Alternative Spring Break

The past few days in Miami have been an eye-opening experience. Working at Charles Drew Middle School has really been a good experience and has taught me a lot. My favorite part of the service has been seeing the positive reactions from the children and teachers around the school and really showing their appreciation towards us when they see us working on different projects around the school. I have been very shocked by some of the behaviors of both the students and teachers in the school. I personally have never attended a school where a teacher is out in the hallway yelling at a student at least two times a day. I also thought it was bizarre how some of the students conducted themselves throughout the day. A few of the students ran through the hallways to get to class on time while the majority of the students had to be told by the school security to get to class. Overall, I have really enjoyed helping out at the school and making an impact on young kids lives.

-Brian Farbman, Towson

Day 4 reflection

Today we volunteered at the Middle School for the second consecutive day. Instead of building benches we were painting murals in the hallways. As we were making the murals we were able to interact with the students as they walked by. A lot of the students thanked us and complemented our art work. On the contrary, there were a few students who made interesting comments. One girl said "That's really pretty, but someone is going to mess that up." Its sad that a child so young thought that her peers would vandalize their own school. Low and behold later in the day, a student walked by and told us that she was going to mess the mural up. It really makes you wonder what type of role models these children have.

Adam Hayet

The Towson University

Day 2

Good morning world! Brett Richman here in beautiful and sunny Miami, Florida at Hillel and City Year Alternative Spring Break!!!

I am amazed over and over again at how much I am able to learn on these Hillel and City Year Alternative Break trips, this being my fourth one as a participant, especially when having the opportunity to return to the community that I volunteered in just a few months back in January. Yesterday (Monday March 19, 2012) the group went back to the cemetery where we had done service prior. Seeing the transformation from just a few months ago brought back great memories as well as pushed me to do more to make an even bigger impact this time around. We planted numerous new trees around the border of the cemetery and raked leaves away from otherwise unnoticed grave-markers.

Hearing from other participants on the trip of how they "uncovered markers that the grounds-keeper did not even know existed" lends me to believe we made that greater impact this time around. I am sure that between this day of service, combined with what we were able to accomplish in January with Hillel Alternative Break, made a lasting impact on the cemetery, the staff of the Temple that it is adjacent too and the citizens of Miami and other areas who use the historic site (the first cemetery in Miami), especially when the grounds-keeper made it clear that they only plant trees and pull weeds about once a year, otherwise the cemetery goes heavily under-maintained.

After lunch we regrouped to view a mashup of "Waiting for Superman" and another documentary that shows the other side of the story. I think a majority of us had seen "Waiting for Superman" or had atleast heard of it and what the directors goal was with the movie. We all knew that there was another side of the story but seeing both sides in film form together was much more eye-opening than I had imagined. It instilled and reaffirmed a greater sense of duty in everyone on the trip that this week we will not just be beautifying these schools but will be making potential lasting impacts on these students' lives to urge them to not drop out of school, to not give up on the public school system and to strive to go to college and gain higher and higher degrees to be able to better themselves and their existing communities.

Today (Tuesday March 20, 2012) will be our first day working with the Middle School students in Miami. To my understanding we will be continuing to do some great work with City Year by building tables for a lunch area, touching up some older paint jobs and also painting some new murals for the school. In the afternoons some of us will head to another local Middle School to do participate in after school programming whereas the rest will stay and do the same.

I am 100% certain that this Alternative Break group will leave its lasting mark on the city of Miami and the schools it will begin to work with this morning. As for the PT with City Year I am really hoping they bust out the 'Peel the Banana' and 'Our Boots are on Fire' stuff this morning, always a great way to start a day and bring back some of the greatest memories I've had in my undergraduate University experience.

Sincerely,
Brett Richman

Day 5

Today we started off our morning with a little pump up music and the promise of another rewarding day at Allapata Middle School and Dunbar Elementary School. I found myself thinking of how this was going to be our last full day of service on the trip. I began to wonder how the trip had gone by so quickly. But I didn’t really have time to continue my thoughts because we had arrived at Allapata Middle School. After dropping off the lunch in the correct classroom we began our daily “firing up” exercises on the basketball courts with the city year staff, where we learned a new exercise. This new move consisted of lunges, spirit, and a lot of weird clapping. Soon after our group began to take on our first task of the day: painting the courtyard area in off-white. Weused a combination of rollers and smaller paint brushes to cover every last inch of the walls. After an hour or two of painting, parts of our group started to paint some of the murals that had been stenciled onto the wall, while others began to stencil words such as: persevere, imagine, and create onto the pillars of the courtyard. As I was stenciling the word “persevere” onto the wall, I began to picture future students walking through the courtyard. I wondered if they would notice the words that had once been painted onto the pillars by a bunch of college students, or if these words would simply blend into the background like I imagine the previously cracked paint and faded messages once did. I then thought of how I used to feel inspired by a poster from my high school that read “perseverance is one of the biggest keys to success.” This poster used to make me feel motivated every time I passed it, no matter how bad a mood I was in.

