Week 3, Standardized Tests

I could not go to my service learning project today due to near 12 hours a day of study for the LSAT. The bottom-line for me is that standardized TIMED tests are BS. Nontimed I can answer about 95/101 questions and score ridiculously high. Add a 35 minute time limit to each section, and that is reduced by about 15-20 questions. Going to law school and being a lawyer is all about being prepared, whether its doing endless amounts of Conn Law readings or working up case research, everything takes an extended amount of time. They say the LSAT is the best standardized test to gauge how you'll do in law school, but I question how being able to do 26 questions in 35 minutes really relates to how well I would do legal research or perform in trial. I guess what you can take away from this is: I'm really stressed out about this test that basically sets up the rest of my of life, and I don't think it's fair because it doesn't allow me to show my skills.

Elizabeth- Hope Lodge Week 3

Yesterday was my third time spending the day at the Hope Lodge, and I like it more and more every time I go. I am getting closer with the people that work there, and busier and busier as I am getting acclimated to all the things that need to be done. Since it's basically a home away from home for over thirty patients and their family, all the things that we do at our homes need to be done at the lodge. I spend a large portion of my time behind the desk, answering the phones (which is actually a lot more fun than it seems because I get to talk to the patients that are coming and help them figure out what they need to know, and they're always so grateful), and filing. But when I'm not doing that I'm finding it a lot easier to go up and visit with people, especially since they're already starting to get used to seeing me. What has made me most joyful this week about working there is seeing how appreciative the patients are. So many of them have been there multiple times and keep on having to come back for more treatment, and they are so grateful that they don't have to pay for housing.

J.C. Romero - Week of Sept. 26-30, 2011

Things are moving right along at my service learning site. On Tuesday, we finally started registering students for our computer classes. As of now, because I am the only volunteer working in the lab, we will be offering the classes on Tuesdays and Thursdays from 8:30am-12:30pm (those are the hours that I work).

When I was registering students yesterday, I came across some really interesting people. I was able to speak to two folks that really stood out to me. The first one was an 80-something year old Irish Roman Catholic priest who spoke nonstop about his transition from Ireland to the United States in the 1940s. The other was 70-something year old African American New Orleans native. I would consider her a middle-class citizen.

She and I sat and discussed SO much concerning the changes that there have been in society (in the New Orleans community in particular) over the years. She amazed me with some of the things she said. We started off speaking about education. She couldn’t believe that penmanship is no longer taught in the schools. She was disappointed, as was I, that children in the 8^th grade do not know how to write in cursive nowadays.

Then we went on to discuss how we have become an “informal” society. I wrote down something she said to me—“I remember that going to Canal Street was a big deal! Everyone dressed up to go and walk on Canal Street back in my day. I don’t know what has happened,” she told me.

We then spoke about race and laughed at those that say that we are now a “colorblind society.” She spent a significant amount of time telling me how hard it was for her to be a member of society because she’s a black woman. The one thing that I can remember her telling me is that she applied for a secretary position (I don’t remember if it was in the 50s or 60s) and that the manager told her that she was EXTREMELY qualified for the position; however, she (the manager) had to wait to get permission from the Dallas corporate office because she was a black woman, so they would keep her information and get in touch with her eventually. As she (Mrs. “D”) was walking out, she noticed them throwing her application away. She said she was distraught by the fact that she was more qualified than many other applicants, but because of her color she wasn’t given the opportunity to fulfill the duties.

I know that none of this is new to us, but it’s just really nice to actually sit down with someone who has experienced the things we have read in books firsthand.

I am even more excited to work with this program because not only will I be helping individuals learn how to use computers and such, but I am certain that I will meet people from all walks of life that will teach ME things that I may not know and/or allow me to listen to some of their stories.

Happy posting,

J.C.

PS – Excuse my grammar! I wanted to make sure this was in before class!

Second week at Girls Hope

I started my second week working with Girls Hope and defintietly am starting to get a better understanding of the kids and adults living in the home. The girls all remembered me and were excited to see me back. I worked closely with a different 5th grader from last week and my experience with her was great. I felt like I was actually helping. Before working at Girls Hope I was nervous about how the girls were going to accept me as a stranger coming into their home and lives. I was able to express this with one of the "house moms" and she had some great insight on it. She felt the same way and has been able to obseve that the children have developed an attitude of accepting change and moving forward. With so many people in and out of their lives, they live by this in positive and negative ways. After spending more time with these children I have come to notice how hard it may be for some of the workers to leave after their expected time is up.

