Intern of the Month Amy Hunt
Name: Amy Hunt
Hometown: Huntsville, TX
College: Dallas Baptist University
Major: Counseling
PT Site: Oak Cliff
Why did you want to serve as an intern at PT?
I was initially interested in serving with PT because this organization is about serving the underserved.
What is the most important lesson you have learned from working with children/youth?
Children do really listen to adults. They aren’t all always stubborn and rebellious. Relationships with the kids determine much of the flow of the program.
What is your favorite part of the Project Transformation experience?
Honestly, it is meeting and teaming up with others who have a similar, but diverse, interest in doing the same work at Project Transformation.
If you could tell one story from your experience at PT – what story would you tell?
I actually saw one kid improve. She is one that comes in with plenty of homework. I mentioned to her the connection that if she did some of her homework during school, she would have more time to play here. Next time I saw her she said she had finished her homework at school. It was great to see what I say does make a difference.
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Opera Day!
So were off to a fresh start! Here at Oak Cliff, we are preparing ourselves for success! Since the last time we spoke, our home has become a blank canvas, where we discover who were are in this space and who we can become. We are learning about all our interest and being exposed to even newer ones! This week we were joined by The Dallas Opera or TDOinaSuitcase. We learned all about opera and what it consists of like a stage director, actresses, and actors. We even got to experiment with making sounds like a sound director. I’d say the best part was when were able to create our mask, after we learned about the opera show La Bohème. We also learned about the libretto and a toy maker who delights children with toys! We loved the idea so much that we decided it would be the theme for our next Family Fun Night. All of the interns and students will dress up as their favorite toy or video game character. We are really excited about this event!
Antoine Girard
Site Coordinator 2011-2012
Reflecting on Positive Changes
In the midst of the hustle and bustle of an after-school program, sometimes we can forget to reflect on the program and its impact. Since Family Fun Night, I‘ve taken the opportunity to reflect on the many changes that have taken place. It’s amazing to glance back at everything that has happened over the course of two short months and being able to recognize the differences being made within yourself, the individual lives of the children and families you come in contact with, the churches and the overall community that you serve. The experiences are countless at Project Transformation and I feel incredibly blessed and encouraged to have the opportunity to serve Project Transformation and the many communities involved.
Andrea Gordon
Project Transformation Intern 2011-2012
Finding my groove
When is the last time you did something for the first time? As I enter my last term with Project Transformation, I feel confident I’ve been groomed for this position. I am no longer, a reading volunteer, no longer an intern, or reading coordinator, but Oak Cliff UMC’s site coordinator. Wow, so what’s next? After learning about how Project Transformation works summer after summer, its time to create. To put in the Oak Cliff area my perspective on education and art, and I felt completely welcomed at my new site. Already familiar with everyone in the office, I feel like you can never be an expert, there’s always something to learn. Whether it is my team’s dreams for programming, my executive directors favorite lunch meal, or ways to express myself. Oak Cliff has personality. My site is in the basement and the Project Transformation office is on third floor and from there to the top level, this church is working, always creating, and I’m inspired to do the same and try to continue a legacy of servant leadership.
Antoine Girard
Oak Cliff Site Coordinator 2011-2012
Intern of the Month: Andrea Gordon
Name: Andrea Gordon
Hometown: Garland, TX
College: University of North Texas
Major: Development and Family Studies
PT Site: Oak Cliff
Why did you want to serve as an intern at PT?
Project Transformation has countless opportunities for growth and leadership working with children and youth within the community. I am very passionate about working with children in the community and wanted to gain leadership opportunities. At PT, the opportunity to impact and empower children and youth is at your feet, while also having the opportunity to grow as an individual and a leader.
What is the most important lesson you have learned from working with children/youth?
Be prepared. ‘Expect the unexpected’. When working with children and youth, I’ve learned that you have to be prepared for anything to come your way and you have to be ready and willing to make the necessary changes in order to adapt. Being able to adapt and work with those changes is something that I’ve learned to handle.
What is your favorite part of the Project Transformation experience?
As of right now, my favorite part of the experiences at Project Transformation is building relationships with the children and team members and also getting the hands-on experience with the after-school program. I’ve been excited to come to work each day and see what’s in store for the day.
If you could tell one story from your experience at PT – what story would you tell?
Watching the children do a music video with puppets to Justin Bieber’s song “Baby”. We had the children perform a puppet show to one of the stories we had read to them earlier in the week. After they finished with the story, they did a music video for Justin Bieber’s song “Baby” with their puppets. The kids had so much fun with it and it was so much fun to be a part of. I think it was a great bonding experience between the children and the team.
