Trying to Get in TouchHaley has tried emailing multiple schools and teachers trying to get in touch and get another project going. However, we've struggled with getting responses or getting anyone super excited about Dream Day. We emailed Mrs. Amones knowing that she has participated in Dream Day in past years and would be excited about. She said that just last year they did something very similar to a Dream Day for their kids. She wanted as many people as possible to have such an incredible experience and gave us names and emails of resource teachers and social workers throughout the school district that she thought would be interested. Some of them we had already worked with, but some were new. Haley sent another round of emails to these people explaining our project and requesting that they send us the names of some kids they thought could use a Dream Day. The social workers at NPE and NPJH got back to us and said they could get us some names soon. We're super excited to finally get some more Dream Days started!
0 Comments
FitzgeraldsWe thought we wouldn't be able to give the Fitzgeralds their Dream Day. Their mom was just getting too sick to feel up to their Dream Day. However, we ended up being able to negotiate at least dropping off the basket at NPE. In the end, we were actually able to meet Claire and Christian! Their teacher pulled them out of class for a minute so that we could give them their basket and meet them. Their teacher and principal were both there when we met them and thanked us multiple times. They even caught some pictures! They were both so sweet and excited for their Dream Day. Eli and GavinEli and Gavin's mom really wanted to have their Dream Day on Gavin's birthday. This was kind of a struggle giving us about a week to put it together. We were unable to get a limousine for them but did get tickets to Zip City donated. We met with them at the high school at 9am to give their mom the basket (pictured in slideshow below), keeping it a surprise for the boys. Their mom sent us pictures of them at Zip City. Getting to see them enjoying their Dream Day makes us all really happy and makes all the work we put into it worth it in the end. BexleighWe were finally able to meet with Bexleigh's mom to deliver her basket. We had troubles finding a time and place and with communication in general. We were so excited to be able to give Bexleigh her Frozen themed basket (her favorite movie) and her tickets to see Disney on Ice. We can't wait to find out how it goes and hopefully get pictures of Bexleigh on her Dream Day! ZanderAs we near the end of the semester, we were trying to decide whether or not we'd have time for another project before break. In the end we decided we would put together one more Dream Day before second semester. Sugar Creek had been great at giving us nominations and staying in contact with us so we sent them a packet for their nomination (Zander). Zander's mom has been struggling lately and the school thought him and his family could use a break from their daily tribulations. When we got his packet back, he wrote that he would like a trip to Sky Zone. However, when we called Sky Zone they told us that they could not donate any tickets. From Eli and Gavin's Dream Day we knew that Zip City does donate tickets to causes like ours. We asked Zander's mom if Zip City would be an ok substitute (they have trampolines too). She agreed that it would be ok and so we sent an email proposal to them. They got back to us within minutes and told us the tickets were ready to pick up any time. We got them that night, so we are ready to put Zander's basket together and send him on his Dream Day!
Finishing the Fitzgeralds' Dream DayWe had so much trouble trying to arrange a meeting with the Fitzgeralds to deliver their basket with the tickets to the zoo. We recently received a text from their mom, who has terminal brain cancer, that they would no longer be able to participate because she was too sick to even drive anymore. We offered to still drop off the basket at NPE because we felt so bad and the tickets are good anytime. She said that was fine so we walked over to drop it off. On Friday we saw an email that had been sent Wednesday night from the principal at NPE asking if we could come back over to deliver the basket in person. We were super excited to do so and sent an email back and called to see if they had given Claire and Christian the basket yet considering the fact that the email was sent two days ago. We did decide to change the theme of their basket considering it is a bit past Halloween now. (new basket pictured below) Starting Eli and Gavin's Dream DayEli and Gavin said that they wanted their Dream Day to be at Zip City. Their mom also texted us saying that they have always wanted to ride in a limousine, but she knew how expensive that would be and recognized that we may not be able to make that happen. She also wondered if we could make their Dream Day on one of the boy's birthday, which gave us a week to put it together!!! We informed her that we could not make that happen although that would have been amazing.
