On March 19, I collaborated with Camp Fire USA – Oneida Council to put together a celebration of the absolutely incredible kids in our community.

This year marked Camp Fire USA’s 13th annual Absolutely Incredible Kid Day. It’s a national letter-writing campaign urging adults to write letters to the children in their lives, honoring them and celebrating them for the wonderful people they are.

Jeremy Fadoul, Executive Director of Camp Fire USA – Oneida Council, and I met in mid-January and quickly began our collaboration on this project. It fits very well with my VISTA goals, so I thought it would be perfect to work on. I also can’t forget that collaborating with the community is a very large piece of the VISTA project.

We started promoting Absolutely Incredible Kid Day community-wide in February, with the help of our local United Way as well as through many other organizations, businesses and personal contacts that we have. Most, if not all, were very willing to help spread to word.

We reserved a space at the Northwoods Banquet Center from 5 to 8 p.m. that Thursday night and started planning activities for families. Jeremy shared a great asset – the fact that he offered services as Jamz DJ as a second job. He said it would be no problem to set up his equipment and play family-friendly music for the entire evening.

I used a personal contact to get a donation of 10 pizzas from Bugsy’s delivered hot right as the event was beginning, and unlimited soda was provided on site.

Jeremy solicited dozens of raffle prizes from area businesses; many were incredibly generous. We asked attendees for a small donation in exchange for raffle tickets; it was well worth it, as many people received multiple prizes.

Other activities of the night included a variety of card and board games, art tables, a cakewalk and plenty of dancing. Jeremy had the kids pull their parents onto the dance floor to participate in classics like the “YMCA.”

At... [Read More]

Computers From the Heart is a simple concept of caring enough to see a need and providing with what was lacking. Though different than many of my other VISTA projects, this has the same root.

It was thought up by Justin Thiel of Tech-Geek Computers in Woodruff and myself during a discussion of my work. We understand that children can be at a disadvantage when they aren’t introduced to a computer until later in life and when they only have time to use a computer during school hours. The School District of Rhinelander donated three used, but very much in working condition, laptops to this project.

This event took place on Valentine’s Day, a very fitting day for the title of the project. Justin reformatted the computers, installed a Linux operating system and educational software, Edubuntu. He used his time and talents to benefit children and families that he would meet only briefly.

Staff members at Crescent, Pelican and NCES were informed about this project via email and through fliers in their mailboxes. They were asked to think of names of students who may not have a computer in their home. I contacted those families, explained the project and asked them to fill out an application if they were interested. Five applications were received and three were chosen through a process with input from four district staff members.

The second best part of this project was the phone calls I was able to make letting the families know they had been chosen. The only requirement was that they clear the schedules for Saturday, Feb. 14 from 10 a.m. to 12 p.m. and show up at the Rhinelander High School learning media center. Nobody said they couldn’t make it.

The families showed up right on time, and though there were a few technical issues, the morning went wonderfully. Cookies and juice were provided and Justin taught the families everything they needed to know a... [Read More]

“Children from middle-class homes have had 1,000 to 1,700 hours of one-on-one picture book reading by the time they enter school. Children at the poverty level have had only 25 hours of one-on-one reading," according to the article Making a Difference; Stamping out Illiteracy by Geraldine L. Haggard.

Twenty-five hours over a five-year period; 25 hours is barely a day.

It saddens me to think that, for whatever reason, low-income parents don’t spend this vital time with their children

The purpose of my position in the School District of Rhinelander is to improve the numbers of involved parents and community members, focusing on literacy education of the younger elementary grades. The bigger goal is looking at poverty in the community and creating sustainable partnerships that can help to eventually eliminate this menace.

Having an office at one of the elementary schools in the district has really changed my view of things. I see the children and families whose lives I am working to make a difference in. I find it appalling to think that some of these children entered the school for the first time just a few months ago with only 25 hours of time spent reading with their parents one-on-one.

I don’t judge the families for not spending that reading time with their children, because many factors have obviously contributed, but I can’t help but want to shove books into the hands of children.

I desire to share as many literacy resources as possible with families, but then I wonder how much pamphlets and Internet links will help. In any case, it's possible a family may not have Internet, or even a computer, at home, and pamphlet-reading implies a luxury of time that many overworked families just don't have.

I'm learning that it’s actually all about relationships. For me to get to know these parents and know why they aren’t spending that reading time with their children is more important than handing them something to read... [Read More]

Could I have been any more insensitive? There I was, tapping my foot in line behind the elderly lady. She didn’t have enough cash and she was complaining about something. Things at Wal-Mart are not supposed to move this slowly.

Then I listened and looked for a moment. She had about seven items. After the cashier rang them up, the elderly lady counted her bills and coins and said she didn’t have enough for the total. As she asked the cashier to one-by-one remove the least-needed items and ring up a total again, I stood there staring. She looked up at me. “I just spent $40 on my medicine. I don’t have enough for what I need.”

The lady was down to three out of the initial seven items and finally had enough. As she left with 14 cents, I wondered why I hadn’t offered to help, why I had just stood there tapping my foot and staring. I could have handed my debit card to the cashier and said, “I’ll take care of it.”

Would the elderly lady have accepted that? Has anyone ever acted that kindly towards her before? Or have they all stood impatiently behind her as the line built up?

This is what I work for. I work to eliminate situations like this. I work so that I don’t have to tear up, remembering the insensitivity of the world and of myself at times. I am supposed to be fighting poverty with passion. That’s our VISTA motto. But sometimes we overlook things.

Let’s open our eyes and reach out a hand. Everybody we touch may in turn touch somebody else. It’s the ripple effect. Don’t be insensitive; and someday you may be repaid by somebody touching you during a time when you are in need.

I am disappointed in myself after the situation with the elderly lady in Wal-Mart, but I won’t let that bring me down. I won’t let that stop me from doing my work and doing better next time.