After lunch, we watched a film called Waiting for Superman. This film taught us of the many flaws in America’s education system including: bad teachers, lack of funding, tenure, the lottery system for entry into certain schools, and the tangled web of the federal government’s ideas of a good educational system versus the state. When discussing the film with the group, I think a lot of us were shocked by how complicated the educational system of America had become. For instance, a child could fail a test in one state, but he/she could then drive down an hour to another state and take the same test, and their score would be considered a passing grade! Signals were clearly very mixed up between states concerning the fundamental standards of passing versus failing. Another idea that struck me was that a child could be stuck in a horrible public school, simply because they lived in a bad neighborhood. Furthermore, they could potentially have the chance to switch to a better public school or charter school; however, 1000 kids could be applying to a school like that when there are only 100 spots available! So these kids’ entire futures could be riding on one lottery number. I found this to be completely baffling.

Nonetheless, we continued to Dunbar Elementary School after the movie and were instructed to lead the class that we had been working with in a few field games. My group played a few basic games including toilet tag, the human knot, and leap frog. One moment that stood out to me was when we decided to join the kids in creating a human knot of arm and legs. The kids were able to free themselves of the knot in a matter of seconds, but once the bigger college kids got involved, the whole game got a lot trickier. It took us several minutes to untangle ourselves from the knot, and when we did, for some reason we ended up with two separate groups (which is not supposed to happen) and all the college kids were like “oops something must have gotten messed up.” But the kids had a completely different reaction; they thought they had done something extra special that had led us to make not only once circle but two. They were so pleased with themselves that they were high fiving each other and we just couldn’t bring ourselves to tell them that it was in fact a mistake, since they seemed to be so proud of themselves.

It was hard saying goodbye to the kids I had worked with at the end of the day, but despite my sadness, I feel pleased that I was able to connect with these kids on a pretty deep level, even if I had only known them for three days. I was reminded of how younger children are so willing to share things about themselves and how interested and curious they are to learn about others as well. All in all, it was another tiring, but mostly satisfying day in Miami.

Katie Shepard, University of Binghamton

Day 4 was a day to be Superman

Originally posted: Thursday January 6, 2012

Today was our third day at Allapattah Middle School. Just as the other days, they had us doing manual labor in preparation to beautify the school. This would hopefully make the atmosphere of the school a better learning environment.

We worked on building benches, picnic tables, and shelves. Because of the nice weather, we were outside and it was really great. As we worked, we listened to music. Listening to music and laughing with friends, we really developed a sense of community. It was an enlightening experience because together we realized how much we were helping others while still having a great time. Although we did not finish these projects, we progressed at a good rate.

After lunch, we started to watch the movie, “Waiting For Superman”. It is a documentary about a few kids in different school systems throughout the country. These kids were all struggling with getting a proper education because the schools in their districts were failing. This means that the majority of the students in the school system were not getting a good education therefore failing the standardized tests necessary to pass each grade. The students in this movie were looking for a better place to attend school. Unfortunately, the different charter and prep schools they could attend with either no cost or very low cost only had a small number of spots for incoming students. The way that students to attend in the next year were chosen was through a lottery. Therefore these children were forced to leave their education to chance.

After the movie, we went to Dunbar Elementary School for the last time. We all truly loved the kids we were able to work with. These kids were hardworking and motivated, and they all seemed to enjoy the time we were able to spend with them. On this last day, we played different games with them outside. In the 45 minutes we had with them we were able to play three games: Sharks and Minnows, Baby I Love You, and Red Light Green Light. We all had a great time, however all too soon it was time to leave. As we were saying goodbye, many were asked if we were coming back tomorrow. It was heartbreaking to have to tell them that it was our last day. We all made a connection with the children we were working with and no one wanted to leave. It was truly amazing that we were able to get so close with these fifth graders in just a few hours.

After Dunbar, we took some time to debrief with the City Year people. In a circle we talked about the different things we learned from the experience. Many different questions were asked including: when is it okay to give up on a kid, what ways do you think the school systems can be improved, and what can we do to make the level of learning improve in failing schools. The answers that everyone gave were very interesting, and we realized that there were many things that we could do for kids like these.

Samantha Susson ‘15, University of Delaware

Welcome To Miami

Welcome To Miami
Posted by: Meredith Abel (originally) on: Tuesday, January 3, 2012 at 12:00am

“If you want to go quickly, go alone. If you want to go far, go together.” On the first official day of not only 2012, but also of Miami Alternative Break, the president of Temple Israel of greater Miami offered this proverb. This quote truly has meaning to me especially considering I can still remember it at the end of the day. What it signifies is very simple, yet also very profound: together we can. One person may not have the resources to accomplish a goal, but when band together as a community of any size, anything is possible.

