Saturday, December 31, 2011

PTM's Nativity Store

First, I must apologize for the long delay in posts.  I seem to have trouble motivating myself to sit down and articulate my thoughts.  This post may explain my absence as this work event kept me very busy during the month of December.  

This was the second year of the Nativity Store at Preston Taylor Ministries, and upon starting my job I was informed that I would be this year's coordinator.  In August, no problem.  As December rolled around I wondered how I was qualified for this position.  

The Nativity Store works much like an Angel Tree does, sponsors buy clothing items/gift for children in need (in our case, each child received a shirt, coat, pants, shoes, and a gift.)  However, instead of these sponsors wrapping and delivering those gifts we have them return them to our building, unwrapped.  It was then my job to check through each bag full of goodies to be sure the sizes were correct and all the items were there.  Once that was done, all the items were combined into general categories, such as: boys shirts, girls pants, shoes, toys, etc.  This is where it can become a little confusing because it no longer mattered what items were intended for what child.  We simply had to begin that way to insure we had all the sizes and items we would need for the store.  

I collected all the children's information during the month of October, then I had to master mail merging in Excel to create ornaments to be sent to participating churches.  We sponsored any child in any of our programs, as well as younger siblings.  This totaled about 200 children between three participating churches, and our weekly volunteers.  I spent much of November and December emailing volunteers to sponsor children, or to volunteer during the Nativity Store.  I created spreadsheet after spreadsheet in an attempt to maintain some organization in all the facets of this event. 

The first weekend in December, we asked that all donations be dropped off at PTM.  Then, my wonderful group of YAVs and I, plus my boss, Sarah spent an afternoon rechecking and separating all the donations. We had piles of coats, shoes, pants, and toys as we went through bag after bag.   I think we all enjoyed seeing all the exciting items, and adorable clothing people had picked.  We then began organizing clothing items by size, and toys by subject (i.e. video games, action figures, dolls, board games, and the list goes on.)  Each of these groupings then went into large trash bags which were then neatly (shoved) into our very small supply closet until the store began.  We were no longer able to use the storage closet in December because there was no room, and we didn't want the kids to see the gifts!

The weekend before Christmas we got to work decorating our building (crafts made by the students), then cleaning and organizing rooms.  We had a boys room, girls room, shoe room, and toy room; then, there were multiple wrapping rooms, a checkout area, entertainment and food.  The week before the store Sarah and I were busy calling parents to sign them up for a shopping time.  

Parents would show up at their assigned time, and receive a shopping bag, one for each of their children.  The bags were labeled with the clothing sizes and requested toy as a reminder to the parents of what to look for.  They then made their way through the rooms (a volunteer was stationed in each room to help, and to keep it organized) finding the items they felt that child would enjoy.  After each child had a shirt, pants, shoes, coat and toy the parents paid.  It was $5 per child up to $20 (many of our parents have more than four children.)  Then it was off to wrapping where volunteers were eagerly waiting to help package up the gifts and wrap them in holiday paper with bright ribbons and bows.  

We had allotted three days for this event, but were far more efficient than we had planned.  We were able to shop all our parents during the first day!  We used the second day as bonus shopping, which meant we called our parents again and signed them up to come back the next day.  On this day, all items were $1 (each family was allowed a max of 10 items, and there was a room full of free items, as well.  This gave parents a chance to shop for children who may not have originally been included, or for cousins, or for themselves!  

It was an exhausting weekend, but so rewarding.  We were able to give these parents the independence and freedom to shop for their children.  The Nativity Store originated from an Angel Tree program after parents  expressed feeling shame and grief when a person would deliver the Christmas present a parent could not afford to their home.  This new program allows parents to maintain a sense of pride and delight in picking out, wrapping and delivering presents to their children on Christmas Day (even if they are from Santa, instead.)

I loved interacting with the parents and volunteers, seeing the joy in the faces of all who were involved, and feeling a sense of pride in a successful weekend!

