| What are we doing? |
| For our first project round, Fire 4 worked in Harford Heights Primary School, located in East Baltimore. Three team members were in kindergarten classrooms, four were in first grade classes, and four worked with second graders. We had an amazing experience that we will never forget, and we miss our students very much, and wish them luck in the future. |
| Each AmeriCorps *NCCC member is required to serve 1700 direct hours over the ten-month commitment. Eighty of those hours must be Independent Service Hours (ISPs). Fire 4 has gotten off to a great start. We have done several projects in the area. One organization we have been working for over the past month is the Bea Gaddy Family Shelter. They provide food, blankets, clothing, to the needy of Baltimore. Tens of thousands are served every year. This week they are opening a breast cancer education and treatment center. Today, some of our team members bagged food and set up Easter goodies for the festivities. Members of our team have also done a Habitat for Humanity project and a trailbuilding project in Delaware. There are many interesting projects coming up this month, we will keep you updated! |
| Harford Heights had their spring break this week (the first week of April), so Fire 4 has been doing various local projects instead. Here's the breakdown of all the things we got done: Friday and Monday: Worked on campus, on the new tool sheds. Shingled the roofs of both sheds, constructed doors and trim boards. Tuesday: Traveled to a charter school in Delaware. Planted about 700 trees. Finally worked together as a real team. Wednesday and Thursday: Prepped and painted the Harford Heights computer lab. Began the dubious task of stamping the many boxes of books in the stock room. Friday: Service learning meeting with the school therapist. Cleaned and restored the computer lab to be ready for school Monday morning. Finished stamping and then counted all the books. We stamped approximately 4600 books over those two and a half days. It's been a great week, team! We're excited for more. Only two weeks left at school, let's make it count. |
| Fire 4 spent the second project round in rural New Jersey, at Camp Trail Blazers. Our task was to get the entire camp ready. So we did all kinds of things to prepare all 18 smallcamps (raking, lashing, hauling, etc), as well as clean and restore and paint other parts of camp. We lived right alongside myriad wildlife, including bats, flying squirrels, spiders, and territorial mama birds. Our time at Trail Blazers was very educational in more ways than one, we survived and exceeded everyone's expectations, and we all enjoyed it. |
| Saturday, April 20 was National Youth Service Day. Fire 4 traveled the now-familiar freeways to East Baltimore. Our day turned out a little differently than expected, but hey, variety is the spice of life. The mission for the project was to clean up a bird sanctuary next to an elementary school. We picked up multitudes of strange, dangerous and mundane litter, and we cleared out the piles and piles of brush, leaves and branches. It was difficult, demanding labor, but we knew it was for a good cause. Several local residents do a clean-up once a year, but they get no help and have to haul away the trash and dirt with their own vehicles. Because our team was there as an official project, there were city trucks loading up the bags and debris to take it away. All the folks involved were extremely friendly and kind, and so thrilled that we were there to help get the place looking better. Though it was a huge job and could no doubt continue several more days, our day of work made a lot of difference. Even though all of us were scraped up, sweaty and dirty, we knew it had been a great day. |
| The third round for Fire 4 took place at Girl Scout camp. First, we spent about six weeks in New Hampshire at Camp Wabasso. We helped out with the horse staff and canoeing in addition to providing programs for the campers during the day. Some of the fun activities we offered were ultimate frisbee, spa day, doughnut making, and yoga, among others. Overall, it was a fun project. The other staff members were mostly international, so it was great fun to meet new people from different countries and cultures. For the last week and a half of the round, we were in Cape Cod at Camp Favorite, which is another camp operated by the same Girl Scout Council. While there, we did maintenance work, like staining buildings and redoing trimwork. This camp was very different than Wabasso. It was smaller, and the buildings and units were within the trees, and it was right on a beautiful lake. We explored a bit of the Cape, seeing the Atlantic Ocean under a full moon, playing Ultimate on the windy beach, and hanging out in Hyannis, a nearby town. It was a nice place to be and we enjoyed it. |
| During Round 4, Fire 4 accomplished great things! We completed the clearing of five miles of logjams on the Quinnipiac River. Hurrah! And, after three days of physical and mental labor, we constructed the meditation labyrinth. (Pictures soon!) It looks awesome and we look forward to the opening early this week. Our sponsors, Lynn and Mary, were awesome. They made us feel very welcome and set up fun and interesting things for us to do after work hours. We had a great time, living it up at the emergency shelter. It was by far our nicest spike accommodations this year, even though it was communal living. The last five weeks of the round, we worked with Habitat for Humanity of Greater Bridgeport. We completed a lot of finishing touches on several job sites, and helped get things ready and clean. |
| ISPs are all done (Congrats Fire 4, at long last!), even all service hours are done (and we all got over 1800--congrats again! we'll receive presidential service awards this week at graduation), now all that's left is the cleaning, and lots of it...Late fall is quickly transitioning into early winter, it's cold and rainy, the trees are getting barer and browner. Three days left!! We're excited about going...places, home or wherever, after graduation, seeing family and friends, reclaiming everyday luxuries to the outside world like: working washer/dryers, actual cars--that cannot transport anywhere near fifteen people, not having to clean the toilet and floor and sink and everything else every week, (facing the risk of more cleaning as punishment), not to mention three times in one week, wearing clothes not littered with stains and their accompanying stories from whence they came that take us across state lines and time zones, re-entering normal American pop culture and all the mind-numbing silliness (hello, Temptation Island and Fear Factor) that goes with it, and possibly one of the most exciting aspects of home-or-wherever-life, not living with ten strangers! Soon this site will no longer reflect the activities of the team known as Fire 4, Class 8, Northeast Region NCCC! What a long, eventful, memorable year it has been. (Look for a list of memorable moments soon). I shall do my best to keep it updated with snapshots of everyone's current activities and plans, because we plan to keep in touch at least that much. We wish everyone happiness, luck, fun, and of course, further adventures. Remember, safety first! (haha:) |
| Hi everyone, Happy Thanksgiving! Graduation was the 21st, it went very well. We were sad to say goodbye to each other. It's been a week now, and it still seems strange to think Fire 4 won't be together, sad. :( But so far we seem to be keeping in touch okay, let's hope it continues. :) Best of luck to you all in your Life After AmeriCorps! Check back periodically for updates on our doings, and best of all, new pictures!! |