Stories from members first 4 months of service...
Sam's Story
Edible Schoolyard NOLA changes the way kids eat, learn and live at FirstLine Schools in New Orleans. Our goal is to improve the long-term well being of our students, families and school community.
"Deion was a new kid at school this year, entering 3rd grade. I met him at my morning duty post, where each morning I greet every student with a handshake and a smile, a kind word or a greeting. He seemed to love being at school for the first couple of weeks, but his attitude soured pretty quickly. In the mornings, he would storm past me, sometimes punching my hand, sometimes stepping on my foot, always with a frown on his face. He seemed to respond well to being in the garden, so I reached out to his homeroom teacher to see what we could do. We decided that I would take him out on Wednesday and Friday mornings for some one-on-one garden time. Deion definitely enjoyed spending time with our chickens or just having a few minutes to ask questions and talk about school. I started to find out some details about his life. His family life seemed pretty stable, but he spent lots of time playing video games and did very poorly at school. His self-esteem was extremely low and he had trouble making friends. He would get frustrated easily and throw tantrums any time he had trouble with an assignment or when he didn’t get his way. Deion has not yet developed the coping mechanisms to deal with stress, difficulty, or frustration. He has poor emotional regulation and believes that people are constantly teasing him. He is below grade level in reading and math, but we all agreed what he needed first was to believe in himself.
We worked out a plan that if his behavior improved, he could harvest some peppers or take home some eggs. He was so thrilled when he earned his first pair of eggs, but when he took them home one of his parents threw them out, calling them “dirty.” He got pretty discouraged about that.
Still, with the support of the special ed team, his homeroom teacher, and the garden, he’s begun to turn things around. He’s learned the names of all six chickens; he can tell you where to find the loofas and the strawberries, the peppers and the compost pile. He knows the garden, and he finds comfort there.
He still gets frustrated, still hides under desks during tests, but his temper has calmed. He’s made friends, and he’s seeing his growth in reading and math. He almost always shakes my hand in the morning, tells me how excited he is for Wednesdays and Fridays, and some days he even gives hugs.
Deion has a long way to go. He will need intensive academic support and mentorship for years. But at least he knows that people at school care about him. At least he has a place where he can go and feel like the expert at something. One day, we hope, he’ll see in himself what we see in him: a curious, sweet, intelligent, capable young man."
Shana's Story
Hagar’s House is a sanctuary for women and children in New Orleans that provides an open and empowering residential community, resource coordination and a safe space to transition into sustainable housing.
"...this particular family had been living in Hagar’s House since before I started my first term with LDSC in Sept. of 2011. The mother is a native of Honduras and came to the States, leaving much of her family behind, including another son. Her and her other children, the girl and a boy age 5, sought refuge at Hagar’s House after experiencing domestic violence. The mother did not speak very much English and was also having a hard time finding work. When I first started at Hagar’s in Sept. 2011, the mother was speaking slightly better English and struggling finding work as a house cleaner. She had a few clients, but not enough to be able to fully support her and her family (in this case, supporting her family is not only herself and her two children who live with her, but the family that she left in Honduras, especially her son, mother, and sister to whom she often sends money, medication, and clothing). As time progressed, so did the mother’s English. She attended English classes at First Grace twice a week and really made a conscious effort to practice and learn the language. In addition to this, her business started growing and she began to have many regular clients, enough to make her a very busy woman. She also got a job cleaning at the Worker’s Center for Racial Justice and became an active member of that community and support system. By the time this family moved out of Hagar’s House, she had saved enough money to keep her family financially stable, bought a car (in order to meet the needs of her increasing client base, a car became necessary), acquired a large and stable client base, and was speaking and writing almost fluent English. This family was able to move out of Hagar’s House and into their own home, which is one thing, but they were able to do it with the knowledge, comfort, and security of knowing that their transition truly is a sustainable one."
Anna's Story
The mission of Mid City Redevelopment Alliance is to serve as a catalyst, facilitator, and coordinator to encourage the growth and renewal of the Mid City region of Baton Rouge by attracting new and retaining current residents and businesses.
