Intern of the Month- Blake Burkhalter
Blog questions for Intern of the Month:
Name: Blake Burkhalter
Hometown: Dallas, TX
College: Mountain View Community College
Major: Children’s Ministry
PT Site: Wesley Rankin Elementary
Why did you want to serve as an intern at PT?
I love working with kids. I have worked with kids for a very long time and saw I had a passion.
What is the most important lesson you have learned from working with children/youth?
Show them you care. They tend to love you when you show them you care. Kids love to talk to someone and know they are listening.
What is your favorite part of the Project Transformation experience?
My favorite part of the Project Transformation experience is knowing that I have made a difference in the life of the children and parents, but also feeling that they made my life that much better as well.
If you could tell one story from your experience at PT – what story would you tell?
There was a little girl who came in late in the school year. She didn’t want to talk to anyone and she was on a lower level grade wise. She didn’t want to talk to me and would always tell me “no”. When I connected with her two younger sisters, ages 2 and 4, she started to open up. I finally got her to start spelling words out loud with the other kids. Now she talks to me everyday!
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Personal Investment
This year, Wesley Rankin gave me the opportunity to take some of my youth on the college trip to Austin which is usually only for 10th grade and higher students. The younger kids were excited to go on the trip because they always heard the older kids talking about it. We left on a Friday and stayed for two nights. During that time, we visited the University of Texas and the State Capitol, but the best time for me was the bonding that occurred after everything else was done. As a site coordinator, I plan curriculum and help with homework, but I believe one of the most important job duties I have is being a tangible, real life, positive role model to these kids. I feel that lives have a much higher potential to be impacted through people you have close relationships as opposed to those whom we don’t know personally. During that trip, I was able to strengthen my relationships with the youth. Good advice from a stranger is just good advice, but good advice from a close positive role model has the potential to be life changing. I know that the encouragement and direction I give them every day at site is so much more heart-felt now. I’m glad I’m able to take part of the lives of these youth!
Larry Randolph
Wesley Rankin Site Coordinator 2011-2012
Tough Love and Rap
November 15, 2011, 8:55 pm
Filed under: 2011-2012 Year Round Interns, Wesley Rankin Community Center
Filed under: 2011-2012 Year Round Interns, Wesley Rankin Community Center
One thing that I have to remember when working with youth or children is that many times the fruit of my labor won’t be instant. Great things don’t happen overnight, and, most times people don’t change instantaneously. This is my second year-round term at Wesley Rankin. I know, after many conversations, that many of these kids have struggles and problems going on in their lives that even adults would have difficulty handling. I have one student, in particular, who doesn’t know his parents, lives with an elderly guardian, and whose brother has been involved in gang activity. I know he’s hurting, and the way he expresses his emotions usually gets him suspended at school or in trouble at home. Many times he just runs away.
Over the course of this school year, I’ve had to show this kid some “tough” love. I’ve had to chase him down twice after he tried to run off and almost had to expel him for his behavior. After each of these incidents, we would have a man to man talk. I had to let him know that what he was doing was unacceptable and that he was headed in the wrong direction in life. However, all of these conversations ended with a reassurance that we loved him here at Wesley Rankin and that we wanted the best for him.
Outside of Project Transformation, I do positive music. One day he asked for a cd, so I gave him one. He listened and talked about it all next week, and then, last week, he wrote a rap about being drug free for a project at school! He was so excited to give it to me and I was glad to hear it. Here is the final version:
Instead of doing drugs – you can get your degree
Go to college – Or just live your life free –
Cause there’s a lot of ways to be drug free
Here’s one way – Come follow me
You can rap – you can play on your PlayStation
You can go outside – you can sing – you can camp
Get inside – go on Facebook – text your homies
Say what’s up bro – what you doing –
Come to my house
And just chill out
That’s all the ways to be drug free
That’s all for me
Larry Randolph
Project Transformation Site Coordinator
2011-2012
Nothing Excellent comes Easy
Though this is my third year to intern with Project Transformation, this is my first year as a site coordinator. I realize now that it is harder than it looks. As many familiar faces walked into the youth program on the first day, I realized that they looked to me to lead the program. I realize that it was up to me set the tone and the atmosphere of the program. I started off the week very energetic, however, by Thursday of the following week, I felt as though I had exhausted all my energy. As I filled out the necessary paperwork, I noticed that a new kid had entered the program each day. Attendance for the youth program, which has always been a struggle with Wesley Rankin, was growing. Kids were choosing to come to this program when there were other choices out there.
