poverty does not discriminate

The Student Food Pantry is beginning to form in our heads in an organized manner. After visiting with a few different college's and discussing their pantries, Chris and I have a pretty good idea as to how we want our program to run here at Schoolcraft. All colleges have been extremely helpful in sharing their information and allowing us to gain insight from their challenges and progressions.

I am currently attempting to find start-up funding in case it is needed for storage items in the pantry. Hopefully we can get shelves donated or discounted.

Next semester will be the kickoff of our collections for the food pantry. Chris and I are very excited to see how the program unfolds.

The Empty Bowls Project is back on. I am meeting with Tom Savage tomorrow to discuss his provisions and hopefully get the contract squared away so that we can continue with this program next month.

There has been a lot of new developments in different fields here at Schoolcraft.

• After Make a Difference Day, I went to one planning meeting for MLK day and then decided that we would back out of partnering with the United Way due to our own projects here on campus. We are hosting a welfare simulation here with the Interfaith Council for Peace and Justice. It is a workshop that students come to in order to understand financial insecurities in various forms. 
• Schoolcraft College is now waiting on grant funds from the MCC STEM in hopes to partner with Madonna university in creating a community service-learning garden in Livonia. Although this was unexpected and slightly confusing and disappointing at the same time. It has turned into an excellent project and hopefully we will get the grant funding to go through with it. This also means that my year-long project has been altered in such a way that I will probably not be able to do a garden on campus this year. However the food pantry is still in the works.
• We are heading to Delta college on the 15th of this month to meet with their Executive Committee to discuss their certain fails and successes in order to come up with a template to use in the making of our own food pantry. I am also going to be calling gleaners again this coming week so that I can take the steps to partner with them.

Make a Difference Day this past weekend was a success as a whole. However I did have student concerns about the project. Some mentioned that it was too unorganized, others that they did not feel as if they were adequately being utilized and overall I would have to say that I agree with them. I feel that the United Way and City Year did a great job rounding up volunteers, however the project that many groups were given simply did not feel like it was benefiting the Detroit community or the school. Here are some photos so that you may decide for yourself.

Tomorrow is Helen's Campus Walk for the UNICEF TAP PROJECT I am hoping to participate in it, take photos and help spread awareness and build funding.

Make a Difference Day : is coming up and we have a few overflow students that did not make the registration deadline. PTK officers are going to be attending in small numbers. I am setting up carpools and coordinating with Kira the details of our day. Tomorrow UWSEM is hosting a conference call to finalize registration details and other important things to know for the projects.

MAKE IT AND TAKE IT event that we hosted in lower waterman last week was incredibly successful. Helens class raised about 100.00 in funds for the UNICEF Tap Project towards their overall goal.

Quarterly Report 1 : Due 11/19/10

Site Visit : This Friday 10/15/10 2pm-3:30pm

Schoolcraft Fall semester 2010 is in full swing and there are plenty of things to be marketed, advertised, joined, a participant of and so much more. Currently I am trying to get all of my PRE data in place. I currently have all student surveys recorded and analyzed. I am having some trouble collecting my community partner surveys from our organizations that we work with. there are many that have neglected to fill it out and return it to me and this will unfortunately affect my data for the MCC. I am hoping to make close contact with these organizations throughout the week and get them to finish this for me.

Chris and I had our first Food Bank meeting yesterday. I think that as a part of my year long project and legacy binder, I am going to film all of our meetings and create a video that reveals the start up of the food bank and community garden. of course waivers are necessary for this but I do not thin kit will be a problem.

On Sunday I ran 10 miles for marathon training and when i woke up yesterday i had a head cold, and i could not move my legs. I stayed home from work, went through emails from my bed and responded to those that had come over the weekend. I developed a migraine and it has not gone away since its inception about 30 hours ago.

This month, Schoolcraft is on the VISTA* monthly web feature at the MCC website. It describes the success of the past Community Fair and the hard work that went into it.

I have a meeting with Kira from the UWSEM again today to discuss options for make a difference day this month.

This past weekend was a great experience as my first time at Michigan Campus Compact's Leadership Camp with some of our student leaders and student workers.

