WHAT IN THE WORLD IS YAC DOING THIS SUMMER?

CHANDLER has been volunteering at the Regional Food Bank of Oklahoma. Chandler and Nicole are planning to place a youth touch to the Volunteer Center and the S-L office during the month of July.

D. J. will be attending the August Invitational. She is currently in an ACT preparation internship. DJ wrote, "It's basically an ACT prep program that helps you to prepare for the ACT as well as getting exposure to the medical career track. We have teachers that come and gives us tips and tricks on how to get a better score on both the ACT and the PSAT. We also do labs and it's just like a learning experience whether you want to go into the medical field or not."



CAITLIN will also be attending the August Invitational. She has been very busy in June. Caitlin spent one week at Girls State, one week at West Point, and then in Washington, D.C. visiting all the memorials.


TONY: Recently I have been volunteering with Survaish and Calvin at the El Reno dialysis unit under the supervision of Dr. Anupa Khastgir. We have mainly spoken with patiens about the challenges they face especially in the dietary area. We have been trying to make posters and pamphlets to give the patients which contain the options they have for each meal and a way to plan meals a week ahead of time.


REBECCA attended a week long RYLA Leadership Camp the first week in June.

http://www.volunteeringandservice.org/
Mrs. Clay moved her office to Woods and now YAC will help her manage a Volunteer Center in Woods. Mrs. Clay will be atteding a National Service and Volunteering Conference in NYC sponsored by the Shinnyo-En Foundation and special celebration of leadership in service as a path to peace

SARAH, SASHA, JOSH, DR. NANDA, MRS. CROSSNO, MRS. CLAY: Will be attending the Shinnyo-en Foundation's, http://www.sef.org/Six Billion Paths Retreat in San Francisco in August.






http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gNOv90iIOsU&feature=related

YAC INVITATIONAL: August 6-7: Called2Change, SAVE THE DATE

 

I attended the Education Summit reflected below at the Oklahoma City Memorial Museum and would like to reproduce parts of it during the YAC Invitational. Youth and adults will learn about the Oklahoma City Memorial, the museum, the museum archives, listen to first voice survivors and family members. Then, the intergenerational group will embark in collaborative kindness projects. The Invitational schedule is forthcoming.

The tentative schedule is: Friday, August 6: 9-6, Saturday, August 7: 10-3 p.m.

The Casady Service-Learning Program has received a grant from the Memorial Museum for up to 30 people to participate, first come,first served. The $10 admission cost to the museum per adult and $8 per student is covered by the grant.

The Invitational fee is $25 per participant. Fee covers the cost of pre-ordered lunch, snacks( candy and fruits), drinks(lemonade and water), and project supplies. If we find donors, the fee will be returned at the end of the Invitational in funds for purchases at the Museum store. Parking available for about $4-6 per day at near by parking lots.

Hope Trunks will be delivered to Casady divisions who have at least one teacher participating in the YAC invitational. Hope Trunks will be delivered on September 1st and will be at the divison for two weeks.

Please let me know if I need to save a spot for you. We seek to have equal number of adults and youth on a first come, first served basis.

June 2010 Projects and Reflections

CAMP DAKANI FOOD RESCUE WORK DAY
Thank you to the Loung Brothers from Super Cao Nguyen for their connections to donations of one case of lettuce and one case of tomatoes for the volunteer lunch. Thank you also for a case of cookies. Thank you to Mr. Mason for contacting the Scouts and the CEO of United Way. Help came from many directions. Thank you to the Casady athletic department for donating water jugs, water, and ice for the work days. Finally, thank you to Chris Kirby and Mr. G. Rainbolt for contacting people who have possibilities of helping the camp with their drainage problem. It was incredible to see how many dedicated people came to the rescue just because they either saw or heard about Camp Dakani's flooding challenges.



Walk the World Celebration, Ice Cream Social: Bill, Zena and her two children, Joan, Carmen, Lisa and a former Casady student friend of Lisa's attended the Father's Day ice cream social. We did not take pictures because everyone was engaged in great informal conversations and ice cream. We congratulated Joan for winning the YWCA award, at the Purple Sash Gala the evening before. We also sung H-B day to Lisa!!!

