9/29/10, Class 1 - Heroes and Journalism

I met the kids today and am very excited to work with all of them. Luis, Deonis, Cesar, Alsacia, Dagoberto, William, Eric, Kamaya, Jose, Yissel, Yveliana, Manuel, Estefany, Branton, Deysi and Devonte. They represent a combination of 6th and 7th graders.

Today we introduced the kids to the basics of the "Heroes and Journalism" apprenticeship for Citizen Schools at the Orchard Gardens. We laid out the goals of the apprenticeship: to learn about and explore a career in journalism by researching, meeting and interviewing everyday heroes. To begin to think and act like a journalist we introduced some of the necessary skills including asking different types of questions including "surface" and "deeper" ones. We told the kids surface questions are ones like "what is your name" and "how old are you". "Deeper" or "inferential" questions often require more than 1 word answers such as "how did you feel about that" or "why did you do that." Understanding the differences and getting comfortable and confident asking questions will be one critical skill the kids will develop through the curriculum. To help speed the process along, we watched an interview with Captain Sullenberger, the pilot who saved over 100 lives by landing his planed safely in the Hudson River after birds hit the planes' engines. The kids wrote down the questions that Katie Couric from CBS news asked and classified them as "surface" or "deeper" questions. Importantly, this interview also introduced the concept of a "hero" to the kids since another goal of the apprenticeship is to plant the seed in the kids of the great actions we are all capable of. After this, we watched some video clips from CNN Heroes including a young woman who started a organization to donate books for kids in the hospital as well as a army veteran who is helping homeless veterans. After watching the videos the kids answered questions such as: "what was the problem the hero was trying to solve?", "how did they solve it?", "what qualities did the hero demonstrate?" and finally "what issues or problems exist in your neighborhood or school that need fixing?"......here the kids identified violence and drugs as problems in the school that need to be dealt with.

We finished the class with 2 more things. First, we allowed the kids to get comfortable with the videocamera by asking them questions in front of the camera such as what is your favorite subject, tell me about your family, etc....the goal here was for the kids to speak clearly, confidently, loudly, look into the camera, and importantly SMILE AND HAVE FUN.

We finished the class by going over our class ritual which we will do at the beginning of each class. During the week, each student will keep their eyes and ears out for one thing that makes them say to themselves or another person, "wow, that was a very nice thing something did for someone else." And will share it in front of the class and videorecorder.

Good Sports - Help A Kid Play Sports

Just passing along another great organization I just learned about.....A friend of mine recently told me about a wonderful organization called Good Sports that gives youth the opportunity to participate in a variety of sports and fitness programs by donating necessary sports equipment that would otherwise be inaccessible to these children.
www.goodsports.org

Light One Little Candle - Help Someone Through The "Simple" Act Of Donating A Book

A woman, doctor and former breast cancer patient started an organization with a wish that other parents and grandparents with cancer would find the same comfort and joy she experienced with her daughter through the simple act of reading together.

A Little Cooking Can Go A Long Way - Try It

There are so many ways to help out the needy. I don't cook that much but this large lasagna (1 box of lasagna, 3 lbs of ricotta, 4 lbs of ground beef, and some mozzarella can last several nights for some needy families and give them a nice home cooked meal that helps to let them know others care. There are many many families who are struggling to get by with next to nothing. You can try something simple like lasagna or try your favorite recipe and the home cooked meal will be incredibly appreciated. You can contact local soup kitchens or organizations for the needy for where to bring your food to.

Going The Extra Miles For Those In Need - A Hero

One of the great joys and honors for me is to be able to meet people that selflessly do great and wonderful things for others. Annemarie Elmore is such a person. I have had the privilege of getting to know her over the last several months and in a short time I see the powerful and "heroic" things she does for the needy families she serves every day. Annemarie is a social worker, working closelessy with families in need. Families that sometimes have little more than the clothes on their backs including their children. Dedicating yourself to this population is often admirable enough, but that's not where it stops with Annemarie. It's pretty hard to find and free or extra time in her life since she and her husband have 6 adopted children. Nonetheless, Annemarie knows that too many times what can be provided by the city, state, or federal government isn't nearly enough for the needy and homeless families that she serves; and that many times the families (and children including infants) don't have the time to wait for applications to be processed before money or food stamps are given to help these people. And thus she does whatever is necessary to get them additional help including sometimes money and supplies out of her pocket; as well as delivering supplies and items she has located for them well outside of the normal business hours of her job. Here she is literally while the state of Massachussetts was on "hurricane alert" for Earl, after driving 35miles from her house to mine to pick up items to deliver later that evening to the families she serves.

Thank you Annemarie for helping improve the lives of those you serve.