Grade 9 Blogs Service Trip to Mississippi
In what many graduates describe as having been the most transformative experience of their Shore careers, Grade 9 students are on a weeklong service learning trip to work with residents in Glendora, Mississippi. The students post daily blog reflections about their travels and the work they are doing.
The trip, now in its third year, is managed by the Ipswich nonprofit Partners in Development (PID). According to the organization's founder and president Gale Hull, "We are going to a place where the population for generations has felt that their lives have been controlled and dominated by others. There is much entrenched hopelessness, depression, and inertia. We have been entrusted with a huge responsibility. As the pioneers working in Glendora, we are still very much about trust and relationship building."
The students, accompanied by faculty members Walter Morris, Pamela Torres, and Ruth Bauer, work on constructing a house for a family in need, and complete other smaller projects as needed. In past years, for example, ninth graders have cleared brush and repurposed abandoned playground equipment to fill a new play space in Glendora.
At the start of their trip, the students stop in Memphis, Tennessee, to visit the National Civil Rights Museum at the Lorraine Motel, where they absorb some of the history of the important social justice issues they study while in Mississippi and in their history classroom back at Shore.
DAY ONE - Sophie and Wells
Back
The trip, now in its third year, is managed by the Ipswich nonprofit Partners in Development (PID). According to the organization's founder and president Gale Hull, "We are going to a place where the population for generations has felt that their lives have been controlled and dominated by others. There is much entrenched hopelessness, depression, and inertia. We have been entrusted with a huge responsibility. As the pioneers working in Glendora, we are still very much about trust and relationship building."
The students, accompanied by faculty members Walter Morris, Pamela Torres, and Ruth Bauer, work on constructing a house for a family in need, and complete other smaller projects as needed. In past years, for example, ninth graders have cleared brush and repurposed abandoned playground equipment to fill a new play space in Glendora.
At the start of their trip, the students stop in Memphis, Tennessee, to visit the National Civil Rights Museum at the Lorraine Motel, where they absorb some of the history of the important social justice issues they study while in Mississippi and in their history classroom back at Shore.
DAY ONE - Sophie and Wells
Our trip to Glendora began at 5:45 a.m. when we met at Logan Airport. We were all very tired from the early wake-up but excited to see what the day would bring. To our surprise, the famous actor Elijah Wood was spotted by Kealan and John. After passing through security, all 17 in our group boarded the plane to Detroit; some had interesting conversations with strangers sitting beside them for the flight. We journeyed through the Detroit airport and then got on a smaller plane, which required all of our bags to be checked. Luckily, we were all able to sit next to each other in rows of two.
Landing in Memphis filled us with energy, for we were closer to our home for the next week. We split up into two PID vans and drove to the bustling Central BBQ. For most of us, it was our first authentic southern BBQ meal, and it was quite tasty. Our last stop was the National Civil Rights Museum. The grade was shocked and curious to explore the exact location of Martin Luther King Jr.’s assassination. It was an interactive and powerful experience that we will not forget. There was a special exhibit of photographs from the Prayer Pilgrimage for Freedom, a march and demonstration in Washington DC in 1957. The pictures were taken by Lee Friedlander, a 22-year-old, and they were striking and beautiful.
Landing in Memphis filled us with energy, for we were closer to our home for the next week. We split up into two PID vans and drove to the bustling Central BBQ. For most of us, it was our first authentic southern BBQ meal, and it was quite tasty. Our last stop was the National Civil Rights Museum. The grade was shocked and curious to explore the exact location of Martin Luther King Jr.’s assassination. It was an interactive and powerful experience that we will not forget. There was a special exhibit of photographs from the Prayer Pilgrimage for Freedom, a march and demonstration in Washington DC in 1957. The pictures were taken by Lee Friedlander, a 22-year-old, and they were striking and beautiful.
The two-hour drive to Glendora, filled with many naps, games, and music, brought us to the Sonny Boy Williamson II B&B, where there were several children waiting to meet us. To finish off our day we ate a hearty pasta and salad dinner, with ice cream for dessert, and still had some time left for cards. We are excited for a productive and fun week ahead.
DAY TWO - Tessa, Georgia, and 8-year-old Jakeem
DAY TWO - Tessa, Georgia, and 8-year-old Jakeem
It was our first day of work in Glendora! After waking up to a delicious breakfast of scrambled eggs, grits, bacon, and toast, we split into two groups and either headed to the house site or stayed behind to work on preparing art projects and fixing a fence with Mrs. Bauer. The 20-minute drive to the construction site was gorgeous and haunting, and filled with 36 square miles of cotton fields.
