Full Schedule Ahead!

So school is back in full swing and my days have been pretty quiet thus far. Today is the first day classes have started coming into the library and I am so happy to see kids again! For the first week of school I barely saw any students. Now that they know the library is up and running, hopefully I will start having more kids come in. This year is definitely different because I just don't know the students as well as I have in the past. When I became the librarian, I knew most of the kids because I had taught many of them in sixth grade language arts. This is my third year as a librarian and the last class I actually taught has moved on to high school. I'm really missing those relationships I had with my former students. It's just harder to really get to know kids and build a bond with them when you only see them every two weeks for a whirlwind session in the library. So I am going to have to get creative this year on how I can get to know the kids better because the relationship factor is something that really drives and motivates me in my work.

This is also the first semester in three years that I have not been in grad school! Of course those who know me won't be surprised to hear that I have already figured out how to fill that extra time. First, I was contemplating taking an Americorp position with Central Dallas Ministries to work with Janet's programs over at Roseland. Janet and I both were excited about the possibility of me working more closely with the library/community bookstore program and developing that more, along with Katrina, the young lady who has been running the library since last year. I thought this would be neat to not only get the chance to get more involved with the education mission at CDM again, but to also receive the Americorp education award to put toward finishing my other master's in Reading (I have 18 hours in this and want to finish the other 18 sometime in the somewhat near future). I was gung-ho until I realized that Americorp requires a 20-25 hour week commitment, which would mean my work day would be 4-8 each day there at Roseland, after working 8:00-3:45 at my regular school. That would be Monday-Friday, every week, until June. At first I thought I could handle it, but then I started really thinking about how many little things come up after school that I sometimes have to take care of or go to, such as trainings and teacher meetings, etc. which I would have to figure out how to work around. I just wasn't sure I could hack the 12-13 hour workday, five days a week for nine months. So I reluctantly decided not to do the official position, but instead will volunteer with the program at least 4 days a week from 4-6 instead of 4-8. That way I can still be a part of the really neat stuff going on with the programs and families at Roseland and still have a little flexibility to take care of other things in the evenings. I'm really excited about this and anticipate many posts to come about the cool things we will be doing over there!!

At the same time I was pursuing this Americorp possibility, I heard of another opportunity with a program called Upward Bound at Mountainview College here in Dallas. Upward Bound is a program that works with high school students from low-income areas and homes who are potential first-generation college students. The program supports them throughout high school and helps them navigate the road to college. I applied to be a part-time adjunct faculty member for this program. Basically I would work other every Saturday from 10-1 doing ACT and SAT prep and tutoring with students. So I interviewed for that and wasn't sure how I felt about it or how they felt about me, but was surprised to get a call today offering me the position. I think that I will accept this because it pays well (over $20 per hour) and is only about a 6 hour commitment per month. Not to mention I will get the opportunity to assist students who are the first ones in their families to pursue college...something I'm really excited about!

So a busy, but productive year, seems to be unfolding before me. I'm really looking forward to these new endeavors. Since I don't have the time-consuming burden of grad school weighing me down, and since I've gotten the whole librarian thing down to a science (:-)) I'm looking forward to getting involved in some meaningful contributions to the community around me over the next few months. Can't wait to get started and can't wait to meet the new kids and students who will soon start to become big parts of my life. Stay tuned..... :-)

Please Vote for the ASA Garden Project!!

One of the really cool things that my former co-worker, Janet, and the After School Academy has been able to do over the past year since they moved to the Roseland neighbohood is have a community garden! The after school program was able to partner with an organization called the Gleaning Network. The kids have been able to work in their own garden and learn about growing vegetables and more. They each take turns working in the garden and watering it, etc. It is a really neat experience for these city kids! :-)

Some of you may have seen the commercials on television about the Pepsi Refresh grant program. Janet has placed the ASA Garden up for voting for one of these grants. If they receive enough votes, they will get a grant that will allow them to expand the community garden. It's really easy to vote and you can vote once a day!

Here is what Janet sent me in an email:

"Help us out with our Pepsi Refresh grant for the ASA Learning Garden at Roseland. You can read more about our garden here:
http://janetmorrison.blogspot.com/2010/08/asa-learning-garden-needs-pepsi-refresh.html

Vote daily for our Pepsi Refresh grant at http://pep.si/cMwxEy or Text 101161 to Pepsi (73774) . You can vote once a day...we NEED you to vote once a day! I've set a reminder on my phone so I can text each morning. I've heard it's easier to text your vote in anyway.

Please pass on to all of your friends!"


Vote until August 31st!!