Sunday, November 27, 2011

To Trinity, and beyond....

Trinity Presbyterian Church
I cannot believe I have gone this long into my placement without talking about Trinity Presbyterian Church.  While living in Nashville, each YAV is placed with a local church and in my case that is Trinity Presbyterian Church, along with my housemate, Ashley.  Trinity is a small congregation, but one that is alive with love for everyone, hope for the future, and joy in the present.  Trinity Presbyterian is one of three More Light churches in Nashville, which means they support full inclusion and participation of the LGBT community.  It's an inspiring movement, everyone should check it out. Ashley and I were also each given a host family while at Trinity.  The sanctuary is beautiful, it provides a much different atmosphere than the one I am used to at State College Presbyterian.  Trinity's sanctuary has a sort of ethereal feel to it; simple stained glass windows in light blue, yellow and red, a large stained glass cross at the front of the church that allows the natural light in, simply, light colored wood, and high vaulted ceilings.  I really do love it.  


From the very beginning, and even before that the congregation at Trinity has shown the most remarkable compassion and welcome into their church family.    After we returned from orientation in New York, one of our "hosts" at the church, Judy, stopped by the house with an envelope full of letters and messages expressing everyone's excitement about meeting us at church!  Well, Ashley and I absolutely loved that and knew good things were in store this coming year.  And we were right!


Our first Sunday, we were enthusiastically introduced during the service by Pastor Heidi.  Afterwards there were refreshments and of course everyone wanted to introduce himself or herself, which was excellent but it was hard to keep track of names.  I am still working on learning everyone's name, but either way everyone is beyond wonderful to us each week!  It was probably our third week when we were commissioned into our year of service in Nashville, with Trinity at our side.  Our commissioning included Ashley, myself, my host family (Rachel and son Diego), Ashley's host family (Pam and Fran), Heidi, Judy (another host), and Janet (our spiritual/vocational director, if she had been there.)  We were surrounded by people who already loved us and whole heartily had accepted us despite knowing us for only a few weeks.  Defying all odds, I agreed to be the liturgist one Sunday.  I was hesitant because of my past experiences (and humiliation) but it went really well, I can only hope the curse is broken. 


Our wee cabin at NaCoMe
Discussing tactics for the
horseshoe tournament.


















Our first activity with Trinity was family camp at Camp NaCoMe.  Ashley and I went for Friday night and stayed through the afternoon on Saturday. It was a good chance to meet many of the people at Trinity and get to know them a bit more. Ashley and I especially appreciated the drive through the country which reminded us both of what we are used to at home. We had good food (delicious cinnamon rolls!), and good fellowship with the people who will be our family for 
the next year.


       Within a few more weeks, we had lunch with the entire Trinity staff, which is probably about 7 people, and the 3 loyal bulletin folders (women who come in each Friday to fold all the bulletins for Sunday, how wonderful!) Out of that lunch, we gained some wonderful relationships, and multiple outings planned.  Ashley and I spent a Friday with Lillius (apparently a distant relative of the one and only Minnie Pearl!) She took us out to lunch at The Harding House, the restaurant at the historic Belle Meade Plantation.  Then we moved on to Cheekwood Botanical Garden and Museum of Art; unfortunately, it was one of the coldest days in October so we didn't do too much walked around outside, but the inside exhibit about the American West was pretty interesting.  Lillius continues to apologize to this day about how much she talked, but she was absolutely wonderful and she gave us a social and historical tour of Nashville.  We also drove around town looking at some of the magnificent houses (which is something that I loooove to do.) We drove down the "Boulevard" (said in the a delicate Southern drawl for the full effect), which is apparently THE place to live in Nashville, only to best of the best have to honor of living on that road.  It was interesting, and the houses were huge!
Ashley, Lillius, and me at Cheekwood


