Thursday, July 23

Today, we had the privilege of waking up at five thirty in the morning. We were at breakfast at six, and it was just as good as yesterday. At six thirty, we left for the Convention Center in order to make our seven o'clock training session. There we learned what we were doing with the kids at the elementary schools we were going to. We then had to wait until nine to be launched. Our bus went to an elementary school called Westwego. There were around forty of us, so half of us went to work with the kids, the other half went to ready textbooks for the school year, which begins in three weeks.
I was in the group that went to work with the kids. Our task was simple. We were assigned to a child, and we read them a story called The Important Book. Then we were to discuss with the child what they believed to be important, and we helped them start their own Important Book. We then were to repeat the process with another child.
We had been told that many kids were at least two years behind in their literacy levels, but I did not fully grasp what that meant until I worked with the kids. My first child was a third grader, and she couldn't even tell me what the correct letters were. Literacy in Louisiana is truly a serious problem.
However, it was a lot of fun. Once they finished coloring, we read them stories of their choice and interacted with the kids in general.
The group that helped sort books for the school year played a crucial role as well. The school up to that point had been unable to find volunteers for that one tedious task, and it would have cost them money they did not have otherwise. It also helped to maximize the kids' learning time.
We finished about midday, and our entire bus enjoyed Subway sandwiches by the Mississippi River. Our bus took us back to the convention center, and from there we walked back to our hotel, and for the first time, had a little down time.
Later, we walked the the Riverside walk (on the way Jeremy almost died when a car nearly hit him! It was intense!) and took in the sights and looked into the shops near by and enjoyed some dinner.
Then we headed for the last mandatory event, which was worship at the Superdome. Like yesterday, we heard some really inspiring speakers, including one all the way from Africa! When that was over, we headed to the Community Life at the Sheraton and partook in a crazy Christian dance. It was AWESOME.
We get to sleep in about two more hours tonight. Stay tuned for tomorrow- we're doing workshops!
-Marisa