Volunteer Post #1

For my first volunteer work, I went to the Tri-City volunteering. Sierra, Alencio, and I got there and Sierra and I had to fill out paperwork and sign a contract before we could start working. We thought that we would be working with the food like everyone else had been, but we got there fairly early. The man who was looking for something for us to do just told us to go to the thrift store and do whatever the woman who was charge told us to do. When we got there she asked who wanted to clean each of the restrooms and who wanted to vacuum. Sierra swooped on the vacuum so Alencio and I had to clean the restrooms. It took us a lot longer than we expected, we each cleaned the restrooms, which were closed to the public for some reason, and we helped each other with the garbage and mopping after. It took us an hour and fifteen minutes just with the restrooms and the woman told us we could go home. As we were going back, there was a bunch of people from our school and a lot more people who were forced to volunteer working with the food.

Next time we go there we should probably get there a little later so that the only thing we can do is the food because I'm sure that is a lot better than cleaning restrooms. All in all, we made the best of it and had some fun. We will probably volunteer there again, as many students from our school do.

Volunteer Stuff Entry #1

Work Time: 2 hours

Commentary
Amanda: In this video, I wanted to show exactly was we were doing while volunteering with FIERCE. I'm sorry about all the "Hey Michael. What're you doing?" in all the videos. I didn't realize how annoying it was. I'll work on that for the next video diary. The wheel barrel omitted such a horrible noise and I am really sorry for making that the first thing you hear in this video. I really did enjoy Michael trying to say "pick axing" and I felt super worried when Denny got a blister on his hand because he used the wrong pick axe.

Michael: This is us spreading compost, pick axing, and training vines.

Commentary
Amanda: I kept looking at the people in the garden and people putting things away. After working so hard, it felt so nice to sit in the shade and feel the breeze. Michael's video diary is in pieces because we had a debate about how much time it had to be and the second time was because he had to take a phone call. I apologize for all the giggling. We were just having so much fun.

Michael: Volunteering with FIERCE. It was super hot that day. Sorry for the derp faces. If I used any language that offended anybody, so sorry.

EDIT: I apologize if the hosting site isn't playing the videos. I'll try and find a better hosting site ASAP - Amanda

Back To Kindergarten

                      
     So…For my volunteer work, I was ready to work at Big Brothers Big Sisters. I already had my interview done and everything. It’s taking them a while to respond to tell me who my match is so instead, I just looked for different volunteer opportunities. It’s actually harder than I thought. I went on volunteer match, like Mr. Speckles showed us, and I found a lot of things I can help out with. A lot of them were actually not as close to where I lived than I thought.  There were two that I was really looking forward to helping out at, but they were in San Francisco, and I don’t really have that great transportation. So after hours and hours of searching, I decided to do my first Reaching for Equity in my little brothers class. 

     I decided to just help my little brother’s teachers after school. Unfortunately, I couldn't actually work with kindergarteners, but I had a chance to look at all their work and remember all the things I used to do when I was their age. I used to help them a lot before, but just kind of stopped.


     When I went in, Mrs. Correia and Stroschein greeted me, and called me "Muddasir's sister". I thought it was kind of funny, but I walked in anyway, and they put me straight to work. First I had to file all the little kids work. It was pretty easy, except for reading their names. I forgot how hard it was to read kindergarteners hand writing. After that, Mrs. Stroschein asked me to put away the "book checks" and see who turned in their books. When I was finished with that, Mrs. Correia asked me to clean the tables. There was, I think five tables, and it took forever to wash off all the marker and glue. I had to spray, then scrub, and dry, and wipe. That took me almost half an hour. After that, I put away the Friday Folders, and helped them make next weeks homework. I had a pretty good time.

    I know I didn't really do much, but I did help some people and I guess that counts. I really like my little brother’s teachers because they are so kind and funny. I think it was also, sort of a bonding time with them. The work I did to help the teachers was really easy, except for washing the tables…That took forever, and really made my arm sore; but it wasn’t bad. But hopefully the next thing I can volunteer for will reach out more to the community. I did have a great time, and wouldn't mind dropping in to help again.