“I want to create an attitude of gratitude in my kids,” said Teresa Diamond, principal of La Salle Academy. “Everything they need is given to them, and they don’t really have an idea of quite how to give back.”
La Salle is the school where I tutor students in grades three to eight. Having worked with the same group of children since their fourth grade, I have established steady relationships with the community. The mission states, “La Salle is an independent [Catholic] school …[They] strive to educate children in grades 3 through 8 who face significant financial, social, and academic challenges and whose families believe that quality education is the key to change their futures.” The school is modeled after the San Miguel system of education, which emphasizes small classes of around fifteen students and individual attention. The families of La Salle children are asked to pay only twenty dollars a month towards their education. In return, the children receive breakfast, lunch, uniforms, school supplies, backpacks, and a loving Catholic environment in which to grow. Ms. Diamond explained to me that with all the children receive, it is sometimes difficult for them to grasp a “giving back” attitude. They are learning to implement the phrase “to whom much is given, much is expected.” For this reason, I want to run a service-learning program in conjunction with the mission of the school
vital stats:
people impacted:
15
people involved:
19
why it's important:
According to Benefits of Service-Learning, students can, “Broaden perspectives of diversity issues and enhances critical thinking skills. Improve interpersonal skills that are increasingly viewed as important skills in achieving success in professional and personal spheres. [and] Develops civic responsibility through active community involvement.” If students are given opportunities to share all their talents, I believe they will realize how important it is to care for one’s community.
In addition to providing service opportunities, the program would also strive to develop the students’ leadership skills. The program would provide the students with the opportunity to take a leadership role within an education-orientated service group. The children would not only be giving back to the community, but they would also be gaining the experience of leadership, real-life problem solving, and cooperative thinking.
According to National Survey of Giving Volunteering, and Participating, More than three quarters (79%) of volunteers said that their volunteer activities helped them with their interpersonal skills, such as understanding people better, motivating others, and dealing with difficult situations. Just over two thirds (68%) of volunteers said that volunteering helped them to develop better communication skills. Sixty three percent reported increased knowledge about issues related to their volunteering.”
These life skills that come so easily to many are relatively foreign to the children at La Salle Academy. The final benefit of the youth service program is that the young leaders will gain in self-esteem as they initiate and carry out service projects. As the students move from class sizes of fifteen to a high school where they are in much larger classes, an improved self-esteem will serve them well, and enable them to speak with confidence in a new atmosphere.
the plan of action:
I envision the seventh and eighth grade students as the program participants. The older students who are closest to graduation will benefit most from my plan. In the Attitude of Gratitude Project, the 30 children would collaborate in groups to formulate a service project that they can implement in their Philadelphia neighborhood. The program would run for eight weeks, meeting every Saturday for planning and implementing periods. For the first four weeks, the students will learn about the importance of leadership and service. During the latter four weeks, the students will implement their ideas. The students may choose either an aid or an awareness project. The project must be cost efficient and must benefit the school or the child’s neighborhood. Their projects will be attainable and will be carefully planned out over the course of the eight weeks. On the final week, the children would get the opportunity to share with their younger schoolmates stories about their projects, obstacles they encountered, and skills they learned. This also provides the children with a way to share their new knowledge and to get younger classmates interested in making a difference and giving back to their community.
how you can get involved:
Based on discussions with the principal, I am confident that the Attitude of Gratitude project will have the complete support of the school administration. Also, after speaking with Ms. Diamond, we agree that after completing the program emphasizing service and leadership, the children will also learn the importance of community stewardship, and the responsibility that they have, to contribute to their communities. The success of the program would be measured at the end of the eight weeks when the students present what they have learned about service work. The success will come when they communicate the gratifying feeling of giving back to the community. The teachers and Students at La Salle are certainly able to get involved when we meet every week and Students in my high school will volunteer when the students complete their projects!
project updates:
08/02/2009
This is the final grant update! Since finishing the La Salle School year, my students have shared what the mosaic means to them to people all throughout the school community and Philadelphia. I had the opportunity to take them on a trip to the Philadelphia Magic Gardens, a 10-block mosaic garden to go on a tour. The staff at the magic garden was very impressed with the students and their efforts at mosaic making, and all of their service work. I was privileged to attend their end of the year Mass and celebration where they acknowledged how instrumental the service work was for the children.
Thank you to anyone who has followed this blog and if you have any questions, would like more information on any of the information posted, would like to contact the school, or would like to replicate the project please email me at clairegeruson@gmail.com.
Thank you!
04/15/2009
April 14th
Today my Friend Anna and I put together a rough draft and an outlined stencil of the mosaic. The shape will be cut out of the poaster board and then traced onto the wall for the kids to fill in!
04/11/2009
Tuesday April 7th: Today I met with Teresa Diamond and Irene Rodgers to finalize the plans for the mosaic. The mosaic is going up Next friday (the 17th); I am so excited but at the same time very nervous that something may go wrong or that we will have chaos.
Friday April 10th: Today I drove to the Home Depot on Bustleton ave where I met Steve, Ellie, and Ken, Home Depot associates, and Assistant Manager Tony. THe four of them were so kind to me I would recomend their Home Depot to anyone! So Tony brought me a cart full of broken tiles, and gave me a 25 lb bag of antique white grout with a large bucket of mastic!!! I couldn't believe the extent of his generosity, and I am so exicted, and nervous that the project is within one week away. I then went to the Home Depot in Cheltenham and bouight $130.88 of supplies including sponges buckets tarps and all other mosaic materials that I needed.
