This blog is created, written by, and edited by students of Duluth Middle
School, Gwinnett County, GA. under the direct supervision of Mr. Jermaine
Shakespeare

Sunday, February 27, 2011

Open Hands: Saturday, Feb. 25

I've helped out with Open Hands before; I actually organized a trip there with a group of colleagues of mine from the Teachers As Leaders academy I'm a part of (Side note:The Teachers As Leaders program is designed for teachers who wish to become leaders in their schools and their communities, while remaining in the classroom. Each year, 30 to 35 teachers are chosen to go through the program, which includes two retreats and four day programs, each examining leadership and community needs). OH provides nutritional meals to thousands of subscribers to the program.  People who receive help through OH are usually the elderly, the physically disabled, and large families on financial assistance. 
To make a long story short, you basically just stand there in one spot working on an assembly line dumping the food into trays, packaging, and sealing it for delivery to homes all over the city of Atlanta.  I was worried about taking a group of middle school boys to something like this because of the long hours of standing in one spot.  I'm a teacher; I know how boys are constantly up and out of their seats playing, wrestling, dancing, and getting into trouble.  However, everything went much better than expected. Well, maybe except for the fact we arrived about 45 minutes AFTER we were supposed to be there thanks to a little inattentiveness on my part, a some GPS "funny-acting", and signature ATL traffic and road closures. We literally drove past our destination 3 times before we found a clear route to get there. Anyway, I don't want to blabble for too long so here are the pics:



The guys washing up. OH is very particular on food safety so they have a knob-less sink; you have to pump a pedal down below to get running water.
 


On the menu: Tilapia filets, mixed veggies, and rice, I think.
 


After just an hour and 30 minutes, we prepared 798 plates of food and now it's clean-up time.



Left to right: Me, John David aka "Chuckles" because he laughs so much, Mekhi the entrepreneur, Rashad the future HBCU man, Phillip the engineer, Xander the teacher, and Raekwon Mr. Alabama A&M, maybe.


Finished off the day at Five Guys. We heard they have the BEST burgers....


I didn't realize Phil's pants were so low until I uploaded this pic. I'll get him next time.

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4 comments:

  1. slimFebruary 27, 2011 at 8:34 PM

    Great job youngbrothas!Perserverance is the key to success. Mr. Shakespeare and youngbrothas couldnt be a s-ccess without "u"!! Stay with the program.

    ReplyDelete
  2. AnonymousFebruary 28, 2011 at 11:32 AM

    Again, I'm so very proud of what you are doing with the young fellas. Keep in mind, regardless of what happens over the years in their lives, they will always remember you. The fact that you took the time out to be with them and teach them about life outside of the classroom is priceless.

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  3. cheyenneFebruary 28, 2011 at 2:00 PM

    Great outing! I am sure they learned alot from this experience. You are really teaching them to help others and be appreciative. Keep up the good work :)

    ReplyDelete
  4. Ms. DorseyFebruary 28, 2011 at 4:20 PM

    Love it!!! It's really fascinating to me to see "my boys" out there helping others. I'm so very proud of them. They've grown so much under your leadership. :)

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