Hey fellow summiteers!!!
This semester has been one of great success for The Beacon Project. We have had many fun experiences, and accomplished a lot. We began the semester with planning for the Fall Festival. After a couple of date changes, this ended up taking place on November 6th. Many families from the center attended. The children seemed to enjoy the crafts and activities a lot. It was a great success in bringing these families closer together. The next project for this semester, is the Symphony Christmas concert. This will take place on December 11th. We organized tickets for the Lighthouse families that wanted to attend, and have put together goodie bags to hand out at the event. There will be an ice cream social to follow, which we hope will continue to build on the relationship between the Lighthouse families.
The best experience this semester was the success of the fall festival. It was wonderful to see the children having so much fun. I am glad we got to bring them to the Drury Campus, so that the children and the parents could be exposed to the hope of further education. The biggest challenge we faced was one of communication and responsibility. It was often quite hard to get a hold of Lighthouse. We were able to work around this issue, but it was a challenge in the beginning. In respects to responsibility, Lighthouse set unfair expectations of us. We paid for the entire Fall Festival, and did the majority of the planning. We were expecting much more assistance that what we received from Lighthouse.
The biggest issue shaping our plans for next semester is our budget. Becuase of the fact that we had to pay for the Fall Festival, much of our budget is depleted. We are going to have to plan very efficiently for our projects next year. We are also planning to start our volunteering a lot earlier in the semester.
I think this semester has taught me even better time management skills. We have had a lot of planning and preparation to do, which has made me use all of my time extremely efficiently. I have also enjoyed working with the children. I hope that this will help me in my future as a teacher.
The Stress Free Now program was an interesting experience. On the one hand I was able to experiment with things I would have never tried on my own. This gave me additional understanding of an area had no previous experience with. I did not, however, enjoy it. I do not feel as though this program benefitted me in any noticeable way. I feel as though, while different and providing a new experience, it was not something I would want to do again.
As the semester is coming to an end, I am excited about going home more than anything else. I have not seen my family since the beginning of the semester, which has been a huge challenge for me. Over winter break I will be relishing in home cooked food, my own bed, and being surrounded by my family.
Tiffany
Friday, December 10, 2010
Tuesday, December 7, 2010
It's Beginning To Look A Lot Like Christmas!
Hey everybody! Things are looking quite jolly in Summit 1315 this month. We have definitely been spreading the Christmas cheer around our apartment, and all of us are super excited to get to go home soon. This month has marked the end of our volunteer hours at Lighthouse, and we will be hosting our last Lighthouse/Drury partnership event of the semester this Saturday. We invited the kids and their families to the Springfield Symphony Christmas concert on Saturday at 2 in the O’Reilly Center and are planning on having some sort of holiday refreshments afterward, so that should be a great end to the semester.
The best experience I had with Lighthouse this semester was definitely the Fall Festival. It was so rewarding to see our event become a success and to see how much fun the kids were having. I really feel like we were able to offer them a unique opportunity and help the Drury community become closer to the Springfield community. The toughest experiences with the agency this semester have been communication issues. There have been some instances of miscommunication that have had to be straightened out. I think in the spring semester we will be doing a lot of organizing, since Lighthouse is moving locations over Christmas break. They will probably use our help to get settled into their new building and also to simply help out in the classrooms again. We want to have one more event for the kids in the spring, such as an Easter celebration.
Due to the Summit Leadership Experience, I have definitely improved my skills in working in a group. I have learned to address conflicts as they arise and how to communicate better with the members of my group. Additionally, I have learned the myriad of things involved in coordinating an event and also the importance of communication when planning something on a large scale. I have also improved my time management skills due to the number of things I have to complete for this class, such as volunteering and Stress Free Now.
For me, the highlights of the Wellness program were definitely yoga and the massages. I enjoyed learning different relaxation techniques, and it broadened my perspective on things. The lowlights of the programs were the amount of time they required. Stress Free Now was actually very stressful, because our grade was based on the completion of the relaxation exercises, and honestly, I didn’t always have time to complete them. I would suggest not requiring students to complete five exercises a week. I think two or three times of trying a particular technique would have been sufficient.
Well, that’s all until next year! I’m so excited to go home for Christmas break and to take our swim team training trip to Hawaii at the beginning of January! Merry Christmas! :)
Molly Brown
Molly Brown
Monday, December 6, 2010
Last Week of Semester
Yay!
