I will get things done for America -
to make our people safer, smarter and healthier
I will bring Americans together to strengthen our communities
Faced with apathy, I will take action.
Faced with conflict, I will seek common ground.
Faced with adversity, I will persevere
I will carry this commitment with e this year and beyond.
I am an AmeriCorps member, and I will get things done!
October 18
If reading that felt uncomfortably indoctrinating, imagine two hours of that in a room full of 300-plus uniformed service members. On Friday at 5 am, Mary and I were groggily driving to meet our team in Morton for a mandatory field trip to Seattle for the Annual AmeriLaunch to show off our AmeriPride and get ''pumped'' for our year of service. Besides the tie-dye Cowlitz group, I would say we pulled together the best unconventional garb, dressing in lumber-jack plaid/flannel. We even contemplated a ''Crispus the Cispus Log'' team mascot as a jab for announcing our Cispus name wrong at rollcall last year but decided that may rock the boat a little too much. Ironically, they managed to get our name wrong again this year. As the rest of the teams were rising with their cheers and yelps, we were plotting what we would do - Logging roars? Axe-hacking sounds? - ''Syce-pass!'' No one stood. And then we realized our moment had been thwarted again.
Luckily, none of us thought to highly of the event to begin with so not a lot was at stake.
Despite the painstaking two hours of service stories and mispronunciations (several speakers fumbled with the silent p in the name AmeriCorps) it was totally worth a free trip to Seattle, with Cispus paying our gas. After the Launch, we all went out for Thai food and walked down for a jaunt through pikes place before half the team had to get back to their cars to be home for Afternoon obligations. Corey, Mary, Chris, Ainsley, Nora and I were the late car and made a full-out day of it. At pikes place, we discovered a gum wall far more impressive than the one back home in Ann Arbor (and oddly right outside of senior home - which, how cool would that be to live as a senior in pikes market?) 
We strutted back and forth a few and a half times through the main market street (and I double-dipped on the best free Greek yogurt samples I have ever tasted) and I managed to hold up the group more than once by the sensory overload that has a tendency to slow me down. After sampling some delicious organics and jamming to a talented A-Capella RB/Soul group called A Moment In Time, we pulled ourselves out of the fray and went down to the Sculpture park, a new sight for me. Metal trees, giant erasers, A distinctly Calder red-ness, Eyeball chairs, giant bronze maze walls. Fun stuff.
The wandering began to wear on us afterwards and we made our way back to the car to shift gears and make some errands before leaving the city. Many of us wanted to see the spectacle that is the Seattle Mothership REI store so that was our first stop. The store itself is encapsulated in a giant Rainforesty grove of waterfall installations and gardens that follow along a zillion-story below-deck parking structure. The inside stores a floor to ceiling climbing wall and a giant shoe-testing sort of jungle gym thing. It was nifty to see but there was no way I was going to splurge on REI so I was ready to leave before anyone else and sat outside for a bit with Ainsley and Nora watching a cute dog who was also patiently waiting for his counterpart.
 |
| The Outside of the massive REI |
When everyone was finally pulled away from the store, we headed out of the downtown fray to the north part of seattle where I had hunted down a pcc market for my shopping needs and proceeded to spend way too much on local novelties and produce replenishment. Our last stop for the night was a snazzy Mexican restaurant and bar with the slogan Sin Well where we met up with Tino, a Seattle friend from our Challenge course weekend. Leaving a celebratory evening far past dark, we drove home under the stars, alongside a magnificent glowing Mt Rainier under a full Hunters moon.
Mary and I did not arrive home until well past 11:30 and the next day, we were to be up again at 5 before the sun for....
Expanding Horizons!
October 19
Driving in a familiar groggy lull, back to Morton once again. We sat in a dark empty school parking lot waiting for cars of ambitious early-rising high school girls and a bus to take us to Centralia for the 20th annual Expanding Horizons Girls Science and Industry Expo Conference event. It was easy for me to come to the conclusion that my compromised sleep was worth-while. Since I am not in the schools during the week, the event was a great opportunity for me to meet girls that I had not yet had a chance to. The bunch that ended up coming were great and I enjoyed getting to bond with them and hear about their interests. I also found myself learning new things in all of the workshops as Mary and I hopped around throughout the day to take pictures of our students. I wrote up the following little summary after the event:
''Everything in
this world is made up of chemicals! And
those are made up of?''
''Molecules!''
''Yes! And those are made up of?''
''Atoms!''
On Saturday morning in the auditorium of Centralia College,
no one seemed to mind the early start to the day. Over 300 young girls were responding
in unison as an enthusiastic woman named Jamie from the Oregon Museum of
Science and Industry gave a charged presentation on states of matter. The girls
were brought up on the stage for one fascinating experiment after another, from
water that turned into jelly to balloons that shrunk in liquid nitrogen before
unrolling themselves and coming back to life on the stage.
For the past 20 years, the American Association for the
University of Women and TRIO - series of educational opportunity programs – has
been collaborating to bring the Expanding Horizons conference to Lewis County.
This annual event provides a unique opportunity for 7th-9th
grade girls to get hands-on, experiential learning in a number of vocational
fields within the Sciences. This year was said to be their biggest turn-out yet
and they only hope that it can keep growing.
After the all-student presentation, the girls spread
throughout the campus classrooms to participate in two 1-hour workshops of
their choice, which they were able to sign up for when they registered. Between
our group of 22 bright young girls from Whitepass, Morton and Mossyrock, our
students plated the roles of physical therapists, veterinarians, CSI
investigators, Architects, Jewelry designers, Firefighters, Computer engineers,
conservationists and much more. At the end of the day, everyone seemed charged
and inspired. Many of the girls were able to participate in a workshop that
related to their future interests and some even found possibilities they had
never considered. At a snack break between sessions, 9th grader
Hannah raved about parading around in a firefighter's attire. ''Are you interested in being a firefighter?'' I asked. ''Kind of. I'm a lot more interested now.''
In the past, it has been a struggle to get fundraising for
buses to come all the way out here to get our students to this event. This is
an invaluable opportunity that can ignite a life-changing spark in our young girls.
It was thrilling to see so many come out this year. Next year, lets fill up the
bus!
-------------------------------------------------------
No comments:
Post a Comment