~”And on the 7th day he rested”~

It’s the day before the presentation and we spent all afternoon at Ally’s. We made some final touches on the power point and played the slide show just to make sure it ran correctly. We reviewed each part of the presentation and rehearsed what we are going to say tomorrow.  After a few tries we finally felt it was coming out smoothly. We gave it one more rehearsal just to make sure we had it down.  We also decided on our quote.  It ended up being:

“You will discover that you have two hands.
One is for helping yourself and the other is for helping others.
Audrey Hepburn

This although not one that made my favorites list was in my top 5 and that was good enough for me. With the project finally finished we all went home exhausted. I’m sure I wasn’t the only one who took a nap when they arrived home.

~Jen

~Scrapping Things Together~

There are some very fine details that need to be ironed out and quick. The combined group has to deal with meshing our projects into creating one well organized presentation. To do this we decided to meet at Ally’s house once again in Wednesday before the presentation. This will allow us to organize our information as well go over timings, order of the presentation and who presents each pieces. The girls group however has a slightly bigger problem. A scrapbook page is due Monday and both Stephanie and I will be out of town for the whole weekend due to different events. This leaves the page in the hands of Dahlia and Ally. I am assured they will pull through on this crucial piece of the project.

~Jen

~Running Out Of Time~

Due dates are fast approaching and times is running short. With a few loose ends that still need to be tied up and constantly conflicting schedules becoming hard for the group to avoid giving in to a frenzy of stress. This makes class time extremely important. It is the one place we can all focus on our project with no other distractions bombarding us. The yesterday Mrs.Kapp has been absent from class which makes it impossible to ask last minute questions but her lesson plan shows she has not completely forgotten us. She gave us the class period to use completely towards the our presentations. Our group used it to tie up only a few of the loose ends. We are hoping to use tomorrow for a check up with Mrs. Treadway making sure our presentation will run smoothly. Hopefully we aren’t forgetting anything.

~Jen

~Another Day At The Stables~

Volunteering at Quest today was completely different then last time. On this occasion the stables were extremely low on volunteers with a packed day ahead of them. They could use all the help they could get.

When I arrived they immediately threw me into rotations of being a side walker through the first session. By the second session they needed me leading horses. Although I had never done this they gave me a quick tutorial and sent me on my way. It was obvious they were in desperate need of more volunteers. As soon as I had finished my first session with a rider they needed me to lead another horse. This was fine except for the fact as the leader I needed to bring the horse out of his stall and to the rink. This would have been no trouble but the horse had not yet been used for tht days sessions which meant I would have to tack him myself. Tacking him includes placing the saddle on the horse, fastening the saddle on the horse, and configuring his reigns in the correct order. Though I nearly fastened the saddle on backwards I eventually figured my way around the complicated safety precautions and brought the horse out with ease.

Another job I performed was putting water in all of the horses stall for them to drink from. This task in its self was amusing. As I tried to enter the horses stalls many would not allow me in. I would softly push back on their nuzzle to signal them to either side step or step back and some of them thinking it was a game would push back. Others would allow me into their stalls but then try to nuzzle me into falling over, nibble at my hair, or try to knock at my hands so I would spill the water. It amazes me how these creatures can have such personalities.

Another example of that very statement I found was when I helped with the Special Olympics later that day. I worked with a horse named Peanut Butter. I had gotten him early from his stall and was able to walk him around the rink for a few minutes before his rider arrived. After walking him around the rink a few times I had slowed him to a stop next a big blue plastic barrel that was used for the special Olympics obstacle course. I watched as he began to nuzzle the barrel till it fell over. I laughed thinking about what a silly horse he was and turned the barrel back up on its right side. This didn’t do much good tough because as soon as I had gotten it right back up, he knocked it over again. I thought that when the rider was on top him he would behave but once again he was full of surprises. At the end of the riders course, the rider had to circle a box and then walked forward stopping next to another blue barrel, and of course Peanut Butter being the jester that he is knocked the barrel over each time. Despite his mischief making he undoubtedly proved to be my favorite horse at the stable. Today was a great day and I hope to come back on my own and volunteer more hours.

~Jen

~Mission Accomplished~

After school Ally’s mom picked up Dahlia, Stephanie, Dan Mahjub, Ally and I to go work on the project. Ally and I imported pictures off every ones camera onto her computer to use for the slide show. While they were uploading Dahlia was able to search for backgrounds on-line for the slides of our power point. Unable to find anything we believed was suitable, we put the task to the side for now. We began creating the power point and entering information onto each individual slide to get the hard work out of the way. I at the same time on another computer was making sure the blog was up to date and entering journal entries. After we picked out the pictures we wanted and created the slide show. Feeling as though we had a good grasp on the project we sat down to a hot pizza from Pat’s, and went home feeling as though our mission was accomplished.

