Maturing through a trip to Colorado

I've decided that the more diversity in a group, the better.

Our group of 9 consisted of 5 Hispanic, 1 White, and 3 Black teenagers; 1 college student, 2 entering college this fall, 1 Senior in high school, 2 younger high school students, and 3 middle school students. The maturity of the older ones encouraged the younger ones to step up...and they did. The positive ones in the group outweighed the negative ones...changing any inkling of a negative comment to a positive word of encouragement.

Whether it was putting together a tent...












Climbing a mountain...










Rappelling off the side of a mountain...











Or helping clean up...

The teenagers participated without complaint. Their positive and willing attitudes created an enjoyable trip for all involved (fyi...I haven't always been able to say that! :) )

Each evening, at our devotional times, Mr. Edd would ask them to reflect on their day. Their eagerness to reflect and apply what they were learning to their personal life was encouraging. On the rappel site, I had heard Nazareth telling someone, "You need to rappel...even if you're scared! If you do this now, you will realize that you can conquer anything. It will help you later." Each evening they each had something new to share.

We saw several shooting stars when we camped out...roasted marshmallows and made s'mores over a campfire...spent an hour and a half by ourselves being completely quiet, listening to the sounds around us, and reading our Bible...learned to fish (and caught some!) in a lake surrounded by the beautiful mountains...hiked a portion of Mt. Shavano...swam in a pool filled by the natural hot springs of the mountains...visited the quaint town of Leadville...learned neat facts about mining, the Stage Coach road, the names and history of the mountains...and realized that having new experiences can change the way we look at life.

Though we didn't get to do an audio blog about Day 4, below are some reflections about Day 2 and Day 3:

Wilderness Trek--Day 2

Nazareth reporting:



Wilderness Trek--Day 3

Nazareth reporting:

White Water rafting in Colorado

This has been an amazing week. Edd Eason, myself, and 9 teenagers left Dallas at 6:00 a.m. Sunday morning to head to Salida, Colorado. Edd had planned a week of relaxation and reflection as well as a few challenging moments as well.

Checo started writing down all of the new things he has done and accomplished so far this week. His list looked something like this: camping in a tent, surviving a hail storm on the top of a mountain, learning to set up and take down a rappel site, rappelling, white water rafting, hiking in the mountains, and building a campfire...and we aren't finished yet.

They have been an amazing group with such great attitudes and such helpful and considerate spirits. They didn't all know each other before coming. But they have all bonded and are stepping out and creating new experiences together. They each have the ability to lead as well as follow.

What follows below is Nazareth's report of Day 1...our White Water rafting day.

Nazareth reporting from Salida

Wilderness Trek--Day 1 White Water rafting

How to pick blueberries

Step 1: Connect with The gleaning network of Texas.

Step 2: Gather 8 elementary-aged kids who have been learning about health and nutrition and take them to Gainesville, TX.

Step 3: Pair up kids and adults and take off down the rows of blueberry bushes. Note: Go further back in the field to get the most blueberries.

Step 4: Look for dark blue (almost white) berries. Don't pick the reddish ones!

Step 5: Reach deep into the blueberry bush to find fat, juicy blueberries that no one thought to pick.

Step 6: Pop a few into your mouth as you go to make sure the blueberries are still as sweet as when you first started picking.

Step 7: Note the sounds of blueberry picking..."Boy these 'mugs' are good!!" ~Kamaurja

Step 8: Fill your little bucket as full as you can get it. Keep looking for blueberry-filled trees somebody missed!

Step 9: Holler out when you find a tree with lots of berries..."Oooh! This one's got LOTS of blueberries!" ~Ladarrius

Step 10: Watch everyone run to the blueberry bush.

Step 11: Walk back to the shade to empty your bucket into your paper container, ask to put your name on it, and then rest.

Step 12: Use the voice recorders to make raps about eating your fruits and vegetables on the van ride home.

Step 13: Take your bucket of fresh blueberries to the house and make blueberry pancakes, blueberry muffins, cereal with blueberries on top, blueberry shakes, etc. (if you have a favorite blueberry recipe, please feel free to offer it here!)

