Today was the first day of YouthWorks in Kokomo...ever! We are their first group for this summer and this is a new site this year. We started it off right by having to figure out "Plan B" on the very first day. We woke up to some strong thunder storms and most of the days activities were supposed to be outdoors. The staff worked to quickly find our rainy-day alternatives!
Here are the variety of activites today:
Construction @ a montessori school
Working w/children @ the montessori school
Unloading a truck full of food @ a an urban outreach facility
Organizing food in a pantry/food shelf @ an elderly facility
BINGO w/the residents of the elderly facility
Washing tables & chairs at the church that is housing us
Assist with Vacation Bible School @ local parish
The youth had a great time working with power tools @ montessori school to build some new walls as their expand their facility...until we were informed @ end of day by Youth Works that the youth are not allowed to use the power tools b/c of liability issues. Oops! That's what happens on Day 1 when you go to plan B! The kids did a great job though and learned alot about general construction. They were pleased to have that experience! (Sam B, Becca, Sarah & Alex in pictures)
The montessori style of teaching also really intrigued the youth! Ask them about it. They noticed the high independence level of the really young children as well as their abilities to complete everyday tasks on their own at an age that they don't yet talk. The school is in dire need of expansion - new classrooms, labs & teaching space as their enrollment grows because many other schools & daycares in the area have closed down because of the sudden drop in Kokomo's population. We built walls today for a new lab and a potty-training facility. (Kathryn in picture w/children)
As we drove to our work sites today we saw a very different side of the town. The area is very diverse with nice areas as well as run down areas.
Tonight's activity was visiting Kokomo's Historical Society...which received groans at first introduction. When we got there, we found a HUGE 1890's Victorian mansion that is completely restored and gorgeous. We learned that Kokomo accidentally struck the natural gas that is below ground in the late 1800's and so they offered it as a free resource to anyone wanting to use it for business. It attracted entrepreneurs that used it to open manufacturing plants in the area. The mansion was built for $50k in 2years from 1889-91 by such an entrepreneur. (Reminds me of the James J Hill house in St. Paul.) We took a group picture on the front steps...see pic below. I got closer to just show mostly the IHM youth.
Pray for sunshine for our Tuesday projects and afternoon activity which is a waterpark!
Sent from my HTC Touch Pro2 on the Now Network from Sprint®.
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