It's the last week! I hope everyone is as relieved as I am! I still have so much to do, but I can at least see a faint glimmer of light at the end of the tunnel. Also, I hope everyone is Summit is doing very well. I know I am and I think the girls are too. We are a little stressed about this ten page paper that is due Friday (Andrew!!!), but I think we will definitely be able to manage.
The girls and I have now finished up our hours for this semester at Lighthouse and I believe each of us came out at more than fifteen. Let's just say the Fall Festival really helped us out with that. But all of our hard work was worth it because we had so much fun at the event! Working at the Lighthouse has been great too, getting to know all of the workers who employ the different aged rooms in the church and of course, getting to hang with all the awesome kids!
On Saturday, the Drury Singers are singing with the Springfield Symphony at 2:30 in the O'Reilly Center. We have invited the kids and their families to come watch us sing and so far the RSVP has been wonderful! We will just have to get the tickets sorted out so they can all show up to the event in style. Personally, I am so excited about getting to show the kids a wonderful time at the Symphony!
And lastly, the Stress Free Now has been really relaxing. I have truly been enjoying every aspect of the program. I have learned so many new things about relaxation techniques and how to focus my thinking differently. My favorite part of the whole program will be Wednesday at 8:00 for me when I get my massage! I've been looking forward to it for the past seven weeks. It's going to feel so good!
So I hope everyone else is doing just as well as I am. Those of you who are overwhelmed, keep your head up! It will get better! In two weeks, maybe less, you will all be home sitting by your holiday decorations listening to bad holiday music wishing you were back in your own apartment instead of being nagged at by mom and dad, so cherish it!!
Love you all and Happy Holidays!
Deanna
It's the last week! I hope everyone is as relieved as I am! I still have so much to do, but I can at least see a faint glimmer of light at the end of the tunnel. Also, I hope everyone is Summit is doing very well. I know I am and I think the girls are too. We are a little stressed about this ten page paper that is due Friday (Andrew!!!), but I think we will definitely be able to manage.
The girls and I have now finished up our hours for this semester at Lighthouse and I believe each of us came out at more than fifteen. Let's just say the Fall Festival really helped us out with that. But all of our hard work was worth it because we had so much fun at the event! Working at the Lighthouse has been great too, getting to know all of the workers who employ the different aged rooms in the church and of course, getting to hang with all the awesome kids!
On Saturday, the Drury Singers are singing with the Springfield Symphony at 2:30 in the O'Reilly Center. We have invited the kids and their families to come watch us sing and so far the RSVP has been wonderful! We will just have to get the tickets sorted out so they can all show up to the event in style. Personally, I am so excited about getting to show the kids a wonderful time at the Symphony!
And lastly, the Stress Free Now has been really relaxing. I have truly been enjoying every aspect of the program. I have learned so many new things about relaxation techniques and how to focus my thinking differently. My favorite part of the whole program will be Wednesday at 8:00 for me when I get my massage! I've been looking forward to it for the past seven weeks. It's going to feel so good!
So I hope everyone else is doing just as well as I am. Those of you who are overwhelmed, keep your head up! It will get better! In two weeks, maybe less, you will all be home sitting by your holiday decorations listening to bad holiday music wishing you were back in your own apartment instead of being nagged at by mom and dad, so cherish it!!
Love you all and Happy Holidays!
Deanna
Friday, November 19, 2010
A November with The Beacon
Hey guys!!
I can't believe it is already November! Talk of Thanksgiving, and Christmas has made me extremely excited about this month and the next. The Beacon group actually organized a Fall Fun Festival with The Lighthouse that was definitely an experience. The first part of our preparation included gathering all of our supplies. Once we had what we needed we got to work. We ended up baking over 120 cupcakes as well as at least 50 cookies to get ready for the festival. We put together all of the activities, and ended up having a really great day! The kids looked like they really had a good time, and the parents seemed to appreciate our efforts. In it was a great success.
I have also been volunteering in the lighthouse center with has most of all, been rewarding for me as a person. I love kids and getting to work with them once a week has shown me once again what a great place Lighthouse is and what an amazing job they are doing. I am actually proud to be contributing to such a cause.