When one suffers, we all suffer

I met up with a couple of the college kids this evening to help them with paperwork for a scholarship. When we met up, one of them asked me if I had seen his cousin. I said I hadn't, though he had just called me last week out of the blue and asked me to help him with his college paperwork (he's 21). For the last 2 years, we've been talking about college and I've been telling him what he needs to do, but so far he has never followed through. I was hoping this time was different.

The question, "Have you seen him?" told me something was wrong. He proceeded to pull out his phone and show me a picture of a guy in a restaurant with a gun...obviously from a security camera. Evidently, it's one of the main news stories.

My stomach dropped.

I've always had this fear that I would be watching the news and they would flash a picture of one of the kids/young adults I know. It's right up there with my fear of hitting someone on a motorcycle.

I can't say that it's a complete and total surprise. Though the guys are always extremely respectful around me, I've heard stories about people "hittin' licks" (robbing places) and making out pretty good. But though it's not necessarily surprising, it's still depressing. Reality is hard to face.

I'm sad this evening. Sad for my friend. Sad for a lost dream. Sad for my community who is watching yet another of our close-knit community on the run from the police. It will only be a matter of time before he is caught.

I am also sad because it makes me think of the potential path of the kids in the After-School Academy. I am sad because they can't see how quickly their lives can turn at a wrong decision...a simple decision to hang out with the wrong people even just for one night. I am sad because I know that Billy, Tyree, Sammy, Slick, and others have already chosen that path and it has resulted in death, jail, or being on the run from the police. I am sad for the families whose lives they affect.

I want to figure out why. Why does this become a lifestyle choice when they see so many others before them getting caught or killed?? I want to know what solution is.

I want to do everything I can to connect people with as many opportunities as possible so that they see so many more possibilities and options that they never feel like they need to carry a gun or rob people at gunpoint.

I don't want to lose anymore kids.

Who said money can't solve problems???

Recently we were awarded a technology grant from the Communities Foundation. It has changed the entire way we conduct a program and quickly developed some skills in the kids that we've always tried to figure out ways to cultivate, but never had the resources or knowledge of how to.

With our new digital cameras, we choose one of the kids to be a Photographer who documents the program. With our voice recorders, we choose a daily Reporter who asks people questions throughout the program. The daily Historian writes about or illustrates what we do in his/her journal and we are able to scan it and post their drawings/writings on their blog (http://www.ourasafamily.blogspot.com/).

Because we now have working computers and a projector, I have been able to sit kids at computers while I demonstrate how to do things on the overhead projection. The kids (1st-5th graders) are becoming more and more independent in their own blogging capabilities. All of the kids can sign in to their blog independently. The posts you see on their site are all their own. Some of them have taken on the task of writing their own posts and calling in their own audio blogs; others dictate their thoughts to the adults. Everything posted comes straight from them.

The educational possibilities are limitless with technology!

By blogging, kids are reading their own writing and the writing of their friends. They are learning the importance of learning to type. By labeling their blog posts, they are picking out the main idea. As we ask the kids to develop questions for the audio posts and voice recorders, the kids are finally beginning to gain a curiosity for what's around them. While the questions started out as closed-ended questions like, "Do you read healthy books?" "Do you work out when I'm not home?" they have developed into open-ended questions like, "What is fiber?" "Why do people say carrots make you see better?" "How does eating fruit make your muscles bigger?" We have now started researching these questions on the internet. They are developing critical thinking skills!

True enough, technology didn't *create* the learners...but what it did do was provide us with the tools that allow us to be creative in our approach and has helped us connect with people and opportunities/resources we didn't know existed!

Money may not be everything...but being without it sure creates quite an information barrier bewteen people who have access and those who don't. What kid doesn't love technology and want to learn the cool things you can do with it?? It's not just the kids; the parents are involved in different ways as well. Keep checking their blog (www.ourasafamily.blogspot.com) to see and hear their thoughts, parents comments, their photography, and all kinds of other great stuff!