Aside from poverty and social justice, one core theme of this trip is community. What is it? How do we get it? Can we create it? If so, how? Even the term community service has the intrinsic value of “community” built in it. Among the myriad of activities we participated in today, we began with community service in one of Miami’s prominent graveyards. I personally contributed by raking leaves around the graves and disposing them in garbage bags. When looking back on the morning, however, I don’t necessarily think about the physical work, but rather the symbolism behind it. I worked with people I hadn’t previously spoken to, and by fusing two rakers together and two bag holders together, this service in itself helped to create a small community for myself. It wouldn’t have been as significant if we hadn’t worked together to accomplish the task. By starting the trip facing death, I am more encouraged to enhance life.

Later in the day, after basking in the sun for a little while, we were confronted with a speech by Doreen, a speaker from the organization faces of the homeless. To keep things brief and light, her story basically resembled the reality of an episode of Law and Order: SVU, except that her story took place over thirty years rather than a single hour. After hearing the horrific story, and asking many questions, my immediate thought was what am I going to do about this? There were so many deeper concerns, thoughts, and frustrations that overwhelmed me. No one should ever go through what this woman went through. Although, I am glad I heard this story, because it was just the piece I needed to inspire me for the rest of this week. Her story helped explain the reason why I am here.

Beyond all of the ice breakers, beautiful weather, and delicious meals, this trip is about making a difference to both those we are helping and also to ourselves. How can we help them and how can helping them help us individually? This day was full of questions, full of sun, and full of fun. It was a fantastic beginning to what I believe will be a very meaningful week.

Day 3

Another early morning and chilly weather had our energy level low as we boarded the bus to head back to Allapattah Middle School. While we were all excited to be continuing our work, we needed a serious enthusiasm infusion. Upon our arrival at the school, the CityYear staff greeted us with the spark of energy we needed. Our morning warmup, though we were reluctant to get moving, was fast-paced and got us active. In an odd twist, the “Peel the Banana” exercise got us laughing and smiling. They had us go through motions of peeling, chopping, smashing and eating bananas, and had us ending off dancing around “going bananas.” It gave us the drive to get out and work, as silly as it sounds.

We got engaged in a large variety of jobs, helping to beautify all areas of the school. While some groups painted the walls of the school, started to reorganize a storage room, the Montreal and Delaware group got busy repainting the basketball court. The old and faded court lines were making for a rather somber athletic environment. We used some bright colors, blue and banana yellow to be specific, to give the court some new character. As the morning went on, we had the good fortune of watching our hard work culminate into a visible change in the school. The colors kept our spirits high, and kept us motivated to work harder and harder to make the school increasingly beautiful.

After lunch, half of the group went to Dunbar Elementary School to have a field day with the students. We organized three stations; math bingo, educational jeopardy, and some outdoor games to keep them active. The outdoor games got not only the kids, but also the Hillel students, running around the field, and ended with us being out of breath. Getting engaged with the elementary students on that competitive and entertaining level created a personal connection between the groups. The educational games allowed the Hillel students to watch the elementary students engage with their studies, and allowed us to get an inside look at the educational system.

Our students left the day’s activities with a new connection with the community they are volunteering in. We got the chance to see a real change at Allapattah and forge concrete links with students. This real change created powerful discussion over dinner and among the student campuses, who also managed to create meaningful relationships between each other. We ended the days feeling empowered and prepared for another day of work, though exhausted from the work we have already done.

Daniel Etcovitch, Hillel Montreal

After waking up ridiculously early, we were on the road by 8:00 a.m. Our destination: Allapattah Middle School, where we will spend the rest of the week with City Year, dividing our time between the aesthetics of the campus/building, and tutoring the students. In the morning, the Hopkins crew was teamed up with Broward, and we were assigned the task of repainting the basketball court. It was cold, with the wind dragging down the temperature even more, but it was cool to see our project come together into a noticeably nicer court.
After lunch, we had the privilege of hearing Rabbi Leonid Feldman, the first Russian to be ordained as a rabbi in the United States. He spoke about the question asked and answered by the book of Genesis: Am I my brother’s keeper? He related it to the Jewish quest for social justice, and the fact that it took generations of familial betrayal – Noah and his contemporaries, Abraham and Ishmael, Isaac and Jacob, Jacob and Esau, Jacobs twelve sons – before Joseph finally forgives his brothers and answers the question in the affirmative; as a people, we have an obligation to fight for our brothers and sisters. Rabbi Feldman linked the Biblical story to his own background; as a dissident to the USSR, he was imprisoned and was released thanks to the persistence of the worldwide Jewish population to support the “illegal” Jews of the Soviet Union.
When his speech was over, a panel of City Year workers answered questions we might have about the program, and it seems like a valuable and interesting approach to improving the American educational system. When that was over, we were put into small groups, which were each assigned a class to assist. In my case, I was paired up with a sixth grader named Chastity, and was told to teach her about proportions in fractions – the planned lesson for tomorrow. It was rewarding to work with her and accomplish my goal, but at the same time it was disheartening to see people with such fewer educational advantages that I had and continue to have. It makes me respect City Year even more.
We were rewarded at the end of the day with a night out on Lincoln Road, a cute shopping area in Miami Beach. So far, this trip has been a lot of work, but also a lot of fun. I can’t wait to see it through!