Arriving at the worksite, we found just a concrete slab surrounded by weeds waiting for us. We spent the day slashing weeds with a sickle and machete, hammering, sawing, and building. We were also visited by some cats, which we had fun naming Missy, Glen, and Loraine (in honor of the places we’ve been). At noon, we all regrouped at the house to eat the lunch that some classmates had prepared for us. Next, we split up into new groups, some of us to complete and put up the first framework of one wall and the other to bake cookies for the Glendora kids.
After a long day of work, we were able to meet the kids of Glendora. While some were already at the playground, many kids ran from their houses to play with the exciting "new" people. There were basketball, football, running races, chases, and tackling one another. As the afternoon progressed to night, there were many new friends made, which resulted in lots of piggyback rides. As the sun set, we ventured back to the house watching the oranges and reds over the cotton fields. We had a delightful dinner while bonding and discussing the adventures and struggles of the day, and then proceeded to the second floor for a large and very entertaining game of cards on our second night in Mississippi.
Arriving at the worksite, we found just a concrete slab surrounded by weeds waiting for us. We spent the day slashing weeds with a sickle and machete, hammering, sawing, and building. We were also visited by some cats, which we had fun naming Missy, Glen, and Loraine (in honor of the places we’ve been). At noon, we all regrouped at the house to eat the lunch that some classmates had prepared for us. Next, we split up into new groups, some of us to complete and put up the first framework of one wall and the other to bake cookies for the Glendora kids.
After a long day of work, we were able to meet the kids of Glendora. While some were already at the playground, many kids ran from their houses to play with the exciting "new" people. There were basketball, football, running races, chases, and tackling one another. As the afternoon progressed to night, there were many new friends made, which resulted in lots of piggyback rides. As the sun set, we ventured back to the house watching the oranges and reds over the cotton fields. We had a delightful dinner while bonding and discussing the adventures and struggles of the day, and then proceeded to the second floor for a large and very entertaining game of cards on our second night in Mississippi.
DAY THREE - Bianca and Teresa
Today, day three of our journey to Glendora, Mississippi, we woke up bright and early to a buffet of cereal, bagels, and fresh fruit. Racing to get a plain bagel, we leaped out of bed excited for today’s work. After our filling breakfast some of us hit the road while others stayed back to rake leaves and clean.
Being one of the students who went to the construction site today, I (Bianca) helped put up two walls! This was very exciting for me because I had never done anything like this before. I mastered the skill of hammering and experienced using the saw to generate pieces of wood measured to an eighth of an inch. We are learning about how much goes into the process of building a house. Georgia and I had the task of organizing the truck full of tools—it was very messy! I was proud to see the new and improved version of the inventory of tools. After setting the walls and cleaning the truck, we ventured back to the bed and breakfast where we were met with ham and cheese sandwiches and some delicious leftovers from the night before. Discussion filled our lunch table about our thrilling morning of house building; we also learned what the other students did in the morning.
In the late afternoon I (Teresa) helped bake about 50 cookies with Lucy for the art classes tonight. It took about 2 hours of kneading, rolling, cutting, and baking of all twelve blobs of chilled cookie dough. Even though it required a lot of elbow grease, I knew it was for a good cause and that my hard work would pay off in the long run. While Lucy and I were baking cookies, John, Tessa, and Sam helped Ms. Torres assemble the new basketball hoop for the neighborhood kids. Seeing all of the kids’ faces light up at the new basketball hoop, I knew we were doing something special for them. Even though each task was grueling, I knew that it would put a smile on someone’s face. Tonight after dinner, Cassandra, the PID field director, talked with us about life in Glendora and some of the challenges people living here face. We had lots of questions and learned much more about Mississippi.
DAY FOUR - John and Alex
Our fourth day in Mississippi was eventful to say the least. At the site, the exterior walls of the house project were finished, and significant progress was made toward finishing the interior walls. Several of us also got to climb, one at a time, onto the top of the tool truck we were using to store our equipment. Back at the B&B, Charles discovered a signed BB King (a Southern blues legend) poster among the various odds and ends in the closet he was cleaning. Charles, Alex, Teresa, and Georgia were able to clean and organize closets in both the B&B and the Partners in Development apartment across the street. The group was rewarded by Mrs. Bauer with a walk over to the only convenience store in town for some treats.