Antoine Girard
Name: Antoine Girard
Education: Howard University, International Business, Class of 2013
Top 5 movies: Back To the Future, Nightmare on Elm Street, The Warriors, The Sandlot,
Top 5 albums/bands: The Smiths, Chris Brown, Handsome Boy Modeling School, Tribe Called Quest, Bob Marley
4 books that have changed your life:
The Other Side Of Paradise by F.Scott Fitzgerald
Things Fall Apart by Chinua Achebe
My Name is Asher Lev by Chiam Potok
The Prince by Machiavelli
3 Websites you visit each day: Netflix, Tumblr, Southwestern Airlines for random flights
2 random facts about you: I’m seriously attempting how to read hieroglyphics and speak Spanish.I love riding in airplanes, especially taking off.
What do you love about Project Transformation?
I love the investment we have in the communities. How we’ve become a organization that impacts a real and consistent change. That we have grown within ourselves, our children becoming youth, our youth becoming l.i.t.e’s , and our extremely impressive group of l.i.t.e.s becoming interns.
What appealed to you about this particular internship?
I wanted to use my last term with americorp and pt effectively. To try my hand at site coordinator and use all of my experience gathered over the years towards leadership.
What is your personal goal for this year?
My goal is to put my best foot forward, and push towards success. Push towards the bigger picture of the kids finding themselves and God, and in turn walking faithfully with God on the path my personal life is taking. Understanding the opportunity that life presents in detours.
What is your goal for the children and youth at your site?
I know the children and youth at Oak Cliff will be groomed for success. I want the space to be an open environment for community and creativity. I’ve seen the talent and smarts that come from this site and I trust this year will only build upon the love that’s instilled here.
How may I serve you?
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One of my greatest joys is being there to address the needs of our kids, interns, and volunteers. Once the clock hits 9:00am, I get to open up the doors to our kids and youth and start a new day with them in expectant joy.
The best advice and training I’ve received thus far has been ‘intentionally.’ Throughout each level of our program, whether it’s about programming, cooperative work with interns and LITES or relationships between the church and the families we serve, building in relevant and reachable goals has really boosted our program’s impact as well and united our team’s effort.
Stephen Cottingham
PT Site Coordinator 2011
With a Little Help from my friends…
Project Transformation is truly a wonderful program for the community. As a first time intern during the summer day camp program, I am grateful to be a part of Project Transformation. It has only been a week and I have quickly begun reaching for PT’s high expectations by evaluating my performance towards site activities, adjusting to the late nights of preparation and early mornings of inspiration, and also allowing Christ to do His work within me to become a better servant for His Kingdom. I have had previous work experience before, although, never have I had to transform so rapidly within a short time span allotted to myself as well as my teammates. During our week of training, my team and I had to divide the components that we would be in charge of for the summer, I chose TAG which is short for Talk About God.
Despite my unfamiliarity with working with and for youth, I was anxious and excited that the youth would immediately engage into the topics that I picked out for them. Unfortunately, the first two days at our site, the youth were unresponsive to my method of teaching. Even though they understood what I was talking about no one was actively engaging in the discussions that I planned out for them. The minutes felt like hours and I was about to drown in despair. One of my team members, Jonathan Siemens, suggested that I should seek some help in engaging the youth’s attention. I immediately went to a second-year intern who was familiar with TAG time with youth, James Runnels. James helped me see that my topics were great, but my method of getting the youth’s attention needed work. I needed to get on their thinking level, be flexible, and be very humorous. One thing that James told me was, “The main key to connecting with youth is being able to relate to them.” With those words, I was determined to reach my youth on their terms and not mine.
I took all that I had learned from James and applied it to TAG Time the third day at our site in Oak Cliff. TAG Time that day was a big hit! Sometimes I could not get the kids to stop talking. They were engaged, I met them on their level, and they learned more about Christ that day than the days before. I am gaining more understanding on why God allowed me to be here at PT. There are more God-given abilities inside of me, inside of all of us. Never be afraid to ask for help and to receive it. You never know when God will use that servant to make a servant out of you.
Lamary Brown
PT Intern 2011
Texas Woman’s University
LUNCH liNE
Students had a wonderful time participating in a mock up lunch line activity. This week’s theme is “Money Management” and with Monday’s emphasis on nutrition, we set up this activity in which students were put in a situation where they needed to make both healthy and economical choices of which foods to buy with the play-money we allotted them. The kids had a blast and wanted to do it over and over again!
Stephen Cottingham
Christmas Time at Oak Cliff!