As far as the roommates go, I still love them! Yes every once in a while a situation occurs, but it is always little and we work it out well. I am extremely thankful that I have these girls as my Springfield family. At first my interaction with the Summit community was pretty much nonexistent. The socials and the wellness classes have provided another way to actually connect with the group and establish a friendship. I absolutely love Summit and honestly wish I could live here for the rest of my time at Drury.
The one thing about this semester in Summit I will say I have not like is the Stress Free Now. I am being completely honest in hopes that it helps give a true feel for the experience with the program. It is often hard for me to fit it in to my schedule, and therefore really ends up stressing me out more than anything else. It has not provided me with the stress relief I was hoping for, and ends up just being another thing on my list of things I have to get done. This may be a successful course for students who decide that they have enough time for the commitment, but I do not and therefore it has not helped me much.
I look forward to seeing you today!!!
Tiffany
I can't believe it is already November! Talk of Thanksgiving, and Christmas has made me extremely excited about this month and the next. The Beacon group actually organized a Fall Fun Festival with The Lighthouse that was definitely an experience. The first part of our preparation included gathering all of our supplies. Once we had what we needed we got to work. We ended up baking over 120 cupcakes as well as at least 50 cookies to get ready for the festival. We put together all of the activities, and ended up having a really great day! The kids looked like they really had a good time, and the parents seemed to appreciate our efforts. In it was a great success.
I have also been volunteering in the lighthouse center with has most of all, been rewarding for me as a person. I love kids and getting to work with them once a week has shown me once again what a great place Lighthouse is and what an amazing job they are doing. I am actually proud to be contributing to such a cause.
As far as the roommates go, I still love them! Yes every once in a while a situation occurs, but it is always little and we work it out well. I am extremely thankful that I have these girls as my Springfield family. At first my interaction with the Summit community was pretty much nonexistent. The socials and the wellness classes have provided another way to actually connect with the group and establish a friendship. I absolutely love Summit and honestly wish I could live here for the rest of my time at Drury.
The one thing about this semester in Summit I will say I have not like is the Stress Free Now. I am being completely honest in hopes that it helps give a true feel for the experience with the program. It is often hard for me to fit it in to my schedule, and therefore really ends up stressing me out more than anything else. It has not provided me with the stress relief I was hoping for, and ends up just being another thing on my list of things I have to get done. This may be a successful course for students who decide that they have enough time for the commitment, but I do not and therefore it has not helped me much.
I look forward to seeing you today!!!
Tiffany
Lighthouse so far...
Hey guys!
Lighthouse has been so fun now that we have been able to be with the kids. I have been able to work in both the infant room and the toddler room. Mostly just feeding and playing with the babies. When I was in the toddler room, they were just finishing lunch and getting ready for a nap so I helped get them all settled down. One little girl doesn't take naps, so I just looked at some books with her haha. They're all so cute! I helped the teacher in the Pre-K room clean and set up some stuff. I went around the room and cleaned some of the toys. Since they all touch the toys even if they are sick, it is important to clean them regularly. I have learned a lot about child care so far.
The other girls have filled you in on the fall festival. It was a huge hit! I worked at the pumpkin painting station and it was so funny. We had enough pumpkins so many kids did like 1 or 2 pumpkins. We did a lot of baking too haha which was so fun! I wanted to eat all of it... but oh well! We also had like 5 of the swimmer girls help us out with this which was great and a huge help! They worked some of the stations we had and were great with the kids. I think the funniest part was watching molly do the pumpkin broomstick races with the kids and she would always "lose" her pumpkin so that the kids would win. It was adorable.
As for the stress free program, I am going to have to agree with Molly. I have been to keep up with it, but then it stresses me out when I forget or realize last minute that I need to do it. Sometimes I remember it late at night and I am really tired. I really like the concept, but I have found it a little more stressful sometimes than stress free.
That's all for now :)
Jessica Cross
Lighthouse has been so fun now that we have been able to be with the kids. I have been able to work in both the infant room and the toddler room. Mostly just feeding and playing with the babies. When I was in the toddler room, they were just finishing lunch and getting ready for a nap so I helped get them all settled down. One little girl doesn't take naps, so I just looked at some books with her haha. They're all so cute! I helped the teacher in the Pre-K room clean and set up some stuff. I went around the room and cleaned some of the toys. Since they all touch the toys even if they are sick, it is important to clean them regularly. I have learned a lot about child care so far.