We discussed:

1. To expand partnerships to as many people as are willing to organize, walk, and fundraise. The Council of Churches is interested in becoming a partner. Bill will provide the necessary information. He will also talk to his organization's board.

2. The United Nations Association of Greater Oklahoma is considering taking the main leadership role of Walk the World 2011. The website is operational and people can register easily and do online contributions easily. Carmen Clay will still play a major role in partnership with Casady Service-Learning. We will see what type of commitment the Casady YAC will want to provide once the school year starts. The week of the US walk is the week before finals and the worldwide walk is on Memorial Day next year.

3. Food Bank, Mercy School, Respect Diversity Foundation and Casady Service-Learning are on board. We hope Casady YAC Youth will also be on board as well as teens and children from other schools like Deer Creek and Mercy. We will not know this until school starts in September. Please let me know if your organization will like to participate next year as an organizing organization and what role you wish to play within the organization of the walk.

4.Final Walk the World 2010 results: 30 walkers raised $505 for WFP and $245 ($100 from Susie being delivered to Food Bank representative) for the Food-4-Kids Program. Our Total $ raised: $750.

5. For your consideration here is my propose goal for next year's walk: Minimum goal for Walk the World OKC 2011, 100 times what we did in 2010 in walkers for sure. We will attempt to raise as much money as we can.

6. The date for Walk the World 2011 is a. Global Walk: Memorial Day, May 29, 2011
b. US Walk: May 22,2011 one week ahead of the Global walk. This date will be an impossible date for Casady students because it is the weekend when they are studying for finals. Exams begin the 24th.

7. Bill pinpointed that he observed that people set the date of the walk at a convenient time for their area. Casady YAC has kept the day of the walk on the day of the global walk, even when the walk was on Mother's Day. Please send me your thoughts about the best date for Walk the World 2011 and possibilities of location. We know we can have the Capitol for free with at least a month ahead reservation.

8. The social ended at 4:00 p.m. We had a great time talking and semi-planning.

Looking forward to the feedback from the ones who attended and to the ideas and commitment to WtW2011. Thank you for the opportunity to serve a great cause in partnership with amazing people


Education Summit at the Memorial:

TUESDAY, JUNE 8: FOOD BY WHAT IS COOKING 843-6530. Excellent menu Nice to see two former HH teachers facilitating this wonderful summit. Great Job Adonna and Lynn!
Introductions: Adonna facilitated with high, low, hello ice breaker. A question was different with every person we met. Nice quick way to do introductions.

First Person Account: Rev. Wendy Lambert. Her father died at the bombing. Powerful speech on peace found through observing the work of volunteers. Great speaker for National Volunteer Week because she focuses on how the person who gave her a cup of coffee made her focus on the humanity of the volunteers which somewhat helped her through the news of her father's death. Wendy feels she was there to be in one with the calmnes among the destruction. Her purpose was to be first hand witness as to the goodness of people. She was impacted by the person who gave her a sandwich, gave blood, gave a child a toy animal. She ended her presentation by stating, Acts of kindness bring the best in us during the worst times or through momentary acts of evil.

Crisis Communication: We learned how the police department and the media interacted. Important words by Chief Bill Citty, Tony Stizza, Director of Video of the OKC Memorial Museum, and Terri Watkins, reporter, RELATIONSHIPS, RESPECT and TRUST.

Ability to communicate was easy because of long standing relationships, boundaries were clear, and accuracy of information was based on trust. Security and protection of crime scene allowed free exchange of accurate information. Local media is part of the fabric of the community. A documentary I must watch is TAPESTRY.


The Investigation: We learned about details of the arrest, research, and trail from Hank Gibbons, Retired FBI Agent, and Leon Gillum, Director of Safety and Security OKC Memorial Museum.
-Unintended consequence of the bombing...Memorial a testament to the common good
-Responsibility for your actions...Life is not like a video game
-Culture of Silence...One phone call from people who knew about the bombing could have spared lives.

