Going Green

By Brian G.
We had a guest speaker come in. His name was Ray Chrisman. He specializes in biochar science. He came in and spoke to us for an hour about his job. He showed us different power points about global warming, and how biochar could help to cut back on our Co2 output. I think that he did a great job with his presentation. I came out of it with a lot more information that I had before. Some things that I learned were how biochar is made, and how much it usually costs. He gave us some interesting facts, like biochar was discovered in Africa in big field and it was estimated to have been 500 - 7000 years ago. He showed us some slides of global warming and other slides that showed whole cities and towns underwater in 50 years if global warming kept going the way it is now. This really got me thinking about my carbon footprint, and recycling, and other things. I think that a good way to get money would to be to go to certain companys and work for them to help them reduce their carbon footprint. This would make me money and help them save money and at the same time get them more customers because nowadays everyone likes a company that's going green.

First Day at the Internship

By Richard

My name is Richard Johnson, III and today is my first day in my agriculture internship through the Community Action Network. I am 17 years old and I love plants. I love fruits, vegetables, and herbs. I like to work in my garden in my spare time and use the vegetables and herbs when I cook. I am an ex-boy scout and while I was a boy scout I specialized in plant identification, medical care, fire safety, and knife/ax safety. I have continued to use my plant identification skills when I go camping or during airsoft tournaments that I often go to.

"Leave a smile on their faces..."

By Nour
My name is Nour. I am 17 and I am in the Michigan Youth Works program and entering in the elder care internship to learn and help the elders. I am looking forward to learning about the elders' lives. It's a great experience so far and I hope I'll get a lot out of this program that will help me in my future. It's really fun being at Glacier Hills helping the elders. I am excited about walking the elders in the garden and doing their nails. The property at Glacier Hills is nice and neat, and the garden there is beautiful. The saddest part is watching the elders losing their memory and that's why I want to be there to leave a smile on their faces.
There's a resident at Glacier Hills that I really admire because she's so down to earth & she still talks like she's still living in the past even tough she knows that she's at this point in her life. She has so many stories and memories to tell other people about and I want to hear her stories and get to know her better. She's 96 years old and she still wants to do more activities that make her feel alive and that she's still living. What I like about her is that she likes to listen to what people have to say like telling her a story and she loves when people sit with her and listen to her stories.

My Experience at Glacier Hills

By Iesha

Since I have been working in Glacier Hills I have experienced a lot that has and will help me out in my future. One thing that I really like about working at Glacier Hills is the residents. There is so much to learn about a person and so much in life to see, and these people have experienced it all. I like working at Glacier Hills because one of the things that I know how to do best is help people. I know that I'm here to help these people out, but by the end of my time working here I think that they are going to help me out probably more than I have helped them out.

Scientist Dr. Ray Chrisman

By Daniel

In the last week of my internship at YouthWorks, (working on alternate energy) we had the CEO of a large company (Alter Dyne) make a long trip to educate us on the direction biochar should be going for this next generation. He presented us with annual carbon fluxes (how much CO2 is being contributed to the atmosphere from us, and how much is returning.) He also brought to our attention that it has many other great side effects, like bigger growth in any food products, (becoming bigger, taster), and how it could help to slow global warming, and can help the earth recover, like medicine to a sick patient. (When used correctly it has good effects!) But the most amazing thing that he showed us was that biochar, even though it hasn't formally been discovered to this era, actually has been around for thousands of years. Like in the Savannah, how the grass could grow taller than some American bushes, etc., it's because when the dirt that's dug up and examined, biochar was found to be the source giving the dirt a darker texture.

Qualified for Childcare

By Atiya
During the my ChildCare Internship for the summer I have met a couple people that I've enjoyed being around. Those two people are Mercedes & Sarah. Sarah works for the Landscaping Internship during the morning shift . I was able to meet her before the official start of the internships, and I enjoyed her company a lot. She is very friendly & sophisticated. Those are some of the qualities that I admire the most in any person . She is very comfortable and laid back also and that makes it that much easier to talk to her .

Mercedes works at the camp I am currently taking my internship at, Bryant Community Center . She is a very firm person with the children but she is very easy to get along with. She's down to earth and doesn't deplore saying what's on her mind. Her being the "play no games" person that she is could make her seem mean to others but, I don't think of her that way. Her being firm as she is with the children also gains the respect that I would like to receive from children as well as others .