Putting together a basketball hoop with no previous experience with assembling something with hundreds of pieces was a day’s work that was compacted into 4 hours. The tedious steps of tightening every nut and bolt took about an hour. Having all of the parts fit together was another major hassle. But the worst of it was trying to fill the base of the hoop with seven bags or 300 pounds of sand. We had to fill it cup by cup, making an assembly line that worked so well together that its members became the same person. It was boring task, made only a little less boring by our singing practically every song we knew. We finished just in time so all of the Glendora kids could come home from school to a brand new basketball hoop. The looks on their faces said it all. One by one, each kid ran over beaming. That was what we had worked for. The boring hours were worth it for the smiles and friendships that would form under that hoop.
DAY FIVE - Kealan and Charles
DAY SIX - Myles and Linden
DAY SEVEN - Lucy and Sam
DAY FOUR - John and Alex
Our fourth day in Mississippi was eventful to say the least. At the site, the exterior walls of the house project were finished, and significant progress was made toward finishing the interior walls. Several of us also got to climb, one at a time, onto the top of the tool truck we were using to store our equipment. Back at the B&B, Charles discovered a signed BB King (a Southern blues legend) poster among the various odds and ends in the closet he was cleaning. Charles, Alex, Teresa, and Georgia were able to clean and organize closets in both the B&B and the Partners in Development apartment across the street. The group was rewarded by Mrs. Bauer with a walk over to the only convenience store in town for some treats.
Putting together a basketball hoop with no previous experience with assembling something with hundreds of pieces was a day’s work that was compacted into 4 hours. The tedious steps of tightening every nut and bolt took about an hour. Having all of the parts fit together was another major hassle. But the worst of it was trying to fill the base of the hoop with seven bags or 300 pounds of sand. We had to fill it cup by cup, making an assembly line that worked so well together that its members became the same person. It was boring task, made only a little less boring by our singing practically every song we knew. We finished just in time so all of the Glendora kids could come home from school to a brand new basketball hoop. The looks on their faces said it all. One by one, each kid ran over beaming. That was what we had worked for. The boring hours were worth it for the smiles and friendships that would form under that hoop.
DAY FIVE - Kealan and Charles
Day five began much like the rest: The catchy hook of “Uptown Funk” erupted into our rooms, and within minutes 8 guys were wide-awake and dancing. After some rapid-fire shampoo and wash sessions and Linden’s 20-minute shower we were ready for breakfast. Lady made a delicious sausage, egg, grits, and cheese casserole and a plate of hash browns, which we devoured.
Charles, yours truly, along with the Dream Team, Alex, Linden, Myles, and Teresa, spent the morning composing our production-to-be for the youngsters. Long story short, three bunnies get their tails stolen by a wizard. The first and final performance will be Saturday morning with Kealan making a cameo.
Over at the worksite, the rest of the grade was working on getting the remainder of the walls up inside the house. With the help of our new foreman, Patrick, we were able to accomplish this task. It was amazing to be able to stand back and finally see the framework of a house where that patch of cement was only four days ago. Obviously we still had quite a bit of work left to do, but we decided to bask in our victory for a bit, so we headed back to the house for an early lunch while Patrick and Corbell got things ready for the afternoon.
After lunch, the guys and Teresa shipped back out to the site. The sun had grown more aggressive by then, and so had the work. We showed that inner beauty isn’t everything as we transitioned to putting up particle board to form the outer walls. Throughout the clamor of pounding in hundreds of nails, we were treated to the sound of classic rock radio, to Charles’ and my delight. “Carry on, My Wayward Son”! Our task was made far more arduous by the thousands of bugs swarming our heads. Even still, we were able to cover two whole sides and even cut out the windows and door before our time was up.
Even though our heads were bent low with exhaustion, we went out of our way to play with the kids once again. The late afternoon/early evening was filled with basketball, dodge ball, chicken fights, chases, and much more. After we said our goodbyes, we had yet another one of Lady’s amazing meals, this night, chicken potpie.
DAY SIX - Myles and Linden
Much like Thursday, the boys awoke to music and dancing, this time to Billy Idol and Sam and Dave which quickly turned into clapping off beat. For breakfast, we filled up on cereal and an assortment of bagels. Afterwards, everyone coalesced into their groups and headed out. Myles, Charles, Alex, Teresa, and I stayed behind to work on our production of The Three Bunnies, refining the ingenious script, spending whole minutes memorizing our lines, and working our hearts out to create the props. The dramatic tour de force includes unforgettable lines like “I’m just going to sit here and cry,” and “We don’t have our tails, but at least we still have each other!” Hopefully the Glendora kids will enjoy it.