Claire Lavergne- Anna's Arts- week 9/26-10/2

Since blogging last I have had two more days at Anna's Arts. When I walk into the church most of the kids now know my name, and I have just about all of theirs down as well. When I am working with the kids one thing that always gets me is the way they talk to one another. I guess they have been influenced by their parents, older siblings, or other relatives, but many of the kids 4-10 years old speak crudely to each other. Sometimes they use bad language, but others it just rude like, "Her hair done be fake miss, that's some ugly weave," just talking about a classmate's hair. I know all little kids have grammatical problems when speaking, or pick on each other but just the way some of these kids speak astounds me... I can't even repeat some of what they say, and they're 7 years old! When each child is separated and working independently with a teacher or volunteer, with out distractions, they can get so much accomplished. Its when one of their peers walks by and makes a comment or throws something or acts out that they get off track. They feed off of each other's energy. That is why St. Anna's goal is to be able to work one on one with the kids at all times. However, because there are not enough volunteers to do this, St. Anna's often becomes a mad house. At first it scared me how off the wall things got, and the fact that you had to discipline the kids... I didn't feel like it was my place to do so. I think I've gotten over that now though, and I've learned to isolate the kid(s) that are instigating the problem by misbehaving. Every day at St. Anna's is difficult and exhausting, but at the same time its fun and exciting. I look forward to many more days here!

Food Deserts in New Orleans

NOLA Green Roots is a network of community gardens throughout New Orleans. They are teaching youth, low-income residents, and senior citizens hot to grow fresh fruits and vegetables at a low cost. Their gardens provide access to fresh produce and plants as well as lessons on satisfying labor needs, improving neighborhoods, building a sense of community and connecting to the environment (mission statement on NOLAgreenroots.com)

On my first day at NOLA Green Roots I collected some data for grant writing purposes (to show need). I spent a lot of time on the USDA Food Desert Locator-http://www.ers.usda.gov/data/fooddesert/fooddesert.html collecting data about food deserts in New Orleans. Over 131,000 people in New Orleans live in a food desert! Thats about a third of our total population, and many of those people with little or no access to food are low-income. I also generated some sample thank you letters for donors and created files for individual donors. I'm excited to see what happens next week!

Karin

9/21 Court Watchers Tom Hasty

This week in the Justice System:

Everyone thinks about the justice system as how they see it on Law and Order, or JAG. But the reality is that the justice system is a decently well oiled machine. There are no demon lawyers (for the most part) in the criminal justice system. Prosecutors and defense attorneys participate in mediations, which are basically a back and forth determining facts and degree of punishment. Public Defenders do a very good job to get their clients the best possible outcome, while state attorneys do the best for society as a whole. State attorneys are governed by guidelines to which they must abide in respect to suggested sentencing. There is a lot of wiggle room within those guidelines. For example, possession of cocaine is a federal offense with a minimum mandatory of a year. The maximum could be 10 years depending on the facts in the case. The degree to which a state attorney would pursue guidelines is determined upon various factors such as cooperation, severity of the crime, likelihood for the defendant to become an HO, or Habitual Offender. In a given day the Judge may hear about 40 cases in a New Orleans court. So, the idea that every case will be tried or even has the potential for trial is false. Whether it is fair or not, most cases are grounded on solid facts, therefore defendants who wish to take their cases to trial are very misguided. Also, jurors tend to the throw the book at defendants as opposed to the PD's and SA's trying to resolve the case for the best possible outcomes.

Bottom Line:

Take the plea.

First days at Hope Lodge

So yesterday was my second time going to the Hope lodge, and I'm still loving it! Throughout the day I do some secretary and cleaning type of work: answering the phone, checking if the dishes are unloaded in the kitchen, filing, etc. But while I do all that I get to interact with the patients that live there. They are usually glad to have someone to talk to, someone to tell what they're going through, or even someone to help them not think about what they're going through. I'm still getting settled in all my duties, but I'm really looking forward to the day when I know their names and they know mine. It's been really interesting to see the family members who come to stay with the patients. They're mostly the husband/wife, and they've devoted their entire time there to their spouse and to taking care of them. You can tell how tired they are, but they never seem to give up.

J.C. Romero - Week of Sept. 19-23, 2011

This week has been (so far) and will continuing being a week full of figuring out logisitcs for us at Incarnate Word Community Center. As I mentioned before, we are beginning a brand new computer literacy program. I finally know the name of the EXACT program we are using and it's called LearnerWeb. Basically what this does is test each student from the beginning to determine his/her area of weakness. Many of our students will more than likely start off with learning basic things such as using a mouse and keyboard, but there are few others that might start off by learning how to navigate the internet, check email, etc.

I am continuing to work on a "outside curriculum" binder which will consist of other side assignments that students can work on besides using the LearnerWeb site. Our goal is that by the end of the week, we have a solid curriculum, so that we can begin registering students for our program next week! It will definitely be a hectic week for me, but I am so excited to actually start working with members of the community. I'll let yall know what's happening!

Happy posting,
J.C.

