Caleigh Stevenson - Amos House

For my senior project, I was a part of the group of volunteers working at Amos House. I had heard of Amos House before, and associated the name with a soup kitchen in South Providence. I learned after signing up for the Amos House that there was actually many more aspects to it than I'd originally thought. It also provides social services, permanent and transitional housing, classes in literacy and micro-business, and job training programs like the Friendship Cafe and the catering program. I worked in preparing food for the catering program, in the literacy program, in social services, and with my group on a project given to us with the assignment of creating a system for organizing and distributing the many donations of clothing that the Amos House receives throughout the year. I enjoyed preparing food for the catering program, but my favorite part of what I did during my time at Amos House was working at the literacy program. I was helping a woman preparing for an upcoming test to receive her high school diploma learn writing and mathematical skills. I could see the difference our one-on-one work as volunteers made for the people we were helping, which is why this was my favorite part of our work at Amos House. My least favorite aspect of our work at Amos House was working in social services, because I did a lot of paperwork and office work and everything I did that day was much more behind-the-scenes than the other days. I preferred the work where I could see the direct results of what I was doing. The Amos House seems to function extremely well, and they clearly are able to help those who need it in all of the important ways. I left Amos House with a much better understanding of what it is as an organization, how it serves those who come to it, and how successful of an organization it is. I was very impressed by the job training programs, especially the Friendship Cafe where those who have gone through training are offered jobs. We ate at the Friendship Cafe many times during the course of the two weeks, and this program was very interesting. I also was able to see how the catering program worked from helping prepare foods, and learned that Amos House actually prepares school lunches for many different schools in Rhode Island, including Gordon, which I found very interesting. Overall, my experience at Amos House was rewarding. I would recommend this site for others next year, but I would hope that it would be slightly better organized since there wasn't always a clear idea of where volunteers were needed and what would be helpful for them to do. Despite this, I enjoyed my time at Amos House overall.

Amos House- Colleen Hegarty

          Working at Amos House was definitely an interesting experience.  My favorite part was working at the literacy class.  It was very surprising to me that the men and women, many of whom had grandchildren, would be motivated to get their high school diploma so late in life.  There were some very strong characters that had a great sense of humor in the literacy class and they were all very thankful that we were there to help them, so it was very enjoyable.  I was a little curious as to how the men and women were able to assist and support their children while they were going through school; it must have been really hard because they were probably unable to help with their children's homework.  By gaining their high school diploma, the men and women are taking steps to better their children's and grandchildren's life, which is inspirational.
          I also enjoyed the gardening project; originally, I thought the people would not appreciate the flowers because there were so many other things we could be helping in the community.  When we got there, though, the people seemed to appreciate the flowers and we worked with these two nice men, so it was a bonding experience.
         One of the assignments that I did not enjoy was the soup kitchen.  I was in charge of handing out the salad and people kept asking for more, but I had been told early not to give them more.  I also did not know how much salad to give out, so we kept running out of salad.  It was very stressful and I felt really bad, but it was good that I learnt what the soup kitchen is like and how it runs.
         Overall, it was a good service project.

Amos House- Jackie LaPlante

Working for Amos House was probably one of the most helpful things I could have chosen to do for this project. In the beginning I thought that this was just going to be the group of us working in the kitchen or even just serving the people, but we did so much more than that. I didn't even know there was a business building that had many different offices in it that handled different parts of what makes Amos House. I luckily enough received the chance to work off campus of Amos House at the Mother/Child home. I spent my time there for the first two days, this home is for women who have had an addiction problem, have been abused, or homeless. Through this house they are put into a program that gets them on their feet. It helps the women get a job and become clean of whatever problem they were having, also if they had any children this program will eventually try to help them either gain custody back or even just take care of the child properly. The next two days I worked in the business office which handled their catering for events for people at Amos House, also it handled certain areas of the Friendship Cafe which is a restaurant at the end of friendship street where most of the people who have turned around their lives through Amos House actually work. While being in the business office I had the chance to talk to some people who work in their, they explained stories about how some people who have turned around their lives are now buying houses and apartments. I also worked in the kitchen those two days serving water out to the people. One man stood there and talke to me for almost 10 minutes he was so sweet and very polite. He taught me how to poor the water without spilling it everywhere. The other night I was driving down broad street and I saw him walking with his backpack full of clothes and at the red light I stopped and waved and said hi to him. For the rest of the time at Amos House I worked in the kitchen besides for the last three days. One day we spent planting flowers for the people and then the next two days we worked on a project off campus to get donations for their 35th annual auction. This whole experience was definitely worth it, I think I chose the right place and fit for me to do the service project. It showed me how to understand and help people also to learn from them. It showed Me that it clearly doesn't matter what is on the outside but its what is on the inside

