Laurel Hill Annex

For my service project I worked at the Laurel Hill Annex with a kindergarten class. I helped them with their writing and reading and also had the opportunity to go on a field trip with them at the Veterans Memorial Auditorium to see a play called "Max and Ruby." Working with this kindergarten class was one of the best experiences I have ever had. It was so rewarding and such a great opportunity. I seriously fell in love with the children and I am going to miss them so much. They really impacted me and I plan on visiting them on my own time to see how they are doing. It was so great getting to know these students and help them out. Some of these students come from extremely different lifestyles than from what I am familiar with and it was a great experience to work with them. I learned a lot from these students and helping out at the Laurel Hill School really made me think about going into education as a career! The last day I was there at the Laurel Hill School with my students, I gave each of them a coloring book and passed out brownies. They were the happiest kids alive. Just being there and working with these students and giving them simple gifts like that meant the world to them. I really enjoyed my service project!

-ALLESANDRA DIORIO

Homelessness isn't just about not having a home

It's about losing your self-respect, family, property, and human rights. The minute I stepped off from the train and walked out into Union Station in Washington, D.C. I saw several homeless people and began thinking about what exactly I had gotten myself into. My first reaction was to look away to avoid making any eye contact, separating myself, not making myself a viable candidate for a possible 'spare change' donation.


The first day, our group worked at SOME Kitchen, which stands for "So Others Might Eat". The people in there were absolutely incredible. One woman moved to D.C. a year earlier with her husband who was a Marine, and started volunteering there once a week by cooking all of the food that we would in turn help serve. Another woman who was "older than all of us put together" as she claimed, lived in D.C. all her life and worked at SOME for thirty years. Then there was Russell. Boy, was he a character! His energy was always extremely high, ready to work and prepared for anything. He explained to us what to do in about .6 seconds and surprisingly we all caught on almost immediately and began to do the work. Some of us served food to the guests, some of us served water and coffee, some of us took the plates and scraped them off when the guests were done. While cleaning and serving food may not sound glamorous, it was an amazing experience. I made sure to smile and say thank you and you're welcome to anyone who passed by just to let them know that I acknowledged them as human beings and not just random strangers coming in for some free lunch.

The second day was by far the best day of all. My team and Mr.Gustave went to do yard work at an elderly woman's home. She had tall grass, weeds running wild, and some trash and leaves that needed sweeping up. Our efficiency and hard work, allowed us to be finished with all of the work in only an hour, and let me tell you she really appreciated it. It was such an amazing feeling...I can't begin to explain it.

Later that day, we had to prepare, serve, and share a meal with some homeless guests who would be visiting the Church that evening. As the guests came in, we began playing games with them and having light-hearted and sometimes not so light-hearted conversations. I know that I got my butt kicked several times in Connect Four, and Brittany got owned in UNO. The YSOP leaders said they were so impressed with the fact that we all spread out and shared quality time with our guests, instead of clumping up in one group and avoiding them. I met so many great people that night, intelligent, caring and well-spoken people. That night really taught me that there is more to a homeless person, they aren't all drug addicts, they don't all have mental illnesses; sometimes it just depends on one decision that someone makes that puts them in their position.

The rest of the week was a lot of chopping and cooking, bagging chicken nuggets and filing away medical papers. The week at YSOP doing all of the different projects changed my perspective on community service, especially working in homelessness and hunger. I will always try to do it with a smile on my face that comes from within and be happy that I have what I need in my life right now.

Finally, without the two wonderful chaperones, Gil & Mr. Gustave, the trip wouldn't have been the same. They were there because they wanted to be, and put in as much sweat and effort as we did all four days. THANK YOU!

*CARLENE

Hello!

Dear Seniors,

It has been a delight to read your entries. We had a wonderful day of service on campus and in the Providene community on Wednesday and while I was "out and about" with the underclass girls, you all were very much on mind! I look forward to hearing your reflections on the South Dakota and DC trips and your group and individual projects. Stay well, be safe, and get ready for a beautiful Commencement celebration!