Announcemnt: 9/21 class will begin at 7:00 p.m.

We will begin our 9/21 class at 7:00 p.m. See y'all then.

Lead Poisoning

Lead is a serious issue here and in most major cities. There was lead found all over New Orleans, including uptown. Danneel Park on St. Charles had to be remediated.

The issue is lingering from when cars used leaded gasoline. The fumes from the car were released into the air and settled on the ground, sides of buildings, etc. This then washed into the soil and leaves us contaminated today. Major intersections are the worst areas, as are those areas close to highways. Lead paint continues to be a problem in older homes.

Here's an article about abatement & fundraising:
http://www.bestofneworleans.com/gambit/heavy-metal/Content?oid=1255562

And here is the New Orleans lead map:
http://www.wdsu.com/news/26823837/detail.html#maps

First Week, 9/19-9/25

Today was my first day at Anna's Arts for Kids and it went really well! Along with myself there were five other volunteers and the two program directors to work with about 25 kids. This was kind of overwhelming because they try to keep a 1:1 ratio of volunteers and kids, but since it is the beginning of the school year they said to expect chaos. And it was quite chaotic. I got to help some of the elementary students with their homework which proved to be challenging because almost all of the kids have ADHD and/or lead poisoning from neighborhood playgrounds. Our program director told us about the recent discovery of lead in the soil of public playgrounds around the Treme area which, among the kids who have gotten lead poisoning, affects their concentration, learning abilities, and disposition. It is astounding to me that lead poisoning is an issue at this point in time. I thought it was a thing of the past, but seeing that it is an issue today among these kids is sad and somewhat bizarre. Going to the Treme area and working with kids from there is unlike anything I've ever done, and when I learn of problems like theirs with lead poisoning I am really taken aback and moved out of my comfort zone. I know that lead poisoning would never be an issue in playgrounds in the area I grew up, so its just unreal to me that it is happening in Treme.

I really enjoyed getting to know some of the kids on a personal level and meeting their parents when they came to pick them up because I got to see a little more of what their lives are like. These kids are really strong little people, and they're living a life so different from my own. They've seen things that I couldn't even imagine having seen at their age from my suburban bubble, and I really can't wait to get to know more about them and hopefully have some impact on their lives.

Clare Hearns - First day at Girls Hope

Today was my first day volunteering with Boys Hope Girls Hope of New Orleans and I already got a pretty good insight of what these children are like and how the organization is run. I am working at the girls home which has 6 girls living in it along with 3 or 4 "house moms". Two of the girls are in the fifth grade at Holy Name, 3 of the girls are juniors at Dominican High School, and the other girl is a junior at Lusher. I had to a chance to talk with one of the girls from Dominican who has been in the program for over 4 years. She explained to me all about their schools, study schedules, and living situations. The high school girls have study hours dependent on their gpas and the younger girls have mandatory homework time after school. The home is a great atmosphere for these kids. They have family dinner every night at 6 and everyone is very close and supportive of one another. The children are not deprived from their families while they are there, they get to see them often. All the children are very devoted to their educations and building a successful life. I look forward to working more with everyone at Girls Hope and learning more about the children and the organization.

relevant and interesting NPR story

http://www.npr.org/2011/09/17/140539204/do-new-voting-laws-suppress-fraud-or-democrats

Heard this the other day and it reminded me of our class discussion last Wednesday. These new voting laws seem to be conscious institutional discrimination, in my opinion. Check it out!

J.C. Romero - Week of 9/12/11-9/16/11

Hey everyone!

I hope that all of ya'll have had some great experiences at your learning site! Yesterday was my first day working with the Computer Literacy and GED Program over at Incarnate Word Community Center. Again, this is a program that is run by Catholic Charities of New Orleans. It was a great first day, since I will be kind of serving in the capacity of Coordinator of the Computer Literacy Program, which hasn't started yet. I started helping create a computer program curriculum and actually am still in the process of doing that. That's what I will be doing the remainder of this week, as well as next. I met some of the GED students yesterday and they are a great group of individuals! 100% of them are African American and come from all over the New Orleans area. I am a bit overwhelmed with all of the duties, but am really excited to be such an essential part in getting this program up and running. I'm certain that it'll be great and I am positive that the 70 required hours are going to fly by working with this organization.

See ya in a bit!
-J.C.

Hope Lodge

Hello!