"One of my favorite stories so far from my time as a Delta Service Corps member is about the gift of an idea. During my first month, I spent a good bit of time driving around and getting to know various business owners in the area. I spent anywhere between 2 minutes and 2 hours talking to people, depending on their interest. Some of the business owners couldn’t wait to get rid of me and others seemed to be an endless supply of creative ideas and antidotes for ‘the problems in Mid City’. One merchant in particular sticks out in my memory of this time introducing myself to the community: Josh Holder. He’s a quiet man who clearly loves what he does. He certainly not the most talkative of all the merchants and, when I first met him I could tell that it would take a few visits before he would warm up to me. In retrospect, I don’t know why I didn’t just take that as a sign that he was busy and didn’t have time to talk. But, I kept visiting him and I’m glad I did. I visited him numerous times throughout my first month. After a few weeks, he pulled me aside and told me he’d been thinking of a big idea for Mid City, but he didn’t know what to do with the idea or where to start. He assured me that there was no way he had time to work on actualizing his idea but it kept coming back to him. He had to pass the idea along and, for some reason he chose me. I’m glad he did.
“You know those cow sculptures that pop up around big cities, all decorated,” he said. “What if we did that with bus stops? What if our bus stops were works of art, canvases for our artists?” Mid City is a treasure trove of creative people, artists, musicians but, you would never guess it driving down the street. At first glance, large parts of Mid City look forgotten, but there is such vibrant potential behind the area’s broken facades. Josh’s idea would be a step towards the community’s infrastructure reflecting its potential. On top of that, though he didn’t mention this at the time, it could help wear down the stigma against riding public transit in Baton Rouge. If run-down bus stops become canvases for public art, could they become a source of pride for the community?
Since Josh Holder passed his idea along to me, I’ve been able to get a wide variety of people excited about its potential. Architecture firms, local artists and the transit authority have all shown excited interest in the project. It is my hope that, by the end of my time at Mid City Redevelopment Alliance, I am able to shift the potential of Josh’s idea into a kinetic, thriving public transit and public art project."
Kaycee and Coral's Story
Bard Early College in New Orleans is founded in the belief that the opportunities for critical inquiry offered by the best colleges in the country should be available to younger students who have the ambition to learn and the curiosity to engage difficult questions.
"At the end of this semester, Bard Early College hosted a winter student showcase. Students were selected to read their work from the semester and share their experiences at Bard Early College. At the end of the event, students were invited to come on stage and answer questions from the audience. Most of the questions came from parents, eager to hear about how their children have been spending the afternoons in their college classes. One student in particular, Destiny, seemed particularly excited to field a question from her parents about how her time at Bard was different from her time spent at her high school. She said that Bard was a place where she could share her opinions, where her thoughts could be shared and heard, where she could learn freely without inhibition, and where, unlike high school, she was asked for her answer to a larger question, not just the right answer. We were all blown away by her eloquence, her thoughtfulness, and her honesty and so impressed that she was taking away such mature thoughts about her first college experience. The last question from the audience took us all a little off guard: “So, do you think you’re better than the kids in your high schools?” Destiny was quick to jump in, and said “No, not better. We’ve just been exposed to more. I think we have a fuller view of the world.”
Edible Schoolyard NOLA changes the way kids eat, learn and live at FirstLine Schools in New Orleans. Our goal is to improve the long-term well being of our students, families and school community.
"Deion was a new kid at school this year, entering 3rd grade. I met him at my morning duty post, where each morning I greet every student with a handshake and a smile, a kind word or a greeting. He seemed to love being at school for the first couple of weeks, but his attitude soured pretty quickly. In the mornings, he would storm past me, sometimes punching my hand, sometimes stepping on my foot, always with a frown on his face. He seemed to respond well to being in the garden, so I reached out to his homeroom teacher to see what we could do. We decided that I would take him out on Wednesday and Friday mornings for some one-on-one garden time. Deion definitely enjoyed spending time with our chickens or just having a few minutes to ask questions and talk about school. I started to find out some details about his life. His family life seemed pretty stable, but he spent lots of time playing video games and did very poorly at school. His self-esteem was extremely low and he had trouble making friends. He would get frustrated easily and throw tantrums any time he had trouble with an assignment or when he didn’t get his way. Deion has not yet developed the coping mechanisms to deal with stress, difficulty, or frustration. He has poor emotional regulation and believes that people are constantly teasing him. He is below grade level in reading and math, but we all agreed what he needed first was to believe in himself.
We worked out a plan that if his behavior improved, he could harvest some peppers or take home some eggs. He was so thrilled when he earned his first pair of eggs, but when he took them home one of his parents threw them out, calling them “dirty.” He got pretty discouraged about that.
