Last days in ATX

 Leaving Austin was bittersweet, but I was able to soak in a lot of seeing people and fun times in Austin before the BIG move! 

Friday I woke up to see my friends Katie, Theresa, Grace, and Alaina off before they left for Colorado. I was able to see my favorite cousin, Bonnie, my "fairy Godmother", my Capernaum girlies, and my UCC friends, Albert, Bryan, Savanna, Shannon, and Chris. I ate at some of my favorite places, Central Market and Kerbey Lane. And was able to go do some of my favorite things in Austin, which included ROLLING DOWN THE HILL AT THE CAPITOL, one of my all time favorite things to do! We also went to see the bats (which never made their way from under the bridge, haha). I got to ride on Chris's motorcycle for the first time, we went night swimming at Barton Springs, and we ended the night with some delicious P-Terry's shakes! My sweet friend Savanna sheltered Andie and I for the night and made my last night in Austin one of my best!

Saturday was wonderful as well! I had breakfast with my dear friend Maddie at Hillside Farmacy, which was great because I've been meaning to go there! We had such a wonderful visit! Then, I met up with Jamie, Somer, and Elizabeth at Starbucks. I had to see Jess the Best before I left so I made my way to Georgetown before going back to my old house to pick up some last minute things and bid farewell to Sydni and Jenna. Andie and I set off for Beaumont, where fresh fajitas, home videos, and a sweet family was ready to greet us at the door. Definitly tried to pack in as much as I could in 24 hours. It's crazy how fast this is all happening! And it's hard because I want to see everyone before I leave, but I also know that I won't be able to. It'll be strange not seeing my favorite people everyday next year, especially since everyone has given me nothing but love and support this past year.  I'll do my best to make you all proud! It's been a whirlwind for sure, but I'm excited for what's next!

I feel the need to better explain what I'm going to be doing in Sacramento. Here is a link about City Year, http://www.cityyear.org/sacramento.aspx. City Year is a program that sets out to bridge the education gap between high and low income students. Research has shown that students who progress to 10th grade with their peers are four times more likely to graduate than students who fall behind. City Year sets out to ensure that 80% of students in the high-need, public schools City Year serves, reach 10th grade on track and on time.
My schedule might look something like this:

6:00 am - Wake up and prepare for the day.

6:45 am - Travel to school.

7:30 am - Corps member team arrives and greet students as they enter school.

8:00 am - Participate in attendance and tardiness initiatives at school, including phone calls home when children are absent.

9:00 am - Provide small group and one-on-one academic tutoring in the classroom.

10:00 am - Break

10:15 am - Provide small group and one-on-one academic tutoring in the classroom.

11:45 am - Lunch and facilitate lunchtime enrichment activities, such as playing sports or learning about food from different cultures.

12:15 pm - Team meeting, training or prep work.

1:15 pm - Provide small group and one-on-one academic tutoring in the classroom.

2:30 pm - End school day with children in classroom and walk them to City Year after-school program.

2:45 pm - City Year after-school program: 1 hour of homework help and 1 hour of enriching lesson plan, such as planning a service project around a social justice issue like poverty or the environment.

5:15 pm - Debrief with team.

5:30 pm - Break at school. Head home or occasionally into City Year's downtown office if the team needs to prep for an upcoming event or service day. 

Also there is a uniform. Yep. A uniform. But I'm actually excited about it! The uniform unifies our team and let's kids know we are with City Year and that if we have the bright yellow jacket on we can be best friends! ( I'm hoping that's what they think). Anyways, I know it will be challenging, but I am SO excited to get started!

 Ta-Ta for now. :)