Photography from a child's point of view

I've have always loved a photographer with a unique perspective. One of my favorite magazines in high school was a photography issue of Life magazine that I picked up. Though the pictures weren't taken by kids, there was a section titled something about a child's perspective. It had pictures taken from a child's eye-level--things like the close-up face of a dog, people's legs...and other things that you would probably see from a 3-ft high perspective.

I told a friend not long ago that I would really like to see what some of the younger kids' perspectives are. I think too often we try to tell kids what they "should" and "shouldn't" take pictures of, write about, try to do, etc. I know as adults we are supposed to guide children, but sometimes I think we squash their creative juices. When we let them be, they prove us wrong (as I have found out several times this week).

Friday was another one of those days. C.J. was the Photographer for the day. I wasn't around him much, but I know by the end of the day he had the camera taken away because he was thought to be taking really random pictures. Maybe he was, maybe he just seemed to be because he's C.J., or maybe he was being very intentional. Either way, when I loaded the pictures onto the computer, out of the 100 or so shots he took, only about 5-10 of them were random shots. All of the others were very good (from my photographer's eye perspective). On some, he tried new angles (see above). Most of the others, he was experimenting with up-close shots. Both of which are great photography strategies.

As a photographer, I've always been interested in people shots. I would've never thought grocery store shots would impress me. But from C.J.'s pictures on Friday and the kids' pictures at Central Market on Monday, I am extremely impressed! I may start experimenting with my own fruit and vegetable pictures myself!

Thanks for the inspiration, C.J.!

For more of C.J.'s pictures, and to see what else is going on at the After-School Academy this summer, go to www.ourasafamily.blogspot.com. The kids are posting some great stuff!

Curious minds want to know

It absolutely amazes me what comes out of kids mouths and minds when we ask them.

Each day we now have a Historian who carries around his/her journal all day and records what happens and a Photographer who is given one of our new digital cameras to record the happenings of the day.

Yesterday Kamaurja was appointed as the Historian. I saw him writing a little but I wasn't sure that he was really keeping track of anything. We had told them that the Historian would report back during group time the next day. Quite honestly, I didn't think Kamaurja had done anything but I figured if we put him in front of the group, then the other kids would see that there really was a reason for them to record stuff. Boy did Kamaurja surprise me! When I called him to the front today, he showed us the four pictures that he had drawn in his journal and explained them:








Today was Kamar's turn to be the Photographer. He was snapping pictures right and left...seemingly, at times, very pointlessly. Toward the end of the day, he proudly came up and asked if I wanted to see his pictures. As I quickly scrolled through them I figured I might as well save myself some time while I was looking at them so I deleted a few that seemed blurry or pointless. I got to three pictures in a row of this bright color. Figuring it was yet another pointless picture, I hit delete twice before he looked and said, "Look at that one! That's the light from the projector!" I think he might have even said something about it being his favorite. I sheepishly told him that I had "lost" the other two and asked if he could quickly retake them. He eagerly did so (thank goodness!).

I have no idea what made him think to point the camera straight into the projector light. Kamar wasn't sure how or why he got three different colors, but that was one of the things he liked about the pictures as well. I have to agree with him, these are the coolest pictures ever!

In fact, I think I may frame them and put them on my wall as a reminder.

Making education come alive

Why can't education be interesting?!

In elementary, high school, and college, Science and History were my two least favorite subjects.

My favorite part of high school history class was when Mr. Farmer...yes, that really was his name...would send my friend and I to opposite corners in the back of the room for talking (this happened on a regular basis). Being in the back of the room allowed us to communicate through paperwads thrown back and forth. We could do this because the entire 50 minute class was spent with his back to us, writing notes on the blackboard (in very small print) that we were supposed to copy and study. By the end of the class the entire blackboard, wall to wall, was covered in notes. It wasn't a method that really brought history alive for me.