The Hermitage
         Two weekends ago, the administrative assistant at Trinity, Linda, took us to The Hermitage, Andrew Jackson's old estate.  Linda grew up on the lot next to The Hermitage and used to play in the gardens, and yard of the estate as a child so she had a sentimental attachment to this historical landmark.  Ashley and I met her there to begin our marathon day at the Hermitage. We got our tickets, retrieved our audio equipment for the audio tour, headed up to the mansion, hopped on our horse and cart tour, then took a tour through the mansion, then back to the museum for the orientation video (we did things a little backwards), then a quick look through the museum and we.were.starving!!! It was a really interesting day, though.  My favorite part was our narrated horse and cart tour; the man who was our guide really brought the realities of life on the estate to life.  We learned were the different slave quarters were (fieldworkers, industrial workers, housemaids, cooks, etc.)  and saw the fields, the well, the carriage house, and many other things.  They say that as far as owning slaves went, Andrew Jackson treated his relatively well.  He believed that the slaves deserved a part of their work so they were allowed to grow their own gardens, take home some of the harvest, and he tried to keep families together.  Hopefully this is true, but it is mostly speculation.  We ended the day passing by Tulip Grove, another Jackson home, and the old Hermitage Presbyterian Church, and then it was finally off to get some lunch!


A few weeks ago, Ashley and I were contacted by Heidi to see if we had any interest in being Sunday School teachers, what?!  There was a need to split up the current Youth Sunday School (6-12 grade) because the maturity levels were so extremely different and it was causing some complications during Sunday mornings.  After a little hesitation (on my part, not Ashley's), we agreed to be the Younger Youth Sunday School teachers.  This includes 6th and 7th grade, and at Trinity that covers at most 6 kids, but only 4 girls ever seem to show up.  We are having a lot of fun with them, they sure have a lot of personality, and a lot to say!


      Our latest Trinity experience was Thanksgiving!  First of all, the Sunday before Thanksgiving we had pre-Thanksgiving luncheon, which was delicious!  Then, Heidi, her husband, and their son had us over for Thanksgiving on Thursday.  It didn't make a lot of sense for me to try and make it home for only about 3 days so I stayed in Nashville, and I was definitely missing being at home for the holiday.  But, I couldn't have asked for a better place to be if I couldn't be with family!  The four of us that remained went to Heidi's house and ate some delicious food, played Jim's numerous instruments, and just hung out.  It was really lovely! And, it was Ashley's very first Thanksgiving (she is from Northern Ireland so they don't really celebrate Thanksgiving, as you might suspect!)  


Musically talented
The Thanksgiving table


We assembled a Lego turkey without instructions
---it may not be right, but it looks like a turkey!
I will certainly keep you more up to date with Trinity, PTM, and all the other happenings here in Nashville! Until next time, peace.

Sunday, October 30, 2011

A lesson in being yourself

For this story to make sense you will need a little background.  Every Friday is "Fun Friday" at Preston Taylor Ministries during which the kids take part in various different enrichment activities during the normal programming time.  Some of the activities include: learning guitar, learning French, art, gardening, training for a 5k, etc.  The kids are a part of the same activity for 6 weeks then, after 6 weeks some of the activities change and the children pick a new activity.  I do not work on Fridays so I have never seen the day in action, but I have heard about it and seen the excitement on children’s' faces as they wait for Friday and talk about what awaits. 


So my story begins...