Children's Friend and Service - Paige

For my senior service project I spent my time at Children's Friend and Service. I spent a majority of the time at the Vincent A. Cianci Head Start School located in Providence. I was there from 8:30 until 12:00. While there I was able to assist with their meal times, which happened twice, I would help with activities, as well as play with the children. Each classroom had about 18 students, I was placed in the same room as Catherine, room 4. Our class was learning about the Solar System so Catherine and I decided to do an activity with the kids to help better their understanding. We had them build Solar System mobiles where they had to tape each planet onto a hanger in proper order. Along with helping learn more about the Solar System it also helped with basic functions such as cutting and taping. The second week we went to the zoo which was fun because it was nice to see all the excitement on the kid's faces. I highly enjoyed my time at the Cianci school and would gladly go back.
From 12:00 to 2:30 I, along with the other members of the group at Children's Friend and Service planned a donation drive for the School. During this drive we were able to collect toothbrushes and toothpaste, because brushing teeth is an important part of the students day. We were also able to collect toys and books from numerous stores located around Providence.

My Senior Project at the Attorney General's Office

My senior project took place at the Attorney General's office. I researched, developed and created a pamphlet that will be distributed to 5,000 high school students per year over the next three years. The three topics covered in the pamphlet are; steroid use, dating violence and bullying. Since two of these topics (steroid use and dating violence) were pretty new to me I spent the first few days doing a great deal of research particularly in the area of the legal consequences associated with these topics.
I had the opportunity to spend time with our new Attorney General and connected with him on a personal level since he was leaving for Israel and we had plenty to chat about. Being in the busy downtown business environment was really exciting. I've always had a fascination with the show "lock up" so I was really thrilled to sit in on two murder trials and hear the behind the scene conversations that take place during a trial. I also felt like I have been living in a bubble. It was almost scary to realize that so much crime  takes place right here practically in our backyard. I was able to experience what it would feel like to be a lawyer or someone working in a high power office.  Luckily I attended meetings and court hearings so I left the office practically every day and I learned a lot about the many roles of the AG.
Although the work it self was serious , there was a young vibrant feel to the office. Everyone was friendly  and relatively laid back. My supervisor said I have an open invitation to return for a summer internship and although I don't think I will be able to go back this summer, I definitely plan to stay connected to the AG's office.

Cianci Head Start School - Giuliana

I spent my senior service project working with the Children’s Friend and Service organization. My project consisted of two smaller pieces, both relating to the school I worked with, the Cianci Head Start School in Providence. The first portion of my project involved me spending the morning at the school working as a teacher’s aid in a classroom of approximately 18 students, aged three to five. Though I finished my days exhausted from all of the playing I did with the children, this was one of my favorite parts of the project. It was in this time that I was able to bond and establish relationships with the very open, friendly, and welcoming children and teachers. At first, I felt as though my services in the classroom, playing with the children and helping clean, was not helpful or necessary. However, my opinion of my role completely changed during the second week when the children’s faces would light up every time I entered the classroom, when they would ask me if I would be returning the next day, and when they would apparently talk about me at their homes. I couldn’t believe how just being a presence, a helping hand, or someone to talk to could make such a difference in these children’s lives.

For the second portion of my project, I worked with my team on a donation drive for the Cianci School. I had spent a week in the classroom at this point and had noticed that the rooms were lacking in basic learning materials necessary for development, such as books and art supplies. This is what encouraged my team and I to do a donation drive. We wrote up proposal letters for local toys and bookstores in Providence asking them if they would be interested in making any donations. Aside from the donations for the school, we wanted to give individual presents to the children we worked with. After gathering many generous donations and spreading the word of our cause we were able to present the school with our gifts. Only one administrator knew of our donation drive so it was a surprise for all of the children and teachers. This was also one of my favorite parts of the project – seeing the reactions. This taught me that all of the hard work that was put in was worth it, because it was for a cause I believed in and one that was very appreciative of it. 