AWB 2012 Miami Begins

After a long day of planes and bus rides, we finally arrived at the hotel by the University of Miami Hillel. We were so excited to finally get to meet all of the wonderful people that we are going to spent the next week with.

Once we were all settled in at the hotel, we headed over to the UMiami Hillel for a pasta and meatballs dinner. Personally, the rugelach was my favorite part! Everyone started talking and doing “Jewish Geography”, and it turns out that we really are all connected in one way or another.

After dinner, we went outside to do some icebreakers. This led to a lot of laughs and getting to know each other, and the group became more comfortable around each other. As much as we wanted to stay and learn more, it was time to go back to the hotel to rest up for the busy day ahead of us.

Today, the first official day of the trip, has been quite eventful so far. At 9 A.M., we loaded the buses and headed over to a local synagogue, Temple Israel of Greater Miami. We played some games (ninja, anyone?), and then headed over to a cemetery. We learned a little bit about the history of the cemetery and about Miami, and then were split into groups. We grabbed shovels, gloves, rakes, rags, and buckets of water and split up around different areas of the cemetery. It was interesting to learn different things about the people who were buried there, and to see the different areas. We weeded, raked, and cleaned, and we felt a true sense of accomplishment once we were done.

After cleaning up at the cemetery and washing our hands, we went back to the synagogue and enjoyed some lunch. Well it’s time to get back to the program! Thanks for following the blog!

With love,

UDelaware Participants

Reflections by Hillel at Binghamton

Update to Parents

Posted by: Rabbi Shalom Kantor on Sunday, March 27, 2011 at 9:22:07 am | Comments (0)

It has been an amazing week from the hours of service that we preformed in the morning recreating the Northwest Boys and Girls Club with paint, new benches, murals, tables to the special afternoons we spent with the children of the Kendall Boys and Girls club in the afternoon. Each and every student on this trip made such a difference and added immeasurable amounts to our community. We ended the week with a beautiful Shabbat with some much needed and deserved relaxation and reflection on all that we had accomplished.

As our students return home we asked them all to make some sort of commitment to continuing some of the work or incorporating the lessons of the week into their lives and their insights into how they wanted to do this were beautiful and moving.

I (Rabbi Shalom) look forward to many more adventures with our students as we continue to build our own community, our connection to our heritage, and work together to make the world a better place for all of humanity.

We will be up loading pictures to our web site within the next week and hope you will check back to see the actual work that we all did.

Until then blessings and L'chaim

Rabbi Shalom Kantor

Our Last Day

Posted by: Michael Weinberg on Tuesday, April 5, 2011 at 8:48:16 pm

Yesterday was our last day working with the kids at the Boys and Girls Club in Coral Gables, and honestly even though we are going to the beach today, I would rather go back to the Boys and Girls Club and work with the kids I’ve interacted with. No one wanted to leave, and everyone I talked to agreed they wanted to come back. Probably the hardest part was saying goodbye to the kids that I didn’t have time to help that day that I helped in the past few days, since I was with other kids that I had been helping; as I was leaving, a kid I worked with the day before named Sebastian looked at me and asked me if I could help, and I had to say I was leaving. This was like a recurring theme for me; each day before we left, groups of kids would come up to me and ask for help with all their work, and when each day I had to leave knowing that there were dozens of kids that I could easily help with just a few more minutes, I would pretty much wait until the last minute to go outside to the debriefing.

A few things I really liked: the smiles on my kids’ faces when they figured something out on their own or when I taught them tricks to make homework go faster, when Caroline told me she wanted to run an animal shelter and work at the Vet’s office when she grows up, when Daniel (a kid) beat Daniel (an adult) in pool, and when I saw much of the completed work we’ve done. Some of my kids live lives of relative privilege, however not all of them do, and in both cases, I feel I can make a difference in their futures by sharing insight and experience from my life, as well as helping them understand the relevance of their homework. But for now, it’s 86 degrees outside, and I have no choice but go to the beach; I suppose I could stand to hang out in Miami beach for a few hours!

