Tuesday, April 27, 2010
Say It, Use It, Spell It Bee!
On April 14th and 15th the first Say it, Use it, Spell it-Bee occurred at the Yawkey Boys and Girls Club. Twenty students participated in the event, showing off their vocabulary skills. Our amazing Reading Coaches handpicked grade-appropriate words for their students in a competition that placed equal value on spelling and the use of words in sentences. This Bee, inspired by a literacy tool developed by AmeriCorps State Lead, Kim Bohling, and Reading Coach, Esther Williams, proved to be an exciting event for both students and reading coaches. The two days resulted in two winners, LaDawn Spencer and Janae Vellere. Everyone in the Bee went home with an award to show students that win or lose, if you try you can succeed. The Say it, Use it, Spell it-Bee is an event that Site Team Leader Ruth Villard hopes to continue at the Yawkey Boys and Girls Club!
Friday, April 9, 2010
A Treasure in Our Pirate-themed Literacy Room
Students like 6 year-old, Maryam keep me on my toes at the Yawkey Boys and Girls Club. Maryam approached me about a month ago when I was on my usual walk through the club collecting familiar students. She stood out with her tiny stature, uniform, and lack of verbal communication. Maryam grabbed my hand and walked with me into the room where reading takes place. As I sat down with her to read her a story, she immediately opened up. The next day her mother had returned a signed permission slip and she began bonding with my volunteers instantly. Her expression through art, color, crafts, and now reading are being fostered through our program. For the past month, she has walked into our room every day wanting to learn. Children like Maryam, along with all the children that I see so much potential for academic growth, are the reason why I hope to become a teacher after my year of service is complete. Maryam has also been an inspiration for her two volunteers who light up now when she comes to the club. With her charming sense of humor and knack for creating beautiful and loving cards for everyone who interacts with her, Maryam truly is a treasure in our pirate-themed literacy room.
Friday, March 12, 2010
Show Us Your Culture Potluck
Potlucks are not new to the Generations Incorporated family, so this time we decided to unite our culinary skills with an array of cultural backgrounds. Culture is something that is vibrantly expressed in all of the communities that we serve. Since our day was dedicated to the fusion of cultural diversity and art, we thought it best to combine forces and treat one another to a buffet of delicious cuisine inspired by our own family recipes. In the spirit of “show and tell,” we put our hunger on hold to gather in a circle and share the significance of each dish.
Many of us travelled from all over the United States for our service year, leaving our families and friends to embark on this experience. This gave us an opportunity to share an edible piece of our family history.
Maddie Kiuttu and Molly Dutter are AmeriCorps members at Generations Inc. You can contact them at mkiuttu@generationsinc.org and mdutter@generationsinc.org, respectively.
Monday, November 30, 2009
Why Do You Serve?
My elementary school site absolutely loves Generations Incorporated. I generally get stopped in the hall about 20 times a day by children asking me to take them to read. If it is a child that I know we serve regularly, I tell them that they will need to wait their turn to see their reading coach. If it is a child that I don’t recognize, I usually ask them who their teacher is and tell them that they need permission from them before they can read with us. Today, just like any other day, I was stopped by a child on her way to the restroom with the question “Can you take me to read, please?” So, as usual I told her to ask her teacher. After she used the restroom, the first grader approached me a second time.
“Excuse me, do you take kids who don’t know how to read good?” she asked.
“No, we are coaches who help kids read the best that they can,” I replied.
“Oh okay. I really want to read with you because my parents can’t read with me at home,” she said, “my daddy works all day and night and my mommy is blind so she can’t help me.”
It took everything that I had to not show this child the internal struggle that was brewing, because anyone who knows me knows that I cry at just about anything that is remotely heartfelt. All of the training in the world could not have prepared me for this sobering encounter with a six year old. It was about the equivalent of watching an episode of Extreme Makeover: Home Edition and an SPCA commercial with Sarah Mclachlan belting out the song “Angel.” It was enough to melt the heart of Cruella Deville. After speaking to her teacher, I learned that the child is already receiving outside help for a large portion of the week. Since the child took such initiative to be a part of our program, her teacher was happy to find a spot in her schedule to allow the girl to read with us twice a week.