Amos House- EB

Working at Amos House was a really wonderful experience. My two first days consisted of doing some minor household chores at the Mother-Child Reunification House, an organization run by the Amos House for homeless, substance abusing and/or battered mothers looking to turn their lives around by staying in this house, find jobs, and ultimately be able to reunite with their child(ren). The next day I worked in the Development Office where I made a spreadsheet listing regional and nationwide conferences on homelessness, addiction/mental disorders, and housing centers. By doing this Amos House will be able to branch out and talk with other soup kitchens and social service organizations in order to get their name out and learn more on how to help their community. The rest of my days at Amos House I worked organizing a clothing project and planting flowers around the outside of the soup kitchen and neighboring houses run by Amos House. Another amazing feature of Amos House is their Friendship Cafe, a restaurant run by Amos House that employs some of the women from the Mother-Child house and from the Job Developing center in Amos. I ate there at least three times during my service project and met a woman who is also living at the Mother-Child center. Along with this woman I formed bonds with the husband and wife team who run the soup kitchen at Amos House and two of staff that are housed and work there. Amos House is truly a warm and friendly place to be with a nurturing and safe environment where all are welcome. I really enjoyed working there and would recommend it to everyone.

RHD-RI: Olivia Davis Wilson

For my senior project I worked with Allie at RHD. RHD, which stands for resources for human development, is a non-profit organization started by one man who wanted to give people with disabilities a place to, not only get the supervision and services they need, but also to express themselves without putting any restraints on their creativity. The school services section of RHD is designed for students with IEPs (individual education plans) in the public school system. They use the state funding these students receive until they are 21 to help them complete their requirements to graduate. These students have either a mental or emotional disability so do not do well in a typical classroom setting; that's where RHD comes in. In this program, one of their requirements to graduate is to get job experience in an unpaid position that interests them. A large portion of the work Allie and I did was to drive to various local businesses and see if they would be interested hosting a RHD student so that they may receive the credits needed for them to graduate. This experience taught me a lot about pitching a proposal to someone with a short amount of time before they lose interest. It also taught me how to gauge the business' interest in the proposal because we had to predict whether or not the company would call back. The most rewarding experience was seeing the reaction the clients had to us. They were all so ready to welcome us to the RHD family. Everyone was so friendly and we were able to bond with a few clients that I will be sure to visit in the future. Because my Dad is the founder of the school services program at RHD, I know I will still have the opportunity to be involved with this company in the future and can go back and visit whenever I want to. That fact gives this project a whole new meaning because, for me, this project will not only last 9 days but will continue to be present in my life in the future.

CFAS-Cianci Head Start Center (Valerie)

For my senior project I have been working at the at the Vincent A. Cianci Head Start Center, which is run by Children's Friend and Service, a nonprofit organization located in Providence. Once there we were split up into groups of two and three and worked in classrooms of 17-18 children, aged 3 to 5.  We played with the children building with blocks, doing puzzles, playing house, doing art projects, etc.  We also helped the teachers at lunch time making sure everyone was eating, and we also cleaned after each meal.  These are children that are from low income households, so it is important that they eat two meals at school.  I really liked that we were able to establish some meaningful relationships.  We got to establish relationships with the children, teachers, and parents. We got to see what the teachers have to go through every day in the classroom. We had a visible effect on the lives of the children, as we found out because the director of the school told us that the parents have said the children have been talking about us a lot at home.  The children liked having us there, as they would always ask us if we were coming back tomorrow and seemed excited when we came in every day. The teachers usually found it helpful to have some extra hands around because the children are sometimes hard to control, especially with only two teachers.  This was very important especially on our trip to the zoo.  It was so exciting to see how excited the children were about the zoo.  Such simple things make these children’s faces light up.

During the afternoons on the second week we organized a drive around providence.  We went to local businesses asking for book, toy, and toilet tree donations.  We got about 60 tooth brushes, 200 tubes of tooth paste, toys, and hopefully some books to follow soon.

On our last day we gave each child a tooth brush, tooth paste, a pencil, and a treat.  This was my favorite part because the children loved it, hugged us and did not want us to leave.

