It was time to take pictures and all were ready…but Evan.
He was not ready to pose for the camera and he promised himself he was not going to create a lasting memory in his school uniform.
He left the auditorium crying.
“My mom said she was going to bring me some clothes!”
No one could calm him down.
Then, mom came speeding. She arrived with his white button up and a bow tie.
He walked back into the auditorium, smiling. When he began to smile, everyone began to smile.
During the summer camp, I taught different lessons at the center. One of them was a hands on math lesson. The kids had to build a tunnel together for differnt size balls and then test the tunnel by rolling the balls down. I gave them the masking tape, a bunch of balls and different size tubes. Then I sat down and watched them.
I never got tired watching them and they never got tried building and rebuilding.
Some of the Mary Mitchell Family smiling with Farmer David Haughton.
Farmer David Haughton and his family always give the kids love and have extra patience with them. He and his lovely wife makes it their manner to talk to the children everytime they arrive. We took this picture after he cut a big watermelon for them.
The director of the Mary Mitchell Center shopping with Health bucks along with Mary Mitchell students, Ethan and Gavin.
Mary Mitchell Students buying fruits and vegetables with their health bucks.
In 2009 when my friend went back home to Ecuador, she came back with something for me. She didn’t tell me what it was. I was surprised when I pulled out a wide brim hat.
I remember complaining to another friend that I got a hat that I was never, ever going to wear. I did not see the beauty in the hat and never wore it until, Heidi, my supervisor, assigned me garden duty for the summer. I finally got an opportunity to wear the hat.
It quickly drew compliments out of people. Strangers, family and friends a like. Most of all, the kids adored the hat saying it is the best hat I have in my collection.
The only thing I tell them is about my friend from Ecuador who has great taste.
Every year, well for two years now, the Mary Mitchell has had a health initiative walk. Parents, children and supporters of the center would wake up early on a saturday in the early fall to rally for more healthy choices in the tremont section of the South West Bronx.
In the staff meeting today, I learned that when all 62 counties in New York State were measured and ranked in terms of healthy food, the Bronx was the 62nd! That means we currently are the last to eat and serve healthy food. Heidi, the center’s director, told us about the Bronx Borough president’s (Ruben Diaz Jr. ) new social media hashtag #Not62 to encourage community partners and residents to join the discussion about creating a healthier Bronx.
You can read more about it at http://bronxboropres.nyc.gov/
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