Interactive Lesson: Creative Writing with a Purpose. Most applicable part of the day for my practice as a director of service-learning. OKC Memorial Museum Fellow, Andrew Smith, Sheffield Middle School, OH. 8th grade students are given a toy from the Memorial Fence. Then, they write a healing story with that toy as a character. The story book goes to kids in crisis providing a message and gift of hope and comfort. This could be applicable to Life Prep 101 next year. Fence toys are available by simply asking Lynn Roller to send as many as needed. The HOPE Chest is probably something we need to have at the library the first two weeks in September also, if we decide this to be the social action project for the ninth grade. Our homework was to create a story based on the toy we were given. I got a baby seal. My story's first title was D.J.'s Wish

Creating a Memorial: Power Presentation by the museum's CEO, Kari Watkins. 1995 Blow to the heart of the city. People wanted to see good over evil. HOPE was the hardest word to agree from family members. 623 designs, 23 different countries, one winner. The choice: To remember, to reflect, to teach...from anger to hope for peace

WEDNESDAY, JUNE 9, 2010 : Food by Panera. Great Box sandwiches.

Homework discussion: It was amazing to see how the stories about the toys all had a moral to help children heal or have hope. My story, D.J.'s Wish is yet to be finished.

Cultural Memory: Experiencing History Through Creativity and Research: Most powerful presentation of the summit. Haley Thompson, Theatre/UCO Communication Education Coordinator related how she got involved in the Memorial (high school boyfriend's mother was a survivor. She went to the Memorial fence and noticed the poetry. She did performances on that poetry) and how she used a visit to the museum with archives research to empower her students to create a transforming play with personal talents(dance, music composition, song, poetry, photography.) Her students gave us a small vinegette and talked about how this project changed them.

This gave me the idea of having the third YAC Invitational at the museum. I will apply for a museum grant and ask Haley to share her process and experience to re-create her project with YAC students. Then I will like for YAC to have a professional development for the faculty on collaboration. I asked her students to be chapel speakers for September 11, Day of Remembrance and for the OKC Bombing Remembrace Day which YAC will promote. I hope to facilitate kids walking at the Memorial Marathon in 2011.

Process: Two days investigating to do a 45 minute presentation

1. Visit to the museum: What specific images/quotes/items caught your attention?

As students tour the museum they journal their reactions and feelings through their five senses. She asked them to go away from each other, to pay attention to their soul.

2. Visit and investigation at the archives: Explore and touch history. Journal through the senses. Recommendation: Buy gloves and bring copy paper because students will like to copy a lot of documents.

3. The Creative Process: The teacher's concern was offending somebody because the stories might be about someone who lived next door. Her directions: Treat it in a mature way and do justice to the story. She had performace rubrics.

Their performance has the following parts: Who were we before, what happened to us when we touched history and how were we transformed. The students created the show which included fences where audience left their thoughts after the show. The fence idea made me think about the Secrets Project and how to leave secrets without fears.

Teaching about the bombing: Program and Resources:

Called2Change Program: A result of Edmond students who lost parents. What happens when you choose violence.

Grants to take students to museum with transportation funding allocation. Archives for research. Reflective journals for every level.
Simple Truths Workshop coming up on September 29, date and time: TBA, but possibly Sunday afternoon.

Amanda Wrede from Cheyenne Middle School, 639-4596, amanda-wrede@yahoo.com is a great resource for Life Prep 101. She has worked with the museum and teaches ethics and leadership at the 8th grade level. She uses 7 Habits of High Effective Teens. Amanda also recommended Flip Flipping: Touching Kids Hearts, a book about compassion and loving versus discipline. Adonna Meyer is also willing to do a Colors Test for YAC. We need funding for her. I also met Robin Finnegan's mother who recommended me to to buy HOPE HAS THE LAST WORD.