Camp took place at Sherman Lake YMCA in Augusta, Michigan. The travel time was about 2 hours from Livonia to Augusta which is right outside Battle Creek down 94 West. I have never been to these facilities before and I only have positive things to say about Sherman Lake.

Geoff and Shannon planned and coordinated the weekend with much detail and exciting activities.

• Throughout the weekend we worked on a service activity for an organization called Kid's Food Basket that works to alleviate food insecurity in West Michigan. The organization sends elementary children home with sack suppers from school. The MCC campus leaders illustrated 3,000 supper bags with bright colored turkeys, phrases, and other pictures to bring the children not only warm nutritious food but also warm hearts as well. 
• We worked on team building exercises throughout the weekend with our campuses and really got to know each other, our leadership styles and how we can successfully work well together.
• Some MCC Staff and VISTAs gave presentations on Saturday and Sunday on various topics in order to help us sharpen our leadership skills.

Overall the event was a large success and our students really enjoyed it. Here are some photos:

It has been a few days since my last post. Let me update you on what has been going on in my Schoolcraft VISTA life.

• Follow-ups with organizations from community fair at school daze is occurring on a daily basis
• I visited the United Way of Southeastern Michigan in Detroit yesterday and chatted with Kyra, Shannon, Jennie and Nick about service learning opportunities for our students. They have a large and demanding need that will only fit with a select few of our students but hopefully I can seek those students out and present them with this opportunity.
• Mel suggested that I write and submit a VISTA web feature about my involvement in the School Daze Community Fair. I have since drafted that and it is due next week.
• I have also started on my quarterly report which is not due until November 19th however with an MCC training immediately before that in Lansing I am sure that time will fly by.
• My Year-Long project Idea submission is due at the end of this month. I am having trouble getting all of the contacts that I want to have in place for this project to head forward however i am confident that things will fall into place in time. I am writing up the form and hopefully will finish it before leaving for camp tomorrow
• MCC Leadership Camp begins tomorrow! I am driving Chris and 2 other students out to Augusta MI so spend time at the Sherman Lake YMCA and have a good time leading, learning and bonding. We shall not return until Sunday.
• On a personal note: my half marathon training is lagging behind. MY 10 mile run turned into a 5 mile run this morning. With about a month before the race, hopefully I can pull myself up and get the distances in that i need to before the big day! (OCT 17th btw)

That is the bulk of what I am trying to accomplish in the coming weeks.

here is an article that I read over this morning in Time Magazine's "Detroit Blog"

Last week's School Daze was an incredible success. I had a lot of fun making various connections and creating relationships with new organizations. Many people are very excited about service-learning here at Schoolcraft.

There were many new organizations that showed up to represent themselves this year including:

• Young Life
• Big Brothers Big Sisters
• Wayne County 4-H Mentoring
• UofM Student Peace Alliance
• Michigan Roundtables
• The United Way of Southeastern Michigan
• Intense Mentoring

Some faithful returners to the community fair included:

• The Detroit Institute of Arts
• The American Red Cross
• The Plymouth United Way
• Cass Community Center
• Compassionate Care Hospice
• Bibles for America

Here are some photos from the event:

I had 5 Service-Learning Presentations today. It was incredibly busy around the office with everyone gearing up for School Daze, and also outside with the tent going up and the commotion and buzz from students. I am very excited for next week, I am also very tired from presenting all day.

The last SLE presentation that I was doing turned out to be a little shaky with a student that decided they did not want to volunteer and began a debate with the professor, but at the end of the day things turned out alright.

One thing that I learned is that it is important to make sure I get all of my data material handed out to the students both before semester gets into full swing and after the semester ends so that I can have accurate data.

Continuing my Service-Learning presentations this week and getting ready for school daze next week. There are plenty of things to do. Everyone in the office is very busy planning School Daze, and I am busy making my rounds to the SLE classes and giving presentations to the students, trying to get them excited about School Daze and interested in the Service-Learning Endorsement and the Student Leadership record.

We are very busy getting ready for School Daze. Chris and I have confirmed U of M's Student Peace Alliance, as well as possibly Habitat for Humanity to finish up the filling of our spots to be filled.

