Intern of the Month Destiny Harris
Name: Destiny Harris
Hometown: Dallas, TX
College: El Centro College
Major: Education
PT Site: Pleasant Mound
Why did you want to serve as an intern at PT?
I heard about the organization and what they were doing to make a difference in the kids’ lives and I wanted to be a part of that change.
What is the most important lesson you have learned from working with children/youth?
As long as you are open with kids, they will be open with you.
What is your favorite part of the Project Transformation experience?
I love being around the kids and talking to them and their parents and learning where they come from.
If you could tell one story from your experience at PT – what story would you tell?
Every day the kids fight to sit with me during lunch and one boy in the program hugs me every day when he comes in. It warms my heart to know the kids really love me and I’m making a difference.
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On the Right Track
The first 2 weeks in the after school program have been awesome. I really missed the kids from the summer program, and I am happy a lot of them returned for the after school program. My favorite part of the program is when one of my 4th graders, Hector, runs up and gives me a hug every day when he comes in. I think I’m doing something right if all the kids show love. This just proves I’m on the right track in my life. Teaching is what I want to do and being around the kids just makes me even more excited to be a teacher. I’m glad I found out about Project Transformation because it is showing me my real passion and what I want to be out of life.
Destiny Harris
Project Transformation Intern 2011-2012
Adrienne Dawson
Name: Adrienne Dawson
Education: Hendrix College, 2010, Biology
Top 5 albums/bands: Chrisette Michele, India.Arie, The All-American Rejects, Jazmine Sullivan, Lecrae
Top 5 restaurants: Chipotle, Chick-fil-a, Cheddars, Chili’s, Razoos
3 Websites you visit each day: Google, The Weather Channel, CNN
2 random facts about you: I smell my food before it, I love bright colors!
Best concert of your life? Lecrae
What do you love about Project Transformation? The opportunity to work with families and kids
What appealed to you about this particular internship? The mix of ministry and working with kids
What is your personal goal for this year? To grow confidence in my leadership abilities
What is your goal for the children and youth at your site? To learn how to serve versus being served
Collision of Hot Wheels
I love when God places someone in your path at just the right time. It is like when I was little and I would get hot wheel cars and crash them into each other. Those hot wheel cars always ended up alright, but if that were to happen in real life and with real cars then they could never be the same. That is what has been happening to me ever Tuesday night at worship service. God’s ideas have been colliding with my ideas and I can say it has changed me. Every service has been unique but they are unified in the fact that they expand my view of worship. We have had services ranging from outdoor worship that focused on God’s gift of nature all the way to this week’s service, the first ever hip hop service. Because I am so gangster (not really) I was obviously one of the top choices as a participant. I gladly accepted because I was able to play music and do a reading alongside two of my teammates and friends Larry Randolph and Josh Caraway. Participating was fun by that did not impact me as much as the speaker.
He presented God as someone who gives us the power and the commandment to change culture. He incorporated this idea by using hip-hop as his example. Hip hop was born as an art form in the Bronx, but what was once a local art form is now worldwide. It has changed the way the world is viewed and it has had an impact on society. In that same way God has given us the ability to change society. Throughout the bible this thought is recreated with different characters. Everyone who God calls upon to do something ends up having a huge impact on the culture of the world. Jonah impacted Nineveh and helped recreate a more righteous city. Moses took the slaves and made them into a nation. Noah helped repopulate the earth with people who knew, feared, and trusted in God. Think about every person in the bible and how they have made an impact. This is a crazy idea. We are called to impact our culture. We are called to start something that spreads like a wildfire. We are called to be society changers. The other interesting thing is these were ordinary people just like you and me. They weren’t millionaires and they weren’t famous. Some ran and God showed them another way. Some, like Noah, believed and did like he was told. In the end, the final result was an impact on society.
