Pedro's SMART Goal

My SMART goal is to "develop a more personal relationship with John Doe by going to Boys and Girls Town once every weekend until the end of the semester and use the established relationship through interactive actitvities to bring them to Drury for a basketball game and a quick tour of the campus." My goal is to make a difference in these children's lives, which unfortunately has been marked by tragedy in the early stages of their lives. The children's hopes and notions for their future might be bleak. I want to attempt to change this by having them come to Drury's campus and maybe be insipired by the big, impressive academic buildings and the fun environment of the basketball game.

Pedro

My SMART GOAL

My SMART goal for our Boys and Girls Town Project is to have all of the boys from Jones Cottage to come to Drury University to see a Men's Basketball game on December 1, 2011. I think this will be a great opportunity for the guy's to get away for awhile and for us to spend some time with them while enjoying the game. I hope that it will be a great afternoon for everybody and that the guy's will really enjoy it. As for accomplishing it, one of the members of our group works at the O'Reilly Family Event Center so he is working on getting us some discounted tickets for the game and we are working with our community contact, Judy Stainback, to arrange transportation for them. I think it will be a great experience for everyone and am excited for it to take place.


Jordan Mason

SMART Goal

This week we were each set the task of coming up with a SMART goal that we wish to achieve in our project for Summit.  My goal is as follows: "I am going to develop a personal relationship with John by the end of the semester by spending at least 30 minutes with him each time we visit Boys and Girls Town."  It was difficult for each member of our group to come up with unique goals considering that our primary means of helping this organization is through simply spending time with the children.  We agreed, however, that this is a legitimate goal due to the fact that these children are lacking in the department of close personal relationships.  Our group is currently planning to visit Boys and Girls Town at least once more before Thanksgiving break, as well as invite them over to Drury to enjoy a basketball game some time after the break in order to achieve the goals that we have set for ourselves.

Ryan Coleman

Hoping to Accomplish

My personal service project goal is to be able to truly connect to some of the children of Jones Cottage so that they may take my advice in important matters such as their attitude and perspective of their personal futures. Given their past, and the fact that they are still 10-12 year olds, it is very understandable  that they are not giving much thought about such things as college, entering the workforce, etc. I would like to see this changed however, because a strongly founded interest in college or higher education will empower them to strive for something better. It is strong to measure quantitative success on a goals such as this one, but there are other things that can be used as performance factors. It was very clear that the kids were suprised and excited to see us again when we went to Boys and Girls Town for the second time, I do not think they expected to see us again. Too often individuals, businesses, or non-profits will go spend time with the children for a day or weekend and then never return. For the remainder of the semester, I would like to commit to going to Boys and Girls Town every other weekend for at least 2 hours. While there, we have engaged in fun, stimulating activities such as sport games, card games, and board games. I  think that through the use of these fun activities, the children will feel more comfortable around us. By the end of the semester we would like to have the children come to Drury for a regular season Men's Basketball game at the O'Reilly Family Event Center. Before the game, I think it would be a great opportunity to give the kids a tour of the campus, show them our nice buildings and maybe get them excited about the possibility of college. I am looking forward to going back to Boys and Girls Town this weekend and hanging out with kids.
 
Pedro
 
 

My Hopes for the Future

Our project has been going really well so far. It's been exciting to get to hangout with these kids and really get a chance to know them. What I want from the rest of my time at the Boys and Girls Town is really create a strong relationship with these kids. I want to become a part of their life in a way that means something and I want to see them grow in a positive way during the time that we are there. I want to act in such a way that they see me as a role model. I hope that in the next few weeks, as the semester closes, that I have the opportunity to grow closer to these kids and create a unique bond that will last well beyond this project.

Jordan Mason

Reflecting

As the fall semester enters into its final four or five weeks, we are beginning to see how our time at Boys and Girls Town is coming together.  Only a couple more visits remain for this half  of the school year and we hope to make them good ones.  If all goes to plan, we will be bringing the boys to Drury to enjoy a basketball game before 2011 comes to its conclusion.  Who knows, we may even go out for pizza afterwards.  Another possible event that we could organize would be a ping pong tournament.  The boys have a ping pong table in their cottage, which would allow us to have a little bit of friendly competition in an environment that they are comfortable in.  It would also allow for those who aren't playing to entertain themselves in some other manner so that there aren't 15 people standing around a ping pong table waiting to play.  Regardless of what we agree to do for our final visits this year, I'm sure that we will have a great time.  I'm very glad that this isn't the end of our time with these boys.  I am excited for next semester, which is sure to be just as entertaining as this one has been.
 
