tuesday evening.

Today the group and I slowly woke up at the crack of dawn at 7:45. Basically, I was hurled from my beauty sleep by the cock-a-doodle-doos of a distant rooster… personally I feel that anytime you wake up to a rooster, it is too early because there is no snooze button.

As everyone is scurrying around in a hustle to get ready to go to the Habitat for Humanity house that we are taking a part in building, the smells of two-minute showers accumulate in each of the spring breaker’s sleeping quarters. After we were introduced to a member of the organization, Scott, and briefed as to what we will be doing we drive to the construction site. The only thing that kept me awake after the half-hour drive was the jokes and high spirits of the crew, especially our clown of the group Anita, who has not failed once to put a smile on everyone’s face. When we arrived to the house we were introduced to even more wonderful people incorporated with this excellent program, ironically named Bob and Tom. I told them of the popular radio show from back home that I listen to every morning but they had never heard of it. The first thing they asked us was who knew how to sheet rock. After about two or three people raised their hands I reiterated that it was also called dry wall and all at once everyone let out an ooooohhh!!! As if it were clear as day and then the whole group raised their hands.

They then separated us into our specific groups a couple went inside to hang dry wall and make frames, another group stayed outside to pull weeds, and the rest were assigned to making the ground level and make a rain wall so the rain would not seep inside and ultimately cause a flood. I was assigned to the inside making a frame in the restroom of the house. With two semesters of construction technology under my belt I thought to myself, “I’m definitely the guy for this job.” After about an hour, about five bent nails and two 2×4’s I realized this was not the case. Pam had risen twenty sheets of dry wall in the time I took me to nail one 2×4 into the ground. Bob and Tom realized this and assigned me to the outside where I took my pick ax and broke up the ground to enable the leveling process.

Right when twelve o’clock rolled around everyone was ready for lunch. By this time the temperature had risen to about 79 to 80 degrees. People were removing sweatshirts and jackets in the heat and I’m pretty sure Mark had the worst armpit stains I’ve ever seen. After my nutritious lunch of a PB&J and a ham sandwich with about 50 Snickers and Milky-Way and Twix bars that Anita packed me, we all went back to work for about an hour and a half. From here we headed back to our place to meet up with the kids.

Sure enough, right as 3:30 rolled around David (one of the children) showed up followed by the rest of them: Davon, D’Maerya, Nasean, Adiah and Denzel Washington (real name) who was a no show the day before. Unfortunately Anthony was a no show today but was present yesterday. We went outside where I had a good day talking trash to the boys while I threw my fastest pitches for them to hit (and they did), I think Nasean could go pro. Each boy has a very unique personality and I (even after only two days) have grown to love them all. I am so impressed with their ability to warm up with us so fast and adapt to their environment. There was a small quarrel between Davon and Denzel Actually, since Davon is a small first-grader and Denzel is a large fourth grader (right about my size), Denzel threw Davon about five feet because Davon was talking trash. When Davon got up he didn’t cry but had a look of anger on his face and I talked to him so he wouldn’t hurt himself through retaliation. We had a brief chat to come to a respectful understanding and then moved on.

We then played the game of LIFE in which I got beaten badly. Each one of these kids had two and three hundred thousand dollars and insurance on everything and I had about a hundred and seventy thousand dollars in loans. Luckily, before the game ended the dinner chime rang so I didn’t feel too bad.

I am truly surprised that I am having one of the most amazing spring breaks of my life as a freshman in college and I have not even had a drop of alcohol. The night before I left, I was honestly terrified that I was going with a group of strangers and would not (as the group has been calling it) come out of my bubble. This is simply a life changing experience for me… I know it sounds so cliché but it is true.

Evan

This post was submitted by Ivy Tech student and ASB participant Debbie H. Tuesday evening.