Once we were satisfied with our play, we patronized the convenience store once again, this time stockpiling junk food in case we didn’t have a chance to go again. When everyone got back from finishing the exterior walls on the other half of the house, we settled down for another lunch of sandwiches and chips. In the afternoon, we split into groups one last time, some of us doing Glendora chores while the rest traveled back to work on the house in Phillip one last time. The construction crew secured the house with a few more nails before Cobell gave us a quick instruction on how to put up Tyvek. Under a warm sun and against a considerable breeze we got to work, the walls providing a nice amount of shade for those who wanted a break. Though a monotonous task, the hours went by fast as we tried to nail down the covering as snugly as we could. Taking our last pictures of the house before leaving was sad, that is until we were alerted that we would be able to sleep in for an extra hour tomorrow morning. We said our goodbyes to Cobell, our excellent carpentry coach, and to Missy, the baddest cat in Phillip, and set out for home.
Back at the B&B, we took a quick and much needed break before running out to play with the kids. There were unfamiliar faces today, and many more kids on the young side. Games of basketball and tons of running around with giggling kids on our backs made the next hour go by in a flash, and too soon it was time for dinner. The last day of work was easily our most satisfying day in the trip.
DAY SEVEN - Lucy and Sam
Today was our last day in Glendora. Instead of working at the house, we put on a “social” for 30 kids. This started with taking small groups around to four different stations: basketball, relay races, friendship bracelets, and milk and cookies (freshly baked by Mrs. Torres). The grand finale was a play that Myles wrote and that Alex, Kealan, Linden, Myles, and Charles performed at the B&B. The kids laughed and clapped and cheered—they loved it!
Afterward we went to the Emmett Till Museum where the mayor spoke to us about Glendora’s place in the Civil Rights Movement. Later, we drove up to Clarksdale and went to Morgan Freeman’s restaurant, a blues club. Some of us played pool, and all of us enjoyed one of three desserts - peach cobbler, pecan pie, or deep-fried snickers bar, each with vanilla ice cream and chocolate sauce, of course. Signing our names (maybe more than once) on the walls, the pool tables, and wherever we could reach was fun and awesome knowing that if we ever return we can see our names from the time when we went as a grade (the restaurant encourages this). It was definitely worth the drive; however, it caused us to get home late. We had less time to spend with the kids.
There weren’t as many kids out as usual, maybe because the weather changed after a heavy rain and it was getting cold. We were really sad because we couldn’t say goodbye to some of the kids. Still, we played dodge ball, basketball, and gave piggy back rides one last time. We have never met anyone who has wanted piggy back rides as much as the Glendora kids do. All of our backs are sore, but it was worth it. Seeing how we could lift their spirits was definitely a feeling that we won’t forget. Nothing makes me more happy or sad than when they smile. Even though we’ve only known them for a week, we’ve gotten so close to them.
There weren’t as many kids out as usual, maybe because the weather changed after a heavy rain and it was getting cold. We were really sad because we couldn’t say goodbye to some of the kids. Still, we played dodge ball, basketball, and gave piggy back rides one last time. We have never met anyone who has wanted piggy back rides as much as the Glendora kids do. All of our backs are sore, but it was worth it. Seeing how we could lift their spirits was definitely a feeling that we won’t forget. Nothing makes me more happy or sad than when they smile. Even though we’ve only known them for a week, we’ve gotten so close to them.
When we said our goodbyes even some of the youngest kids seemed sad. The hardest part of the whole trip was having to walk away tonight. Knowing we will never see them again. Because the sad reality is we get to leave, and they don’t. As much as we wish we could take them with us, we can’t. We are ending this trip with all of our problems feeling a lot smaller than they did before. We can’t ever forget the problems Glendora has and how much we take for granted. Of all of the things that there are to change about Glendora, the people are not one of them. We will never forget little D’s smile or Martavion’s chubby cheeks. As well as Lil’ Mama and Big Mama’s FIRE. I don't think I have ever laughed as hard as when a massive pig pile formed on Linden or when Sam got “beaten up” by a crew of kids half his age on the first day. We contributed to Glendora/Philipp by helping build a house for a family without one. The hard work and sore hands were for a good cause. We like to think that we changed Glendora a little bit, and Glendora has definitely changed us. When next year’s group comes, we will all be jealous that they get to play with the kids, and help the town in even more ways. We will all truly miss Glendora.
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