The other girls have filled you in on the fall festival. It was a huge hit! I worked at the pumpkin painting station and it was so funny. We had enough pumpkins so many kids did like 1 or 2 pumpkins. We did a lot of baking too haha which was so fun! I wanted to eat all of it... but oh well! We also had like 5 of the swimmer girls help us out with this which was great and a huge help! They worked some of the stations we had and were great with the kids. I think the funniest part was watching molly do the pumpkin broomstick races with the kids and she would always "lose" her pumpkin so that the kids would win. It was adorable.
As for the stress free program, I am going to have to agree with Molly. I have been to keep up with it, but then it stresses me out when I forget or realize last minute that I need to do it. Sometimes I remember it late at night and I am really tired. I really like the concept, but I have found it a little more stressful sometimes than stress free.
That's all for now :)
Jessica Cross
Thursday, November 18, 2010
Kids, Cakes, and Candy
Hello again my Summit peers. November is almost coming to a close, and I know everyone is so excited about getting a little break next week for Thanksgiving. After that, we are practically home free!!! We have been making a lot of progress at Lighthouse over the month of November. The Fall Festival we held at Drury on November 6th was a huge success. We probably had about 30 children and their families attend, which was a nice turnout. The kids looked like they were having a blast playing all of the games and winning tons of prizes. I ran the pumpkin sweep game, and while it definitely wore me out racing the kids back and forth sweeping a pumpkin with a broom, they seemed to enjoy every second of it. We had to do an enormous amount of preparation for the festival, such as buying supplies for the booths, making oodles of baked goods for the cake walk, and setting up the gym. The night before the festival we baked for six straight hours, and I believe our total baked goods count was over 120 cupcakes (iced and sprinkled), four batches of cookies, two batches of brownies, and additional cookies that Dee’s mom brought to help us out. It would have been all fine and dandy, because I love to bake, but Tiff and I aren’t eating any sweets, so literally being surrounded by dessert in our living room and having the scent of chocolate wafting through our halls was akin to torture. However, the stressful preparations were worth it to make the kids happy. We have also been volunteering at the center in the actual classrooms lately, so that has been a welcome change. I just got back from Lighthouse, and this morning I got to play with the toddlers then help with lunch time in the infant room. J The kids are so, so sweet.
I really do feel like we have been able to make an impact at Lighthouse in the brief time we’ve been there so far. Our Fall Festival was something different than many of the kids had ever experienced before, so I’m glad we’ve been able to give them some experiences they might not have had without our involvement. Also, I think it gave the parents a good opportunity to socialize and meet with other parents at the center, so they can gain a greater support network. The teachers frequently express their gratitude at having us in their classrooms to volunteer, because it makes their jobs a whole lot easier to have an extra set of hands.
The only difficulties we’ve run into with the agency have been relatively minor. It took us awhile to get started volunteering because of a lack of communication involving volunteer application forms. Additionally, the Fall Festival was a little more stressful than I anticipated, because we ended up being responsible for a lot more than we originally thought. It seemed like we were mainly responsible for it instead of it being a collaborative effort, which was frustrating at times, but we survived.
Things in the apartment have been going fairly well. We have the occasional dispute about dirty dishes and temperature, but, for the most part, we haven’t had too many disagreements. My roommates are like my second family, and they help me get through a lot by always being there for me. I’ve also started getting to know more people in the Summit community through the monthly socials and the wellness activities.
Honestly, I’ve been a little disappointed with Stress Free Now. I often accidentally call it Stress Now when I refer to it. Freudian Slip? I think yes. I see the importance of relaxation and forgiveness and everything the program tries to address, but finding time for a 20 minute daily activity seems to just add more stress to my life. It’s stressful to try to remember to complete the activity each day. The Wellness Experience is a little more fulfilling and enjoyable, especially the yoga. I still haven’t figured out the benefit of Tai Chi, but I definitely feel like the yoga sessions helped relax me. I also thought the speakers we had at our last Summit class were very interesting.
Well, that’s all for this month! Hope everyone has a great Thanksgiving break, and I can’t wait to hear about everyone’s progress at our mid-term meeting! Happy Thanksgiving!
