We the team of Cispus AmeriCorps promise to...
Be accepting and inclusive of all members of our team and the people we are serving
Remain open minded and adapt to new challenges/obstacles
When faced with challenges that we do not think we can handle, we will fake it til we make it
Support each other through teamwork by dedicating ourselves to a common cause
support each other, taking into account our many flaws. Our commitment will be unwavering in our continued effort to cooperate with each other.
Always treat each other as a brother from another mother
Take time to have fun while getting things done for East Lewis County
Care for each other compassionately
Make sure every members opinions will be heard even when they differ from our own
Take initiative in developing the growth of ourselves and the community through an open and honest network of communication which continuously provides feedback and advice for improvement
-Our 2013-14 team agreement, elegantly written and arranged by us at Cispus
And we are officially in full(er) swing. Swinging enough that time is getting harder to keep up with.
The Challenge Course Training ended on Monday just in time for me to zoom back to Packwood for our first day of OPEN GYM! About half of the team came to support Mary and I for opening day (some even despite being exhausted from the weekend.)
I was nervous at first. As the slow trickle of kids came in, Mackensie and Corey ventured onto the court to play ball with a few while Mary and I tackled the logistics of new forms and behavioral agreements. For a time, things slowed down to where no one was coming in and the few kids there were already occupied so had the attention of one of us so I sat by the door feeling rather useless. Then a young boy named J (I will be using just first letters for names) began dribbling a ball around separately from the kids on the court and I caught him with this sort of searching look on his face so I got up to offer my amateur sporting skills. The night picked up from there on out. J and I shot hoops and he did just as much to make me feel included as I had hoped to do by approaching him. Our newest member Lou who had just arrived in Morton the night before came and joined in just in time for me to be dragged away to help a girl named A on a computer game. She insisted on playing even though she said she left her reading glasses at home and couldn't see the words. It was rewarding to try and engage her in different ways on how to understand the game but after a while, I began to worry I should be spreading my attention a little wider. Thankfully, the computer froze one too many times for her and we moved onto a tea party game in the middle of the stage where I was more accessible. That is where the most adorable kindergardener A(2) found me and when A lost interest, I got to spend a good portion of the evening running around with A(2) playing with hula hoops and balls and frisbees. I told her it was my first time here and she was thrilled "It's my first time also!"
I learned the names of quite a few of the other kids that night but felt that I remained sort of a distant figure to them. Mary gave me the low down on a couple of the kids on our way home. The ones that had tempers, the bullies, the cooperative ones, the needy ones. As it turned out, A probably doesn't even have reading glasses. She apparently just needs help with everything that she does. "What I say" Mary advised, "is that if you can't use the computer yourself, you don't need to be on it."
Tuesday was another exciting launch. I had scheduled a rather impromptu Community Garden meeting at the church and had no idea who would show. A few hours before the meeting, I finally made phone contact with the elusive Gretchen, Organic farmer extraordinaire of Packwood! After weeks of hearing so much about her and yet never managing to meet, Mary and I had decided that it was the whole town's joke on me. Not only is she very very real but she had heard about the garden and was planning on coming to the meeting. After I got off the phone with her, it sort of hit me that I was holding an actually meeting and that it should probably include some sort of semi-professional agenda so I went ahead and did some last minute research, realizing there was actually quite a bit of ground to cover. The meeting ended up being modestly sized - six of us - but full of enthusiasm and participation and resources. I had half thought that people would approach the project with a half-assed skepticism but everyone there was all-in. We tossed around every and all ideas for funding and location and by the end of the meeting, we had come up with our top location options, our goals for the garden's function, our building goals for the year and our next step of writing a mission statement and proposal for property usage. In the days following, I also received a number of additional names and contacts of those who want to get involved and those who could offer some experiential wisdom.