Day 3: Reading with kids

Posted by: Nicole Richards on Tuesday, April 5, 2011 at 8:55:03 pm

Today was our third day of service and our second day working with the children at the Kline Boys and Girl’s club. While I was excited to continue my service work, I couldn’t help feeling very uneasy walking into the club. On Tuesday I’d been paired with a seven year old named Gabriel. My first impression of him was that he is a sweet faced young blonde with a bit of a trouble-making streak in him. However, as the afternoon progressed, I realized that of all the children I’d interacted with, this child closest fit the definition of “at risk youth.” He spoke of fights and other things that are highly inappropriate for a seven year old. His way of showing off to his friends was by insulting them. It was pretty clear that his ideas of fun will warp towards drugs and fighting as he gets older. Today I learned that he is a year behind in school because, as he nonchalantly told me, “I get bad grades”. Additionally, he “loves violence.”

Most troubling was the way he sensed that adults do not have a lot of confidence in his abilities. I think he has just as much potential as any other child there.

I left today feeling even more mixed then I had the day before. When reading with Gabriel, I found myself getting frustrated with his lack of enthusiasm to the point where I couldn’t help but wish that I could just read the story to him. This thought, and deciding to work against that thought, reminded me why I am here, on this trip, in the first place. Other adults have not been giving Gabriel a chance, and probably would have given up and read him the rest of the story in order to get it over with. But I know what it’s like to have the academic adults looking down on you; it’s an awful feeling. I believe in Gabriel’s potential, and I also believe he does not believe in his own potential, and I refuse to be yet another adult letting him give up on himself.

Reflections looking back

Posted by: Jeff Steinberg on Sunday, March 27, 2011 at 9:19:28 am

Over the past few days I have had the opportunity to spend time with a young boy at the Boys and Girls Club of Miami. A typical visit has consisted of reading with him, playing games, and generally trying to learn more about his origin. Even though I shared three afternoons with him, it still was not enough to reach out to him in a way I had hoped.

Today, however, I read a book to him that related very well to this entire trip as a whole. The story was about an impoverished fisherman who had saved a fish, who had in turn granted him a wish. The fisherman asked the fish to provide him with a bigger house. Ultimately, the wish was granted, but the fisherman was not pleased, as he asked the fish to keep improving his lifestyle. A few wishes later, the fisherman had a large enough house and plenty of food for him and others, but could not become satisfied. Eventually, the fish became so insulted that he took everything away from the fisherman, even the worn down hut he had originally lived in. The fisherman realized that after all of that, he just wanted his old lifestyle back.

Basically, this story reminds me of our society today. Many privileged people take what they have for granted and get carried away with materialism. The societal norm, unfortunately, is to always one-up the people around them, whether it’s driving the fanciest car on the block or being the best dressed out of a group of friends. It bothers me that people tend to lose sight of community and selfishly think only about themselves. This book is a great example of someone who wants more without even needing more.

On this trip, I have realized that everything I have is a privilege that I should feel lucky for, while many of these kids at the Club do not have the same opportunities that I had growing up. Instead of being selfish and always asking for luxury items, we should focus more on the necessities. The fact of the matter is, there are underprivileged people in the world, and I bet the homeless out on the street do not appreciate those individuals driving around Mercedes Benz’ while being left coughing in the dust. Even though I feel that I didn’t really impact the boy I had mentored, I feel that I learned so much more than I thought I would through this experience. With privilege comes choices, and it is up to us to decide the right choices.

Day 2: Building our souls and making a difference

Posted by: Alysia Siegel on Tuesday, March 22, 2011 at 10:57:43 pm

March 22, 2011 – Miami ASB

Today was one of those days that was good for the soul; the kind that just fills you up. We started the morning with some old fashioned manual labor. I really liked what we were doing (stretching canvases) because I had learned how to do that in the painting class I took back in Binghamton, so I felt like I was able to share some of my first hand experience with the rest of the group. I enjoyed the second half of the day even more. We went to another Boys and Girls Club to actually work with kids. I helped a 12 year old boy named Adrian with his homework. At first when one of the teachers assigned me to help him he said, “I don’t know why she thinks I need help. I can do my homework on my own and I don’t need anyone else”. In response to this apparently difficult attitude I said, “I know you can do it but why don’t you explain your homework to me”. In this way I was able to bring him to realize maybe I could help him out a little bit. It felt nice to see him let me in this small way. Adrian seems like one of those kids who are a bit of challenge but only need a little extra time with things for them to come around. He seemed surprised that a bunch of college students from New York would come to spend any amount of time with them. He even said to me, “I wouldn’t do that”. I just tried my best to share some things about myself with him as I was helping him with his spelling and math homework. Maybe I did have some impact on his day as he asked if we were coming back tomorrow and quietly said perhaps he would see me then. I wonder about the impact we will have long term on these kids but I take comfort in the fact that they also will have an impact on us which we will always have. I’m excited for another day like today and I hope I get to work Adrian again in the afternoon so we can continue learning from each other.