Ryan Coleman

SmartMob reflection and Project progress

It was a humbling and valuable experience to go to Joplin and help out Extreme Home Makeover's effort to continue the rebuilding of a devastated city. The fierce natural disaster that hit Joplin caused much destruction, many lives, lifestyles, and much more. It was an unfortunate event that one wishes would never happen again. Though natural disasters will not simply cease to exist, hope will never be lost when human spirit and unity triumphs over a hurt society. We were only a few dozen college students, they are only a TV show, but together we had the potential to really make a difference, and I like to think that we did. We got our hands and our pants dirty, we worked for a few hours for a cause greater than ourselves. We did not know the people that would directly benefit from our work, and yet we did it with the same effort and intensity as if we had been doing it for our closest friend. It was amazing to see everyone so focused, so willing to work hard and continue to do so until we accomplished our goal.

 

So far we have met twice with the boys of Jones Cottage in Boys and Girls Town, and both times we have bonded over a couple of friendly games. The first time we played a game of touch football that ended up lasting at least a couple of hours, where competitiveness and tenacity also gave way to hard work and companionship. On our second visit, we had a half-court game of Basketball where the lack of skill of three of us was thoroughly displayed (Jordan played pretty well, he carried the team). Later, we went inside and talked for a bit while playing a few card games and watching Sunday Football. The boys seemed pretty excited to see us when we got there the second time. Too often they are visited only once by a group of individuals whom they never see again. I really think we have laid a solid foundation with these kids, and I look forward to continue working on my relationship with them. Getting pretty excited about having them come to Drury to have a little tour and then watch a regular season basketball game!

 

Pedro Rivera

We have finally had the opportunity to visit the Boys and Girls Town twice this semester after such a slow start. So far, it has been a blast getting to know the guys in Jones Cottage! For the first visit, we brought snacks for the kids, which went over quite well. After a good snack and some introductions, the four of us and the guys from Jones Cottage went out and played a friendly game of football. It was a long and exciting game in which both teams found enjoyable. This was a good opportunity for us to learn the names of the boys we will be helping for the rest of the year, and to show off our football skills! The second visit was very similar to the first, except that in stead of sharing our hidden football talents, we were forced to reveal our weakness in basketball. We met a few new residents and new staff since our first visit, and they showed us a thing or two about basketball. Regardless of our lack of talent, we still had a good time. It was cool to see these kids just being themselves in a comfortable setting. The kids enjoyed playing basketball because it gave them a chance to show their strengths, which I believe is important for them in order to grow as a more confident individual. After basketball, we went back to Jones Cottage and played games like cards and ping pong. We are planning to bring the kids from Jones Cottage to a Drury basketball game in the near future so they can check out the Drury campus. It should be fun! The Smart mob was an excellent opportunity to help the city of Joplin from such a devastating tornado. It was shocking to see Joplin in such disrepair, but on the other hand, it was cool to see the beginnings of a rebirth. To me, this shows the strength of humanity; the ability for mankind to overcome obstacles in the face of danger when seemingly little hope remains for those directly affected. The goodwill of their neighbors prevails and new hope is on its way. This realization is what made the Smart Mob such a meaningful experience.

Will Stone

SMART Mob at Joplin

Going with the Drury Smart Mob was the first time I had been to Joplin since the deadly and devastating May tornado. Needless to say the devestation was overwhelming. You could feel the hush come over our bus as we drove farther into the town. When we got to the work site it was great to see all the work that all of the volunteers had done throughout the previous week. Having seen so much destruction during our trip there, it made me glad to know that our group was helping to bring back some beauty to Joplin. I really enjoyed the time that I got to spend there that day and hope to be able to return to help again in the future.
At the Boys and Girls Town everything is still going really well. We went and hung out with them last weekend and just continued to develop relationships with them. It's exciting to see the personalities of the kids shine the more time we spend with them. In the next week or two we are planning on bringing them to campus, giving them a tour, and then a Drury basketball game. Hopefully they'll really enjoy this and it can be an opportunity for these kids to start thinking about and experiencing college.

Jordan Mason

Reflecting on Joplin

   After the day we spent in Joplin, I now hold a new respect for what nature is really capable of.  It was baffling to see parts of the city completely eradicated when barely a mile away some buildings seemed unaffected by the tornado at all.  The biggest eye-opener was the hospital that was across the street from our worksite.  With all of its windows blown out and the roof looking like it could collapse at any moment, it was quite a sight to see.  After laying plenty of sod and raking some rocks, we all had gotten ourselves quite dirty, making us look good for the cameras once they arrived.  At the end of the day we had a lot of progress to be proud of, and I am glad that I could be a part of it.

   As for our project regarding Boys and Girls' Town, we are starting to truly settle in now.  Names are starting to put themselves with faces and we are getting to see some deeper sides of the boys' personalities.  Football seems to be the universal topic in the house right now, as the NFL season is in full swing.  Whether we are watching or playing the game, everyone is enjoying it.  I've been having a wonderful time and I hope that we get to play football at least once more before the weather gets too cold.

 

-Ryan Coleman