The museum provides one complementary entrance to educators for every 7 students. Plan

1. Visit the museum

2. Visit the memorial

3. Have a first person presentation. Make an appointment for this presentation

Must see the TAPESTRY documentary

First Person Account of the Bombing by Amy Petty, Survivor (Chief Operations Officer and Senior Vice President of Lending Allegiance Credit Union). Powerful speaker. Stop often and evaluate your life. What do you wish you had done if you were to die tomorrow? Live your life with purpose. Be the person who does something. Life is short, experience as much as you can. Where in the World is Amy Petty? She will be bicycling around Oklahoma.

Legislation and New Standards: Kelly Curtright, Director of Social Studies Edcuation State Department of Education. Studying the bombing and the memorial is a state mandate. It is our story. The memorial helps us learned what happened and how to cope. The only area that has not been documented is the educators' response to the bombing. I asked Kelly about financial literacy and he gave me http://www.econisok.org/ and to contact the Oklahoma Council on Economic Education.

Hope Trunk: The Hope Trunk available just by asking for a period of 2 weeks. Contact Lynne Porter, Education Coordinator to place your week on her calendar. 13 trunks available

Responding to Children in Crisis: Dr. Robin Gurwitch via SKYPE. We can see fears and worries. Concerns with safety and security. Worries with state, community, world. Geometry is not as important as father in Iraq or fear of natural disaster and death. Stress signs are similar to children with ADHD: Problems with concentration, grades drop, small attention span, mood swings, hyperactivity, hupervigilant-jumpy at police sirens. Headaches, fatigue, stomach ache, flu like symptoms. Take the first step to start conversations. Open yourself to them. You cannot fix the situation, but you can be avaialble to talk. Google National Center for School Crisis and Bereatment. They have a manual. LISTEN, PROTECT, CONNECT. Psychological first aide is for every one. Avoid comparing. A good book to read is LEAVE ALONE, BUT FIRST TAKE ME and _______to the mall.

Archives and Research tour: I found a picture of Spivey's collage. Pam Bell, archivist

It was interesting to see how the museum has preserved the accounts and gifts from people all over the world. When I return with my students, I want to investigate Susan Ferrell because she spent time at 37 on two things I wish I had done with my life: Be an attorney and dance from ballet to belly dancer.

VOLUNTEERS NEEDED AT CAMP DAKANI: CLEAN UP FLOODING DEBRIS

Camp Dakani Flood Rescue, Saturday, June 19, 8-5, 3309 East Hefner Road, Oklahoma City, Oklahoma 73131, 478-5646. Lunch provided. 12-16 year olds with parents, please. Bring: Sturdy jeans, boots or shoes. Bottled Water. Safety gloves and glasses if you have them. Bug spray/ sunscreen. Tools needed.

Hope to see some YAC members there. For more information contact: 478-5646. or Mrs. Clay at 520-1325.

Summer Volunteering on Wednesdays at the Food Bank

The Food Bank needs volunteers this summer. Mrs. Cadamy-Hill will be supervising volunteers on Wednesdays. She will meet volunteers at the Food Bank at 9:00 a.m. Contact Mrs. Cadamy-Hill for details and transportation options at tamsquared@cox.net or Mrs. Clay at clayc@casady.org.

Reflection and History of Walk the World OKC 2005-2010

"End Hunger: Walk the World OKC 2010" took place on Sunday June 6th around the perimeter of the state Capitol. 30 people walked and raised awareness of local and global childhood hunger. http://www.una-okc.org/walk2010.html

From Movies

The Oklahoma Walk joined walks around 24 times zones that last year had 360,000 people walking in 210 locations, raising enough money to provide school meals for one year to more than 20 thousand children in the world's poorest countries. The small 2010 Oklahoma walk raised $505 for the United Nations World Food Programme and $145 for the Regional Food Bank of Oklahoma Food-4-Kids Program. This result does not count donations made online or by virtual Oklahoma walkers.