It is difficult to put into words the effect that these kids have on me. They tend to put everything into perspective, making this experience more meaningful and important than I could have ever imagined. Each day brings on new surprises, challenges, and rewards. Experiences like the one with this child today are sure to stick with me for life.
Friday, November 20, 2009
Introducing the 09/10 Generations Incorporated AmeriCorps Members
For our first AmeriCorps 2009/2010 blog entry, we wrote a song to the tune of Camp Grenada (Hello Mudda, Hello Fadda). This song introduces all of the new 9 AmeriCorps Members and gives a small window into our first month of orientation with Generations Incorporated. We hope you enjoy…keep an eye out for the video blog entry at a later date.
-Molly Dutter and Maddie Kiuttu
Goodbye Mother, Goodbye Father
I am off to, serve some others
Red Sox fans are, very vocal
I will have to drop my R’s so I sound local
On the first day, of orientation
We became members, of Generations
Got in groups to, scavenge Boston
Turns out that this East Coast city is quite awesome!
Got through one whole, month of training
Canceled hiking, cause it was raining
No one told us, about our cluster
Julie knew and said that we just had to trust her
Take me home to Coolidge Corner
There are five States to discover
Don’t touch Jason’s tortellini
Elvia is a Twitter Queenie
If you want to, see Zach cryin’
Watch a chick flick, with Meg Ryan
Lisa’s laugh is, quite contagious
Molly cut 2000 meatballs, how outrageous!
Oh but wait there’s, four more Staties
One’s a gent and, three are ladies
One is Amy, she’s a sweet one
One is Karleigh and when you’re with her you’ll have great fun!
Who’s got overalls, and a beard?
Look its Joe out, in Revere!
Then there’s Maddie, she’s a great chick
When you have a bad day she’s there for you real quick
What a great bunch, of new Staties
They were all born, in the eighties!
So glad they joined, the team this year
Hope our singing was too not bad and hurt your ear!
Latest Tweets
@sarahellenmac @idejmcd Thanks for the RTs! - tweeted on 30/07/2010 12:50:08
The great group of riders here at Generations Incorporated are getting geared up for the Rodman Ride for Kids.... http://fb.me/CFuWgYUT - tweeted on 30/07/2010 12:30:23
Team @Generations_Inc has raised close to $3K for the Rodman Ride for Kids. Lets keep things in gear. Donate now! http://bit.ly/bwE2Cv - tweeted on 30/07/2010 12:16:23
Loving your tweets! RT @MassMentoring: What about Lord of the Rings? Oh yeah, Gandalf was totally a mentor to the Fellowship. #mentor - tweeted on 30/07/2010 12:13:23
Follow some great #nonprofits in #Boston: @CityYearBoston @Mass_NonprofitNet @RoomtoGrow_org @everybodywins @socialcap @MassMentoring - tweeted on 30/07/2010 10:41:38
Feeling great. New #AmeriCorps members are here! RT @CityYearBoston: Good morning everyone, happy Friday! How's everyone feeling? @CityYear - tweeted on 30/07/2010 09:31:58
@socialcap and @eric_andersen: Thanks for the kind words. #tedxboston was a great event. - tweeted on 30/07/2010 08:42:13
RT @socialcap: #FF gr8 tweeps & speakers from #tedxboston @eric_andersen @rajmelville @generations_inc @lessig @Joselinmane @connectorsRus - tweeted on 30/07/2010 08:38:39
Photo of the Week: July 29, 2010 Welcome to our 2010-2011 *VISTAs who started their training this week! Our... http://fb.me/DZ9omN84 - tweeted on 29/07/2010 15:07:44
Watching tech entrepreneur @sethpriebatsch speak. - #TEDx live on http://bit.ly/cGLzAI - tweeted on 29/07/2010 10:45:13