RHD-RI : Allie

For my senior project, I worked at RHD-RI with Olivia.  RHD stands for Resources for Human Development, and it has two major sections: school services and adults with disabilities.  I mostly worked in school services, so I was seeing high school students, up to age 21, who had mental or emotional disabilities.  


Our daily duties included helping teach classes, such as jewelry making, creative movement, and astronomy, doing office work, such as copying and putting together packets, spending time with the clients, and running errands.  During the second week, we went outside of RHD and visited local businesses to see if they were interested in having RHD students work as interns for them, which was a very different experience.


My favorite thing about RHD was spending time with and meeting the clients there.  Everyone is very friendly and always wants to be introduced and shake hands, which I thought was very nice.  Olivia and I met a few people there who were our favorites, including Dave.  He loves motorcycles and art, and even invited us to his birthday party later this year.  Another person who I enjoyed meeting was Bobby, who was in school services.  He and I share an interest; creative writing, although his favorite is poetry.  He liked to share his writing with us, and is planning on entering some of his poems in a contest.


Overall, I really enjoyed my time at RHD.  I'd be interested in going back to volunteer in the future, and I highly suggest it to future seniors looking for an independent project site.

Amos House - Lindsey Allcock

Working at Amos House over the past few days has been an eye opening experience. Amos House is an organization dedicated to “helping others help themselves.” Amos House accomplishes this through many different programs and aspects of the corporation all founded in compassion.

Amos House is an organization with many different and complex parts working together to benefit the community. During our time at Amos House we all experienced the different parts of Amos House. I worked in social services, where the 90 day program helps get people sober and off of the streets and into affordable housing. I also worked in the business offices where Amos House’s two businesses, More than a Meal Catering and its own carpentry business, are run. I also worked in the development office doing various projects looking for support from various local businesses. Through each of these different experiences I gained a unique understanding of the workings of a nonprofit business and of how each different part of Amos House works to benefit the people they help.

My favorite part of working at Amos House was getting to meet a variety of people from different backgrounds. The very first day I was in social services, I attended a group meeting entitled “Addiction Education.” This was an amazing experience and a wonderful way to really see and understand the people I was working to help. This session was a discussion of their relationship to a “higher power” and accepting that there are somethings in life beyond human control. I truly enjoyed meeting people through social services or just walking around the Amos House property. I also had an opportunity to eat at the dining hall, the soup kitchen. Here I met and shared a meal with  people from all different backgrounds, with all different looks and situations, and with different personalities just like anywhere else. The relationships I have seen and developed at Amos House has been one of the best parts of my service experience.

The relationships between “guests,” people in treatment, and the workers at Amos house have been truly eye opening. These relationships show true compassion in action. The people working at Amos House, their “guests” and the volunteers all care about each other and keep “helping others help themselves.”

Overall this has been an amazing experience where I have been able to meet a variety of different people and have been able to see true compassion in the world. Compassion shared between guests at Amos House, between volunteers and between permanent staff is what makes Amos House so successful.

Frank Spaziano - Charlotte Powning

I worked at Frank Spaziano Elementary School, and it was a great experience for me. We've helped out the teachers by stapling papers, grading quizzes, and working with the kids, and although it was unexpectedly tiring, I really appreciate the relationship I've formed with the students and the school in general. As soon as I arrived there, the teachers were very warm and friendly, and the kids were extremely polite, holding doors and getting chairs for us. I worked with two classes, a bilingual fourth grade and a bilingual third grade. Some of the children barely spoke any English at all, and I had to rely on my broken Spanish if I wanted to communicate with them. The third grade teacher, Mrs. Hernandez, knew that I was studying Spanish, and intentionally had me working with the "newcomers", the children who had arrived at the school more recently and therefore did not know as much English. It was a really fun way to learn more Spanish, and it was interesting spending time in a setting in which I was the only non-native Spanish speaker, and several people did not know any English. In the fourth grade, I would mostly help students with their math work, and since the kids I spent the most time with in that class spoke English well, I didn't need to use my Spanish as often, though sometimes they would test me for fun. One thing that surprised me was how attached I grew to the children - I found myself befriending the kids of both classes, and I was sad to leave on Friday. When I was about to leave the third grade, I got hugs from all the kids, and before I left the fourth grade later that day, they brought me a card that both classes had signed. One girl made sure to sign the card last so she could write a long note to me at the bottom of the page. I would really like to be able to visit next year and see them again.