MCC is requesting site visits during the week of School Daze which is proving to be a large problem in the area of making time for them. Todd knows he will not have time to meet with them but hopefully we can all work something out.

I have a lot of SLE presentations this week. One tonight at 5:30pm, 1 tomorrow @ 1pm, and 5 on Thursday throughout the day. preparing for these is rough because different professors want different things.

Helen's English 102 class was the stage of my first SLE presentation today. I was surprised to find that not one of the students knew that they had signed up for service-learning. I was glad to be there.

Todd, Chris and I met with Faye to go over some things in the VISTA work plan and to give all of us a better idea and more unified vision of what we want these projects to look like.

Tip of the Day:
I found that in order ot get over my first presentation apprehension, I set my mind on befriending the students with a warm smile and talking with them, not to them. telling stories, and making logical connections between service-learning and their everyday goals and activities.

I am getting ready for my SLE presentations today. my first one is tomorrow at 11:45. I want to make sure that I have enough materials for the entire class with extras to spare in case enrollment has changed.

at 2:45 Faye and Karen are hosting a service0learning roundtable workshop upstairs that I am excited to attend. Hopefully I can meet more SLE faculty and that this workshop will attract faculty who are not currently teaching SLE classes and encourage them to do so.

Professional Development Day ONE
KEYNOTE SPEAKER: Dr. Marcia Tate
"Sit and Get" Won't Grow Dendrites

Marcia was incredibly engaging and connective with the faculty. I really enjoyed her presentation and got to know a lot more faculty members in the process. The seminar lasted about 7 hours, however I do not recall facing much boredom which is very impressive.

There is a School Daze meeting today, and then a barbecue later on for the faculty.

Here is a link to some of Marcia's books and other tools

ICPJ canceled on us for Community Fair next month. It is unfortunate that so many organizations do not have the volunteer base to promote themselves as best as they could. I am finding that this problem is very widespread in the Nonprofit world especially now with the economy as it is.

Since my public speaking skills do need some warming up since college ended, I created note cards that I can loosely follow during my SLE presentations. There is so much that I could discuss with the students regarding the leadership record, student activities and the SLE that it has been difficult getting my presentation to fit into a 5 to 10 minute time slot but I think after today it is slimmed down enough to be short, informational and entertaining.

I am finishing up my information packets to bring to my service learning endorsement presentations. I have created the following to bring with me to the SLE classes:

- A pre-SLE course student survey
- Faculty SLE implementation brochure
- Student SLE information brochure
- Faculty SLE implementation tool packet

I am in the process of proofing them and getting others to edit them for me, so that I can get along with printing batches for my presentations next week.

I sent out community partner surveys via email today, and already got some responses. Reading them make me extremely excited for future ventures with these organizations :)

I am still trying to nail down at least one more organization for community fair next month. I have been in contact with a few of them, however have not had much luck. I will keep trying and hopefully I will soon have all of my spots filled plus more.

The service-learning presentation materials are just about complete. There is some editing and proofing to be done before I can print the batches to distribute.

This morning I saw a Prezi Presentation and memories flooded back from college and my prezi account days. I logged back into my account and decided to throw my Service-Learning power point onto a prezi just to see if it would be more appealing. I think that they demand more attention from the audience because they are more unique than power point slides. I will keep this presentation in both forms for now. In case you are interested here is the link to my service-learning prezi

Here are a few different ideas for projects or advocacy causes:

• The Zeer Pot
• Seed Bomb Machines
• Lifestraw

 Here is more information seed bombs:

Today I confirmed my 17th Community Organization for the School Daze event next month. I am very excited to have the DIA attend our event with special offers and promotions for our students and faculty.

The Michigan Humane Society will be bringing owned and trained animals in order to attract students to their cause.

There are many organizations that are attending in order to promote an upcoming event that they are involved in the upcoming year such as Cass Community, Friends of the Rouge, and the ICPJ.

Those are just a few of the great organizations that will be represented here at Schoolcraft on September 16, 2010.

Tip of the Day:
Make sure that when you receive materials from Michigan Campus Compact via mail, that you open them and try to get the most out of the resources provided because you never really know how significant a skill, product or relationship could be until you utilize or create it.

