Center of the Universe

Hey!

Not much news to tell but things are going great.  I've settled into a routine... helping with ESL and science every day, childcare on Monday nights and reading club on Tuesday and Thursday afternoons.  ISP's on the weekends!  I've now officially completed my 80 required ISP hours.  It's a good feeling!  Now I can still do ISPs if I want, but they're not required.

Our first Center ISP was at La Puente, an emergency shelter and food kitchen in Alamosa.  We helped prepare and serve lunch for a crowd!  It was really fun.

The next weekend we helped the San Luis Valley begin setting up their new ReStore.  It was nice to be working with Habitat again!  And nice to be working as a team... we are all split up between different classrooms at the school.  Both of these photos were taken by Láni. =)

     ESL is really interesting.  Right now we're reading the poems of Gary Soto and Sandra Cisneros... I highly recommend them! We're working hard to analyze the poems... it is something that the students will need to know how to do on their upcoming TCAP tests.  The TCAP's are 4 days of state testing that helps determine where the students are at and what kind of funding the school will get.  That's what we'll be helping with during our last week here, and then the kids will go on spring break and we'll go back to Denver. 

     The science fair that I've been helping students prepare for is on Friday.  I am nervous and excited to see how they do!

     Yesterday was the first day of reading club, and I love it.  We have about ten 5th graders attending.  Some are there because they absolutely love to read and can't get enough of it... and some are there because their parents are making them come!  I'm especially excited to get those ones excited about books.  We're going to read The Pinballs by Betsy Byars together.  

      Not much else to tell!  Helping Habitat again this weekend and hopefully going to the Great National Sand Dunes.  Bye for now!

Settling In

Hello!

     I spent the rest of my weekend continuing to settle into my house and explore.  We checked out an awesome cafe in the nearby mountain town of Del Norte called Peace of Art Cafe.  It had yummy food and lots of cool souvenirs!

on our way we found the welcome sign...

and got a closer look at the nearby mountains.  I'm sorry this blog is being taken over by pictures of the Rockies.  But they are so pretty.

outside the cafe

inside

Hopefully we'll be able to explore the other neighboring towns soon... Monte Vista and Alamosa. 

On Monday we started work at the school.  For most of the day, I am helping in an English as a Second Language class for middle schoolers and high schoolers.  And for a few hours in the afternoon, I help in a middle school science class.  After school on Mondays I help provide childcare for kids whose parents are taking parenting classes.  On other days I tutor, and I'm trying to help get a reading club started.  

Even though it's pretty busy, I really like the work so far.  The staff and kids are really cool.  And I'm glad to be having classroom experiences, since I'm still thinking about becoming a teacher.  The community continues to be very welcoming... we found a box full of homemade fruit breads on our doorstep yesterday after work!  

Happy Valentines Day!  <3

Feeling "Centered" =)

Hello!


     I am writing to you from the public library in Center Consolidated Schools! It is great to be here. I had a great week in Denver relaxing.  I mostly spent time on campus, but I also

 cooked with friends...

...and ate with friends at Fire 7's house... they are local this round doing taxes in Denver.  We made an amazing vegetarian feast!

 I also got to enjoy the view of the Rockies from City Park with my team.

     We debriefed on our disaster relief experiences with all the other teams who went to New York.  It was a great way to process our time there, and we felt very appreciated and welcomed back by the staff.  Our regional director and many others sat in on our debrief to hear about how everything went.  A few other teams are heading to New Jersey to help out now.  I think they flew out yesterday!  

     Before we knew it, it was time to head out to Center.  The drive was absolutely gorgeous!

Center is four hours south of Denver.  We drove straight into the mountains.

During the drive, it was hard to put my camera down.  See my reflection?

We stopped to eat and switch drivers in Salida, Colorado.  This is what Fire 1 looks like right now.  During transition week after Christmas break, Nadav and Tobin were switched to other teams and we gained Eric (the tallest guy in the middle) and Kyle (the guy farthest right).  Recently, Conor decided to leave the program to take advantage of an exciting job opportunity.

After just a few hours, we arrived at our new home!  It used to be housing for migrant farm workers, so it has a lot of rooms, showers, stoves and refrigerators.  It's perfect for us!

We took a quick tour of the school and met our sponsor.  This building houses all of the K-12 students of the district and the town's public library.

They're the Vikings, just like Lakewood. =)  Our training to work in the school doesn't start until Monday, so we have the weekend to relax...

...make valentines...

and explore the tiny town!  This is Center's busiest intersection. =D  It reminds me so much of Sunfield.

It's a cloudy day, but I tried to get some pictures of the surrounding mountains.  This one turned out best, but it still pales in comparison to actually seeing them.  The town is nestled between a few different gorgeous, snow-covered mountain ranges.  I'll definitely be hiking during my time here.  

     The people of Center are even more impressive than Center's scenery.  It is such a close-knit community, and everyone has been so kind to us already.   Tonight we have been invited to eat dinner at the superintendent's house with his family.  I'll try to post again soon, after I know more about what my work here will be like!  Until then... =)