Some of the qualites that I've listed that I have observed from Sarah & Mercedes are the exact things that I need to acquire to be successful in the Childcare Industry. Some of the skills that I believe that I already possess are being compassionate and attaining good morals and values that I stand behind faithfully. I also think that I am a very social and friendly person, a good listener, and I do my best to give respect and be humble enough to get the respect in return. I have worked with children for many years, being in a home with my grandmother who has owned a daycare (Little Citizens) for about 25 years. I've grown up with children and have also watched them grow which I enjoy seeing happen.

Thoughts on Health Care & Insurance

By Tyler

Hello again. So my first post was a sort of overview of what my first week in the internship was like. Well, here I am in week three, last week we did not post a blog, 826 Michigan (the very nice people who are teaching us to blog) came to our class room at Stone School to try and spark some ideas for our next entry, that being this one. Since week one a whole lot has happened, I'm afraid I probably wont be able to finish my thoughts in this post but here goes. The movie Unnatural Causes that I talked about in my first post really opened my eyes to the problems we have in the health world in our country. My interest in the health care field grew one hundred percent and now I feel I need to know more. The movie talked about how we ranked among other countries in health care, and we are not doing so hot. I believe we were number thirty four, behind such unpopular countries as Slovenia, Cuba, and of course the European giants that seem to know what their doing in the health aspect of things. I also learned that our infant mortality rate is about one in fourteen, which is fairly high for a country that has not seen war on its soil since we battled amongst ourselves in the civil war. The huge thing though, was the fact that a lot of people in the United States are uninsured. It made me think, what if their just not trying hard enough to get insured? What if our government is not advertising the fact that you can go to your local department of human services and apply for insurance through the government. If I can do it, I know there are people out there that are not insured that can do it too. I think that we need to stop worrying about medical equipment advancements that are supposedly making it easier to save lives and use what we have to save the lives that we're not. Time's up, to who ever is reading, talk to you next post.

Best Thing Yet...

By Brittany L.
The professionals that I've met really inspired me. My instructor, Dr. Dyre being one of them, gave me the little push I needed to consider the profession that best fits me. This internship is the best thing that happened to me yet. I am considering starting my own business in architecture. It sounds really nice to be my own boss. I'd like to work for an automotive company designing new fuel efficient cars for our great future. Today, we met this guy named Sarms he owns his own T-Shirt Company. He got me thinking about making my own company. I think that making T-Shirts seems really fun because I'm a great artist.

"Knowledge of what is possible is the beginning of Happiness"

By Lauren

It's most definitely been a while since I've posted an entry and for that I am truly sorry. But what I can do is update you guys on what's been happening since July 8th. For starters today we had workshops with Ms. MacDonald (Soft Skills Trainer) and we discussed Interviewing. Some of the topics under Interviewing that we covered were, asking questions, being prepared for possible questions asked, appearance, and speech etiquette. I found this workshop to be extremely helpful because the career fields that I plan on exploring and expanding in probably require a LOT of interviews and evaluations.

Another workshop that we had today was one about the various banks and accounts available and things like that. Basically money management and a Representative from Bank Of Ann Arbor came in as she does once every week and we discuss exactly that. Today we touched on the benefits each of the 17 branches (or at least the most common) and comparing each one and evaluating which bank we would put our money in and why. I found this workshop to be extremely important especially because we'll be getting our pay checks soon and of course we all want to be wise and money savvy about what happens to it. I'm starting to think about Chase bank, but this course opened my mind to the other banks out there that I had no idea would peak my interest as they did.

The most controversial (in my opinion) workshop we've had so far is with a representative talking to us about CPS (Child Protective Services) and (especially when dealing with kids) different scenarios that could happen while being out on the field, for example which situations should we report which ones can take time to seek out instead of taking immediate action. This whole conversation most definitely opened my eyes to a lot, like it exposed me to situations I would have never thought about or had been prepared for.

The last workshop we had was with our team leader's brother (Jarrett Smith), who talked to us about college and what it takes to get in, applications and what needs to be on there (high school test scores, having a wide range in volunteer work, etc.) and financial aid and how easy it is to get and how helpful it is, and of course tuition costs. This conversation was extremely important to me because wanting to go into these fields (cosmetology, musician, and maybe a tattoo artists :)) I most definitely need to go to college or let's say these fields don't necessarily work out I would def want to be able to fall back on my education and hopefully find a good paying job. This workshop was extremely helpful and I cannot wait for what other things these guys have to teach me. Im eager, ready and willing. New York, UCLA and maybe Xavier here I come! :)