~Jen

~The Real Work Sets In~

Today both our boys and girls group walked to Mrs.Treadway’s to check in with her for the about our joint presentation. In was the first time the girls group had gone to see her so we wrote down the title of our group on a note card and all our names and gave it to her. We discussed with the boys what parts of the presentation we wanted to do together and do separate. We decided that we would do a power point together. This would prevent the presentation from being redundant and the audience from becoming dreary. We also decided to change our original component of a video to a picture slide show. We had not had a video camera at Quest and although we had another visit left to go we felt we had sufficient pictures to serve as our other electronic component. Showing a combined slide show of the pictures is a good idea because we have people from both teams in the same picture. Our last electronic component is where we split from the boys. They would do an overhead explaining some of the jobs we performed while we would show off our blog site. With the blog nearly raring to go we still had the power point and slide show to put together. We settled on meeting at Ally’s house on Wednesday to get the majority of it finished. If everything runs as smoothly as it has been going lately we should be able to finish this project with ease.

~Jen

~Interacting At Quest

I woke up this morning at 7am. My first thoughts were somewhere along the lines of, “Can I go back to sleep?” Instead I dragged myself out of bed and into a pair of jeans and a tank top, grabbed a quick breakfast and rushed off to meet my other group members at school to carpool to Quest. I arrived at the high school at 7:30am sharp, with Stephanie and Ally shortly following. We all piled into Mrs.Zhang’s car and left for the center. Dahlia and the boys group would meet us there at 8am.

Entering the country decorated sitting area we were met by a tall burly man. He welcomed us to Quest and asked if we had ever volunteered here before. We timidly replied no. Noticing we carried lunches he immediately ushered us to kitchen offering the fridge to keep them chilled. He left us to sit on the couches to wait for Laura, our contact at Quest and the person who would train us before helping. While waiting we were joyously met by 2 beautiful dogs. They cuddle up with us on the couches and shortly after Laura tottered in to the sitting room. After introductions were made she explained to us that Quest was a non- profit organization that uses horses to assist in therapy for special need children. She thanked us for coming and then put on a DVD that was to give us the proper training for the assisting the therapists. She also showed us a second video that reverberated the safety tips even more clearly.

When the videos were finished we headed to the stables and indoor rink. She had us sign into a book that kept track of how many service hours each of the volunteers served. After we walked to over to a huge white board mounted on the wall. Laura explained to us that the white board was divided into time slots during the day. Each time slot would have the names of the riders, the horse they were riding, the riders therapist, and the side walkers and leaders that would help each child. Continuing she told us that some of the jobs she had just mentioned such as a side walker and leader would be done by us. A side walker was the person responsible for the rider. They were to walk along side the horse and hold onto the rider to keep them balanced and prevent them from falling off. The leader on the other hand had full responsibility of the horse. They were to guide the horse with a rope lead making sure the horse was comfortable and did not get spooked or do anything that would endanger the rider.

Laura gave us a hands on demonstration of side walking and then we got straight down to business. Some of the boys group started with Ally and Dahlia side walking because they had volunteered the previous week and already knew the ropes. As Stephanie and I stood waiting for Laura to return and tell us if the children in the first session were allowed to be photographed She did this diligently before each session. I started off taking pictures in the rink of my group interacting with the horses and riders. After a couple sessions of taking pictures of the rink Stephanie and I decided to go picture crazy. We ran around the building taking pictures of signs, the waiting room and anything else we could find. We returned to the rink finding another session about to start. I got some side walking during the next session. Afterwards I found the boys were missing but all the girls were present. They finally returned telling us Laura had put them to work mucking the fields. Not the most glorious job but needed.

It hit 11:45pm and we were told that we could relax for a while. We walked outside to the and threw around a ball and chilled on the play ground for about 45 minutes when they finally called us in. We had brought lunches but most of us smelling the cheesy pizza they kindly ordered for us chose that instead. After lunch I said goodbye to everyone telling them I had to leave because of a prior commitment although the rest of the group stayed till 3pm to help with special Olympics.

Helping out at Quest that day was fun and such an energizer. I enjoyed working with the children and watching them do stunts on top of the horse. It was a good feeling knowing they were having and this was something that helped them. Helping with the horses was just as fun. Each horse had their own individual personality yet they were still very gentle wit the riders and took direction well. I am excited to stay next time for the special Olympics and watch what the more advanced riders are able to do. I’m sure it will be a great time.

~Jen

~Plans Are Finalized~

Ally told the group that Laura had called yesterday and apologized for taking so long to get back to her. Laura said she would love have us volunteer and the dates we had picked out were perfect. Finally we have confirmation. Ally also said that some riders at Quest were preparing for the Special Olympics. Practices are from 12-3pm on Saturdays and they would like some volunteers to help. The group decided to go ahead and do the extra hours. Although I would have loved to stay till 3, I had a prior commitment that I could not change on the 26th and would have to leave around 12pm, true to the original plan.

~Jen

~Quoting The Bottom Line~

When I got to class today I apologized to my group for not responding to their emails. I told them I had gotten right on it last night and that the proposal was great. We handed in the proposal in and then discussed more about the community service. Ally had received a call back from Laura a lady at Quest Therapeutic Services while Ally was in tennis lessons. She said she would love to have us volunteer. Ally called her back but could not reach her. She left a message again hoping that this time a call back would come sooner. With the dates we had agreed upon fast approaching we needed to know soon, seeing as agreeing on another date may be problematic.

