During the workshop, I think that the Free Rice game went well because they all wanted to keep playing and I really think that they will play on there own time and donate.  Another aspect of the teach-in that went well was the video that showed where the rice was getting donated.  It seemed like all the kids where interested in where all this rice they were donating goes.  I thought it was fun being a teacher and getting to be in charge.  It was sometimes hard to keep everyone in order though and have them listen to you.  Especially with the distraction of the computers.  As a team we handled the misbehavior by going around and checking up on everyone and making sure there laptops where closed and they weren’t talking to the people next to each other.  I would have waited to give them the computers until it was absolutely necessary so they weren’t playing the game while we were talking.  The thing I will leave with from this activity is the necessity for people to care and help.  By help I don’t just mean go to a soup kitchen once or donate one dollar.  I mean do everything or as much as you can to help out.  For example, if everyone in our school went on freerice.com for 5 minutes every day, as a school we could raise a lot of rice for hungry people everywhere.  In my set-up group we worked together well even if not all of us got to preform during the assembly.  But, during the assembly everything went great and the performers really showed their practice.  For the weeks leading up to the teach-in our group changed our idea several times until we found the perfect one.  We started with jeopardy and then went to guessing game, to analyzing, back to guessing game, and then finally found freerice.com.  I think that next year everyone should really think about their ideas before writing about them.  I also think that interactive games and activities are a really good way to get more people to care about you subject and get involved in your subject.

For a last visit at the Village Temple Soup Kitchen I went with Max, Taliana, and Ruby G.  We got there a little bit early so we could interview the ladies who work there.  They were all very busy so we only go to interview one of them.  Her name was Paula and she told us a little bit about how she got involved in her work there and who comes to help out every week.  Then we got to the preparing part.  We didn’t have a lot of bread for the sandwiches, Max and I went to Trader Joe’s to get the bread the donate.  Then to Knickerbocker’s for cornbread.  When we got back the first thing we did was interview two more people, carol who helps run the soup kitchen and Sarah who is a volunteer who helps out there about twice a month.  Then we started to help the other people who had already started preparing the soup.  They were peeling and cutting carrots, onions, and potatoes.  After helping them for a while, we went to making turkey sandwiches with mustard.  We then split into 4 groups.  One group bagged pastries, another bagged bread rolls, one who helps finish the soup, and the last one cuts up the corn bread.  I was cutting up the cornbread but when I was done I helped bag the bread rolls.  After everyone was finished with their jobs we were finished preparing and then just had to set up the table.  I found this to be a great place to help out because there are a lot of other kids who help out there and there are many jobs to do.

This week I went alone to the Village Temple Soup Kitchen because Max couldn’t come with me.  When I got there at 9:00 A.M. I immediately started cutting bread.  Usually they will have sliced bread, but this week all they had were rolls so me and one other kid cut about 140 rolls.  Probably even more.  Then all of the brown paper bags had to be set up on a seperate table, so we could put all of the sandwiches in them.  While those were being set up I put mustard into two dishes and took salami out of boxes to start making sandwhiches.  I started making sandwiches until there weren’t enough people bagging them, so I started bagging.  After we filled up all of the brown paper bags with sandwiches, we had to fill four baskets worth of sandwiches.  I was amazed at how fast we could do it.  There was a utility line going.  The first person would put mustard on both sides of the bread.  Then the second person would put 3 slices of salami on the bread and then me and 1 other kid bagged the sandwiches and put them in boxes.  And in no time we had 4 boxes of sandwiches.  It probably took 20-30 minutes, but it didn’t feel that long.  After that we took 4 huge garbage bags worth of bread and sorted them into 3-4 rolls per small plastic bag.  The small plastic bags where like the ones and the supermarket where they are around the center of something and then you tear off the bag.  Sometimes there would be a unusually large sized bread and only one peace would fit in the plastic bag.  After that I cut up some corn bread and pastries and placed them out on the table for when people come in to eat.  I had to leave at 11, but I got to help cut up all of the vegetables for the soup before I left.  The soup kitchen ends at 11:30-12:00.

For my third visit I went with Max, Josh, Ruby G, and Taliana.  When I got there we immediately put out the bread onto platters, so we could make sandwiches.  It was funny because we kept on finding platters when we didn’t think we had enough.  Then we unpackaged baloney and turkey.  They were going to be the middle of sandwiches.  Max and Josh then went to Trader Joe’s to get more bread and desserts and then to Knickerbockers for corn bread.  During that time Taliana, Ruby, and some other kids from UNIS were making sandwiches.  I would bag them and put them in a basket.  Once the basket becomes full it goes into brown bags.  We made about 240-260 sandwiches.  It didn’t seem like we made that many, but I’m not surprised that we did make that many.  After the sandwiches were made Max, Josh, and I cut the cornbread into small pieces.  Then we peeled and cut carrots for the soup that they make and cut some onions.  I did have to take a break for a few minutes because of how strong the onions were.  After that we took the plastic bags that you find at a supermarket, when you are getting vegetables and grapes, and put three rolls of bread in each bag.  We then set the table and finished everything up.  I learned how many sandwiches can be made in about 30 minutes when everyone is working together.

For my second visit, I went to the Village Temple Soup Kitchen again with Max.  When we got there we unpacked bread and turkey onto platters to get set up to make ssandwhiches.  Then we went out to the closest Trader Joe’s which is on 14th Street and 3rd Avenue.  We got free bread and found out that Trader Joe’s gives bread to some organazations.  I thought that this was great because it was their opputunity to help out the needy and letting people who know how to help do it for them.  Then we broght the bread back and set it up on the platters.  It was so much bread, I couldn’t believe that they would use all of it.  But, they did and we made around 240 sandwhiches.  After that, we went out to Knickerboxers and got a huge box of cornbread.  When we brought it back we cut it into small and bite-size pieces.  When we finished that everything else was also done and all we had to do is bag bread.  This time I learned that Trader Joe’s helps the soup kitchen out.

On Saturday Julian, Taliana, Ruby G, Max, and I visited the Village Temple soup kitchen to help out.  W e arrived at 9:00 AM where a lady who runs the soup kitchen took us up to help.  We were the first ones there.  When all of us got up to the soup kitchen room there was an entire table filled with loafs of bread wrapped in plastic.  We unwrapped them and put them out on the table so we could make sandwiches with them later.                                                                                                   

At about 9:15 10-25 more people arrived to help out.  A few other kids went out to Trader Joe’s to get tuna, more bread (which I couldn’t believe), and apples.  We all opened huge cans of tuna and made tuna fish salad for sandwiches.  Taliana and Ruby drained the tuna and then Max, Julian and I helped make the tuna fish salad.  Then Ruby, Taliana, and I, and some others made some tuna fish sandwiches.  It was amazing to me at how much of the bread we used.  After we put together a sandwich we would put it on a platter and when the platter was full it would be taken over to the bagging station, where Max, Julian and some others bagged them.  Then after all of the sandwiches were bagged we put them in brown paper bags so everyone who came could have a bag of sandwiches.  Then Max and I brought up two big boxes of apples.  We washed and dried them as well so they could be eaten.

                                                                                                                  

 

It was then time to cut the cornbread into small square and rectangular cubes.  Everyone did that.  There were also pastries to organize and put on the tables.  After preparing all of the food, we set the table and put chairs in place so people could come in and sit down to eat there meal.  I believe that even though there were many people there, us being there made a difference and you could tell that the Village Temple Soup Kitchen appreciated us being there.  During this visit I learned that making food for others can make you feel good.  Next week I hope I can do more stuff and be more helpful.