Still, with the support of the special ed team, his homeroom teacher, and the garden, he’s begun to turn things around. He’s learned the names of all six chickens; he can tell you where to find the loofas and the strawberries, the peppers and the compost pile. He knows the garden, and he finds comfort there.
He still gets frustrated, still hides under desks during tests, but his temper has calmed. He’s made friends, and he’s seeing his growth in reading and math. He almost always shakes my hand in the morning, tells me how excited he is for Wednesdays and Fridays, and some days he even gives hugs.
Deion has a long way to go. He will need intensive academic support and mentorship for years. But at least he knows that people at school care about him. At least he has a place where he can go and feel like the expert at something. One day, we hope, he’ll see in himself what we see in him: a curious, sweet, intelligent, capable young man."
Shana's Story
Hagar’s House is a sanctuary for women and children in New Orleans that provides an open and empowering residential community, resource coordination and a safe space to transition into sustainable housing.
"...this particular family had been living in Hagar’s House since before I started my first term with LDSC in Sept. of 2011. The mother is a native of Honduras and came to the States, leaving much of her family behind, including another son. Her and her other children, the girl and a boy age 5, sought refuge at Hagar’s House after experiencing domestic violence. The mother did not speak very much English and was also having a hard time finding work. When I first started at Hagar’s in Sept. 2011, the mother was speaking slightly better English and struggling finding work as a house cleaner. She had a few clients, but not enough to be able to fully support her and her family (in this case, supporting her family is not only herself and her two children who live with her, but the family that she left in Honduras, especially her son, mother, and sister to whom she often sends money, medication, and clothing). As time progressed, so did the mother’s English. She attended English classes at First Grace twice a week and really made a conscious effort to practice and learn the language. In addition to this, her business started growing and she began to have many regular clients, enough to make her a very busy woman. She also got a job cleaning at the Worker’s Center for Racial Justice and became an active member of that community and support system. By the time this family moved out of Hagar’s House, she had saved enough money to keep her family financially stable, bought a car (in order to meet the needs of her increasing client base, a car became necessary), acquired a large and stable client base, and was speaking and writing almost fluent English. This family was able to move out of Hagar’s House and into their own home, which is one thing, but they were able to do it with the knowledge, comfort, and security of knowing that their transition truly is a sustainable one."
Anna's Story
The mission of Mid City Redevelopment Alliance is to serve as a catalyst, facilitator, and coordinator to encourage the growth and renewal of the Mid City region of Baton Rouge by attracting new and retaining current residents and businesses.
"One of my favorite stories so far from my time as a Delta Service Corps member is about the gift of an idea. During my first month, I spent a good bit of time driving around and getting to know various business owners in the area. I spent anywhere between 2 minutes and 2 hours talking to people, depending on their interest. Some of the business owners couldn’t wait to get rid of me and others seemed to be an endless supply of creative ideas and antidotes for ‘the problems in Mid City’. One merchant in particular sticks out in my memory of this time introducing myself to the community: Josh Holder. He’s a quiet man who clearly loves what he does. He certainly not the most talkative of all the merchants and, when I first met him I could tell that it would take a few visits before he would warm up to me. In retrospect, I don’t know why I didn’t just take that as a sign that he was busy and didn’t have time to talk. But, I kept visiting him and I’m glad I did. I visited him numerous times throughout my first month. After a few weeks, he pulled me aside and told me he’d been thinking of a big idea for Mid City, but he didn’t know what to do with the idea or where to start. He assured me that there was no way he had time to work on actualizing his idea but it kept coming back to him. He had to pass the idea along and, for some reason he chose me. I’m glad he did.
“You know those cow sculptures that pop up around big cities, all decorated,” he said. “What if we did that with bus stops? What if our bus stops were works of art, canvases for our artists?” Mid City is a treasure trove of creative people, artists, musicians but, you would never guess it driving down the street. At first glance, large parts of Mid City look forgotten, but there is such vibrant potential behind the area’s broken facades. Josh’s idea would be a step towards the community’s infrastructure reflecting its potential. On top of that, though he didn’t mention this at the time, it could help wear down the stigma against riding public transit in Baton Rouge. If run-down bus stops become canvases for public art, could they become a source of pride for the community?
Since Josh Holder passed his idea along to me, I’ve been able to get a wide variety of people excited about its potential. Architecture firms, local artists and the transit authority have all shown excited interest in the project. It is my hope that, by the end of my time at Mid City Redevelopment Alliance, I am able to shift the potential of Josh’s idea into a kinetic, thriving public transit and public art project."