I checked my email today and found some more emails from the group. We have to choose a quote for our project. Hopefully we can find a quote that can convey the botton line of our project in one graceful statement. Dahlia had searched around the Internet and found quotes that she thought pertained to our particular project. She provided 12 quotes for us to pick from and opened the floor to anyone who may have found other quotes for the project. Here is what she found:

“Quotes (they’re not too good so don’t be disappointed):

1)What is the use of a house if you haven’t got a tolerable planet to put it on?
Henry David Thoreau (this is just a bit depressing)

2) When the pain is great enough, we will let anyone be doctor. ~Mignon McLaughlin, The Neurotic’s Notebook, 1960 (maybe this is a little irrelevant?)

3) “How wonderful it is that nobody need wait a single moment before starting to improve the world.”
Anne Frank (actually, I think this one is really good…how about you girls?)

4) “Look up and not down. Look forward and not back. Look out and not in, and lend a hand.”
Edward Everett Hale (this is pretty ok too)

5) “A life isn’t significant except for its impact on other lives.”
Jackie Robinson

6) “When you cease to make a contribution, you begin to die.”
Eleanor Roosevelt

7) “Success has nothing to do with what you gain in life or accomplish for yourself. It’s what you do for others.”
Danny Thomas

“The wise person understands that his own happiness must include the happiness of others.”
Dennis Weaver

9) “You will discover that you have two hands.
One is for helping yourself and the other is for helping others.
Audrey Hepburn

10) “Die when I may, I want it said of me by those who knew me best, that I always plucked a thistle and planted a flower where I thought a flower would grow.”
Abraham Lincoln

11) “Time and money spent in helping people to do more for themselves is far better than mere giving.”
Henry Ford

12) “The race of humankind would perish did they cease to aid each other. We cannot exist without mutual help. All therefore that need aid have a right to ask it from their fellow humans; and no one who has the power of granting can refuse it without guilt.”
Sir Walter Scott”

Although all are wonderful quotes I found 2 that I really liked. They were:

“Success has nothing to do with what you gain in life or accomplish for yourself. It¢s what you do for others.”
Danny Thomas

“The wise person understands that his own happiness must include the happiness of others.”
Dennis Weaver

I felt these two quotes embodied what I had previously. I am anxious to see what quotes stood out to the other girls. I wonder what our quote will be. I guess time will tell.

~Jen

~Timing Troubles~

It’s late Sunday night and between working Friday night, all Saturday till 11pm, and Sunday morning church, then work till 9pm, I haven’t been able to sit down at a computer all weekend. I finally got down to checking my email for the proposal. I saw many emails had been exchanged throughout the 3 days, each at some point inquiring why I hadn’t responded to my emails. I profusely apologized for the absence and jumped right back in to the group work. I read over the proposal which I deemed fantastic. The language was clear and concise about the program we wished to be involved in. It conveys exactly what we hope to do there in an elegant yet active voice. The Expected Outcomes tells of which we yearn to take away from this experience and impact we hope to make. I sent praises via email expressing my thoughts of a proficient job well done on the proposal. This is the proposal:

Beginning Our QUEST
Overview of the Problem to be Solved:
The goal of Quest Therapeutic Services is to provide children with both physical therapy and emotional support through two programs, Hippotherapy and Therapeutic Riding. There are two aspects to the problems of these children: a practical aspect and a philosophical aspect. Practically, the special needs of the children hinder their motility, which affects their health and physical condition. Philosophically, the children need special care due to these disabilities, which limit their education. With its programs, Quest offers exercise, social, and educational opportunities through horseback riding.

Specific Action Plan:
By volunteering at Quest, we are assisting with its beneficial programs. In order to achieve the most from our experience at Quest Therapeutic Services, we plan on taking a tour of the facility. Afterwards, the four of us have planned on at least three different dates in order to perform the community service, for a total of at least 40 hours combined. However, because many of our schedules conflict, some of the service days will be done with only half of the group, while at least one will involve the entire group. Along with this, we plan on videotaping and taking pictures of our time in the program, by either alternating with the technology or asking parents of the children to do so for us. At the end of the project, a copy of the video will be available for the parents of the children if they would like to have one.

Expected Outcomes:
Elie Wiesel stated, “The only way for us to help ourselves is to help others and to listen to each other’s stories.” Working at Quest offers us an excellent opportunity to apply ourselves in helping to improve the conditions of disabled children. As we associate with the children, we hope that they will share their thoughts and experiences with us, enabling them to gain more confidence as well as allowing us to get a sense of the experiences they have dealt with in order to live with their disabilities. Not only are we making a difference in their lives by providing companionship, but we are making a difference in our lives by broadening our horizons in this new experience.

I also gave major props for adding in the quote by Elie Wiesel that Mrs.Kapp used in a past class period. I think it fits well with the theme of the paragraph. Although Mrs.Kapp does frown on opening a paragraph with a quote I think the tone it set was proper for the following sentences. Well its been a long weekend and if I don’t get to to bed soon I may not make the bus tomorrow. Good night

~Jen