Molly Brown
Monday, November 15, 2010
Progress at Lighthouse
Hello fellow Summiters. How has your last month been? To me, November has flown. It also doesn't help that Harry Potter is coming out in four days!!! But that is besides the point. Our Lighthouse project has been going splendidly. We have officially finished cleaning the resource room and have moved on to actually helping out the teachers and playing with the kids!
One of the greatest moments of our volunteering so far, was putting on the Fall Festival in the practice gym of Weiser a few weeks ago. So many people came, and it was really great to get to meet all the kids involved with Lighthouse. Not to mention their great families. All of our hard work really paid off. Including the cake walk which we slaved over! We made over 113 cupcakes, not to mention an assortment of other things (also, my mom made us cookies) to fill up the walk with goodies. And it went off with a hitch! It was the most popular event at the festival and everyone won some sweets. I think the employees at Lighthouse were really pleased with it, as were the families who came to it and supported us.
I think we have a great impact on the agency. They seem to really appreciate our help, and they are so friendly and nice. They truly seem grateful for us and not like we're in the way. I have definitely made many new friends at the church. There hasn't been too many difficulties honestly. We had a lot more responsibility for the Fall Fest than we were originally anticipating, but that didn't bother us. It was so much fun to get ready for. We had a big girls night in the apartment and it was wonderful!
Speaking of the girls, everything here is going marvelously. I don't think we've really had any serious problems yet. Just a few tiff's here and there, but everybody gets on everybody's nerves once in awhile. Our group has a really great dynamic and we all have so much fun living together. I love walking into my apartment and really feeling like I'm home. I hope the other girls feel the same way too. Not to mention, they are always cooking something delicious so it smells so good all the time! Also, I find myself waving to all my neighbors when I walk to class. Doing the wellness activities has given me a chance to get to know them better as well as the Summit Socials.
The Wellness is going extremely well for me. I find myself actually using the relaxation techniques to calm myself down about everything I stress about. I have really tried to use it especially in swimming. I love the yoga, and even though the Tai Chi was very different than anything I had ever done, I really enjoyed it too. It has been a really great experience for me so far and I am very grateful that I was given the opportunity to try it out.
Well, I think that's about it for this month! I will see you all this week for some Tai Chi! Hai Ya!!!
Deanna Sorenson
One of the greatest moments of our volunteering so far, was putting on the Fall Festival in the practice gym of Weiser a few weeks ago. So many people came, and it was really great to get to meet all the kids involved with Lighthouse. Not to mention their great families. All of our hard work really paid off. Including the cake walk which we slaved over! We made over 113 cupcakes, not to mention an assortment of other things (also, my mom made us cookies) to fill up the walk with goodies. And it went off with a hitch! It was the most popular event at the festival and everyone won some sweets. I think the employees at Lighthouse were really pleased with it, as were the families who came to it and supported us.
I think we have a great impact on the agency. They seem to really appreciate our help, and they are so friendly and nice. They truly seem grateful for us and not like we're in the way. I have definitely made many new friends at the church. There hasn't been too many difficulties honestly. We had a lot more responsibility for the Fall Fest than we were originally anticipating, but that didn't bother us. It was so much fun to get ready for. We had a big girls night in the apartment and it was wonderful!
Speaking of the girls, everything here is going marvelously. I don't think we've really had any serious problems yet. Just a few tiff's here and there, but everybody gets on everybody's nerves once in awhile. Our group has a really great dynamic and we all have so much fun living together. I love walking into my apartment and really feeling like I'm home. I hope the other girls feel the same way too. Not to mention, they are always cooking something delicious so it smells so good all the time! Also, I find myself waving to all my neighbors when I walk to class. Doing the wellness activities has given me a chance to get to know them better as well as the Summit Socials.
The Wellness is going extremely well for me. I find myself actually using the relaxation techniques to calm myself down about everything I stress about. I have really tried to use it especially in swimming. I love the yoga, and even though the Tai Chi was very different than anything I had ever done, I really enjoyed it too. It has been a really great experience for me so far and I am very grateful that I was given the opportunity to try it out.
Well, I think that's about it for this month! I will see you all this week for some Tai Chi! Hai Ya!!!
Deanna Sorenson
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