We're so glad we had this time together

I missed posting yesterday -- it's been so busy -- and today is our Syracuse volunteers' last day. We head up north again first thing tomorrow morning. 

The program, however, continues until the middle of July and we will continue to update the blog so you can keep up with the projects the children are working on. 

This afternoon, as I walked around the empty building, already missing the kids, I noticed how much of what was up on the walls was in their voices. This is the distinctive quality of the LEAP program: we place the children's voices front and center. 

For example, in morning meeting we shared the quote attributed to Mohandis Gandhi, "Be the change you wish to see in the world."  But we presented the sentence to the kids with the words "change" and "see" removed. We let them finish the sentence in their own way. Now the poster is up on the wall with one of the kids' choices showing:

"Be the real you you wish to be in the world."  So Trent Duchane, rather than Gandhi, is the author every child will see as he or she passes by. 

Here's Trent -- front row, far right.