Let's see, I haven't been posting much on the blog, my house isn't quite as clean as usual, I haven't made it to the grocery store lately, I'm much more worn out, and I actually have to set an alarm.
What does all this mean?
I've started my job!!!!!!!!!!!!! I'm now 30 hours a week busier then I was last month, and boy does that make a big difference.
I am working in the Youth Center with the School Age Program. My job is pretty much an official hall monitor :) But I actually stay very busy besides the rare 2-3 minutes here and there when everyone is in a classroom! The School Age Program (SAP) usually has around 58 children age 6-12 we pick up everyday after school. We walk them to the Youth Center and they meet with their counselors in the classrooms. My job is to verify we have every child and if we are missing anyone I go through a list of sources to try to find them. 2 weeks ago we couldn't find a child and the school had no record of him in an after school activity and the mother had no alternative plans for the child. So I went with my boss looking for the child around the base (a very small portion of the base where the schools are located), but I seriously felt like the Trunchbull from Matilda on a search for a run away child...searching through the rows of the library, the school, etc. We did find the child, he walked himself over to the Youth Center (bc he's not a regular and didn't know) and was playing in the gym until his karate lesson.
But anyway. After everyone is accounted for and signed into the program we begin opening classrooms for the kids to go in and out of as they please. Each child has a magnet with his/her name on it and they are free to move between classrooms whenever they want by putting their name on a board designated for that room. I stay in the hallway and open and close rooms, allow a certain number of spots in each room, ensure counselors are in the rooms, handle hallway issues, keep an eye on the older kids (9-12) who are allowed to hang out in "Big House" without a counselor, call parents about accidents, deal with issues between children if a counselor is having trouble, and speak with parents when they arrive to sign out their children.
It is quite an extensive program and while there are not a lot of rules allowed to be enforced in the facility because of Air Force regulations (i.e. can't force the children to stand in a line...yes, I'm serious), the program is quite structured. We have a Homework and Science room that is for Homework time the first hour, it is also full of science experiments, computers, a pet rabbit, and all kinds of stuff. Fun Zone has legos, games, a Wii, and other toys. Creative room has puppets, instruments, a stage, "house" materials, etc. Art is full of arts and crafts stuff. Big House is for the older kids with a pool table, computer, foosball, Wii, PS2, keyboard and instruments, and an arts and crafts area, and Cafe where snack is served every day for an hour after school. Each room has a curriculum for the week with a project that gets completed at some point during the week. And the kids have free reign to move between rooms as they please as long as there are spots available on the board.
So it has been a bit crazy and my first week was tough (well, my first week on my own after the girl who trained me left) But I've now finished my third week on my own and it is getting easier and easier every day. Actually easy isn't quite the word, but it's getting better and better every day. I have learned almost every child's name which helps tremendously when you're trying to speak with them or get their attention in the hallway among 15 other kids. And I'm working on matching children with parents when they come to pick them up, I probably have a little more then half of them memorized, so not too bad. And along with that I'm working on ensuring the kids who leave for instructionals (karate, ballet, gymnastics, piano) make it to their programs on time and keeping up with the sign out sheets for kids coming and going, that's getting better and better too. So it's just a slow process and I have to give myself a bit of slack, but it's coming along.
I really love the group of girls who work in the SAP, actually at the Youth Center in general. They have all been very welcoming and helpful, which is exactly what I needed! We've all signed up for a ski trip with Outdoor Rec on March 20 that I'm really excited about. Hopefuly it goes through since our boss just informed us TODAY of a workday on that Saturday to get ready for the upcoming inspection. But hopefully we can work around it and put in our hours on another day. There are 7 of us going (out of about 15 employees in the facility!) I have also started playing intramural volleyball with the girls and we have our first game next week. We are the "Bruisers", yep our name pretty much sums us up. And it's not our opponents we're bruising :)
So things are good, I'm busy, but things are good.
Thomas (Taylor's brother) FINALLY made it in town on Monday afternoon. I'm really thinking his trip just was not meant to be. He was supposed to arrive Saturday morning, but between flight cancellations, re-routings, and delays he was 2 1/2 days late and without luggage. Taylor had to pick him up and drive straight up to Austria for their ski trip. Since being in Austria, Thomas lost his wallet (luckily he has his debit and credit cards and driver's license still with him), Taylor wiped out on the slopes and lost his wedding ring in the snow, and the next day his brand new skis he got for his birthday (in January) were stolen from outside the lodge. Yeah, this was a VERY pricey trip! They come home tomorrow, please pray they don't wreck the car, that's what's next at this point!! Phew. My cousin Megan is our next visitor and I hope her trip is a bit smoother. At least in June a snow storm shouldn't be a problem, in fact, snow won't be a problem at all since there will be no skiing :). And along with Meg my brother might be coming over to visit at the same time! I'm SUPER, SUPER excited and really hope he can make it over!!!!
Alright, over and out.
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