On Wednesday of this week, during the program, I looked out the window and saw a big group of middle school and high school kids fighting. Police came eventually and they all ran away. I am happy to say that none of the youth in my program were involved.
Though I know the work sometimes is difficult, I know that nothing excellent comes easy. I pray that God continues to give me the strength to lead a program that transforms the youth in this West Dallas community.
Larry Randolph
Site Coordinator 2011-2012
Randi Spencer
September 23, 2011, 2:15 pm
Filed under: 2011-2012 Year Round Interns, Wesley Rankin Community Center
Filed under: 2011-2012 Year Round Interns, Wesley Rankin Community Center
Name: Randi Spencer
Education: Southwestern University, Art History, graduated May 2011
Site Placement: Wesley Rankin Elementary Site Coordinator
Top 5 movies: My Fair Lady, The Sandlot, The Great Mouse Detective, Hamlet (Kenneth Branagh’s), The Thomas Crowne Affair
Top 5 albums/bands: Keane, Noah & The Whale, Tegan & Sara, Mika, Andrew Belle
4 books that have changed your life: The Irresistible Revolution, Surprised by Hope, Whatever it Takes, Ways of Seeing
2 random facts about you: 1) I didn’t learn how to ride a bike until college 2) Coffee & Diet Coke keep me alive.
Best concert of your life? N’SYNC concert in the 4th grade- my first concert!
What do you love about Project Transformation? Working with PT is bit like entering Peter Pan’s Neverland….not to say it’s without responsibility but that adventures are never far between and the kids end up teaching us more than we could have expected. It’s a place where I have and haven’t grown up, and that’s fantastic.
What appealed to you about this particular internship? The year-round internship offered me the opportunity to spend a year considering my next post-grad enterprise while simultaneously doing meaningful work.
What is your personal goal for this year? To find something joyous every day.
What is your goal for the children and youth at your site? Beyond the obvious goals of academic progress, I’d just like for the kids at Wesley Rankin to know their worth and belovedness remains, regardless of their academic ability.
Larry Randolph
September 22, 2011, 2:47 pm
Filed under: 2011-2012 Year Round Interns, Wesley Rankin Community Center
Filed under: 2011-2012 Year Round Interns, Wesley Rankin Community Center
Name: Larry Randolph
Education: University of North Texas – Dallas, General Studies with Mathematics emphasis, fall 2012
Site Placement: Wesley Rankin Youth Site Coordinator
Top 5 movies
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Forest Gump
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Avatar (the blue people)
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The Five Heartbeats
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Lion king
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Glory
Top 5 albums/bands:
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Between Two Worlds – Trip Lee
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Rebel – Lecrae
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The Adventures of B.o.B. – B.o.B.
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Graduation – Kanye West
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The Expo – C. Burris and MiC Larry
Top 5 restaurants:
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Chipotle
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Chipotle
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Enchiladas
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Olive Garden
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Chick-fil-a
2 random facts about you
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My job before Project Transformation was working at the Dallas Zoo in the butterfly exhibit
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I have 5 siblings
What do you love about Project Transformation?
I love the opportunity to work with youth in underserved communities. The experience and information that I’ve gained while working here are invaluable and will help me in my future goals of working in these communities.
What appealed to you about this particular internship?
The opportunity to be Christian role models to youth in underserved communities.
What is your personal goal for this year?
I hope to make an impact at Wesley Rankin that continues even after I leave. I hope to be able to set a standard and a program at Wesley Rankin that Site Coordinators after me will be able to continue even when I’m not around.
What is your goal for the children and youth at your site?
“Give a man a fish and he will eat for a day. Teach him how to fish and he will eat for a lifetime”. I hope that I leave a legacy with my youth that will lasts a lifetime.
Everyday Miracles
Mark 10:15
”Truly, I say to you, whoever does not receive the kingdom of God like a child shall not enter it.”
I work at the elementary site at the Wesley-Rankin Community Center in West Dallas. One of the biggest joys but also biggest trials for me is leading the daily Bible Lesson for our youngest kids, the “Dinosaurs” (our 1st and 2nd graders). Many of these kids have not yet had much experience with Bible stories, or with talking about spirituality. Because they are so little, and have such short attention spans, I’ve had to get creative with how I conduct daily Bible lessons.
