Posts Tagged: Stone Soup

Sixth grade doesn’t change much

October 22, 2012

Sixth grade was such an interesting year for me: super small class (only 5 girls + the boys), incredible teachers, baby brother, and finally an entry in the science fair.  Sixth grade for Juana, Maria, Victoria, and the other students I met at St. Francis Coll is a very different experience than mine was; at the core, however, the similarities outweigh the differences. The day I worked with machetes  began with an opportunity to sit in with classes at St. Francis Coll for half of us …

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All because I asked for a ride home

October 21, 2012

I was in 7th grade, at public school for the first time ever. As if junior high weren’t bad enough already, I switched schools (that should tell you how bad my old school was) into a school where most of the kids had been classmates or neighbors since kindergarten.  Book smarts came naturally to me, but social smarts, maybe not as easily. My home was a 30 minute walk from school.  Most days, I would walk to a friend’s home …

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What do you do after a long day of concrete-making?

October 20, 2012

…You learn that a machete is actually much harder to work with than it appears–pick axes, too, are much harder than I’d ever imagined. The ancient supervisor who was guiding us, showed the teens how to use machetes: to watch him work them, you would think that machetes were simplistic yet sharp.  When I finally put my hand to the machete, I was stymied.  It was awkward and the bending over to swish it as you flicked your arm/wrist quickly …

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What can top concrete? Machetes.

October 19, 2012

Jennifer and me holding the machetes after a day’s work! Thursday (for those of you keeping track) we worked with children in the morning and machetes in the afternoon.  First, let me tell you a bit about machetes. I grew up in a suburban neighborhood in Maryland, just outside of Washington, D.C: one would think that machetes would be few and far between, and yet, we were familiar with them. Ask any of my family members.  There was a day …

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Concrete- el final

October 18, 2012

To wrap up the never-ending concrete story, let me begin by sharing, that as long as this concrete story feels, our day felt longer. After we returned from lunch, the kids huddled and decided whether or not we would proceed and finish with the project: clothes were torn, arms were dry and peeling, construction boots were close to being sucked off of our feet. My hands, albeit bandaged, had none of the damage that some of the other kids did …

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