National Service Day
I spent this morning volunteering at a SE DC Middle School. In case you don't know, the South East side of DC is a generally dangerous and despised area. It's also essentially where I live, though I live a bit more south. I volunteered - in all honesty - because it was mandatory as a VISTA Volunteer. And since all my other VISTAs I'm supposed to work with are in South Dakota, I had to find a project to join (or create one) to do all by myself. And if there is one good thing about DC it is that there is always something going on.
I helped out at Ron Brown Middle School in Deanwood, which strongly reminds me of a rundown Redford, or where Redford is really close to Detroit. The houses have the same look and feel. There's a sense of abandonment. There is a definite sense of hard times and good people trying to make it by. It is also a place I would be vary wary of walking or driving in after dark.
Less than a block from the Metro Station was the Middle School. It was opened in the 1950s I think, but I also think it took a hiatus, and was recently reopened and renamed. As the Principal put it (and I overheard), the school if it was in good shape could hold 1,000 students. The school as is could hold 800 students. The school in fact has only 400 students.
I read on a site, that I can't find the URL for now, that there is only 13 students to teachers. This would be nice if I thought the school functioned. We were working in the library. When we arrived it was a dirty white abandoned area with the smallest number of bookshelves I've ever seen. It looks like a library meant for under 200 students. Most of the books were in poor condition, and I didn't see anything published more recently then the early 1980s. In fact, there was a whole set of Almanacs from 1970.
I spent a lot of time inhaling some strong goo-be-gone stuff, and got extremely high. Higher than I've ever been. Like almost as high as I've ever been drunk. So I had to take a lot of breaks. After 4 hours though, the library was transformed. The donated brand-new books lined some of the shelves, the walls were painted a cheery yellow with a sky blue trim. Everything looked more alive and it was a really great experience. I know the kids will really appreciate it.
Last week there was a drive-by shooting that killed one of the students and wounded others. The principal had come to see us directly after attending the funeral.
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2009/10/14/AR2009101401325.html?wprss=rss_metro Article about the shooting.
http://www.greatschools.net/modperl/browse_school/dc/16 School Rating.
http://www.dc-cares.org/default.html Organization responsible for today's volunteering program.
I helped out at Ron Brown Middle School in Deanwood, which strongly reminds me of a rundown Redford, or where Redford is really close to Detroit. The houses have the same look and feel. There's a sense of abandonment. There is a definite sense of hard times and good people trying to make it by. It is also a place I would be vary wary of walking or driving in after dark.
Less than a block from the Metro Station was the Middle School. It was opened in the 1950s I think, but I also think it took a hiatus, and was recently reopened and renamed. As the Principal put it (and I overheard), the school if it was in good shape could hold 1,000 students. The school as is could hold 800 students. The school in fact has only 400 students.
I read on a site, that I can't find the URL for now, that there is only 13 students to teachers. This would be nice if I thought the school functioned. We were working in the library. When we arrived it was a dirty white abandoned area with the smallest number of bookshelves I've ever seen. It looks like a library meant for under 200 students. Most of the books were in poor condition, and I didn't see anything published more recently then the early 1980s. In fact, there was a whole set of Almanacs from 1970.
I spent a lot of time inhaling some strong goo-be-gone stuff, and got extremely high. Higher than I've ever been. Like almost as high as I've ever been drunk. So I had to take a lot of breaks. After 4 hours though, the library was transformed. The donated brand-new books lined some of the shelves, the walls were painted a cheery yellow with a sky blue trim. Everything looked more alive and it was a really great experience. I know the kids will really appreciate it.
Last week there was a drive-by shooting that killed one of the students and wounded others. The principal had come to see us directly after attending the funeral.
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2009/10/14/AR2009101401325.html?wprss=rss_metro Article about the shooting.
http://www.greatschools.net/modperl/browse_school/dc/16 School Rating.
http://www.dc-cares.org/default.html Organization responsible for today's volunteering program.