Mrs. Eells

Tarbox Jeep

Hi everyone,
For my service internship I have been working at Tarbox Jeep on there big charity event that they put on. I worked with the Rhode Island representative from the make a wish foundation(Helen Vallee) all day yesterday and in past days and I will be working with her today on making sure that Tarbox is able to receive the maximum donations possible. The reason why Tarbox puts on this event is because one of the salesman's daughters was granted a wish by the foundation and got to go to Disney World for a whole week. I also have been enlightening customers on how to get the best deal possible on the car of there choice by showing them how they can check there credit online and tell them how different credit scores can get them better loan rates on there future purchases. This entire internship has been wonderful and I love the fact that I had the chance to interact and help all of the customers and been able to work on the Make-A-Wish project!

Jill Feldman

LAURELHILL

Heyy guys I hope you all are enjoying your internships! I'm working at Laurel Hill School and I am absolutely loving it. I am working with a first grade class. Currently, they are learning blends in words, addition, subtraction, high fluency words, and they are learning how to create poems such as list and color poems. It's so cute how eager each child is to finish and show off their poem...they are so proud of themselves! I am mainly working with a few children who are functioning very much below grade level. I help three children read, write, add, subtract and follow directions each and every day. I work with them independently and at times, in groups. It's very difficult in that I have to constantly keep pushing them to start and complete their work. Although its been tough, i've obviously learned a lot these past two weeks. Yesterday was a big day considering I read two books to the entire class. They loved it! It's great to see how interested they are in books and in reading. Today is my last day & we are celebrating later on. I'm most likely coming back next week and visiting the kids. Im glad I chose this internship, it taught me more than I thought it could.
-SABRA LEPORE

Community Boating Center

Hey everyone,
I hope you all are having fun on your internships, can't wait to hear about them next week!
My internship is a lot different than what I was expecting, but I am still having fun. I am working at a nonprofit sailing organization. Working as a sailing instructor is something I'm very familiar with, however this organization is different than what I am used to. My day usually starts out with paper work. This includes filling out summer registration forms and filing financial documents, because most of the kids (a few hundred) in the program are on scholarship. CBC provides them with lunch and transportation each day. Later on, the first group of kids show up. They are freshman from a local highschool who are required to come to CBC for their marine science class. These kids are out of control, rude, angry, and unmotivated. Each day myself and three other instructors have to spend a good amount of time arguing with them about going out on the water. None of them want to be there and they all hate sailing. There is no teaching them because theres nothing that will make them listen. This part of the day is always an eye-opening experience for me. Most of these kids have nothing. They don't like to go on the water because it means getting their clothes wet, for most it is the only set of clothes/shoes they have for that week. I have also heard many of them talk of their criminal records and school suspensions. Although this is sad to see, I don't particulary enjoy this class (ever since my new sneakers went missing). The second class of the day is either a group of middle school boys or a group of kids from the local high schools. I enjoy teaching the highschool class the most. Although these kids are not particularly motivated either, they are a lot of fun to have in a boat. They always find comical things to do to entertain themselves while sailing. However, it is sad to see the way the girls act in particular. They are all overly concerned with boys and physical looks than anything else. Every day I sail with them includes a game of "truth or dare" that leaves me shocked each time. Yesterday was by far the most fun I have had at my internship so far. The high school group came, and a new girl was with them. I offered to take her out one on one in a racing boat and teach her how to trap. She told me that she had not been to CBC in two weeks because the week before I had arrived one of the other kids made an antisemetic comment towards her. It was really great to take her out and make her feel comfortable again, and I could tell that she really appreciated it. She is also the first kid at CBC who has been really motivated and actually wanted to sail. I will be sad to leave this group, especially since they all have begged me to come back and work for the whole summer.
Although this experience has been difficult and the kids are a handful, I am really glad that I chose this internship. Not only have I gotten to sail everyday, I have also gotten to try out demos of brand new sailboats, travel around with my internship director to help advertise for the program, and meet a lot of other really great instructors. I have also seen how great a program like CBC is. It is more of a mentorship and outreach program than a sailing program, something that is greatly needed for the kids I have met.
See everyone soon!
-Randie

Give me shelter

Hi Ladies,

I just came back from Washington DC and I wanted to touch base with you. Although I am exhausted, I have to say that I am so proud of you. The 10 students who went to Washington DC  were just amazing. The YSOP program opened so many doors allowing us to understand the different layers of the nation's capital. I don't want to say too much because there are so many stories to tell and your classmates will share their experience with you next week. I found a video (Give me shelter) featuring one of my best friends playing the role of the homeless man in a big city. Please enjoy...

Thierry