NONE of the photos I took even come close to capturing the beauty, majesty, and peace that I felt as I was here, the upward turning of my thoughts, the quiet and the coolness in my body and my soul. But this flickr photographer got kind of close. Make sure you check out the "Helping Hand" picture, which features a shot of the creation mosaic. Stunning. In real life it's probably wider than the square feet of the roof of my house.
So what I didn't realize when I signed up for this Jumpstart thing that I am actually an AmeriCorps volunteer--well, I did realize it, but I didn't realize the extent of what that meant.
AmeriCorps, I now know, is basically the Peace Corps....but just for America, instead of the world at large So as part of our training we were "sworn in" as AmeriCorps volunteers, and I actually kind of liked it:
Read the whole thing here: The AmeriCorps Pledge
I will get things done for America -
to make our people safer,
smarter, and healthier....
Faced with apathy,
I will take action.
Faced with apathy,
I will take action.
I am an AmeriCorps member,
and I will get things done.
That last bit was my favorite part.
This is my hope for the summer, actually, encapsulated in one somewhat hokey swearing in ceremony.
The actual training--I will spare you a lot of the details. I found some parts intensely fascinating and applicable to all parts of my life from teaching children to interpersonal relationships to God......and some parts were painfully repetitious. But I guess that's typical of a training.
Topics included child development, ethics, classroom management, and the working poor. Did you know that 82% of the working poor are single mothers? Did you know that they decide how many prisons to build based on 4th grade reading scores? Did you know that by age 48 months poor children will only have had 20 million unique experiences with new vocabulary, and professional class children 50 million? Vocabulary is a high indicator of later success. The crisis and inequality in education begins in early childhood. So maybe I can lend a hand.
I think AmeriCorps and the Peace Corps are awesome, and I'm glad you're getting and taking the opportunity to do something like this. To get things done. To help people out. To do some good.
ReplyDeleteEvery effort is worthwhile, and every little bit helps. Sometimes a lot. I hope -- and expect -- that this will prove to be a wonderful and invaluable experience. Thanks for sharing it with the rest of us.