Day 1: Welcome to Miami

Posted by: Nathan Shapiro on Tuesday, March 22, 2011 at 10:56:37 pm

Tonight, we listened to a Faces of Homelessness Panel. We listened to several speakers who had experienced poverty and homelessness and how they were able to recover from these experiences. One of these speakers discussed how she had run away from home as a youth and had never been motivated to succeed in life. She said that if “one person had told her to go to college, she probably would never have gone to jail.” I realized that sometimes all it takes it the words of one person to make a difference in someone’s life. I think that it is this fact that makes my experience here meaningful.

Nathan Shapiro

Day 1: Welcome to Miami

Posted by: Lauren Nevidomsky on Tuesday, March 22, 2011 at 10:55:51 pm

Monday, March 21, 2011:

The experiences I had today really opened up my eyes. The day before I left on this trip my mom and I dropped hundreds of dollars on shoes. Then, on the way to the airport, I complained to my parents how some people don’t even have $5 on them when we are at school. I never dealt with poverty before this. Today I met with senior citizens who might only be eating one meal a day, a meal that they aren’t even providing for themselves. It’s just a weird experience. I can’t wait to see what situations I will be thrust into next.

Day 1: Welcome to Miami

Posted by: Jacob Schwartz on Tuesday, March 22, 2011 at 10:50:22 pm

Monday, March 21, 2011:

Our 72 person group walked into a JCS meal for the elderly and began to mingle with the 60+ year olds who were there. Some of them were poor, this being their only meal of the day, but some were not; they were just there for the company. I walked up to a table with three men who were probably in their 70s or 80s. “Do you speak Hebrew?” one of them asked, in hebrew. “A little,” I answered, also in hebrew. He was of medium build with blonde hair and a mustache. He then proceeded to tell a bunch of risqué jokes involving Israeli soldiers and American girls, along with some serious advice about volunteering in Israel. He was funny and charismatic, making my experience at JCS fun and memorable. I got up to serve the food and by the time I was done, the man had left.

Jacob Schwartz

Our Boots Are On Fire!

We learn from the Torah numerous values and guidelines we should live our life by. We are taught especially in Pirkei Avot to acquire yourself a teacher, make for yourself a great friend and judge people favorably. The other day working at the Boys & Girl's club I was blessed to witness all three. Everyday we acquired ourselves a teacher, learning from the students we worked one on one with and from each person on our trip. I am grateful to have spent time with one specific scholar who told me that we were similar than I thought. When I asked him to explain further he pointed to my Israel bracelet and said, "I am Jewish, too. I've been to Israel." My face lit up as the child continued to finish his homework and I was impressed by the connection a young eight year old could make to a faith he perhaps did not practice continuously at home. Although I do not belong to a specific University on this trip, I've made for myself some wonderful friends. This trip brought people together from all over the country forcing people to leave their comfort zones. As the days progress our stereotypes and preconceived notions of the children and ourselves have started to diminish. So as we continue to help improve a small part of Miami, we learn that we cannot do it all. however, there is no better place to being to improve the world than with ourselves.

ASB Miami Thursday March 24, 2011 Kent+ Group :]

Today we continued working at the NW Boys and Girls Club. The Kent Plus group finally got to work outside under the beautiful Miami sun. Some of us painted cubbies and book shelves while others worked on their carpentry skills building benches. Today's work was a clear indicator of the tremendous strides our entire ASB Miami group has made working along side City Year for just three days. It truly staggers the mind when we came to the realization of how much people can accomplish in their charity efforts. Especially when their diligent organization and overwhelming sense of group dedication and motivation is as evident as it is in this group of volunteers.

Later in the day, we spent our last afternoon with the children at the Kline Unit of the Boys and Girls Club. It was a very bittersweet goodbye but many of the volunteers developed meaningful relationships with some of the children. We may even have the opportunity to continue communication through a Pen Pal system! Whether we helped/talked to a kid for 5 minutes or an hour, we truly believe we've made a difference in their lives and each of us has learned something from interacting with every child.

Group discussion for tonight was particularly touching for the people in our group because we talked about privilege and the ladder of charity. We took a survey that evaluated the level of privilege in our lives. We also discussed varying definitions of privilege and how accurate they were for specific contexts in addition to how they can be applied to our everyday lives after this trip. It was a good time for personal reflection about gratitude and realizing how people who are more privileged in life should always pay it forward.

Illini Take on Miami - Day 3 :)

When we were seven years old, we were taught to give Tzedakah, the Jewish value of giving charity. At the time, we may not have fully understood it, maybe even taken it for granted, but every Sunday we would show up at our various religious schools with our change.

As the years went on we learned more and more about ways we can help the world through "tikkun olam" and always connected it to our Jewish roots.