As he spoke I sat there captivated because I have been wrestling with my role in the world. How can I make an impact? As I thought about this I began looking for examples of people who saw a need in the world and did something about. The first person I could think of was Blake Mycoskie the owner of TOMS Shoe Company. If you are not familiar with TOMS, a pair of shoes is given to a child in need for every pair of shoes that is bought. His abbreviated story goes like this, he was traveling and he saw a need in the world. Kids were living in some of the worst conditions without shoes. So he returned back home and decide to start a company that would provide these children with shoes. This is what I want, to find a need in the world and fill it. What that need is I am still searching but I am sure it will come up. I want to change culture. I want to have an impact. I also feel like this is a human desire that everyone has, even if it is on a small scale. So as you go about your day look for a need. Maybe even write it down. It doesn’t have to be anything huge. Next, find a small thing you can change to positively impact that problem. Your effort could create a change in someone and that person might have a bigger impact later on in their life. You never know. As you think about this idea, I want to end this post with a quote from a very famous person who was a society changer, her name is Mother Teresa. She said, “We can do no great things; only small things with great love.”
Things to think about:
What problems do you see in the world?
What are some small steps you can take to start changing them?
Cool website with ideas of how people saw a need and they used fun to create change:
http://www.thefuntheory.com/
Andrew Wilson
PT Intern 2011
Career Week!
After a few weeks of working with our young campers from South Dallas, we knew that we wanted to dedicate an entire week to Career Exploration, so that is what we did during our third week of summer camp. Growing up, I always remembered having a firefighter visit class, and police officers would stop by, too. We would learn about doctors, lawyers, teachers, even the president of America. For this week, we tried to reach out of the box as best as we could when we explored different careers. On the first day, we introduced the topic and explained what careers we, the interns, were pursuing. The second day, we had two police officers and a sergeant (all three are women who grew up in the area!) come in and talk to the kids. The next day, my teammate Destiny’s mom came in to present about her job as a lab technician. She even drew blood from a fake arm! Finally, a personal trainer (he grew up in the very same neighborhood as these kids – Pleasant Grove!) came in on Thursday to teach the kids about his job. I have never seen these kids work so hard to exercise, without complaining! This last one was the most exciting for me because Ade, the trainer, offered his services for another time during the summer. He explained that he runs a program called Rockstar Fitness, and they hold a week of camp for troubled youth. We are all so excited to see him again!
Project Transformation has been a wonderful experience for me so far. I have gotten to know my teammates very well day after day, and they are such beautiful, young people who are all going to do great things for the world. The kids that we work with are inspiring and encouraging. They are what keep us running on empty, knowing that we only have four days to be with them each week, so we better make it an amazing four days. What I hope for the rest of the summer is to grow even closer with the people I am surrounded by, and to continue spreading God’s love to these children who deserve it so much.
Shelley Gudobba
PT Intern 2011
Bowling Green State
Reflections from A Third Summer of Service
Project Transformation has widened my perspective so much in three summers. I have truly seen myself transform. Now I stand up for my community and roll my sleeves up to better it, not to conform to it. Every summer I walk in a very unexplainable path forward, knowing that I am not complaining about the world around me but am putting my all into the idea that it can be better. Across three sites I have seen kids become comfortable with my teammates and me and give back to us all that we give to them. With different mindsets and beliefs and hidden talents waiting to be used towards the bigger picture, each one of us needing that attention and patience to take our place together, and Project Transformation always saves a spot for you to do that. Not knowing what’s in the future and not looking behind us we all lead and follow deeply seeded love He left for us to share.
Antoine Girard
PT Intern 2011
Howard University
TLC from the Kids at Pleasant Mound
This week was the first week of site at Pleasant Mound. We only had around 16 kids the first two days since most our kids were still in school. Since there were so few kids we were able to form bonds quickly with those children.
While driving to site on Thursday morning I unfortunately was the driver in a one car accident. Luckily no one in the car was injured but it did make for an interesting morning. After towing my car, I rode to site with one of PT’s loving house pastors. When I finally made it to site at around 11:30 our 1st and 2nd graders were taking a water break in recreation. As soon as they saw me, they all rushed over to me to see that I was alright. I was pretty shaken up after the accident, and the concern and affection of the children was very calming to me. I find it amazing that after only one week and for many only one day that the kids could become so attached to someone. I can’t wait to see the strength of the bonds formed over the entirety of the summer.
