Disaster recovery: students in a Gulf Coast community service program get a chance to make a difference after last year's hurricanes.

Disaster recovery: students in a Gulf Coast community service program get a chance to make a difference after last year's hurricanes. HURRICANES RITA RITACardiology A clinical trial–Randomized Intervention Treatment of Angina–comparing the outcome of PCTA vs CABG in Pts with angina. See Angina, Angioplasty, CABG, Percutaneous transluminal angioplasty. AND KATRINA left many on the Gulf Coast struggling to regain a sense of normalcy nor��mal��cy?n.Normality.Noun 1. normalcy - being within certain limits that define the range of normal functioningnormality and forward momentum. But they also gave students at a number of school districts the opportunity to get involved with their communities and learn math, science, ecology, English, and even art in the process. The Gulf Coast WalkAbout walkabouta dummy syndrome in horses; usually pyrrolizidine alkaloses caused by crotalaria poisoning. Affected horses walk compulsively, head press, appear blind and walk into objects. They do not respond to usual external stimuli or commands. program began after Jim Kielsmeier, president and CEO (1) (Chief Executive Officer) The highest individual in command of an organization. Typically the president of the company, the CEO reports to the Chairman of the Board. of the St. Paul St. Paulas a missionary he fearlessly confronts the “perils of waters, of robbers, in the city, in the wilderness.” [N.T.: II Cor. 11:26]See : Bravery , Minn.-based National Youth Leadership Council, flew down to see what he could do in the aftermath of Katrina. After a lengthy tour last October, he believed that a service-oriented program would get students involved in the rebuilding, and give them valuable education to boot. State Farm Companies Foundation agreed and created a number of grams that were awarded to five districts: Moss Point and Picayune Picayune(pĭkəyn`), city (1990 pop. 10,633), Pearl River co., S Miss., near the Pearl River and the La. line; inc. 1904. in Mississippi; Capdau Charter School and Sophie B. Wright Charter School in New Orleans New Orleans(ôr`lēənz –lənz, ôrlēnz`), city (2006 pop. 187,525), coextensive with Orleans parish, SE La., between the Mississippi River and Lake Pontchartrain, 107 mi (172 km) by water from the river mouth; founded ; and Port Arthur Port Arthur, city, CanadaPort Arthur:see Thunder Bay, Ont., Canada.Port Arthur, city, ChinaPort Arthur:see Lüshun, China. in Texas. In all, 12 schools participated, with each site putting together teams of between 100 to 130 students working with teachers, college students, and adult volunteers. Named after the rite of passage rite of passagen.A ritual or ceremony signifying an event in a person's life indicative of a transition from one stage to another, as from adolescence to adulthood. to adulthood for Australian Aboriginals, the WalkAbout program allowed student groups to walk through their communities, documenting in writing and photography the needs of residents. Along the way, they learned project management skills, created newsletters, wrote letters to local legislators, and did math and science tasks related to the hurricanes' aftermath. "The WalkAbout represents the tangible expression of how young people can be contributing forces in effecting change in their communities," says Kielsmeier. "There's a lot of rhetoric about people as assets, but what we needed was a demonstration of that idea." Well-Rounded Effort At the Port Arthur district, students took field trips to botanical gardens A botanical garden is a place where plants, especially ferns, conifers and flowering plants, are grown and displayed for the purposes of research, conservation, and education. to study ecology, but also made blankets for elderly residents at a local nursing home and put together "hurricane bags" with toiletries toi��let��ry?n. pl. toi��let��riesAn article, such as toothpaste or a hairbrush, used in personal grooming or dressing.toiletriesnpl → art��culos mpl de aseo(= and other necessities for homeless shelters. "The kids were really creative in their ideas about what residents needed," says Eddie Fowler, site coordinator and Port Arthur Alternative School Administrator. "For example, they had the elderly list their medications, and they typed them up and laminated the lists so they could have them in case of another storm." In connecting with older residents, students also learned dance, golf, cooking and sewing, says Natasha Soularie, a teacher at Port Arthur Alternative School. "It was such a well-rounded effort," she remembers. "They enjoyed