As we find ourselves in a community of fewer resources than many of us are used to, we feel pride in being surrounded by so many amazing people who grew up with the same Jewish values.

Today, as well as the last few days, have been filled with numerous moments, both touching and enlightening. In the mornings, we've been working at the Northwest Boys and Girls Club. We've talked about how it takes a community to raise a child and here we see first-hand a community coming together to makes things better for hundreds of children.

Our group continued a project that a different group had started yesterday. We traced inspirational quotes as well as motivational signs on about 20 canvases. the quotes included, "If there is no struggle, there is no progress" by Frederick Douglass and "Reach for the moon. Even if you miss you'll land amongst the stars."

These quotes will be something that children can look at everyday for years to come and hopefully, can encourage them to continue their love of learning and always keep a positive attitude when it comes to school.

Before dinner, we were fortunate enough to get the opportunity to listen to Rabbi Feldman, a Rabbi from Palm Springs, come to speak to us about how our week relates to Judaism. Among the amazing concepts he spoke to us about, one that stood out to us was the fact that word Hebrew translates to mean the word alternative (as in alternative spring break).

This connected us back to our Jewish values that we learned when we were little and really helped us connect the work we're doing and relive the lesson we've been learning all along -- Tzedakah!

Ashley Abramowicz and Rachel Segal

Hillel at Davis and Sacramento - Reflection from Tuesday, March 22

One of our favorite moments of the day was visiting the Holocaust memorials in Miami. After the physical part of our day was over, before we went out to enjoy our night, we went to see the memorial. It was really moving. Many of the members of the group have been to Holocaust memorials in other parts of the world, but the one in Miami was impacting in a different way. It was a visual representation of the 6 million Jews who perished in ghettos and camps during World War II. The visual representation of the people truly invoked strong emotions. It almost seemed as if the statues were going to move. They were extremely realistic. And to see so many names on the wall was just insane.
The rest of our trip so far has been about creating a positive environment and keeping a good energy and the visiting. So far, we have enjoyed everything, but our favorite part has been working with the children. Getting to actually meet the people in the community that we were working for was motivating and a lot of fun. Even in such a short time, a lot of the kids bonded with the Hillel students.

Miami, Day 1

We started our day by having breakfast as a group downstairs in the hotel. Then we loaded up the buses and went on a forty- minute drive to the Senior Care Program, where we spent the morning with senior citizens. When i say 40 minutes I mean it was supposed to be 40 minutes... But after a medical glitches and quick pit stop at the local family clinic we were finally on our way. Once we got to the Senior Center the students and clients got an instrument and we all introduced ourselves through a name game. A lady who was 104 years old even sang to us. Then we sang karaoke for them including songs like "I Will Survive" which in hindsight may have been a bit off-color for the centogenarians in the audience. We also had time to share our stories with the elderly, despite the language barrier of Spanish and English. Then we went to a local park and ate lunch with a side of tanning! Then we drove to visit an after-school program in Liberty City. There, we heard Alison Austin, the CEO, talk about The Freedom School and the importance of giving back to society and helping the impoverished communities. Then we learned a little "harambee" and the"good job" cheer that we sang with the students. If nothing else, the afternoon offered further proof that white jewish kids got no rhythm but a lot of chutzpah. After a fun afternoon, we got on the bus to University of Miami Hillel and had some excellent Kosher pizza for dinner. We heard stories from the "Faces of the Homeless" program, a branch of AmeriCorps. Three people shared their personal accounts of being homeless and how they rose above it to become strong members of society. Then we separated into our respective schools to reflect on our day and what we thought about poverty, giving back, and volunteering. It was overall an emotional and inspiring day full of fun and laughter!

Aimee Epstein

Pictures!

Reflections

Yesterday we started off the day by going to Nora Sterry Elementary School in inner city Los Angeles. We split up into small groups and began our projects for the week as we tried to better the schools playground area. Within these groups some painted, sandpapered wood, or knocked down an old wood fence. My group, The VanGoughs, started painting the word "Welcome" in many different languages as an entrance mural for the school.
After eating a brief lunch we moved to Palms Elementary School to assist them in their after school program. We enjoyed helping students with their homework, playing outside sports and talking with them and learning about their backgrounds. I connected with a young girl who wanted to play a different game. We got a huge group of students and volunteers together and played a big game of kickball. The students were so enthusiastic about the game and were commenting on how they have never played so long because it was never this fun. They all were so positive and happy to be playing. What I loved was the fact that they all had really great attitudes even though the team I was on was losing badly.
Other volunteers learned things from the elementary school students such as step dance moves and new games. After spending a few hours at the school we went to have another great dinner at Hillel where we had some yummy tacos. We also had a guest speaker who talked about public education in the state of California. We then broke into campus groups and the Michigan State students had a great discussion reflecting on our great experiences so far. We had a great time working with the kids and doing service and we cannot wait to finish our projects and play with the kids more this week!
-Taylor Lederman