Josh Caraway
PT Intern 2011
Louisiana State University
December at The Mound
December 28, 2010, 10:10 pm
Filed under: 2010-2011 Year Round Interns, Family Fun Nights, Pleasant Mound
Filed under: 2010-2011 Year Round Interns, Family Fun Nights, Pleasant Mound
December was a pretty eventful month for Pleasant Mound. Not only did we have a lot of holiday programs, but we also had a family fun night, which was indeed the highlight of the month. Family fun night was such an awesome time because it centered on the concept of “The family”. All of the activities we planned were worked on with the kids and their families. Some of the activities we had were gingerbread house building, a Christmas gift relay, and a game called pass the parcel. The kids participated in the activities, but SO DID THE PARENTS!!!! The parents played the Christmas gift relay and it was absolutely awesome and extremely funny!!!!The volunteers, the interns and the parents were absolutely awesome! They helped out so much, with the games and food. Family fun night was awesome!
Adrienne Dawson
You’re Invited to….Family fun night?
I am typically the type of person that only plans events, down to the specifics, but this time was completely different. It’s really strange when everyone looks to you for answers instead of you looking to someone else for the answers to questions. In working with and in organizations I always found myself doing the brainstorming, the planning and someone else made the vision a reality. I was always looking to someone for answers. This at this particular moment in time this was not the case. I was the planner and the one to make the dream a tangible reality.
The event was Family Fun Night and although I heard about it at our beginning of the year training, I had no idea, I didn’t really take it very seriously, I thought oh… the PT office would take care of it, all I would have to do would be to draw up a plan of what I wanted, when and where. Oh did I learn quickly that this was indeed NOT the case. I kind of forgot about the whole deal until my boss brought it up again, this time at the beginning of October. She was saying that Family fun night would be held at the end of October, 28th to be exact. I thought to myself I have plenty of time and then I got what was the Family fun night planning sheet. I began to look at some of the “deadlines” to have things completed and that’s when reality hit. I thought these people really expect me to plan and run a successful CARNIVAL type thing on this date. Of course, knowing myself, that didn’t really stop me from procrastinating. At least I thought in my mind that I was procrastinating. I was actually pretty ahead when it came to the planning parts and making things like invitations and flyers. Hey, I was used to doing simple and less vigorous things. Now when I came to doing large tasks such as shopping for extra supplies, making games, etc I put them off. Before I knew it Thursday Oct.28th was here. For the last couple of weeks I had my kids make decorations for that night. They made things from signs to scarecrows. My interns and my awesome cook helped with decorating, planning, and brainstorming ideas and one of my interns got her parents to donate a piñata to us, which was awesome and a great call on her part because the kids and their families absolutely loved it!
That day we met in the cafeteria and began decorating and before I realized it was 6:00 and parents were beginning to show up. I began to panic because we weren’t finished decorating and all of these parents were showing up. At that moment I began to pray. “Lord please let this family fun night be a success, please let the kids and their families have fun…” and I know that the Lord answered my prayer. We finished decorating and sort got our bearings and then we began family fun night first by eating dinner. I had one of my kids, Abraham, to bless the food and the event and then we started eating. After dinner, we began playing the many games. We had a cake walk, hula hoop contest, bingo, arts/crafts, bean bag toss, put the face on the pumpkin, face painting and the GRAND FINALE a PINATA!!
After Family fun night was officially over, the amazing families of the kids helped us clean up. They helped sweep, mop, take out the trash, wipe down tables, etc. I really love my families because not only are they so sweet, they are always so willing to help. I have to say that God was truly there that night and I am truly blessed to have these kids, the amazing support of their families, and the backing of my amazing staff. God is really teaching me and developing me as a leader because four years, a year, or even 6 months ago, I would have never dreamed that I would be able or would be doing something like this. God is truly and always faithful.
Adrienne Dawson
Continuing Education