Carol, Debbie, Evan, and Neil worked at Willow Woods for the after school program. There were 6 students who came today to participate ranging in ages from 6-12. The boys seem to crave the attention from the Neil and Evan, possibly because they don’t have a constant father figure in their life, and immediately struck up conversations and bonded well with them. It reminded me of the Big Brother Program. We played softball outside because the weather was so beautiful. These kids love attention and we are here to give it to them. Ironically, the “girl” in the group hit the wiffle ball farther than any of the boys. She was just as surprised as they were and her pride was shining from one end of her smile to the other. The boys, of course, refused to be “shown up”, and from that point on were in a competition to hit the ball farther than she did. Personalities certainly don’t change from one state to another. Boys will be boys.

Since none of the kids had homework today, when we came inside, we broke off into groups for structured activities that would reinforce schoolwork. Debbie worked on spelling and money counting activities with her group, Evan, Neil, and Carol worked on cooperation, counting money, and life skills….The kids seem to have become very fond of the game of “Life” as they continue to want to play it when their other activities are completed. Having a good job, a GOOD house and gaining more children seems to be important to them.

Mealtime can be a bit strenuous at times, as the group tends to border on the boundaries of good behavior. Although “pushing the limits” can be something that we all tend to do, at the end of the day it can be particularly stressful if you don’t have alternative plans to stifle wrong behavior. Some of us may never know what some of these kids face in their home life, so a good mealtime experience is something we all want to instill in them. Polite and proper voice tone dinner conversation, good manners, and an enjoyable time with each other instead of in front of a TV or PlayStation may be something they have never known. After dinner, the kids were walked back home to their apartments.

I personally enjoyed participating in the Habitat for Humanity Program as we went to learn or better our skills in home building. The weather was wonderful and almost preferable as working outside was warmer than it was indoors. We were hanging drywall and applying some of the first coats of mudding to the ceilings and the walls indoors.

Debbie

This post was submitted by Ivy Tech student and ASB participant Virginia I. Tuesday evening.

Today is Tuesday. We spent the morning working on the Habitat for Humanity site. We participated in doing everything from landscaping to hanging “sheet rock” – (I guess it is a southern term for dry wall?) Before I knew it, the slightly chilly weather turned into about eighty degree weather, no jackets required! Trying to beat the clock, we loaded up the crew and headed back to the Willow Woods Apartments so we could begin our second day working with the kids in their after school program.

It was a consensus that everyone saw improvement in the kids’ behaviors and our relationships with the kids at our local elementary school site. Other than the complaints about studying the multiplication tables, the kids were having a great time playing games and making wax art. I have to admit that I made a wax art myself. . . . and it rocked my world! In the words of the great Ice Cube, “Today was a good day.”

Virginia

This post was submitted by Mark H. and Meg M. Tuesday evening.

Some pictures:

This post was submitted by Mark H. at 1:25 a.m. Tuesday morning.

7:00 – 9:00 a.m.

From 7:00 – 9:00 a.m. we rise (sort of), eat breakfast and shower. With the shower schedule, 6 people shower in the evening and six in the morning, but even with only half of us showering in the morning, there is still plenty of friendly competition for a spot. Breakfast is done “on your own” because of peoples’ various wake up times (all 3 of the guys on the trip appear to have a problem with waking up on time – although Neil denies it - thanks for the wake up call, ladies) and people are in wide range of morning fog.

9:00 a.m. – 12:00 p.m.

Dr. Nelda Pearson, our friend from Beans and Rice, Inc, came by and gave us the low down on community development, poverty, government, schools and Appalachia.

Did you know that Appalachia extends all the way into Ohio? Neither did any of us. “Appalachia” is actually a geopolitical region based per county that is designated by the federal government for subsidization purposes and not just a grey and fuzzy cultural border. During Dr. Pearson’s presentation, our group also found it interesting that the city of Radford administers the school system here and we were also shocked to learn that kids must pay $.20 to ride their own school busses each time they get on. Probably the most interesting thing that we found in our brief study of Appalachia was the similarity between Radford and Bloomington areas in economic style and chatter:

Nashville. Indiana = Floyd, Virginia
I-69 = Inland port
IU = Virginia Tech
Outsourcing “controversy” at IU = Outsourcing “controversy” at Virginia Tech
G.E. leaving town = Volvo leaving town
Crestmont = Willow Woods

12:00 – 1:00 p.m.