Last week the children were signing up for a new Fun Friday activity.  Ms. Sarah was reading out an option and any interested child was to raise his/her hand.  One of the new activities for this period is ballet (which could not be any more exciting!!)  When Ms. Sarah called out ballet, just about every girl’s hand shot into the air and, as you can imagine, a unified grumbling rolled through the boys.  That is, except for the little boy sitting in my lap, one of our kindergarten boys who is a ball of energy and excitement.  Well, his hand shot in the air and started to wave frantically back and forth, a silent "Oh! Oh! Pick me! Pick me!"  I will admit I was a bit surprised as his enthusiasm was unexpected.  When Ms. Sarah called out his name to add him to the list the other kids immediately started laughing.  As the group received a lecture about laughter being inappropriate and that each student is allowed to choose whatever they want and there is nothing wrong with whatever that choice may be.  However, throughout all of this commotion this little boy sat there, unfazed and beyond excited about the prospect of starting ballet!  As the day went on it seemed as though other students went out of their way to pick fun at him, or sneer at him that "ballet is a girl thing,"  but all of these remarks were laid on deaf ears.  This student could not be knocked down from his high.  Instead, he ran around, worked hard and spent any free time showing off his ballet moves.  I was beyond impressed with his pliès and all of his spinning and twirling.  More than that, I was inspired by his impenetrable spirit.  It was a humbling experience to watch a six-year-old boy brush off negative comments, laughter, and jokes at his expense because he was so self-assured and confident in himself and his passion for ballet.  I think I can safely say that I learned a valuable lesson from a six year old the other day; a lesson that I can only hope to apply in the face of life’s challenges.  I’ll keep ya’ll posted on that.  

Side note: This weekend I learned where Mr. Witherspoon (Reese's father) lives, and apparently met Kevin Mawae.  

Tuesday, October 11, 2011

Off to the races...

In stark contrast to the nature experience of the fishing trip, this past weekend I drove to Lexington, KY and attended a horse race.  The Keeneland horse races happen every weekend of October in Lexington, and then again every weekend during a month in the spring.  One of my best friend's Katy goes to grad school at the University of Kentucky in Lexington, which is about a 3 hour drive and one time zone away.  Her parents were visiting from State College for the weekend and so I was determined that I would get to go see all of them, a little taste of home.  As it turned out, they happened to have an extra ticket to Keeneland and invited me to go along!

So, Friday night I had to stay in Nashville for our midnight rugby party.  My roommate Ashley is from Northern Ireland and is a HUGE rugby fan.  The Rugby World Cup is currently happening in New Zealand and Ireland had made it to the quarter final.  For the first time, with the 12 hour time difference, the game was on at a (semi-reasonable) hour, midnight central time.  We went over to the Toolshed (the other YAV house) where a projector and speakers had been set up on the patio- the fact that it is still pleasantly warm at midnight is one of the joys of living in Tennessee.  We watched the game complete with Northern Irish traybakes (a type of sweet treat) and green face paint like true fans.  Sadly, the game did not turn out the way we hoped, Ireland lost, but the experience was a lot of fun!  Needless to say though, I didn't go to bed until 3 am.  Then, I woke up at 7am to drive to Lexington, KY.



Keeneland Grandstand
The drive to Lexington is beautiful and a relatively easy drive. I arrived there around 12:30 eastern and was so excited to see my second parents and best friend.  We had to get changed because you have to dress up to go to a horse race-crazy! We were all dolled up and then headed over to the racetrack where people some people were tailgating and others were headed in to the grandstand.  Let me tell you, this was quite the experience!  People were dressed to the nines, women in stilletos and designer dresses and some men in suits.  We walked  into the building in an attempt to find our seats.  We walked through the courtyard, bought ourselves a program (so we could look like real professionals while analyzing the statistics), passed by the paddock where they show off the horses that are about to race, and eventually we found our seats at the very far end of the stadium.  We settled in right before the 3 race started and attempted to learn how to place a bet, and how to wager based on the horse's odds.  Watching as the horse and jockey rode by to be placed in the starting gate, then the excitement of the crowd as the horses raced around the track, it was all very exciting! It was a thrill I wasn't expecting, and it only increased once I had placed a bet on a horse in the next race.  I felt some loyalty to Great Attack and his jockey but alas, they did not win or even place!  After that, I could
Crossing the finish line
easily see how betting and wagering on horses could be addicting, but I was content to only watch the remaining races.  The horses were just absolutely beautiful and I had mixed feelings when seeing them forced around and whipped with an expectation that they would run even faster.  I didn't really know what to feel and I still do not know much about horse racing at all.  I can now say I have had that experience, and while I don't see myself going back anytime soon it was certainly an interesting glimpse into the world of the affluent Southern culture.