Today we began our first day of campus leader and adviser training. It was very involved and fun. I enjoyed the presentations even though I had just gotten back from the same types of trainings, it was nice to hear and see all of the leaders that are interested and passionate about leading this campus.

Tomorrow we are heading to Walled lake for some team building exercises.

Today I want to finish up my presentation materials for my upcoming Service Learning Endorsement presentations. I am not the most eloquent public speaker, I would label myself more of a "behind the scenes" type person when it comes to, basically anything.

I started the Access Database of all of our community partners. It has been quite a job and I am planning on finishing it up within the next few weeks.

The SLE students need a pre and post curriculum survey, I am starting those today as well.

Tip of the Day:
I have been setting deadlines recently and it has helped me to keep my tasks prioritized. It also allows me to be able to transfer between projects that I am working on throughout the day so that I do not get too far behind on one thing

Today is our first Poverty Conference Call. And i will never know what was said because i missed it due to technical interferences.

I drafted the Pre and Post Community Partner Surveys today, however I am still waiting on gather more information from the MCC before I finalize them and send them out.

School Daze Community Fair is coming along well I have 13 confirmed organizations on board and hopefully will wrap up the week with the expected amount of 18.

Tip of the day:
I am learning that organization is a very prudent key to this position, or any position of direct service for that matter. It is extremely important to know how to budget your time and line up your priorities so that they match that of the organization you are serving.

I have just about finished my service-learning brochures for students and faculty. It is a strange transition to go from 2 weeks of training, to a year of teaching, facilitating and serving. My publications came in the mail yesterday, for some reason they got sent to my home instead of the office, I must not have specified the correct shipping address. They are informative however, and will really help me advocate and educate people on what I do and what they can do.

here are some screen shots of what I have compiled for SLE presentations:

this week I am busy planning for the academic year to begin. School Daze is approaching quickly and I am trying to invite as many community organizations and nonprofits as possible. It is important to make sure that not only are the organizations accessible and willing to work with our students, but that our SLE professors and students are interested in working with them.

I am also working on developing presentation tools for Service-Learning education in the classrooms.

this week is our first Poverty Conference Call with the other MCC VISTAs.

here is this week's discussion article

It feels nice to be wrapping up my first week on-site as an Americorps*VISTA! Although my work will continue throughout the weekend this week has been a great start to my service year.


I watched "ONE" today. After examining Scott Boone's Exploring Teamwork Essentials (ETE) program kit. I really think that it would be a useful tool to utilize this. I think that if I can find enough students, or student groups  that want to participate in this seminar, then we will implement it on campus.

ETE Website
The One Project

The Urban Farming movement is beginning to excite me the more I research it.
A few relevant websites include:

Urban Farming
Green Living Technologies
Home Farming

Ellen recently had Taja Sevelle, the head of Urban Farming, on her show to advocate home and community farming and applaud Triscut* for their contributions to this movement.

The Peoples Water Board of Detroit is a group that is trying to rise above the mess that the city government has become in the past years. Student Activities is co-sponsoring Bridging Barriers in November in which some members will come and speak to our faculty, staff and students.

Began researching UNICEF campaigns and initiatives for Helen (ENG 102) to incorporate into her SLE curriculum. came across the Campus Initiative which seemed appropriate. There are a lot of steps to the process, but if we can successfully get UNICEF sponsorship, it would be a great capacity building tool for the college in the years to come.

UNICEF Campus Initiative

Had a meeting with co-sponsors of the Bridging Barriers speaker event that will take place on November 4, 2010. We also discussed Poverty Simulations which led us to wanting to invite them to Schooldaze next month

My first day in the office post-training has been full of information. Meeting relevant people, and getting familiar with the organizational culture that is Schoolcraft College SAO. I have begun creating databases to log: my hours, my weekly reports for my legacy binder, and contacted organizations' information. I am excited to get started on making this campus a more poverty-conscious community by building programs and hosting meetings that will all lead to a much wider scope of capacity for this campus.

I have spent a lot of time familiarizing myself with the the service learning website as well as other resources that PSO provided me with. I want to soak up as much information as I can so that I feel beyond prepared to educate others on the issues and to spark passions that people may not have ever realized they have.

articles to consider:
CNN - AIDS linked to Poverty