Working at the Spazziano School

When I first signed up to volunteer at the Spazziano School for nine days I had no idea what a profound effect the experience would have on me.  On my first morning I was introduced by Ms. Celio, the calmest fifth grade teacher I have ever met, to the class I would be working with: Ms. Pazmino's second grade class.  I was very surprised to learn that I would be spending the week working with a billingual class.  At first, I was very overwhelmed.  The children never sat still and were very talkative.  Some of them spoke English fairly well but others could understand only the simplist phrases.
When Ms. Pazmino gave me a group of five students and asked me to teach them a phonics lesson I didn't really know how to begin.  The kids were so easily distracted.  I learned very quickly that if I was going to teach them, I had to be creative and match their energy level.  By the end of the week I had grown accustomed to the restlessness of the students, had learned how to stay calm and cheerful when they acted up.  I even learned some Spanish!
The aspect of the project that affected me the most was how welcoming the students were.  While their personalities varied greatly, every student was so appreciative and polite.  I remember the morning that each child received a newly sharpened pencil, they were so excited by something I took for granted.  On my second day when I walked into the classroom, one girl, Yenina, stood and pulled a chair over for me so that I could sit with them.  It was small moments like these that made the project so powerful.  There were also many funny moments, such as when Rubelly asked me if I was married and had children since I was so old.
Along with correcting quizzes and teaching small group math lessons, I spent a great amount of time on English writing projects with individual students.  After two weeks of intensive brainstorming, writing, and coloring, Yenina and Kevelyn read their finished projects aloud to their class while I watched like a proud parent.  I was amazed to see how, in just two weeks time, their proficiency in English had improved so much.
Every morning I received hugs and a cheerful "Good morning Miss Stefanie".  By my final day I could name every student in the class.  They surprised me with thank you cards, presents, and an unending amount of hugs.  I couldn't help but wonder what challenges the kids would face in the coming years, and who they would each grow to become. 
I never expected that I could gain so much from a two week long project.  I plan to continue volunteering in education during my college years.  Seeing the smiles on the students' faces when they achieved a good mark on a paper I had helped them with was definitely a highlight of my senior year. 

Maxie Formal- Greenlock Therapeutic Riding Center

Over the past couple days I have been volunteering at Greenlock Therapeutic Riding Center. Both the therapists and clients I have worked with have been great.  The majority of the clients I worked with were ones with physical, developmental, and emotional differences. Mainly they have been having me lead their horses during both hippotherapy and therapeutic sessions. Therapeutic riding uses the magnetic bond  between people and horses to teach such skills as listening, balance, gross and fine motor control, as well as a variety of other skills that help people promote independence and  self-confidence.  Hippotherapy relies on the sensorimotor input  provided by the horse’s rhythmic and repetitive gaits to prompt a neuromuscular response in the rider: a  response that  mimics the  movement a child’s body would ordinarily make while walking. They also have me side walking during sessions in order to make sure the clients are secure on the horses.  My primary responsibilities were more with the horses rather then the clients however I did work with numerous clients through out my time at Greenlock. Finally over the course of the two weeks they had me school numerous of their ponies and hope for me to do so in the future. Today I had a client that I worked with who from the second she gets on to the second she gets off has a smile ear to ear. I swear I could work with her all day, whenever she does a trick or does something the therapist asks she exclaims, tada! I also worked with students from The Wolf School twice a week. At the moment, Greenlock is trying to raise money to put a new roof on their indoor so I decided to organize a bake sale to help fund raise. Currently Greenlock is "Raising the Roof" and their goal is $80,000. Less than half of the cost of services provided is covered by fees. The support of generous donors is vital toward making up the difference and ensuing that Greenlock can continue to provide the care needed by its clients. Overall I had a blast working at Greenlock and plan to do so this summer one to two times a week.