Day 3 Reflections

After a night of reflection our team of volunteers came back to the schools with more enthusiasm, lingering questions, and excitement to start another great day of service. We arrived at the work sites determined to integrate our freshly defined knowledge of what kind of impact we’d like to make and better ways to accomplish our goals.
The day began with our now ritual physical training, surplus water, and sunscreen. The biggest obstacle of our day could have easily been the harsh California heat, rising to around 75 degrees. Although, there was some physical and mental exhaustion the team was able to overcome it with positive attitudes, teamwork, and great conversation. Many of us were able to become a little closer to the city year staff and got a really great inside look on the great organization that planned our trip. As we came closer to finishing the second half of our day we finally able to see some finished products of our hard work. It’s only our second day working on our projects, but they already look great and we feel so proud of our hard work.
The afternoon spent with the kids in the after school program gave us a really fun break. Many of the kids remembered our names and faces and couldn’t wait for us to start playing games with them. It’s really exciting to see all of the relationships that have already formed between the kids and the volunteers, but also scary to think of only having one more day together.
As we filled on the bus to head back there was a lot of excitement for the upcoming night in Santa Monica. We all enjoyed shopping, good meals, and some therapeutic beach time. As a group we all had a great time star gazing, feeling the ocean, and getting to know each other better. To wrap the night up, a few of us grabbed some food at IN IN OUT, the most popular fast food chain in Cali, and made aware of the seriousness of Jay- walking. It’s been an amazing time with a nice mix of service and sightseeing, and I look forward to another great day tomorrow.
-Emily Berlin

What's Next?

Terrified…Lost…Enthusiastic…Motivated...These are only a few emotions that can begin to describe how some of us ASB’ers are feeling. This trip has been taken to a whole new level, and it’s safe to say I think some of us are even at a loss of words. As I’m sitting here reflecting upon this overall experience, and our last day with the children at Palms Elementary school, I really am having trouble…It’s difficult to verbalize all of the thoughts and emotions encompassing my brain. I have never, since the day I’ve wanted to be an educator, experienced the emotions I felt yesterday. Some often say that “goodbye” isn’t forever, and with these children I’d like to say it isn’t for me. But as we hugged our kids, turned our backs from names being screamed, and wiped the streaming tears off of our cheek, one can’t help but feel that forever, is forever. I know, along with each and every person on this trip, that the service we have done for these children, and this community the past week, has left an imprint. Some of those kids did not want to say bye to us, and probably couldn’t fathom the fact that we would never be back again. But the question is, what do we do now? We’ve volunteered with these inner-city schools for 4 days, and made a world of a difference. Now, the future is in our hands. We’ve seen how poorly run these schools are, and the lacking beauty of the school’s appearance. From the picnic tables we worked our butts off to create, to the beautiful murals we painted on the walls, these schools have already been transformed. As we sat there on Thursday saying goodbye to the kids, and stood there Friday looking out to all of the beautiful work we created, there were no words. That final day of service almost made me feel like I was hit by a truck; I was lost and confused, yet extremely motivated and FIRED UP! It’s our job as not only future educators, but humans in this world, to create what’s next to come. Together, we need to do something that will make a difference for forever. After all, ASBers, haven’t we learned that together is better than alone?
-Lucy Keller

Final Touches

Today started out just like every other workday of our trip. Unfortunately it was our last day at Nora Sterry elementary school. We started off with PT with our amazing city year crew. We then split up into our work groups and began to finish all of the projects we started at the beginning of the week. My group was fortunate enough to work on the project we started on our first day. We finished putting together the reading benches, re-stained the picnic tables and painted checkerboards onto them for the kids. We then were able to walk around and see all of the amazing projects that we as a group were able to accomplish in such a little amount of time.
Then, during lunch we had a closing ceremony that wrapped up the entire week. City year and Hillel leaders spoke and thanked the entire 100 college students for the work they put in this week. Also, the principal of Nora Sterry spoke to us about how appreciative she, her staff and all of her kids were for what we did to improve their school. We then were apart of the kid’s fire drill towards the end lunch. There, some of the kids came up to the microphone and spoke to us and thank us for the work that we did. It was great to see how their smiles and hear how happy they were that we did this for them.
At the end of the day we headed back to the hotel to get ready for Shabbat. We met up in the lobby of the hotel and headed to Hillel with everyone for services and dinner. We were able to choose between services or discussions that were being held over topics that related to our work this week. During dinner, we were able to meet tons of Jewish students from UCLA and talk to them about our experiences over the past week. After dinner we split up into different groups and had a boundary breaking activity where we learned a lot about other people on the trip. This was a very good way to end the night and close off the week as we entered into Shabbat.
-Jenna Pickman