This morning came too early for most of us, but we muscled through. We ate a great breakfast at Castle Rock and headed out to our job site by about 8:00 am. One of our team members, Hannah, stayed back to help out at the Urban Impact Leadership Academy, a private school for 14-18 year olds run by the organization. Meanwhile, the rest of the group headed back to Mr. Willie Brown and his house.
Mr. Brown didn't come out of his apartment while we were working on his house today, but we did see him coming in and out. It seems like he is still recovering from the way he was treated in the past. Hopefully tomorrow we will have a chance to connect with him a little bit more tomorrow.
The work day was a little rocky today. We all have eager hands but we only have so many square feet to work with. As a result, a few of us were mudding and taping for most of the day while others of us divvied up smaller jobs throughout the day. It seemed a little slow, but then that's the way with the second day on just about any job. We put second coats on all the rooms we finished yesterday and made some good progress in finishing the mudding and taping in the next rooms.
Hannah's work day at Urban Impact Leadership Academy was kind of similar. The program iteself was really unique--the curriculum the school ran allowed the kids to move at their own pace through the subjects until they mastered the concepts, so each student was at a different level. It also taught the students time and money management by way of a fictional economy based around the monetary unit of "Bling." Bling allows students to rent out and decorate their individual office spaces and work towards rewards of Starbucks and other treats from Urban Impact team members. If the students save the Bling they earn, they can buy their office and other students' offices and thus begin collecting rent from them. It seems to be a great system for training students in money and resource management. Apart from being wowed by the curriculum, though, there wasn't much to do other than supervise and participate in a read-aloud of To Kill A Mockingbird. The day was very enjoyable, but, like the rest of the group experienced, it was very long.
Later in the evening, Lindsey and Evan got the opportunity to be a part of Castle Rock's SLAM night--their Jr. High youth gathering. Here's what they had to say:
Lindsey-- During SLAM night as I was working with the youth I realized how important role models are to these youth. You could tell that they are looking for someone to really care for them and encourage them.
Evan-- While we attended SLAM we hung out with the kids outside for a little while. Then we went inside the church to have a bible study over the story of Joseph which was supposed to relate to how we value our family. At the end of the bible study they had a discussion about the story and how to apply these values to life. Trying to connect with these kids was a good experience for me. It helped me realize how much of a close relationship they wanted to form with the helpers. After the bible study we went back outside and played a couple of rounds of dodgeball which was a lot of fun because this helped them work together as a team.
After dinner and SLAM, we all went to Community CoffeeHouse on Magazine Street to hang out and relax. Observing St. Patrick's day in New Orleans was quite interesting...we could very literally smell the beer as we drove down St. Charles street with our windows down.
Once we got back, we pretty much collapsed in anticipation of our long work day tomorrow. Still no injuries for the klutzy ones (although death fell to the lid of a toilet tank.) Thanks for praying us through, all!
Shalom,
The March '09 team
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