This past week, after weeks of trying to get the kids to pay attention, and really get something out of Bible lessons, I finally made a breakthrough. Our lesson plan for the day was to tell the story of when Jesus walked on water. The other groups read the story in its text form to their kids, but I knew that my little ones would lose interest in a simple reading quickly. Thinking on my feet, I began with, “It was a dark and stormy night…”
Immediately their eyes shot to me like I just announced that they would be receiving free candy. I continued with my haunting story of the howling winds and the waves that I imagined made the miracle of Jesus’ nighttime stroll on the water seem more eerie. As I went on, the majority of the kids did not move their eyes from me, fascinated by this scary story. I then told about Jesus walking on water, just like it was a normal sidewalk. The kids were amazed. Their eyes shone with wonder, and with possibility. I imagined that they were thinking, what if they too could have walked on water?
This caused me to think about how casually I’ve viewed Jesus’ miracles. How many times have I just thrown out examples of miracles, raising my hand in Sunday School and saying “loaves and fishes, calming the storm, healing the sick,” in the same tone as saying, “two times two is four.” I have stated them like facts, as pieces of knowledge that one just has as a Christian, and doesn’t question. When looking at the faces of my Bible lesson group, I knew that these past reactions to Jesus’ miracles lacked in the awe and the wonder that I should experience in the face of the amazing acts of Christ. As I looked at the awe-struck eyes of these kids, I too felt awed at God’s power and mercy. If we have a God who can walk to us on water, reach out to us, and say, “Do not be afraid,” I feel that in the face of all of life’s struggles and challenges, I don’t have to be afraid.
A few weeks prior to this lesson, a child asked me, with great frustration in his voice, “WHO IS GOD?” I did the best I could to explain, asking the other kids to chime in. They spoke of God’s creation, and God’s love. Clearly exasperated with our answers, this child said, “Well, WHERE IS HE?” I struggled to explain a God who is both in heaven, and on Earth, living in his Kingdom wherever his followers are. This child was not satisfied with my explanation, and said, “Ugh! I wanted to SEE him!”
Looking around at my captive audience that was filled with amazement at God’s miracles, I thought back to this discussion. Whether they realized it at the time or not, my kids were seeing God through this story. He was here, right in front of them, holding his hand out while standing on the water, telling them to not be afraid. This was a moment of Project Transformation’s purposeful ministry; at this moment, God was using me to show these kids His power, His mercy, and His amazing love. I am so blessed to be a part of this wonderful ministry, for many reasons, but most of all, because I get to be someone who shows who and where God is to a wonderful group of children.
Stacey Porter
PT Intern 2011
Southwestern University
New Images
Living in a community of believers for the last six weeks
Within the first week of Project Transformation, I met believers from many and various backgrounds that had developed their own, unique perspectives on God. Their goals were not the same as mine, but they all
Now, just past the midway point of the summer, I can’t imagine loving any of my youth more than the other. They are equal in God’s eyes, and dearly loved in mine. I have earned their respect and received a good
Not to say that the frustrations have ended, because we live in a world of sin and conflict. Every day God challenges me with a new situation, challenges my heart, my contentedness and peace in Him. But His joys
Genesis 1:27a – “So God created man in his own image,…”
Living in a community of believers for the last six weeks
has radically transformed and expanded my perception of God’s Kingdom and who a true follower of Christ is. Coming from South Carolina, a state smack-dab in the middle of the so-called “Bible Belt,” with more churches than I could ever hope to count, I had developed a false understanding of what constitutes a Christian. I witnessed hypocrisy, immaturity, and overall apathy from this generation of believers; and I honestly considered my style of Christianity – one of
passion, zeal, and constantly seeking after more – to be the gold standard of the Christian walk, one that everyone should aim for and that I was called to impose on the rest of the world.
Obviously, God had other plans for me.
Within the first week of Project Transformation, I met believers from many and various backgrounds that had developed their own, unique perspectives on God. Their goals were not the same as mine, but they all
pointed toward heaven and the God who created it. Their worship was not my norm, but it was undoubtedly heartfelt. And they were not Evelyn Maris, but rather Lexie Vriend, Kaci Brasher, Anica Leitch, Larry Randolph, Andrew Wilson, Erin Morris, Rico Dickerson, women and
men called by God to embody only one tiny and set apart, holy, aspect of God.
Of course they shouldn’t be the same as me! God cannot be limited.