Kaycee and Coral's Story
Bard Early College in New Orleans is founded in the belief that the opportunities for critical inquiry offered by the best colleges in the country should be available to younger students who have the ambition to learn and the curiosity to engage difficult questions.
"At the end of this semester, Bard Early College hosted a winter student showcase. Students were selected to read their work from the semester and share their experiences at Bard Early College. At the end of the event, students were invited to come on stage and answer questions from the audience. Most of the questions came from parents, eager to hear about how their children have been spending the afternoons in their college classes. One student in particular, Destiny, seemed particularly excited to field a question from her parents about how her time at Bard was different from her time spent at her high school. She said that Bard was a place where she could share her opinions, where her thoughts could be shared and heard, where she could learn freely without inhibition, and where, unlike high school, she was asked for her answer to a larger question, not just the right answer. We were all blown away by her eloquence, her thoughtfulness, and her honesty and so impressed that she was taking away such mature thoughts about her first college experience. The last question from the audience took us all a little off guard: “So, do you think you’re better than the kids in your high schools?” Destiny was quick to jump in, and said “No, not better. We’ve just been exposed to more. I think we have a fuller view of the world.”
LDSC has an alum Facebook Account! ldscalums.americorps
LDSC is on Facebook and Twitter !
The Rethinkers hit the Big Time
The Great Cafeteria Takeover
We’re excited to announce that Rethink is featured in a new HBO documentary
film!
The Great Cafeteria Takeover follows the Rethinkers as they advocate
for fresh, healthy food in New Orleans cafeterias.
The film highlights one of Rethink’s biggest victories: signing an agreement
with a food service provider to serve fresh, locally grown produce at least twice a week in all 37 Recovery School District cafeterias.
The Great Cafeteria Takeover is available online for HBO subscribers. Click here to watch.
Don’t have a subscription to HBO? The film will start streaming for free this September 2012. Check back in the fall for a link.
Check out photos from our special Red Carpet Premiere Party on May 9!- -
The Great Cafeteria Takeover is part of a new documentary film series called The Weight of the
Nation, presented by HBO Documentary Film and the Institute of Medicine (IOM), in association with the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) and the National Institutes of Health (NIH), and in partnership with the Michael & Susan Dell Foundation and Kaiser Permanente.
We’re excited to announce that Rethink is featured in a new HBO documentary
film!
The Great Cafeteria Takeover follows the Rethinkers as they advocate
for fresh, healthy food in New Orleans cafeterias.
The film highlights one of Rethink’s biggest victories: signing an agreement
with a food service provider to serve fresh, locally grown produce at least twice a week in all 37 Recovery School District cafeterias.
The Great Cafeteria Takeover is available online for HBO subscribers. Click here to watch.
Don’t have a subscription to HBO? The film will start streaming for free this September 2012. Check back in the fall for a link.
Check out photos from our special Red Carpet Premiere Party on May 9!- -
The Great Cafeteria Takeover is part of a new documentary film series called The Weight of the
Nation, presented by HBO Documentary Film and the Institute of Medicine (IOM), in association with the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) and the National Institutes of Health (NIH), and in partnership with the Michael & Susan Dell Foundation and Kaiser Permanente.
Our School at Blair Grocery lands a spot in the New York Times
MLK Day... a day on, not off
The Baton Rouge team cleaned and painted in Mid City at a historic African American cemetery, Sweet Olive. (Read more on our blog...)
The New Orleans team spent the day cleaning, deconstructing and prepping Survivor's Villiage in the 8th ward. (Read more on our blog...)
The New Orleans team spent the day cleaning, deconstructing and prepping Survivor's Villiage in the 8th ward. (Read more on our blog...)
During our most recent host site supervisor lunch it was discovered that five current supervisors who attended are AmeriCorps Alumni!
Here is (from left to right) Bernel January of Greenlight New Orleans, Will Minton of Big Buddy, Cory Ashby of Our School at Blair Grocery, David Ferris of LDSC and Sean Vissar of Rebuilding Together. If you add Angela Davis from Hagar's House, Kelly Reagan of the Edible School Yard and our own Angela Pinkard-Hale who are also alums you can clearly see the impact of the National Service movement in our own backyards!
LDSC's DeAndre Louis Hill has a feature article in Baton Rouge's 225 Magazine
DeAndre is a Mentor with the Big Buddy Program. Click here to see this article in the December 2010 edition. We are so proud of you Dre!