Thank you to the Casady YAC youth who led the walk, Joshua. Also thank you to two 9th graders, Shiva from Casady and Kolin from Rose Creek for helping set-up for the walk. Both 9th graders were also the top youth donors of the walk. Special thanks to marathon runner, Mark Bravo, for an inspirational welcoming speech and Zumba OKC, Kimberly and Jose Munoz, for a fun way to start the walkers'journey. Also thank you to the Regional Food Bank of Oklahoma, Lisa Perry and United Nations of Greater Oklahoma, Bill Bryant for keeping track of the donations for their organizations. Special thanks to Angie Gaines from the Food Bank for helping the OKC Walk with the brochure and Peace House, Nathaniel Batchelder for helping us secure the Capitol location.

What is Walk the World?
"End Hunger: Walk the World" is an annual event to raise money and awareness for WFP’s efforts to fight child hunger and malnutrition. The Walk is a joint effort of WFP and its corporate partners, led by TNT, Unilever and DSM. Employees from these companies walk with WFP staff and beneficiaries, celebrities and VIPs as well as government and NGO partners to show their solidarity in the fight against hunger and malnutrition. The walk is a 24-hour relay with participants in each of the world's time zones walking five kilometres. It begins in Auckland, New Zealand and finishes in Samoa. http://www.wfp.org/photos/gallery/walk-world-2010
The Walk the World OKC has been a grassroots youth-led walk from its inception with a commitment to help the United Nations Millennium Goal of a childhood hunger free world by the year 2015. The Oklahoma City Walk’s community partner from its inception has been the United Nations Association of Greater Oklahoma City.

Walking the World for School Meals
The idea of a global walk against hunger originated from WFP’s corporate partner, TNT, in 2003. It was inspired by the millions of poor children around the world who walk several kilometers to school every day – often hungry and barefoot – determined to get an education and improve their future.

WFP provides free school meals to an average of 20 million children each year. Nutritious food helps students concentrate on their studies, encourages parents to send children – especially girls – to school, and helps children develop their full physical and mental potential.

Since 2006, proceeds of the Oklahoma City walk also benefited the Regional Food Bank of Oklahoma, Food-4-Kids Program which started in January 2003 in response to hearing a first hand account of an Oklahoma City elementary student who fainted on a Monday morning, while waiting in the school lunch line, due to lack of food over the weekend. The program provides chronically hungry children, identified by school personnel, with backpacks filled with non-perishable, kid-friendly food to eat on weekends and school holidays. The program was launched in 2003 with five Oklahoma City schools serving 180 children. Food 4 Kids has grown significantly since 2003, serving 296 elementary schools in 42 counties across central and western Oklahoma, providing backpacks to nearly 8,000 chronically hungry children each week during the 2008-2009 school year. The program continues to expand with new schools being added every semester.

Walk the World: Past Years
Since its inception in 2003, Walk the World has grown to become a global event, bringing together over 2 million participants and raising millions of US dollars to feed poor children in school.

From its inception in 2005, the Walk the World OKC has been a grassroots, youth-led walk founded by Casady freshman, Leann Farha. Leann facilitated walks from 2005-2008 raising $27,000 in collaboration with the Casady YAC, members of the Class of 2008 and matching funding from Oklahoma businesses.

In 2009, freshmen, Graham Bennett and Richard Clements in collaboration with YAC and members of the Class of 2012 raised $2,000 for WFP and the Food Bank. This year, the walk aimed to continue the Casady YAC commitment to helping the UN Millennium Goal of ending childhood hunger by the year 2015.

Freshman, Shiva, worked behind the scenes facilitating the Walk the World 2010 under the leadership of YAC Senior Chair Joshua Ou. The goal of the walk was to feed at least 3 children for a year, at $50 per child, and get 10 members of the Casady community to walk. The goal was small because the Casady community just finished raising $20,000 to provide a well for clean drinking water for a village in Ethiopia through Charity Water.

The 2010 Walk the World OKC reached out to the Oklahoma City community and the United Nations Association of Greater Oklahoma participated in collaboration with the Regional Food Bank of Oklahoma, Respect Diversity Foundation, the Peace House, Mercy School, Heritage Hall and Casady Alumni Associations, Putnam City North CAST and a few Rose Creek residents.