Amos House- Megan Morrow

     I have spent my senior project time at the Amos House.  What was interesting to me right off the bat was how many aspects of life Amos House touches upon.  I was under the impression that they were mainly a soup kitchen but they also have social services, a 90-day program to get people back on their feet, a mother/child reunification program, a carpentry training course and company, a culinary training course and company, a catering business, and even a cafe.  The Amos House occupies almost a whole block. 
    A small portion of my project was in the form of direct service.  I worked the lunch shift in the soup kitchen one day and this was really fun because I got to put some cooking skills to use and I got to interact with the people that benefit from the Amos House.  I also gardened one day which made the staff and patrons of Amos House very happy to see some new growth. 
     However, most of my time was spent doing indirect service.  I did many, many things ranging from printing out available jobs to display in a job binder to looking up phone numbers of Amos House donors.  I went around to local businesses asking for silent auction donations, I began the planning of shopping days for people to utilize clothing donations, and I even organized the Amos House's photo library. 
     My favorite experience at the Amos House was going to a meeting with the vice president about advocacy for the homeless in Providence.  This was a meeting of different people from many different organizations that all aim to help the homeless.  They discussed problems with the lack of affordable housing and how budget cuts could affect the homeless.  This was very interesting and it exposed me to something I had not learned much about before.
     All in all, this has been a very good experience and I am glad that I spent my time trying out all the different aspects of a non-profit organization.

Hayley Kirman - Children's Friend and Service

For my senior project, I worked at the Vincent A. Cianci Head Start Center run by Children's Friend and Service. I worked in a room with seventeen children ages three to five during the morning shift, which starts at 8:00 a.m. and ends at 12:00 noon. Each morning, the children have breakfast and brush their teeth at school. I found this interesting because it does not seem like something that is normally done at school. They then get time to look at books. Many of them asked me to read them books. By doing this, I found out that they do not have many books and the ones they do have are in bad condition. The children also get to go outside and play for somewhere between a half hour and an hour. They then go inside and have free play time, when they can choose to do art, science, or other activities for another hour until lunch.

The children eligible for this program are all in at-risk situations, so their families might have been involved in drug abuse or gangs, for example. Studies have shown that these programs actually help these children on their track to higher education, so although the kids are young, the program definitely has an effect on their lives.

I have noticed that the children enjoy us spending time with them and are excited to see us each day. I was unsure of how this was going to be, because I did not like the idea of being with almost twenty young children, but I actually ended up liking it. Some of the kids were better than others, but all of them seemed to usually have good intentions and wanted to learn.

The teachers also appreciated our help, as they are often overbooked and forced to do more work than they should. They must do home visits and three parent-teacher conferences for each child per year, along with teaching the children each day in class. One teacher described her job as teacher/social worker. I thought it was nice to help give the teachers a bit of a break because they work so hard but hardly ever get recognized for it.

Overall, this has been an eye-opening and rewarding experience.

Ana and I have been working at Wellesley College. We have been interviewing many people like: Director of Disabilities, Associate dean of students, Dean of first-year students, head athletic trainer, and much more. We have been interviewing these people about what incoming students should be aware of and what they want students to take away after completing there four years in college. All the information we have received is very important. Also we have been helping out at the health services with end of the year filing. So far we have had a great time!

Working the the Groden Center's Livingston Center Preschool (Emma Rooks)

For the past 8 days, I have had the opportunity to work at the Livingston Center, the preschool associated with the Groden Center. Here, there are "typical" kids and there are also children with autism. I have been working in the classroom that holds the 4 most severe case that the center has. The class is set up with 4 students and 3 teachers, so with me, it was like a one on one experience for the kids. The children in this room are either 5 or 6 years old, and although they are the most severe cases, their abilities greatly vary. In the classroom only 2 of the 4 children have any language at all. I've always love kids, and I can form an attachment with them pretty quickly, but there was something different about these kids. I love working with the kids, but it is less than an easy job. In the past with "typical" kids, I can understand more of what they want and find a way to entertain them more easily, but with these kids, mood swings are very common. My first day I was a bit shocked when the little boy I had been playing with and who was laughing one second was the next second pushing me and trying to bite me. I've watched a lot of kids in my lifetime, but nothing like that has happened to me. I didn't really know how to feel about it. Part of me was upset because I was bitten, but then I remembered that happy face of his and his laugh. The teachers there have really taught me a lot about the kids. They have taught me not to over analyze the children, and obviously through their work (individualized programs/goals for each student) they want to teach them, and they do love them, but there is no easy way to explain a lot of their actions. Studying special education and eventually working in a place like the Livingston Center is something that I have been thinking that I want to make a career, and this project has just affirmed that feeling.