Yesterday was my first day volunteering at the Hope Lodge (or American Cancer Society's Patrick F. Taylor Hope Lodge, if you prefer the longer name). It's a housing facility for cancer patients who are receiving treatment or surgery in New Orleans. Instead of commuting back and forth everyday or renting hotel rooms, as many are from all around the country, the Hope Lodge provides free housing, food, and transportation for as long as the patient needs (there is one patient who has been there for over two and a half years). Everyone that runs the Lodge is extremely welcoming, and truly passionate about their jobs. They reminded me many times that the most important aspect of their job and mine is to make the patients feel at home-which means stopping whatever I may be doing in order to talk to them, ask them how they are, or if they need anything. I'll also be helping with Bingo nights on some evenings, which is one of the efforts the Lodge makes to take the patients' minds of their situation. I'm really excited to be there, and to observe how a facility like this works. I hope everyone else is enjoying their new service jobs!
See you in class!

Boys Hope Girls Hope of Greater New Orleans

Hey everyone!

I've confirmed with Boys Hope Girls Hope of Greater New Orleans and am very exciting to start working with them. The organization started in St. Louis and is now in various cities across the country. They take in displaced children up to the age of 18 whose lives are distressed for a handful of reasons and do not have a family to take care of them and give them the guidance and resources needed to become educated adults. Boys Hope Girls Hope houses children and send them to respectable school across the city while tutoring and mentoring them. I will be working at the Girls Hope home in Mid-City acting as both tutor and mentor for the girls. On week days I will be going with some of the girls from Holy Name of Jesus school to help tutor them and on weekends I plan on staying all day to spend time with them and offer assistance with more than just school work.

Hello NOLA GreenRoots !

I had an interview today with Nola Green Roots and will be starting there next Thursday. This organization was started by two Loyola New Orleans graduates! They run a network of community gardens and a compost program with restaurants around the city. They are concerned with food justice, health and education. New Orleans has areas of food deserts- areas where fresh or healthy food (or food at all) are not easily available/close. The Bywater/9th ward area is a food desert- that is why the New Orleans Food Coop is opening a grocery store there, and Nola Green Roots has a community garden there. They also have gardens in the mid-city area. For $45 a month you can be a stakeholder- you don't have do anything and you get two huge baskets of food a month, as much herbs as you want, and access to free workshops about cool things like canning and stuff! For $35 a month you can have your own piece of the garden to work. It is pretty enticing, I encourage everyone to look into it.

I will be helping out on the Development side- grant writing, donors relations etc. Excited to get more experience in that kind of work. During my interview they asked me a question about what kind of issues that we talk about it class do I think I will encounter at the job. Very interesting indeed. I am excited to see just what issues I do see. I'm sure I will be surprised; both in a positive and negative way I imagine.

Claire Lavergne- Service Learning Decision

Hi everyone! After the serve fair I finalized my service learning and will be working with Anna’s Arts for Kids. It is a great organization, and I am really excited to begin work! Anna’s Arts is an after school program at St. Anna’s Episcopal Church in the Treme area. The Treme area is well known as a rough neighborhood, and St. Anna’s church serves as an escape from it all. Unlike any church I have ever been to, posted along the wrought iron fences are numerous “murder boards” which show every murder committed in the New Orleans area since Hurricane Katrina. The boards exhibit thousands and thousands of names and ages of victims, and the date they were killed. In an effort to change the status quo of the neighborhood and decrease the amount of names on his list, Director Darryl Durham created Anna’s Arts for Kids. The program focuses on tutoring, etiquette, sports, music, and art. Their goal is to help the children of the Treme area grow into successful and well rounded adults.

I cannot wait to start my service learning because I feel like the people behind this program are 100% committed to making a difference, and they love what they do. They are able to teach young children, the majority of them underprivileged, things that they otherwise would never learn simply because of circumstance. I have to attend two sessions, one Friday and the other Saturday, before starting next week.

Good luck to everyone, I’m excited to hear about the sites y’all picked!

J.C. Romero - Week of 9/5/2011-9/9/2011

Hey guys! So, this Tuesday will be my first day participating at my service learning site. I will be working with Catholic Charities' Adult Education Program, but focusing on computer literacy and GED students. I'm kind of nervous, but excited at the same time. I have served as a volunteer ESL instructor before and have done so for many years, but this will be quite different because I won't necessarily be working with foreign students, but with adults from our own community. I'm most excited to hear personal stories from these people and I hope to serve as a role model/mentor to those who really want to succeed in life. Something that I often don't tell people is that I, myself, am a GED graduate. At first, it wasn't something that I was proud of. However, I had to overcome many obstacles and struggles and thankfully through all of my hardships, I have been able to become a strong individual with so many goals-- and I hope to promote that and use that to help "guide" these people.

Apparently from what I discussed with the Adult Education Coordinator, the computer literacy program is brand new program and I will be the first instructor. I will also help in developing a new curriculum for the program and I am REALLY excited to be doing that since education is one of my main areas of academic interest! I think that this semester will be a great one considering that I am working in a field that I am very passionate about.

I hope that everyone has a rad first day of working at your sites! I'm sure y'all will do an awesome job! See you on Wednesday.

Peace,
J.C.