Lunch – thanks to Sonia for the delicious American cheese grilled cheese sandwiches – I haven’t had one in years and it hit the spot!

1:00 – 3:00 p.m.

From 1:00 – 3:00 p.m. we split up in our respective groups (6 of us at a local elementary after school program working with 1st – 3rd graders, 4 of us here at Willow Woods after school program working with K – 6th graders and 2 downtown Radford working with teens through a youth leadership program). We then received great orientation to what we would actually be doing with our kids from a few great folks from Beans and Rice, Inc.: Ben, David and Linda. Our particular group covered things ranging from discipline to techniques in using the game Blackjack to teach youngsters math (I could use a little help in the subject, too). All of these things came in very handy when we finally got to meet the kids we are working with all week.

3:00 – 6:00 p.m.

Off to the races – a very brief description of our first direct service opportunity. After our quick but great orientation to the after school program, we followed Linda (from Beans and Rice, Inc.) over to the local elementary school to start getting things done. Our group of six (Mark, Virginia, Pam, Sam, Meg and Allison) walked into the gym/cafeteria/theatre to await the arrival of the kids in the after school program there. The kids in this particular program are from local impoverished neighborhoods that aren’t related to the Willow Woods low income housing area.

After the children arrived at our tables in the gym (made for little people, by the way), here is how it went down: the kids sit down (or try to sit down – these kids have a lot of energy!) and have a snack. After we clean up (or at least try to clean up) it’s off to the playground for football, swinging, sliding, jump roping and cartwheels. Then, we head back into the gym/theatre/cafeteria, break up into grade-appropriate groups and do our homework (you know the story – try to do our homework). After homework time, we do a couple of planned and sometimes unplanned activities like bead crafts, basketball games or run around in endless circles. Then, it’s bus time.

Actual length of time spent with after school program: 2 hours
How long it felt: 10 minutes

After the kids get on the bus, two of us get on the bus with them to walk them from the bus door to their front door at each of the stops to make sure they get in safely – and to gain real appreciation for how they live their lives. These kids were awesome to work with and I will have more over the next couple of days about our group’s experiences in addition to the other two groups and the great work they are already doing.

6:00 – 10:00 p.m.

After we all reconvened back “at the ranch” in Willow Woods, we had the opportunity to eat dinner (cooked and made delicious by Americorps VISTA volunteer Kathy) with the kids at the Willow Woods after school program. These kids are great, too.

Dinner was eaten, dishes were done and showers were had. A brief note on the “showers were had” part of that last sentence: Let’s just say that we had a minor hot water heater problem and those of us who usually do not use expletives suddenly found them to be in abundance in this (kind of) funny situation. (Pam: I promise I won’t mention any names.) All is well now and I am proud to report that everybody appears to be clean and happy.

To cap off the night, a group of us headed down to what you might call downtown Radford to attend a bluegrass jam (picking session) at a local coffee house. Basically, anyone who is interested is welcome to join the circle and jam with whatever bluegrass song is being excellently performed at any particular moment. There were people from all walks of life in the audience and by the time we were ready to go, Evan knew everyone in the room. Walking out the door, we were thanked for our week of service by at least ten people and finally by an older gentleman blocking the exit for each person from our group until they shook his hand and he had the opportunity to thank us and attempt to convince us to stay… it was a great way to end a great day.

Tomorrow we have a workshop on discipline, several hours of work on a Habitat for Humanity house and our awesome after school programs to look forward to. Another great day is in the making and look for more information to come from Ivy Tech students and in more detail about our direct service with the kids on this blog!

Be well.

Mark

Some pictures:

This post was submitted by Mark H. Sunday evening.

The 6 folks that were in the van on the way down (Meg, Debbie, Neil, Carol, Allison and Anita) are proud to report that out of 31 attempts to get truck drivers to honk their horns, they were successful in convincing 23 of them (through various hand gestures that might be interpreted by some as inappropriate) to honk their horns.

