The Group Begins..

Today, I decided it was necessary to find a group and begin planning for when we would volunteer.  I came across Dahlia, who said she was interested in doing QUEST Therapeutic Hippotherapy.  Although I had not stated anything about doing this activity in my paragraph, I did include it on my preliminary list because it involved working with animals and children which I enjoy.  Also, the downfall I found about working with the SPCA was that you need to be 18 to actually work with animals, and since I am 16, this poses a problem.  In the end I decided that I would have more fun working with animals and children while helping out the community.  Dahlia and I went ahead and decided to research more about QUEST and how to sign up.

-Ally

Joining Together

I was able to successfully find a Ally, who also shared the common interest of participating in Quest.  Though we have just begun to find partners for the project, as the date of the presentation seems to be getting dreadfully closer by the day, although there is about a month and a half before everything needs to be completed. 

In class a few days ago, however, we discussed Joseph Campbell, a historian and philosopher who was always quoted as saying, “Follow your bliss,” meaning to recognize that true happiness is not sought through material possessions, but how one interacts with the people around said person.  Though not the quote first shown to the class as the Make a Difference theme, it is a powerful quote which truly emphasizes the focus of the project.

~The Final Three~

• La Comunidad Hispana- www.lacomunidadhispana.org
• Quest Therapeutic Services- http://www.questtherapeutic.com/
• Canine Partners for Life- www.k94life.org

I didn’t want to wait long to pair my list down one more time so I made it quick. I decided that the Tick Tock Learning Center was something that I wasn’t particularly interested in. Although I love children I felt helping them learn wouldn’t be my strong point. My favorite choice would have to be La Comunidad Hispana. When I did community service with non-profit in the past I really enjoyed my time there. Helping the adults learn a new language was a full-filling. Second is Quest Therapeutic Services. My past riding experience made this a fun proposition. It would exciting to be working with the animals. Also because the kids would be slightly younger I would enjoy interacting with them more. Canine Partners for Life made the last choice on the list although it is definitely a favorable idea. I love dogs and working with them would be pleasurable but I felt stronger about the other 2 options. Here is my description of why i chose these 3 jobs:

“Service choices for my Make A Difference Project have varied from working with senior citizens to teaching but, I have finally paired down to three of final choices. The most pleasing job I have found is volunteering at La Comunidad Hispana. When I was younger my mother had a job teaching there. I would tag along and help her with her lessons because she taught first level English. Through the years I have seen her own work truly make a difference. To this day we still run into people that have taken her class and gone through LCH’s program that remember my mom and I. They say that because they were given the opportunity to learn English they obtained a better job and could provide better for their family. and tell us that because they were able to learn English they had gotten a better job to provide for their families. It has been great to actually see the difference you made in someones life.

The two other two that I am extremely interested in include working with animals. Quest Therapeutic Services uses a program of working with special needs children by using horse riding as therapy or hippotherapy. I love horses so working with them would not be a problem. I also think that I would enjoy working with the kids. It would be a great opportunity The third choice I had picked out was working with Canine Partners for Life. I would be helping train dogs before they go off to be service dogs to people with special needs. Working with dogs would be great and may even help me train my two unruly dogs at home.”

~Jen

Preliminary Paragraph

This is the first person, introspective essay about the type of volunteer work I would like to do, and why I am interested in this type of service.

“I consider myself a people-person. Because I generally like helping people, I am part of the S.H.O.C. Program at UHS and I was a Volunteer Student Cheerleading Coach for the Kennett-Unionville Titans Recreational Cheerleading Team. The type of project I am interested in doing for Make a Difference is something that involves teaching. For example, tutoring would be a good service project because I will be able to share my knowledge and help a person who is struggling with his or her academics. I would prefer to tutor children who are younger than I am in the areas of reading and English. Places where I can tutor are at the UHS Library or at the Mary D. Lang Elementary School with the Even Start Plus Program. Besides tutoring, I could also work with children just by reading to them through the Read Aloud Delaware Program. Another activity I would be interested in is Quest Therapeutic Services where I will not be tutoring, but I will still help children with disabilities.”

~Stephanie

~Narrowing Choices~

Pairing down my service choices although seemingly difficult at first turned out to being a simple task. As I reviewed my preliminary list it was apparent that some jobs I was simply just not interested in. Others stood out like a beacon as possible projects. As I looked over each agency on my list I started evaluate all my skills and prior experiences. I decided that working with senior citizens was something I wasn’t very interested so I crossed those jobs out first:

• La Comunidad Hispana- www.lacomunidadhispana.org
• Chester County SPCA- www.ccspca.org
• Adult Care of Chester County- www.adultcareofchestercounty.org
• Canine Partners for Life- www.k94life.org
• Quest Therapeutic Services- http://www.questtherapeutic.com/
• Friends Home- (610) 444-2577
• Tick Tock Early Learning Center- www.ticktock.kennett.net
• Safe Harbor of Greater West Chester- www.safeharborofgwc.org
• Kennett Area Senior Center- www.lifecenterpa.org
• Neighborhood Health Agencies- www.nvnacc.com

After crossing out those jobs and to narrow it down again. One thing I was sure of was that I didn’t want to do paper work. I wanted to make sure I was interacting with people. This helped take away so more choices:

• La Comunidad Hispana- www.lacomunidadhispana.org
• Chester County SPCA- www.ccspca.org
• Canine Partners for Life- www.k94life.org
• Quest Therapeutic Services- http://www.questtherapeutic.com/
• Tick Tock Early Learning Center- www.ticktock.kennett.net
• Safe Harbor of Greater West Chester- www.safeharborofgwc.org

Now that I have my choices down to 4 jobs I still had to cross one off. La Comunidad Hispana is a non-profit organization in Kennett, PA. I would be helping adults learn to speak, read and write English so they can get better jobs. I live a little farther from there but I have volunteered with them before and really enjoyed the experience. Canine Partners for Life is an organization that trains dogs to be service dogs for the disabled. I think this would be fit me well because I love animals and have 2 dogs myself. Quest therapeutics is a new concept to me. They use hippotherapy or riding horses to help stimulate special needs children. I felt this a great idea for service because of my combination of love for horses and children. Last in line is Tick-Tock Early Learning Center. I love working with children so this would be a fun opportunity. I have to make my choice soon so I need to narrow it down fast. Better get to work soon.

~Jen

Step #3

Thus far, I am on step three of Make a Difference, consisting of creating a paragraph based on my abilities to perform at Quest Therapeutics, or any other available volunteering service for that matter.  Though I am concentrating mostly on one program, I admit I am available to provide service to a number of areas needing my help.  For instance, as I am a tutor at school for my fellow peers, I found it interesting to perhaps tutor English as a Second Language, and stated my interest and ability in doing so.

Abilities for Make a Difference

            Currently, I am available to do most types of community service work that do not require long driving distances during weekdays.  However, the most beneficial types of service work to me would include working with disabled people in organizations such as Quest Therapeutics, in order to aid children with physical disabilities.  Another type of service work that interests me is tutoring, such as at the Bayard Taylor Memorial Library, where ESL tutoring is available to the public.  Along with this, I am open to working at soup kitchens or day care centers where help may also be required from the public, and I would enjoy working at any such place where I could achieve a sense of accomplishment.  Therefore, I am open to many different opportunities of community service where my help would be needed, and I am not limited to any particular area of work, as long as arrangements are not difficult to make in the way of driving, and the timing of the service work would not be during weekdays.

The Board

A few days ago, the class was to gather ideas for volunteer work and write an area in need of help on the large white board in the back of the classroom.  As for the ideas I presented, of course they included Quest Therapeutics, as well as ESL tutoring at Bayard Taylor Memorial Library, and a few others.  In the end, the board was covered in about 100 ideas for volunteer work, and I was incredibly surprised at how much there was to do in such a small area as Unionville.  Nevertheless, it opened our eyes as to how much there is to do for volunteer work, especially if one wants to make a difference in the world (no pun intended).

Make a Difference Paragraph

Although I am not exactly positive on the specifics of what I am doing for the project, I do know that I want to work with animals in some way.  Here is my paragraph stating three possibilities for volunteering:

“Although I wrote down three possibilities for my Make a Difference project, I decided I would rather do something different.  I thought that working at the Chester County SPCA would be something that I would enjoy the most as well as cherish because of the fact that I love working with animals and have two dogs.  The opportunities for me, being 16, would be to help with special events, fundraising, or shelter and administrative work.  If I was not able to work with the Chester County SPCA, my next choice also was not on my original list, but it would be to work at some kind of children care center, such as Tic Toc day care center.  I enjoy working with children and have in the past.  My last alternate volunteer work would be to help out at a retirement community such as The Hickman.  Here, an opportunity would be to visit the elderly, spend time with them, and perform different activities.  Each volunteer job would prove to be an excellent choice for me, but I feel especially attached to doing some kind of work with animals, such as at the Chester County SPCA.”

-Ally

Mrs. Tredway’s AV Presentation

Today, Mrs. Tredway came into our class and presented what should be involved in the Make a Difference project.  Here is what I gathered from her presentation:

1.) Getting Started – We should include some kind of image of what we did by using a digital camera, film camera, or video camera.

2.) 3 Technology Componenets – These components are required, and can include overhead transparancies, a web page, blogging (yay!), a power point presentation, a video presentation (1 to 2 minutes), a podcast, a slide show, or music.

3.) Available Equipment – We will be able to use cameras, computers, and other software provided by the technology department at school if needed.

4.) Places to Work at School – We can get our group together at the library, the writing center, or the DMZ (Mondays, study hall, or before/after school).

5.) Tips – Our group should plan ahead, be organized, and make sure to TEST, TEST, TEST to be positive our presentation well be perfect.

I better get working!

-Ally

AV Presentation

Today Mrs. Treadway came and gave us a presentation of possible AV (audio/visual) components to include in our project. Each Make A Difference presentation is required to have at least three technological components. The options include:

• Using digital cameras
• Using overhead projections
• PowerPoint presentation
• Video presentation
• Slideshow presentation
• Creating a web page
• Blogging (yes!)
• Podcasting
• Using music

Each method of use was explained to us so we would have an idea of how to incorporate these components into our projects. We were also given these tips:

• Plan ahead!
• Be organized
• Test everything

With these tips to prepare us, I think our projects and presentations will run smoothly.

~Stephanie