themselves, and did writing and science at the same time." Academic opportunities came from studying storm patterns, taking soil samples and discussing the impact on wildlife, says Fowler. Both the community service and the educational sessions helped students to work through their frustrations and feel better prepared if another storm were to hit. "Personally, I'm still living in a FEMA trailer The of this article or section may be compromised by "weasel words".You can help Wikipedia by removing weasel words. , and everybody in this area is still impacted in some way," Fowler notes. "Working on the WalkAbout let kids hash out some of their feelings while getting more connected to the community." Helping Neighbors Some projects seemed minor but+ had a big impact, says Brenda Lewis, site coordinator for the Moss Point school district The Moss Point School District is a public school district based in Moss Point, Mississippi (USA).In addition to Moss Point, the district also serves the communities of Escatawpa and Helena. . For example, a popular bed and breakfast had nearly lost its garden, and students decided to pitch in one day and help when they learned the owner had cancer. As they approached with gardening tools, the owner had tears in her eyes, Lewis says, and many of the students did as well. "They realized then what it took to make a community run, and how it felt for people to help each other," she notes. "The recovery process seems so overwhelming sometimes, but it feels more manageable at this level of understanding one person's needs and meeting them." In creating opportunities for students to pick projects, the WalkAbout fostered a sense of leadership, Kielsmeier adds. That type of empowerment created an attitude that let them tackle academic lessons with the same gusto that they did in creating newsletters. "With every type of activity, there was critical thinking," he says. "They thought about how to put the community back together, and that created active learning. It's a very enlivened en��liv��en?tr.v. en��liv��ened, en��liv��en��ing, en��liv��ensTo make lively or spirited; animate.en��liven��er n. educational model." Districts are already planning on doing more WalkAbouts next year, and many have noted that they expect the lessons learned over the summer will extend not just into the next academic year but linger into the future as well. "There's a greater sense of connection, and we've seen that the kids who participated really benefited," says John Spence of the Texas Learn and Serve Commission, which acted as a fiscal agent for the Texas districts. "They were able to learn academic lessons, but also to get greater awareness about their communities, and how they could help." www.nylc.org FOR THE BIRDS When the students of Moss Point went on their Walk About to assess community needs, they noticed more than damaged property and recovering families-there were also plenty of insects. After chatting with the local Audubon office, they learned that the increased pests were caused by the lack of birds, which hadn't resettled Adj. 1. resettled - settled in a new locationrelocatedsettled - established in a desired position or place; not moving about; "nomads...absorbed among the settled people"; "settled areas"; "I don't feel entirely settled here"; "the advent of settled into their habitats. The students decided to build birdhouses, using wood from the many privacy fences that were broken by the storm. In putting together over 60 bird-friendly houses, the students learned about carpentry, mathematics and environmental issues. Tourism came into play during the discussions as well, when the students learned that the area had been a major birdwatching birdwatchingbird n → ornithologie f (d'amateur)area before the hurricane. There was also art education, says Mozart Mark Dedeaux, the district's coordinator of arts integration, since the students painted the houses with different mini-murals. "The students really felt like they were helping the community in a number of ways," says Dedeaux. "They learned a great deal, but they were also excited to be making a difference." MAKING A DIFFERENCE A sampling of the projects undertaken by the students and teachers of the Gulf Coast WalkAbout: * Weekly newsletters shared across the Gulf Coast with other WalkAbout sites and local communities * Helping younger children plan and plant gardens * Collecting oral histories from local residents * Repairing bus stop benches * Creating family evacuation plans in the event of another hurricane * Learning about general emergency preparedness Elizabeth Millard is a freelance writer based in St. Louis Park, Minn.