For my academic friends, that’s a ~74% success rate.

And, I am personally proud to report that the people in the van didn’t cause any accidents through their somewhat dangerous nonverbal requests for unencumbered and shameless highway honking.

That is a 100% success rate.

In addition to the van, we brought with us a rented Ford Expedition. We won’t go into details of Ford Expedition group’s adventure (Mark, Virginia, Pam, Sam, Sonia and Evan) to prevent any rise in blood pressure of our liability folks. I can tell you that it may have involved holding our collective breath through the entire length of an alleged mountain tunnel.

After 10 hours of travel – some of which was spent at a truck stop Fazoli’s unintentionally scaring the Sunday church crowd and some at various gas stations or rest stops over 530 miles – we were greeted at our new digs and place of volunteerism at the Willow Woods low income housing neighborhood by Dr. Pearson of Beans and Rice, Inc. Our first meal? Red beans and rice with some garlic bread. Perfect. The vegetarian in our group thanks Dr. Pearson for making this meal vegetarian friendly.

Unpacking some of the last stuff left in one of our vehicles, I overheard a conversation between a couple of kids from our new temporary neighborhood (we are staying where we are working this week). In a burst of funny jealousy, the older child (not part of the after school program with which we are working) turned to the younger child (who is in the after school program) and called her a “butt face” because she was going to have the opportunity to go to Adventure World (?) with the new after school program volunteers (us) this Thursday. One, you can’t make this stuff up, folks and two, these kids are happy to have us here!

The shower schedule is posted, the “Semper Gumby” (always flexible) speech has been reiterated, smoking policy has been discussed and understood, journals and our “Power of Serving Others” books have been given to everyone and we all have places on the floor to sleep. We are ready to get things done. We begin our workshops (on poverty and community development) and direct service tomorrow. This is going to be a blast!

Be well.

Mark

Some pictures:

This post was submitted by Ivy Tech student and ASB participant Anita S. at 4:05 a.m. Sunday morning.

So, if you go to dictionary.com and type in the word “anticipation”… what would you see? ME!!! Yep, that’s right, it would be me sitting here at 3:55 AM on my computer unable to sleep because of a crazy idea I had to apply for this ASB trip

My husband gets a kick out of telling anyone who will listen about how this whole trip came about. See, I like home and my family - I have spent the majority of my life making my family and I like to enjoy them. So, hubby thinks I am becoming a little too reclusive with taking internet courses and not really socializing outside of my bubble. What does crazy me do when she reads this email for this spring break trip? I apply!! Never in a million years will I get picked (is what I am thinking and secretly hoping).

WOWZER did the idea backfire as I am now sleepless waiting to ride in a van to the unknown with a bunch of unknowns. Trust me when I say people that know me are floored that I am going on this trip without hubby.

So, in a few hours I will be making history with Ivy Tech’s folks who are on a quest to change lives by hosting its first ASB ever. Ivy Tech is truly working on kicking down the walls of my comfort zone first by giving me (my new favorite sport) dodge ball and now this. What’s next Ivy Tech?

This post was submitted by Mark H. on Friday evening.

At 7:00 a.m. this Sunday, 11 students, 2 staff members and 1 faculty member from Ivy Tech Community College - Bloomington will be getting in a couple of vans and driving 9-10 hours to Radford, Virginia where we will begin our Alternative Spring Break adventure as a team. Let’s hope the daylight saving time doesn’t mess up our departure time!

Snacks are packed (I must admit that I am a bit excited to try the cinnamon roll flavored Pop Tarts), the vans are gassed up, first aid kits are ready to go, journals are empty and anxiously awaiting some fresh ink and everyone’s finished up with their school work - we are ready to go.

I just got a text message from one of the students going on the trip who was confirming our departure time. After I replied with my confirmation I got this:

“Word. See you then. P.S. I’m so super excited! It’s all I can think and talk about!”

Stay tuned and wish us luck.

Be well.

Mark