Corinne Coia Union Street School

Everyday that I have been here has been different. Yesterday was one of my favorite days thus far. We started off the day with meetings but then we got to go teach in classrooms. We went to a 5th grade classroom and talked to them about how to talk to each other in a positive way. We also talked about rumors and did exercises to show what rumors can do and how a lot of the time the story is changed. Then we had our lunch groups with the kids and took them to an animal shelter in the town to let them play with the animals. Students get to go on the trip if they do something well in the classroom and have good behavior; its something for the kids to work towards. When we got back to school we went and taught in another classroom. We talked about how to stand up to bullying and how to deal with bullying. After school I went with an after school group called Girls on the Run. It is an after school program for girls grades 2-8 and they go for runs and train for doing marathons. It also gives them something to do after school while incorporating exercise. They are preparing for a 5K marathon being held at the end of the year. All of the girls were having a great time and it was fun to be a part of it.

Jenna McKinley- Frank Spaziano School

I've been having a great time at Frank Spaziano School. I've been working in a class of about 20 second graders, and they are all just so sweet! Most of the population of the school is Hispanic, with a small percentage of African Americans and Caucasians. It's been wonderful to get to know the kids and see how much they respond to having another person in the classroom to give them care and attention.

I've done a lot of varied tasks around the classroom. I've graded papers, corrected homework with the class, taken inventories, made lots of copies, and worked one-on-one with students who need extra help. It's interesting to see the spectrum of talents in the class. Some kids get 15% on spelling quizzes, while some get 100% with no problem. However, much of the time the problem is not the student's intelligence but their attention span or ability to focus. Often, they just have to be prompted or reminded to keep focus on the task at hand.

All of the teachers I've spoken to have been extremely grateful for our help in the classrooms, and I hope I'm having a positive effect on the students. I'm certainly enjoying my time here!

Alana Payne Children's Friend

Today (May 18) was my second day at Children's Friend which I highly enjoyed. We were at a new location in Providence which was much larger than the one we had gone to prior in Pawtucket. My class was a lot of fun and the children were very welcoming and glad that we were there. The kids were very well behaved and respectful of both each other and the adults in the classroom. It was great that we were able to spend a lot of time playing with the kids because I know that it made a difference for them in some way. Overall I really appreciate the entire experience and believe that people can learn a lot about themselves and about life in general at this site.

Alana Payne

Children's Friends Service Project Blog #1

For my senior project I chose to do Children's Friends. On the first day (May 17, 2011), I went to a Head Start school in Pawtucket, RI with five other girls from my class. I ended up working in a room with Paige Rovnak. When we first got there, the children ate breakfast, so we just talked to them. Then, it was time for them to review the day's activities. They went over the weather, the date, and the day's special helpers. After, they got to play in specific areas of the room. There was a place to play in the sandbox, a place to practice their writing, a place to do science related activities, a place to show their creativity, and a place to play with toys. While they were doing their activities, Paige and I were talking and playing with them. The teachers in the room didn't need us to do too much, besides interact with the kids however. After they were done going around to the different stations, they wanted to freestyle dance as well as do the limbo. When it was all done, they had lunch. They had meatloaf, bread, salad, and mandarin oranges. After lunch, many of the kids went home, because their session was from 8-12. Some, however, stayed and took a nap, before the next session came. Even though it felt like I wasn't being a big help to the three teachers in the room, it was still a rewarding experience. It was great to see how open the kids were and willing to talk to random strangers. There even was a boy there who is usually shy, but today he didn't show any of his shyness-- the teachers were surprised. I never realized how important going to the school was for the children, because they received some of their meals, they had a chance to brush their teeth (after lunch), as well as spending time with people their own age. It was an experience that was worth it.

Catherine Brescia, Lincoln School Class '11

Lincoln Senior Project

Dear Seniors,
Welcome to your Senior Project blog!  This blog is an "open classroom" that will allow you to stay in touch, to learn from one another, and to be your own teachers.

As long as you have requested permission from the contact person on site, please feel free to upload pictures or videos from your project.  Each of you should blog at least once, but you may do so at any time during your project, or prior to your presentations at Lincoln on June 3rd.

The Senior Project experience is yours to create and to share with one another!  I hope it will be a meaningful time for each of you individually, and for you all as a class.

Mrs. Bodell