However, once I learned about the Civil Rights Movement in college...thanks to a professor showing a piece of the documentary, Eyes on the Prize...I began understanding how the movement affected real people. Since then, I have gained a thirst for new information and I am always trying to make new connections about how history affects the decisions, laws, and practices we have today.

Science wasn't much better. Reading a science book and trying to remember all of the technical terms wasn't exactly my cup of tea. However, I do remember my mom purchasing a chemistry kit for me at a garage sale and, though I didn't exactly know what I was doing, I remember sitting outside, reading the instructions, and trying to make carmel with the little vials and burners that came with the kit. Though I never achieved edible carmel (I'm not sure the kit was meant to create edible carmel, but that was my goal), the chemistry kept me occupied for hours.

So why is education in our schools so boring?

Why is learning so disconnected from real life?!

We seem to be on a pendulum. Learning is categorized and departmentalized and single subjects are taught depending on what the political climate deems as necessary. As a result, a child in school focuses on reading OR math OR science OR history...but rarely do these subjects get applied to real life. Over the past few years, because our mandated testing has been on reading and writing, teachers and schools often leave out the other subjects. I have had more than one kid tell me that the reason they have a 100% in Social Studies on their report card is because they don't do Social Studies (the teacher just gives them a grade to fill in the blank).

Over the last several years, the colleges and businesses have noticed the downward trend in students interest in Science and Engineering. To make up for that, mandatory testing has added Science so teachers would be sure to teach it. But that doesn't mean it will be interesting. Actually, it means quite the opposite. Now teachers will have to ensure kids get certain facts down about science.

Maybe instead of "teaching" everything, subject by subject, we should focus on kids "experiencing" things. If we set up our classrooms in a way that kids could explore, create, and experience, I wonder if we'd be surprised by the way kids responded to education...and be surprised at how many subjects are covered.

This week, we start our 4-week summer program on Health and Nutrition at Turner Courts. We have field trips set up to Central Market, UTA's fitness center, Samuell Farm, and the Farmer's Market to stimulate their creativity. We have speakers who will teach about nutrition and health...some who are parents, some who are fitness instructors, some who work at places like Southwestern Medical Center. We will be teaching the kids how to blog and podcast as well.

But the most exciting part is that we have time for the kids to create. The kids will be writing on the blog (you can keep up with it at http://www.ourasafamily.blogspot.com/), taking pictures, interviewing people, creating a practical fitness center that could work in their own home, and creating the menus for our evening meals. The activities and projects they do will incoporate reading, writing, math, art, history, health, science, and so much more.

I admit I am a little nervous. It's hard to think outside of the traditional education box. It is a little scary to wonder what we will do and how we will guide the kids during the "unstructured" time. It puts the burden on those of us who are setting up the program to really listen to the kids and hear what they are saying so that it can inform our approach on a daily basis.

I'll keep you updated on the progress.

We're the ones who lose out

Growing up, I never was a very outwardly emotional person. However, when I first moved to Dallas and started working at Central Dallas, everything made me emotional. I began to realize that not all kids above the age of 8 know how to read...overt and covert racism is real and takes its toll on people...schools are very different inside and out, depending on the community where you live...some people work really hard and still don't make enough money to survive. These new revelations were emotionally overwhelming my first several years here.

Sadly, I have gotten used to some of those injustices. My tears don't flow quite as often and, strangely enough, I think I have more hope now than I did back then.

However, every once in a while I start to feel myself getting emotionally overwhelmed by the situations around me. I can't say what triggers it. Something someone says or does reminds me of someone and then faces and memories pop into my head. If I'm in public, I get a lump in my throat and I struggle to blink back the tears.

This week our Urban Engagement Book Club did that to me. Randy Mayeux reviewed the book, True Notebooks. As he read the writings of the "dangerous" kids the author described working with in juvenile hall, I thought of so many of the kids I know. Kids who, on the outside, act in a way that makes them "dangerous" to most people, but on the inside are extremely insecure with a lot of self-doubt and self-hatred. For some of the kids, their insecurities can be identified and addressed; other kids are too injured to open up. Many have lost the capacity to hope.