04/11/2009
April 2nd: Today I had the kids write thank you letters to all of the groups of people who have helped out our project in some way. All the students who attended Barb and Brie's speech were to write a letter with four components. First they had to say thank you for coming; how they were champions; What was the hardest part of being a champion; and what they could do to continue being champions. I asked the other students to write letters to: Home Depot, Do Something, the 8th grade for winning the cupcake party, St. Francis Inn, and Mohawk Marble and tile. The letters were really beautiful and they expressed the kids' true feelings. I was especially touched by one girl's letter, "Thank you for coming to La Salle Academy and inspiring us on being champions of care. I appreciate the fact that you opened my eyes to appreciate the things I have and also to be a champion of caring." I was so grateful to read this. This sentence really sums up the attitude of gratitude project!!!!
04/02/2009
March 19th: Today Barba and Brie came to talk to the Class!!! I had off today, so I came and helped out in fifth grade during the day. At 4:00 I answered the door for Barb and Brie, and we saw Ms. Divine, and then walked up stairs. They got so see the La Salle kids' halway with all the Catholic Service Lent quotes :)We then introduced the kids and Teresa Dimond to Barb and they began the presentation. Barb spoke at lenght about how the meory of her parents, Holocaust survivors, spurred her to create champions. The kids were excited to hear about a person who had expierenced the descrimination that some of them felt. When Barb talked about living through the civil rights movement, the kids connected with her. She also spoke about why her mother asked her to be a "Mensch" or a Champion every single day. She spoke about how she created Champions to bring together different groups of students from all walks of life to form a Socailly Just Youth. She loved our attituded of gratitude ideas and was so happy when the kids asked how they too could be Champions. I promised that they could write to Barb and Brie to explain what they did to become Champions in the following weeks to come! They also all reacieved buttons, and it made me so proud to see them pin them straight onto their sweaters and sweatshirts
03/16/2009
Sunday March 15th
Today at our champions meeting Barb and Brie were so encouraging. They said that I could MC the final ceremony, and I asked if I could help out and work for them in the summer! They are also coming to talk to the class this Thursday!
Later, on the train ride home, I called Tony at Home Depot. He said that the box of tile was being collected and that the Home Depot was able to donate the Mastic and the Grout!
03/16/2009
Friday March 13
Today I left school at 1:50 to take the seventh graders to St. Francis. I met them at La Salle and Fr. Herb, Ms Taish, Mr. Joramm, and Ms. Diamond and myself drove a car full of donations and kids to Kensington. The kids were really great. They took the time to help Amanda, Jamie, Fred and Flo to load the cans down the shoot. One of the girls turned to me and smelled someone smoking Marijuana; she said "I hate the smell of weed." I was floored. I couldn't believe the amount that the kids deal with every day. After we un-loaded all of the cars, Jamie took the kids on a tour of the inn through the pantry, kitchen, and chapel. It was such a blessing to hear how excited the kids were to, they realized that they really made a difference
03/14/2009
Monday March 9th
Today we had off from school so I took the day to make calls to tile places, home depot's and lowes to ask if we could use some of their broken tiles or the tiles that we could use for the mosaic. I struck gold on the twentieth or so call. A home Depot on roosevelt Blvd said they would call me next Sunday to donate tiles, and grout that I could use!
Thursday March 12th
Today was the cupcake party! I brought my friends Catherine, Brie, Veronica, and my sister Teresa to help with the party. We set up five tables with six cupcakes on each table and various candy bowels and icing containers on each table. I then went and got my seventh graders who told me that the school brought in 1,119 items!!! I was astounded. I could not believe how amazing of a job they had done. I am so proud of their efforts in everything! We then walked over to the eighth graders classroom and invited them to our party. The kids had a great time and they even made a cupcake for Ms. Diamond as well. I hope I was able to express well enough how proud they should be of themselves.
03/07/2009
Thursday March 5th
Well two days in a row of La Salle, how lucky am I? Today at La Salle we totaled the list of cans for each homeroom and the tallies of their cans, and Paige, Zoe, and Crystal created the total for the chart. The kids also told me that the other homerooms did not have that many cans. So I assigned two students to go to each homeroom to talk about the Inn again and talk up the drive and the prize! We then made plans to put together the cupcake party! I also told them about Barb and Brie’s Visit. The kids were very intrigued by the idea of Barb’s Family living during the Holocaust, and they are psyched for the Champions visit. As am I; it will be a chance for me to show off my class to my “Bosses” that is how I explained Barb and Brie to my kids. ☺ Michael also raised an interesting point. He said that he wanted to write about the things we are doing on Thursdays. I would be so pleased if we could put together a kind of book about the kid’s experience. That would be very fulfilling for me.
03/07/2009
Wednesday March 4th
As you may have seen, today’s day is Wednesday!? Some crazy networking has happened since last week. At my last champions meeting, we heard from Sharla Feldman who is a volunteer PR person for non-profits, as well as a PR woman for her job. I spoke to her about La Salle, the school, the programs, and the San Miguel model. She was intrigued by the ability of the school to function and told me that she was working as the PR person for CATS and she needed a school to debut the show. She said that I spoke so highly of the school that she wanted to bring six people from the show to the school, make up the students as cats, and teach them CATS dances. I was stunned and couldn’t believe the incredible fortune we had. We had actors and Make-Up artists come and spend incredible quality time with the third and fourth grade!