Wednesday wrapped up our first week of open gym and I was amazed at how much more comfortable I felt in just the shift between the first and second day. Even the kids I had only learned the names of had me on their radar that first night and I was more readily able to interact with them and call them by name. It was a slow start again because of football practice for some of the kids but this time, I had much more to do at the table, making sure we kept track of forms and sign-ins. Once things picked up, I wandered from the front door and began to look for where to place myself when a hula hoop spun from the sidelines to hit a girl named L in the face. Crying ensued as A(3) ran over to apologize. I made sure L understood it was an accident and things seemed to diffuse until a little while later when I found A(3) trying to crawl under the stage. "L hit me and made me bite my tongue!" she said, crying. While I said I was proud of her for finding her own space instead of hitting back, I could not let her under the stage. I asked what she thought about going to talk to L about how she felt and she nodded. L was not so keen on this and when we found her, she started out in a fit, heading for her shoes and insisting she was going to leave. I sat down and persistently tried different approaches to cool her off just enough to stop putting her shoes on, and finally to look at A(3) to exchange some real dialogue. It became apparent very quickly that this was an ongoing thing outside of OG for them and I felt a bit trapped that I didn't have the inside info to tackle that bigger issue. Miraculously, we ended in a three-way hug.
I also got to try my hand at basketball again and am becoming a fan of this game called "Bounce." At one point, it was mellow enough inside that a good lot of us were able to get a game going. J is the star of the court and I had only ever seen him playing sports at the gym so I didn't know if we would ever relate beyond that. Then for the last hour of the evening, L asked if I could build a fort with her in the corner. We propped up a ton of gym mats and made a few beds and began playing house. Every so often, a ball would fly in and someone would get it or a kid being chased would use it for a hiding spot. Then all of a sudden, J, C and C(2) walked in on us making banana pancakes and we then had two pets and a dad in the house. The story picked up when E, an older girl who is quite the thespian, decided to get involved and began playing these eccentric villainous characters whose role was to try and incriminate us for various pet violations. Every time she came by, we would have a different "cover up" and every time she left, we would frantically plot a new plan. In the middle of it, J exclaimed "this is awesome! This would make a great play!" It was so fun to see his enjoyment expressed off of the court.
At the end of the night, the AmeriFamily that had come all joined Mary and I for Tacos and drinks at the Spruce where I met more townie community.
On Thursday, Mary and I got to be timers for the cross country track races at a deceptively unpronounced campground that we pass all the time on highway 12. In actuality it is gorgeous and spacious enough to host the 1.5 and 3.2 mile races for the junior and high school students. Despite any distracting hillarities that ensued from trying to simultaneously count minutes and being jolted by the abrupt gun shot of the starting noise, I would say we did a pretty good job for amateurs.
And finally, on Friday's meeting the team shirt designs were finalized, the Teen center cleaned and "Morton Teen Center" painted on the window. And today, we open!
Also, it took me forever to realize that the sound I am hearing out my window all the time is Elk:
Elk noises!
They have been re-exotified in my eyes.
I was nervous at first. As the slow trickle of kids came in, Mackensie and Corey ventured onto the court to play ball with a few while Mary and I tackled the logistics of new forms and behavioral agreements. For a time, things slowed down to where no one was coming in and the few kids there were already occupied so had the attention of one of us so I sat by the door feeling rather useless. Then a young boy named J (I will be using just first letters for names) began dribbling a ball around separately from the kids on the court and I caught him with this sort of searching look on his face so I got up to offer my amateur sporting skills. The night picked up from there on out. J and I shot hoops and he did just as much to make me feel included as I had hoped to do by approaching him. Our newest member Lou who had just arrived in Morton the night before came and joined in just in time for me to be dragged away to help a girl named A on a computer game. She insisted on playing even though she said she left her reading glasses at home and couldn't see the words. It was rewarding to try and engage her in different ways on how to understand the game but after a while, I began to worry I should be spreading my attention a little wider. Thankfully, the computer froze one too many times for her and we moved onto a tea party game in the middle of the stage where I was more accessible. That is where the most adorable kindergardener A(2) found me and when A lost interest, I got to spend a good portion of the evening running around with A(2) playing with hula hoops and balls and frisbees. I told her it was my first time here and she was thrilled "It's my first time also!"
I learned the names of quite a few of the other kids that night but felt that I remained sort of a distant figure to them. Mary gave me the low down on a couple of the kids on our way home. The ones that had tempers, the bullies, the cooperative ones, the needy ones. As it turned out, A probably doesn't even have reading glasses. She apparently just needs help with everything that she does. "What I say" Mary advised, "is that if you can't use the computer yourself, you don't need to be on it."