DONATIONS FOR WFP WALK THE WORLD 2010
World Food Program: DONATING BY CHECK, payable to the UN World Food Programme and send to: UN World Food Programme, Private Sector Fundraising
Via Cesare Giulio Viola 68/70
Parco dei Medici
00148 Rome, Italy(...This requires a 98 cent postage stamp)

OR

Friends of the World Food ProgramDonate via Cash, Check or Money Order. Make checks payable to Friends of WFP. Checks can be mailed to the following address: Friends of WFP
Attn: Development Department
1819 L St. NW, Suite 900
Washington, DC 20036

Online Donations ... https://walktheworld.wfp.org/donate/donate

DONATIONS REPORT FOR WFP BY MR. BRYANT

The total of contributions to the World Food Program, as June 14, 2010: $505.

Checks ... 205 + $100 from Casady Alumni Association

Cash ... 175

Online Donation ... 25

Total Contribution to the Regional Food Bank of Oklahoma reported by Miss Lisa Perry: $145 in cash

News from World Food Program USA:
World Food Program USA (WFP USA). There will be no change in management or mission, and we will continue to provide the same great support for the lifesaving work of WFP as we always have. But now our name even more directly reflects what we as an organization do: We work within the US to support the mission and further the goals of WFP.

In addition to our name change, we’ve launched a new and improved website: wfpusa.org. The site, besides having a new look and feel, also offers a number of exciting tools for individuals like you to take the fight against hunger to a whole new level. Their e-mail is info@wfpusa.org

Walk the World Celebration 2010, Ice Cream Social:
Bill, Zena and her two children, Joan, Carmen, Lisa and a former Casady student friend of Lisa's attended the Father's Day ice cream social. We did not take pictures because everyone was engaged in great informal conversations and ice cream. We congratulated Joan for winning the YWCA award, at the Purple Sash Gala the evening before. We also sung H-B day to Lisa!!!

We discussed:

1. Expand partnerships to as many people as are willing to organize, walk, and fundraise. The Council of Churches is interested in becoming a partner. Bill will provide the necessary information. He will also talk to his organization's board.

2. The United Nations Association of Greater Oklahoma is considering taking the main leadership role of Walk the World 2011. The website is operational and people can register easily and do online contributions easily. Carmen Clay will still play a major role in partnership with Casady Service-Learning. We will see what type of commitment the Casady YAC will want to provide once the school year starts. The week of the US walk is the week before finals and the worldwide walk is on Memorial Day next year.

3. Food Bank, Mercy School, Respect Diversity Foundation and Casady Service-Learning are on board. We hope Casady YAC Youth will also be on board as well as teens and children from other schools like Deer Creek and Mercy. We will not know this until school starts in September. Please let me know if your organization will like to participate next year as an organizing organization and what role you wish to play within the organization of the walk.

4.Final Walk the World 2010 results: 30 walkers raised $505 for WFP and $245 ($100 from Susie being delivered to Food Bank representative) for the Food-4-Kids Program. Our Total $ raised: $750.

5. For your consideration here is my propose goal for next year's walk: Minimum goal for Walk the World OKC 2011, 100 times what we did in 2010 in walkers for sure. We will attempt to raise as much money as we can.

6. The date for Walk the World 2011 is a. Global Walk: Memorial Day, May 29, 2011
b. US Walk: May 22,2011 one week ahead of the Global walk. This date will be an impossible date for Casady students because it is the weekend when they are studying for finals. Exams begin the 24th.

7. Bill pinpointed that he observed that people set the date of the walk at a convenient time for their area. Casady YAC has kept the day of the walk on the day of the global walk, even when the walk was on Mother's Day. Please send me your thoughts about the best date for Walk the World 2011 and possibilities of location. We know we can have the Capitol for free with at least a month ahead reservation.

8. The social ended at 4:00 p.m. We had a great time talking and semi-planning.

Looking forward to the feedback from the ones who attended and to the ideas and commitment to WtW2011. Thank you for the opportunity to serve a great cause in partnership with amazing people