Gone Goldfishin'

Two weekends ago, I ventured out into the Tennessee country with my boss and 25 K-5th grade boys (plus 3 girls) to go fishing.  The fishing trip was an "incentive trip" for the kids.  Throughout the week, during the after school program, the children are able to earn points for good behavior; individual points can be spent at the "store" every Thursday and group points (there are 8 different colored groups in which the kids travel for each rotation during the day) are put towards an incentive trip   This month's incentive trip for the boys was fishing trip hosted by Great Outdoor University.

We left early Saturday morning, the kids on the school bus while I followed in my car, to head to a privately owned, stocked fishing lake.  Well, once we had traveled about 10 miles I was in completely unfamiliar territory for me, and with a simple (and incomplete) set of directions in hand I was counting on following the big yellow bus pretty closely.  A few red lights later the school bus was no where to be found, and so I relied on my directions which got me to the country road on which the property laid, but then the directions just ended.  My boss called me, shortly after I realized I was not going to figure this out just with my excellent sense of direction and brilliant intuition however, there was no service so the phone call was very fuzzy --the joys of being out in the woods.  I heard enough to know I was looking for a gravel road on my right with a small, barely readable sign that said...something? After two more laps of the road (and no luck) I called my boss back.  Somehow, this time the cell service was excellent and the phone call was clear as day; I was looking for a sign on my right that said "TPC," which I had seen but it had been on my left.  I drove back to the sign and decided to turn left anyways, only later did I realize that the bus had entered the road from one side while I had entered from the opposite side so all the direction I was receiving was the opposite of what I was seeing-very confusing!  Eventually I found it and the day began!

The kids were divided into 3 groups and moved from station to station learning how to bait a hook, cast the line, and then remove and release a caught fish.  Once the stations were finished, and the kids were beyond anxious to get started catching fish, we passed out the poles and headed down to the lake...and the chaos ensued.  First of all, the thin fishing line is easily tangled and with the carelessness and patience of a typical child these lines were tangled in only a few minutes! Then there was the bait, we were using nightcrawlers and were expected to rip the worms into pieces before putting them on the hook.  Well, this was just too much for about 90% of the kids, and so it was left to the adults to rip the worms and bait the hooks.  Let me tell you, ripping a worm in half was a horrible feeling.  It's cruelty to animals, for sure.  I constantly had to look away and pretend I didn't feel it squirming and then tearing, and then squirming even more.  It was killing me a little bit on the inside, but I wasn't going to let anyone see it.  I survived, but I don't think it got any easier.  Another problem with K-5th graders and fishing is the sharp hook on the end of a very unpredictable line swinging back and forth, side to side.  I think it is a miracle that we all survived the day with no injuries.  I nearly missed getting a hook to the face numerous times because the idea of waiting until someone moves or backs away is just absurd.  Lastly, fishing (or at least actually catching a fish) is a serious waiting game.  It involved, patience, sitting still, and waiting, all of which are not characteristics of any K-5th grader that I have ever met.  The routine of the day was: untangle line, bait hook, cast line, wait approximately 10 seconds, then reel line in, and repeat.  Needless to say, no child caught a fish.  However, many of the kids were entertained with catching salamanders or the mere act of casting and reeling.

Overall, the kids all had a lot of fun!  It was complete madness, but it was great to get the kids out of the city, away from their neighborhood, and show them the beauty of nature.

Monday, September 26, 2011

Back to the beginning...

I am an excellent procrastinator, hence why I am writing my first blog post four weeks after I moved to Nashville.  So please bear with me as I slowly catch y'all up on my experience thus far...