By week three, I had learned to accept God’s infinite personalities within the bodies of my PT friends. God’s grace is abundant, and I knew that He expected me to extend that same grace to His creations. After that realization, it was beautiful and effective in strengthening my friendships on SMU campus.
Then I received a new command: to love my youth unconditionally; to not show favoritism at Wesley-Rankin; to form mentor relationships with the difficult to like; to view each one as a distinct creation of God, much as I had done with my Christian friends.
As the youth arrived each morning with all their hurt,frustration, and attitude, however, I found this expectation foolish. How could I focus on each kid equally, with the same level of concern and sympathy?Shouldn’t I exert the most energy on the youth who liked me and sought me out withtheir questions? I enjoyed teaching Aaliyah how to play viola, straightening Ali’s hair and offering advice about relationships, drawing pictures with Israel and gradually bringing him out of his quiet shell. Wasn’t thatsufficient?
Absolutely not! And God called me on it. Because by the end of week four, He had shown me the depth of the youth that projected negative emotions. Fausto actually loved to read, but didn’t want to seem too interested for the sake of popularity. Elda was passionate about dancing and wanted me to learn her style, not teach her mine. Sebastian gravitated toward me because I was positive in my guidance and discipline of him. Nathaly, normally quiet, simply wanted to sit with me and venture careful questions about middle school crushes.
Now, just past the midway point of the summer, I can’t imagine loving any of my youth more than the other. They are equal in God’s eyes, and dearly loved in mine. I have earned their respect and received a good
deal of grace that I should have shared with them from the beginning.
Not to say that the frustrations have ended, because we live in a world of sin and conflict. Every day God challenges me with a new situation, challenges my heart, my contentedness and peace in Him. But His joys
are new with each morning, and I know that my summer will not be in vain, at the very least, because I am living out His will for this season of my life.
Whatever I do for the least of these – and the Wesley-Rankin Community Centerrests in one of the poorest neighborhoods in West Dallas – I do unto Him. I am serving God, quite literally, and I possess the same unmistakable joy as I did when I arrived in Dallas five weeks ago, with one important change: my joy has increased.
Evelyn Maris
PT Intern 2011
Wofford College
Interns of the month: Ashyle and Angelica
April 1, 2011, 9:38 pm
Filed under: 2010-2011 Year Round Interns, Casa Linda, Wesley Rankin Community Center
Filed under: 2010-2011 Year Round Interns, Casa Linda, Wesley Rankin Community Center
Name: Ashyle Horton
Hometown: Grand Prairie, TX
Marjor: Education
PT Site: Wesley Rankin Youth
Why did you want to serve as an intern at PT?
I felt I could make a difference in a child’s life.
What is the most important lesson you have learned from working with the children and youth?
I’ve learned that things don’t always go as planned. You really have to be flexible when working with children and youth.
What is your favorite Project Transformation experience?
To me, it’s building meaningful and lasting relationships with the youth and the other interns.
If you could tell one story form your experience at PT, what story would you tell?
This is my second year at PT, and I’ve seen so much growth in one of our youth named Radien. Last year he was very shy and would not interact with the other youth. Now I see him coming out of his shell. He is talking with others and getting involved in activities. Seeing him become engaged makes me so happy to realize how far he has come.
Name: Angelica Dominquez
Hometown: Dallas, TX
Major: Education/English
PT Site: Casa Linda UMC
Why did you want to serve as an intern at PT?
Serving children is my passion. Serving as an intern at Project Transformation has helped me reach my goal of helping children.
What is the most important lesson you have learned from working with the children and youth?
All your time and dedication has to be with the children no matter how difficult that may be sometimes.
What is your favorite Project Transformation experience?
I love helping kids not only with their homework but also with reaching their goals. Project Transformation has taught me that so many kids need good role models, and I want to be one for them.
If you could tell one story form your experience at PT, what story would you tell?
As few weeks ago during playground time, one of our girls was sitting on a bench all by herself. One of her classmates named Karla stopped playing her game and went over to the girl and asked her if she wanted to join. I was amazed that she had the courage to stop doing what she was doing to include someone else. It takes courage to do the right and Karla showed hers that day.
Mad Fun at Wesley Rankin
March 1, 2011, 10:26 pm
Filed under: 2010-2011 Year Round Interns, Family Fun Nights, Wesley Rankin Community Center
Filed under: 2010-2011 Year Round Interns, Family Fun Nights, Wesley Rankin Community Center