When I got home that afternoon, as I was browsing some blogs, I noticed that my friend, Jessica, had posted a very introspective entry on Everyday Citizen that added to my emotion:

Walking into work on Monday morning was not the same. It was the same place with the same people but the atmosphere and conversation was not the same. First off let me explain that I work at the Boys and Girls club in Greenville, Tx.

Over the weekend, there had been several shootings (5) and stabbings (2) that left 3 people dead. One of the ones who were killed was an 18 year old male known to the community as KD. He attended the club in his younger years. Now the acts of violence has claimed his life as well as 2 others and has affected the life of many others. The stories behind that pretty much say that he had gotten mixed in with the wrong crowd and lifestyle.

While I was sitting there at work, I was able to see the effects that the weekend events had on the community within the club. I saw some of the kids discussing the events and I also heard my boss talking with the kids about what had happened and trying to convince them to stay on the right track in life.

After witnessing her break down in tears due to the events that had taken place, I began to think myself.

We are the Boys and Girls Club known to many as, "the positive place for kids." We operate in the summer from 7:30am til 6:00pm which means we have a time when we are closed.

What I am wondering is what could we have given young KD during his time at the club that he could have taken with him while he was away from the club that could have possibly spared his life? What can we give to our kids that are there now to help them overcome the effects of violence in the future? How can we make the community itself "a positive place for kids?"

As I can almost see some of the kids headed in the wrong direction, all I have to offer is correction for when they are wrong, knowledge for when they are confused, and a prayer for when they are away. With those things, I can only hope that they choose the right path in life and not become victims of a world of hatred.

It's a cold world which is only getting more cold, how can we protect our future (kids) from freezing to death?

Jessica has a lot of good questions that I believe we need to answer.

Though, ultimately, the KD's of the world have to make their own decision of whether or not to do something with the opportunities available to them, we have got to keep working to figure out what is missing in their lives.

I don't know KD, but I know Alonzo, Tyree, Sammy, Billy, Edward, Donnell, Keith, and so many more. Underneath all of the bravado, they have so much to offer us. We can't afford to keep missing out on their gifts.

Daily Life...Not appropriate for children

I usually get sucked into those computerized quizzes where you can answer a few questions and "find out what animal you are most like"...silly things like that. So, when my friend posted that her blog was "Rated G" and I saw the temptation to "find out what your blog is rated," I couldn't resist.

I simply typed in my blog address and...viola:



In my mind, I was thinking, "That was easy...and cute. Now I need to stop playing and get back to work."

I had almost closed out the screen when it dawned on me that the reason my blog was rated PG instead of G was because I had talked about death and murder.

As I reflected on that, I was remembering that the death and murder entries were probably the ones about Tyree and Sammy, young adults in our neighborhood, getting shot and killed. I then pondered a little more. Ratings are there so we can protect our children, right? At the PG level, "some material may not be suitable for children." All I write about is real life. So, really, what this rating is telling me is that the real life I live is not always suitable for children. Hmmm...

I checked some other blogs I read that are also focused on urban issues. Some were rated R, some PG based on words like "cocaine," "shoot," "gun," "hurt," "drugs," "death," and "murder."

It's one thing to rate a movie and say that kids under certain ages can't watch it or can't watch it without parental supervision. But what about when that rating applies to your life--your neighborhood, your school, your community? What do we do then?

Most people who live in the communities I speak of are not in a place--sometimes financially, sometimes mentally--to move out or to do things to make the troublemakers go away . People in low-income neighborhoods are often there because something happened along the way. Some are working toward moving out eventually. Others have been in the situation so long they don't even know how to take the steps to get out anymore.

Shouldn't our goal as a community...a society...be to protect ALL of our youngest and most vulnerable? Shouldn't we be striving to help ALL of our communities become livable areas that are "Rated G"? ...I'm not talking about charity. I'm talking about long-term solutions like economic development, livable wages, affordable housing, etc.

Below, replace the word "BLOG" with "COMMUNITY." What are we doing so that we could post a sign outside every community that says: