Thankful Thursday: Kenia and Jose :)

Jose and Kenia

Hello everyone! How's this week been for you? I've been in Yakima, WA going to different seminars that have been pretty wonderful. I have loved the change of pace and the opportunity to be back in the classroom atmosphere again :) I'll give you updates on all that I learned in the upcoming days, but now it's time for Thankful Thursday! I am headed to Portland for the weekend, spending some time with my mom, my dad, stepmom and little bros (check out this post to read more about these kiddos), my cousins and my grandma. Since I won't be coming home for Thanksgiving, I'll be having a pre-Thanksgiving celebration this weekend. This being said, my Thankful Thursday post will actually be able to be read on Thursday, rather than posted late Thursday night!

Before I move onto Thankful Thursday, let me say, Happy Veterans' Day and thank you to all who have served and all who are currently serving and to all those families who serve along with their loved ones. I so appreciate all that you do and the sacrifice that you have given and give to our country.

summer 2009

Have you guessed by my title who I am thankful for this week? KENIA AND JOSE! These two kiddos hold such a huge place in my heart!! They are two of the sweetest, funniest, sassiest kids that I know. I just love them! I worked at El Centro two summers ago and that is where I met these kids (and a bunch of other wonderful ones!). Kenia and Jose are brother and sister and are about a year and a half apart. They are two peas in a pod, and totally enjoy hanging out together and spending time with each other. Though El Centro is an afterschool program, it also provides the opportunity for members of the Gettysburg community to be paired up with children from El Centro and form a mentor-mentee relationship.  Knowing that Kenia and Jose (now 12 and 11) had a little brother and a sister on the way, I felt that these two could use some extra lovin' and attention. I talked to my boyfriend about the idea of becoming their mentors and he was all for it. In the summer of 2009, we became their mentors and man, how that has changed my world! The love I have for them is comparable to that of my brothers. I simply love to see them and spend time with them. It has also been wonderful to have the opportunity to get more involved in the Gettysburg community, outside of the college.

Halloween 2009 (cleopatra and a ninja)

Spending time with Kenia and Jose has totally opened up my eyes to so many things and has made me have so much respect for these two and all the kids at El Centro. El Centro serves a low income sector of Gettysburg, which currently is mostly Hispanic. Kenia and Jose were both born in Mexico and moved here at a young age. Their parents are wonderful and loving, though busy and stressed with the immigrant life. Kenia often acts as a translator and carries an enormous amount of responsibility. Jose is super smily and is so open about how he is feeling. The two of them together make my heart melt.

rock climbing-- fall 2009

Over the course of this last year, John and Jose and Kenia and I spent a lot of really great time together. Every week John and I made it a point to spend a couple hours with these two. It was often the highlight of both of our weeks. Kenia and Jose are two of the people I miss most from Gettysburg. And, if God has it in His plans for me to be back on the east coast in the future, these two will get some frequent visits from me!

graduation--May 2010

The way these two have enriched my life (and John's too!) has been incredible. I am so thankful for who they are and how they have opened my eyes to their realities and the burdens they carry at such a young age. Kids offer such incredible perspectives on life and what really matters, and Kenia and Jose are no exception. I pray for them regularly and so long for them to have the future that their parents desired for them when they moved to the US. God has totally blessed me with Kenia and Jose and the time we have spent together. I love them dearly.

how cute are they?? can you tell we have fun together?--summer 2010

Do you have any special kiddos in your life who have totally opened your eyes?
Happy Thursday!

--kate

on the way to Yakima!

Monday, my AmeriCorps team and 900 other Washington State AmeriCorps members headed to Yakima, WA (eastern WA) for the annual SERVES conference. Our next couple of days will be filled with trainings, information and team building time. I am excited for the change in pace and a week away from my site. I am also pumped for the opportunity to learn really practical and important information from the seminars. I'll keep you posted on all that as the week progresses!

For now, here are some beautiful shots of the drive to Yakima.

it's beginning to feel like winter.

driving through the Cascades. 

absolutely breathtaking.

rainbow.

This rainbow was incredible and seemed to follow us for a while. I love the symbolism in rainbows--these beautiful arcs of color remind me of God's promises and His love for me. Driving through such incredible nature, I was awed by the beauty that God has put into this world, and into each one of us.

I am excited for the seminars ahead--the ones I plan to take Tuesday include: Working with Students and Families in Poverty, StoryBuilding: Engaging Students in Literacy Learning through the Imagination, and English Language Learners: Supporting Linguistically and Culturally Diverse Learners. They all seem right up my ally, verdad?

Happy Tuesday! 

--Kate 

letters

I am huge fan of letters--writing letters, getting letters in the mail and people just sending letters in general. I love that letters take a bit of extra time and that because of this, the words are a bit more intentional and in my mind the sentiment is a bit stronger. I really just love everything about personal letters. Words are powerful and very important to me. I love reading notes that my mom has written me and slipped into my suitcase to find when I am unpacking, or birthday cards from close friends. I save these letters and cards and read them again and again. Their words are precious to me and I really savor them.

Mike and Angela, John and I at Mike and Angela's wedding!

This last Saturday night I spent with two dear friends, Angela and Mike. Angela was my roommate from freshman year at Gettysburg College, and Mike is her husband. They met and started dating in the first few weeks of freshman year, thus, much of my freshman year was also spent with Mike. We spent Saturday night eating a great dinner (thank you Mike!), playing games, and just having some relaxed time to catch up. It was so refreshing to spend time with these great people who know me from Gettysburg, not just from my few months in Seattle.

Mike originally being from Pennsylvania and Angela from Washington state, these two have experienced times of long distances separating them. Currently being in a long distance relationship, I asked Angela what helped make the distance manageable. Before I had really even completed my thought, Angela answered writing letters back and forth. She added skype conversations, and emails as well, but first and foremost were the letters. She noted the importance of getting something tangible, and the more I thought on that, I realized that is another amazing quality about letters! A letter is an easy way to tell someone you care in a tangible way. You can actually hold onto the letter. A letter also can completely brighten someone's day. To me, a letter feels like a hug. When I get a letter in the mail, from someone that I wish I could be hugging, I feel all warm and fuzzy and have one of those goofy smiles from ear to ear. So maybe I'll try this with my love so far away in New York?

I generally write letters to people who I wish I could spend more time with. People who I really want to know how much I love them and care about them. As mentioned in my Thankful Thursday: my brothers I send letters to my brothers. I also send them to other children in my life, like Kenia and Jose--two kids that John and I mentored while in Gettysburg. It is nice to be able to do something to show these kiddos (and the others I write) that I care, when I feel pretty helpless in otherwise showing this. Letters are just so great! (Thank you for handling my enthusiasm!)

Speaking of my love for letter communication, and Kenia and Jose--a post coming up will talk about a budding pen-pal relationship. Stay tuned to learn more :)

I am off to Yakima, WA for the week. I am going to SERVES, an annual AmeriCorps training conference. It'll be a nice change of pace--I'll keep you posted!

What do you all think about letters? Love 'em as much as I do? I'd love to hear your feedback!

--kate

Westside Baby!

Every Friday my AmeriCorps team serves as a team. This means we are at our individual sites Monday through Thursday and on Fridays we serve off-site. This Friday we split up into two groups. My group served at WestSide Baby. This organization is an incredible organization that creates opportunities for many families to have quality clothes and other basic needs for their children. They have diapers, car seats, high chairs, toys and all types of clothing available for free for low income families. This organization was created under the premise that being a parent is stressful enough without having to worry about being able to provide and meet the basic needs of one's child due to monetary limitations. WestSide Baby is the home site for one of our AmeriCorps team members, Whitney, and so Friday, we had the pleasure of serving with her and getting some of hands-on work completed.

Toys galore! Still in the process of getting sorted through!

WestSide Baby runs primarily by generous donations (of clothing, cars seats, toys, hours of service, etc.) and consistent volunteer support. WestSide Baby recently moved into a larger facility (it was totally needing more space) and so is in the process of getting everything replaced and organized, while still sorting through new donations.

Most of our day was spent sorting boxes and boxes of donated clothes.

I was incredibly impressed with how organized and complex this organization is. It seems to be run so well, and is very thoughtful in how it provides services. In fact, overall, I have been very impressed with most of the sites my AmeriCorps team is placed at. New Futures (my site) never ceases to impress me with the infrastructure set up in order sustain its vitality and existence as nonprofit organization. WestSide Baby is no exception!

Sarah (my roommate) with a cute onesie!

We had so much fun sorting these clothes, and finding lots of cute little clothes.

WestSide Baby organizes by size and offers sizes from newborn to 10/12.

It was a great day, and was wonderful to see how far a little manpower can go :)

Happy Weekend!

--Kate

Thankful Thursdays: Jeanne, Jim, Maia and John

at my summer job :)

This summer, I had a small window of opportunity to find housing in Seattle. It was this crazy transition period. Having just graduated from Gettysburg College in PA, I had temporarily moved home to Oregon for the summer months. Starting my AmeriCorps placement September 1st, I was looking for a lease either starting August 1st or September 1st. I worked long days at an art camp in Tualatin, OR Monday through Friday up until August 7th. Several days after this my boyfriend came out to visit me on the west coast. After his trip out here, we flew back to the east coast together for an extended vacation before my AmeriCorps term and his job started on separate sides of the continental United States. Thus, I had about two weekends at the end of July that I could go apartment hunting. One of my roommates (Sarah, the one from Portland) and I came up to Seattle mid July and spent all day Saturday looking. After a discouraging day, we found one more place on craigs list that we decided to check out. And guess what? That is where we ended up! With over 4 other applicants submitting applications, we were blessed to be selected to live here!

Jim, John and Jeanne

One of the most amazing things about our apartment, in my mind, is that it is only about 8 blocks away from some dear family friends. Of course, I didn't know this until about a week before I moved to Seattle. One of my mom's best friends from law school, her husband and two children lived within an easy walk away--it is wonderful! Today, I am choosing to write about how thankful I am for this family, Jeanne, Jim, Maia and John.

I have known this family my whole life. I am 5 years older than Maia and 9 years older than John. I remember when Maia was a baby and I was convinced that I could understand her baby babble because I remembered how to speak baby :) I remember reading her stories and playing with her. I remember when John was about 5 years old, he challenged me to a chess match and won! I have such wonderful and fun memories of summer vacations, thanksgivings and easters spent with this family.

Upon moving here, they have been nothing short of wonderful! Jeanne and Jim have completely have opened their doors to allow not only me, but my roommates to have Seattle parents. They treat us to frequent Sunday night dinners, they provide us with what ever our apartment lacks (a shower curtain, tupperwear, lunch on Monday, etc.). They also give me with the opportunity to have a family away from family and invite me to family-like events too :)

Jeanne and Jim have also offered me the opportunity to tutor John weekly, which not only is a great source of extra income, but also a really fun way (in my mind at least!) to spend time with John. John is in 8th grade and so fun to hang out with. I really love his sassiness and the way he takes my advice seriously.

Seattle Sounders game!!

Lately, I have also been helping Maia with the college application process. Though completely stressful for Maia, I have really loved being involved in this process. Maia and I have a special relationship. I truly consider her my younger sister I never had. I absolutely love hanging out with her and I am so thankful to be a part of her life and her be a part of mine. It is so great to see that after a handful of years (I think we figured it out to be 6) of not seeing each other, we picked up right where we left off. We can talk about anything and just love spending time doing nothing in particular together. Spending time with her is such a refreshing part of my week, because I feel, more than with any other person in Seattle, that I am home and can be me.