We emailed Zip city and they told us that they would be happy to donate tickets to our project. They said that we could come pick them up, but they are never open when we have our Service Learning class. We emailed again saying that and also that we could come by during our block period day or they could mail the tickets to us. We have yet to receive a response. Regarding the limo, we didn't know if that would be possible at first. Limo prices are so high and we have a limited budget. We called a rental place and they told us to email a proposal (pictured below) to get a limousine donated. We have still not received a response. Disney On Ice for BexleighWe were able to get ahold of Bexleigh's mom after meeting with them and asked if Disney on Ice would be a better option. She agreed and we bought tickets from Ticketmaster. When we receive the tickets in the mail we will finish putting Bexleigh's basket together and get it to her. Finalizing the Fitzgerald's Dream DayAfter getting confirmation from the zoo that they would donate tickets to the Fitzgeralds, we were finally able to put the finishing touches on one of our Dream Days. We scheduled a meeting with the family at Brew 52. During our block period we went to CVS and bought anything else we needed for their baskets. In the spirit of Halloween, we put together a spooky themed basket for the kids. On the day of the meeting Christian went home from school sick and their father was also getting sick so we had to reschedule.
Recieving a GrantWe applied for a grant from INSPIRE^3 a couple weeks ago. It was a company that Mr. Large has used for Service Learning projects in the past. We were recently informed that we received a $250 mini grant to cover some of the expenses related to our project. This will help cover costs of tickets and gifts for various Dream Days. A picture of the email we received is pictured below. Planning the Fitzgeralds' Dream DayThe Fitzgeralds are siblings in the fourth grade at NPE. Christian is in a wheelchair due to multiple sclerosis while his sister remains bubbly. Their mother was tragically diagnosed with terminal brain cancer. The heart-wrenching story of these kids makes it that much more exciting to give them a special day. We received their packets (pictured below) and were excited to get started. Both of them stated that they would like to spend their Dream Day at the Indianapolis Zoo. This was a very ironic choice considering their fear of "large animals" and "wild animals". We called the zoo to request discounted tickets for the Fitzgerald's and were notified that we should send an email proposal so that they could decide if they would be able to help us. We sent the email and have yet to receive a response. We also texted their parent contact number to arrange a meeting to meet the kids and discuss their Dream Days. However, there has been no response. Planning Bexleigh's Dream DayBexleigh is a preschooler at New Pal. We recently received her packet back (pictured below). She said that she would like to spend her Dream Day at The Children's Museum of Indianapolis. We texted her mom to arrange a meeting so that we could get to know Bexleigh a little better. We met in a conference room at the high school on Thursday during our lab time. We were surprised to see that Bexleigh's mother was pregnant and due in a week! We asked how many tickets they would need and days that would work best. We also asked questions about what Bexleigh likes so that we could put together a personalized basket. We wanted to put a basket together with some of the information we learned from packets and meeting with them. After meeting with Bexleigh we went to The Dollar General to start buying things for her basket. We learned that she loves Frozen (who isn't); she asks to watch it every morning when she wakes up. A while after meeting with them we came up with an idea to get them tickets to Disney on Ice. We thought it was a better option considering Bexleigh's love of Frozen and the mother would have a newborn baby.
Brainstorming
When deciding what project to start, it was important to bounce ideas off of each other. Dream Day has been a very popular and beloved project at NPHS in the past. When my group was brainstorming ideas we thought that we should keep this legacy project going, but with a little twist. We are all interested in working with kids and decided to take Dream Day to the elementary schools.
Our Goal
The main goal of the Dream Day project is to create a day where children with special needs can make a wish of theirs come true. We know that giving resource kids an unforgettable day can change their lives forever. Giving these kids even just a little piece of happiness would give us so much joy.
Pitch Day
Preparing for Pitch Day was very tedious. We had to think about every aspect in extreme detail to reduce the risk of problems later on. Information and documents from past Dream Day projects were very helpful in planning in addition to insight from Mr. Large. Pitch Day was a great opportunity to talk to administration and resource teachers that would be involved. During and after our presentation, we got questions and insight that was very helpful. We missed some things the first time around, but Pitch Day helped us to find those things and work them out. Pitch Day also made us even more excited about what we were doing because everyone was so enthusiastic and thought it was a great idea. Below is our Pitch Day powerpoint and other important documents from our presentation.
Planning
After Pitch Day we felt prepared enough to start our project. We contacted principals and resource teachers from each of the elementary schools asking for nominations, 2 kids from each school (to start). A week later when we received nominations we delivered their Dream Day Packets (pictured below) to the front office of their elementary school. We received parent contact information from the resource teachers and emailed the parents to explain our project. We asked that the packets be filled out and returned within a week or as soon as possible. We were eager to get our project started and can hardly wait to receive all the packets back!
Elementary Resource Teacher Contacts
Janet Antle: [email protected]
Jill Keyes: [email protected] Jessica Montgomery: [email protected] Michael Agnew: [email protected] Dream Day Team
Me
Email: [email protected] Mallory Barnes Email: [email protected] Haley Rickey Email: [email protected] Kaylin Casner Email: [email protected] |