After a long drive, I moved into my new home at the "Cabana," which is what our house in East Nashville is named.  I began to worry about what my roommates were thinking as my parents and I unloaded bag after bag and then box after box to move into a house where we were encouraged to 'live simply.'  Well, that was a nearly impossible task for me when I was moving 12 hours away with a years worth of stuff.  Everything made it into the maybe pile while packing, but only long enough for me to rationalize that "you never know, I may need it for something while in Nashville," and so it found its way into a box or suitcase. The Cabana has three bedrooms for five people and somehow I ended up with my own room, sort of.  We like to refer to my room as the "pass-through room" because you have to walk through my room to get to the Susan and Ashley's bedroom as well as the washer and dryer - so as you can guess, my room sees a good bit of traffic.  I live in the house with Susan, Ashley, Jay and Kyle who are from Alabama, Northern Ireland, North Carolina and Tennessee, respectively.  Jay and Kyle share the other room in the house which is off the living room.  There are three other YAV's in Nashville, Lee, Allison and Sarah, and they live in a house across town on the property of Second Presbyterian Church (the church through which the program is run in Nashville.)  Less than 36 hours after I moved in we headed to the airport for orientation in Stony Point, NY.


Orientation lasted for a week and included the YAV's from every site, both nationally and internationally, which totaled around 60 people.  We spent the week learning about culture shock, globalization, self-care, effective communication, cultural competency, and personality types and we also managed to survive an earthquake and a hurricane.  It was an eventful, overwhelming and exhausting week.  While I felt completely in over my head, in some respects, after orientation I was also thankful for the week because it made me aware of my naivety towards my completely new environment and culture as well as the challenges at work I might be facing.  A week later we flew back from New York to begin yet another week of orientation with our site coordinator, Ben, in Nashville.   This orientation was quite the opposite of our time in New York; we spent each day learning about one another and visiting one of the work placements.  I loved learning about all the wonderful programs found throughout Nashville and how one of us YAV's would be incorporated into the program for the next year.  We visited Room In the Inn, a homeless shelter with a brand new building, which runs many different programs to get people off the streets, back on their feet and into the job market.  Other sites included an assistance program for new Latin American families in Nashville, a college readiness program at Stratford High, a preschool/tutoring program for refugees, a help/information center for Somali refugees, a campus ministry program run through Vanderbilt and Belmont, and finally my work placement at Preston Taylor Ministries.  


Preston Taylor Ministries (PTM) is a program run in the Preston Taylor housing area of Nashville with many services offered to children living there.   PTM has many different locations, but almost all of them are located within close vicinity to the housing area.   I work at the main site, Calvin House, with the after school program.   I begin work at noon each day to prepare the lesson plans, gather materials, coordinate volunteers, sharpen pencils, prepare snack, and other various tasks.  At 4 o'clock I walk to the bus stop about half a block away to pick up half the kids; the other half of the kids are picked up at their school by the PTM bus, there are about 55 kids (K-5th grade) total.  We begin the day with snack and singing, then they break up into eight different colored groups, according to age.  Four groups begin in the main room working on homework with volunteers, and once they finish they are able to go outside to play.  The other four groups rotate between reading and math classes to supplement what they are learning in school.  We also have three professional reading teachers who work with kids, either one on one or in small groups, to help them reach the appropriate reading level.  When the program started only 2% of the kids were reading on level and now about 45% of the kids read on level, and it is the hope of the program that this number well continue to increase.  Each rotation is 20 minutes long and at the end of the day we hand out awards to kids who exceeded expectations for that day.  The day concludes with a short Bible story time, then the kids either ride the PTM bus home or we walk them home.  These are the basics of the program, and at the risk of too much information I will just keep it at that for now, but will likely expand on the details of the program later.  


PTM also provides middle school and high school programming, a leadership and life skills training program, lunchtime mentors (adults eat lunch with a K-5th grader during school lunch), two other after school locations and many more enrichment activities.  For more information about PTM you can visit them at: http://www.ptmweb.ik.org/ or find us on Facebook.


Until next time....