Having this family in Seattle and sooo stinkin close to my apartment has been the biggest blessing that I don't thank God enough for. God has continued to prove His faithfulness and provide for me left and right, and this family is an example of that. I am so thankful for them!

I hope you all have had a wonderful week :) Thank you for reading my second round of Thankful Thursday!

--kate 

drawings

Drawings by 1st and 2nd graders

One of my favorite part of working with kids is seeing their drawings and their perspectives on the world. I love how children flourish when given space for artistic creativity. I find art especially wonderful when language is a challenge. It seems to be a means to self expression when words limit. I have seen this with past positions and I see it again here, with New Futures. If a child is at a loss for words, give them a marker and let them draw, then have the child describe what he or she has drawn. It is a wonderful tool to gain insight into the reality of each child.

Wall of Art for the After School Program

Since most of the sweet 3 and 4 year olds I work with speak limited English, it is also a fun way to get to know them. Like with any age, asking these guys what they drew about creates a pathway to getting to know them better and finding out what they care about and what is going on in their lives.  I work with two sets of preschoolers. Mondays and Wednesdays from 9:30 to 11:30 I am with 12 kids enrolled in our preschool program (called Colorful Hands--how cute is that name!!). On Tuesdays and Thursdays from 9:30-11:30 I provide childcare to children whose parents are taking ELL classes (English Language Learners--formally known as ESL until people realized that English wasn't necessarily their second language!) Here are some drawings by these kiddos.

Colorful Hands Reflection of the Day Journal

It has been off and on beautiful weather in Seattle. One day is rains absurd amounts and the next day a raindrop doesn't look possible with in the next week. Needless to say, on the nice days, we try to take the kids outside!  (Especially when the kids were as wild as they were today!)

SIDE WALK CHALK!

Each child has such a distinct way of drawing and expressing him/herself. I also just love sitting down and drawing with the kids. I find this, in of itself, very liberating. Art is powerful!

Art by my ELL Child Care kiddos

How cute is this little one? He is one of the twins that calls me cookie :)

Surafel posing by the robot I drew him :)

I hope you are all having a wonderful week--we're on the home stretch to the weekend! Make sure to checkout Thankful Thursday tomorrow :)

--Kate

VOTE!!!

Two years ago, on election day I was in Buenos Aires, Argentina. It was not only the first presidential election that I had been old enough to vote for, but it was a BIG election. Our country had been through a lot and our economy was suffering. A history of decisions had also put a lot of really positive social programs in jeopardy and well, our country needed help. Being in another country clarified a lot of the political issues while also demonstrating the effect that the US decisions have on the rest of the world.

watching Obama's acceptance speech--2008 Buenos Aires

I called via skype to voters in southern states encouraging registered voters who had yet to vote, to get out there and vote; I volunteered at an event that helped register ex-pats and other Americans in South America to vote. I was excited, I was motivated and I wanted to do what I could!
Our country has made some really positive steps forward in the last two years. This sort of change takes time, as it should. Even though we are accustomed to the fast pace life that modern technology offers, speed is not always our friend in these sort of decisions. Our founding fathers intended the process to take time, this limits abuse of power. Obama is doing a great job. He is creating a pathway for success for future generations, not just for us and for now, but our future. And, this takes time.

I have a unique take on most political issues and find people classify me with haste, which easier to do, than truly understanding the position I operate under. Whatever your political leaning is, I encourage you, on this day to get out and VOTE! It is our responsibility as citizens of the United States to vote. And as we vote, vote with compassion, vote not only for ourselves, but for our communities and the people that make up our communities. Consider the voiceless in your vote, consider the hungry, the homeless, the illiterate, the children of immigrants, those without resources, those who each day are losing resources as budgets are cut. These people are a part of our communities, a valuable part and our quality of life depends as much on their success as it does on our own.  So, get out there, make a difference and VOTE!

BUENOS AIRES

Did I mention I ran into my volleyball coach from freshman year of high school on election night in a bar in Buenos Aires? That makes perfect sense, right? :)

Now go be empowered-- VOTE

--kate