Tuesday was another exciting launch. I had scheduled a rather impromptu Community Garden meeting at the church and had no idea who would show. A few hours before the meeting, I finally made phone contact with the elusive Gretchen, Organic farmer extraordinaire of Packwood! After weeks of hearing so much about her and yet never managing to meet, Mary and I had decided that it was the whole town's joke on me. Not only is she very very real but she had heard about the garden and was planning on coming to the meeting. After I got off the phone with her, it sort of hit me that I was holding an actually meeting and that it should probably include some sort of semi-professional agenda so I went ahead and did some last minute research, realizing there was actually quite a bit of ground to cover. The meeting ended up being modestly sized - six of us - but full of enthusiasm and participation and resources. I had half thought that people would approach the project with a half-assed skepticism but everyone there was all-in. We tossed around every and all ideas for funding and location and by the end of the meeting, we had come up with our top location options, our goals for the garden's function, our building goals for the year and our next step of writing a mission statement and proposal for property usage. In the days following, I also received a number of additional names and contacts of those who want to get involved and those who could offer some experiential wisdom.
Wednesday wrapped up our first week of open gym and I was amazed at how much more comfortable I felt in just the shift between the first and second day. Even the kids I had only learned the names of had me on their radar that first night and I was more readily able to interact with them and call them by name. It was a slow start again because of football practice for some of the kids but this time, I had much more to do at the table, making sure we kept track of forms and sign-ins. Once things picked up, I wandered from the front door and began to look for where to place myself when a hula hoop spun from the sidelines to hit a girl named L in the face. Crying ensued as A(3) ran over to apologize. I made sure L understood it was an accident and things seemed to diffuse until a little while later when I found A(3) trying to crawl under the stage. "L hit me and made me bite my tongue!" she said, crying. While I said I was proud of her for finding her own space instead of hitting back, I could not let her under the stage. I asked what she thought about going to talk to L about how she felt and she nodded. L was not so keen on this and when we found her, she started out in a fit, heading for her shoes and insisting she was going to leave. I sat down and persistently tried different approaches to cool her off just enough to stop putting her shoes on, and finally to look at A(3) to exchange some real dialogue. It became apparent very quickly that this was an ongoing thing outside of OG for them and I felt a bit trapped that I didn't have the inside info to tackle that bigger issue. Miraculously, we ended in a three-way hug.
I also got to try my hand at basketball again and am becoming a fan of this game called "Bounce." At one point, it was mellow enough inside that a good lot of us were able to get a game going. J is the star of the court and I had only ever seen him playing sports at the gym so I didn't know if we would ever relate beyond that. Then for the last hour of the evening, L asked if I could build a fort with her in the corner. We propped up a ton of gym mats and made a few beds and began playing house. Every so often, a ball would fly in and someone would get it or a kid being chased would use it for a hiding spot. Then all of a sudden, J, C and C(2) walked in on us making banana pancakes and we then had two pets and a dad in the house. The story picked up when E, an older girl who is quite the thespian, decided to get involved and began playing these eccentric villainous characters whose role was to try and incriminate us for various pet violations. Every time she came by, we would have a different "cover up" and every time she left, we would frantically plot a new plan. In the middle of it, J exclaimed "this is awesome! This would make a great play!" It was so fun to see his enjoyment expressed off of the court.
At the end of the night, the AmeriFamily that had come all joined Mary and I for Tacos and drinks at the Spruce where I met more townie community.
On Thursday, Mary and I got to be timers for the cross country track races at a deceptively unpronounced campground that we pass all the time on highway 12. In actuality it is gorgeous and spacious enough to host the 1.5 and 3.2 mile races for the junior and high school students. Despite any distracting hillarities that ensued from trying to simultaneously count minutes and being jolted by the abrupt gun shot of the starting noise, I would say we did a pretty good job for amateurs.
And finally, on Friday's meeting the team shirt designs were finalized, the Teen center cleaned and "Morton Teen Center" painted on the window. And today, we open!
In other news, rain. is. here:
Also, it took me forever to realize that the sound I am hearing out my window all the time is Elk:
Elk noises!
They have been re-exotified in my eyes.
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