Yesterday, three of my classmates and I ventured forth from our cozy beds on a dreary Saturday for what we hoped would be some community-building volunteerism. Bolstered by some carbs and saturated fats from delicious breakfast tacos, we set off into the mist for Lanier High School. After arriving at the school, despite the best efforts of whoever was in charge of signage for the event, our hopes of community-building (i.e. interacting with the parents of kids at Dobies) were all but dashed. The school was simply overrun with members of the Greek community--not from Greece, but seemingly hundreds of UT Greek Life's finest.
Thus, we decided to simply suck the marrow out of the afternoon anyway, hording granola bars, bottled water, and the ever-coveted free T-shirt, as we dug in the dirt of the flowerbeds in front of Dobie, delicately at first, and then with increasing vigor as the middle school's band played a couple of songs for us. Unfortunately, that seemed to be the only sign I saw of any actual "local" support for the day's activities. Nonetheless, amidst the occasional squealing at the sight of particularly hideous-looking bugs and the incessant bad jokes, the four of us managed to enjoy ourselves despite the feeling that we were going to leave without what we had come for.
About Me
- BJ
- I had plans for a super-awesome summer internship involving Middle East policy. Those plans went kaput, but I've decided to do what I'd be doing anyway, for personal edification and satisfaction. And fame, obviously.
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LR>>Missed you all at Lanier and Dobie Saturday morning...
ReplyDeleteI went to Dobie after stopping at opening event at Lanier HS. Stayed at Dobie and Rec Center across street until almost 10:30 a.m.
There were about a dozen 2011 Project volunteers at Dobie during the time I was there -- maybe ten or so working on plantings in flower beds in front of the school, and two volunteers working on a planting in back of school next to the portable buildings. Did not see anyone who looked like a parent during the time I was there.
Two young boys did show up during the time I was at Dobie. They came up together and seemed to know each other -- one was on a bike and the other walked along with him. The worked on a planting out front of the school. There were also three youngsters (girls) sitting off to East side of the driveway who may have been Dobie students. But, the never interacted with the volunteers during the time I was there.
I'd guess there were about 100 Project volunteers working across the street at the Rec Center.
Lot's of City of Austin Rec Dept staff at Rec center providing support. There were a few AISD maintenance folks were at Dobie. But, they seemed to have been there to work on the central heating/cooling system in back of building.
Don't know if Dobie participation increased over course of the day, or what 'advance' work may have been done on outreach to school and surrounding, perimeter neighborhood before the Saturday event.
I was curious to see if anyone who looked like members of the school staff (i.e., teacher or other adult) might show up. Not during the time I was there!
Conclusion: don't sure of what to make of Project 2011 as a community service event. Lot's of college students in though not necessarily part of the community early on this one Saturday morning.