LUHS After School Group Session Summaries
Spring 2008
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Intercultural Leadership Initiative
After School Leadership Session #31
5-28-08  3:45-5:45pm

LUHS ILI Students: 7
ILI Staff: Craig Kerr, Alice McFarlane,Matt White.

   It seems a bit strange to write “As usual we started with Attitude of Gratitude” today.  The year is coming to a close.  We have started just about every report with those words or something like them.  This will be the last regular ILI After School Session on Wednesday.  We will probably have one more meeting next week but earlier in the week.  We have seen a lot of growth and promise for the future.  These students are learning a great many things; some from the ILI staff and some from them processing their own experiences.  We see that as a really good thing!  It has been exciting to watch them move ahead on their Journey.

   Today, after some much needed snacks (Apple pie MMMM), we went outside for some activities in the sun.  Then we came in for more detailing and question/answer session for the trip to Minneapolis on the 10-12th of June.  The students are asking good questions and when they have an issue or something they disagree about they discuss it respectfully and enthusiastically.  We worked for all but the last 10 minutes when we had some time to share stories.

Bob Kovar, Project Director
Intercultural Leadership Initiative
Intercultural Leadership Initiative
After School Leadership Session #29
5-7-08 3:45-5:45pm

LUHS ILI Students:  4.
ILI Staff: Matt White.

  Today was a day of satisfaction as we looked back at the very successful ILI Benefit Dance held last Friday night. Our goal today was to continue discussion of how to make the trip to Minneapolis happen. The group started with snack and Attitude Of Gratitude.  While we munched, the students spent time telling stories from the event.   They had a lot of fun at the dance.
 
  Then Matt asked them to focus and think of what their favorite moment or experience of from the evening.  Matt had them draw, write or describe what that moment was.  They had meaningful experiences at the dance.  They saw and learned things from the effort of putting on the dance and watching what worked and what could use a different approach next time.
 
   The purpose of the dance was to try and raise enough funds for the students to take a trip to Minneapolis. Matt unveiled a flow chart of things that need to get finalized if the trip is to become a reality.  He explained how some things were in a sequence of events and what needed to get done first for the plan to flow.  The first order of busy-ness was to get all remaining details from the event out of the way:  Thank you’s;  paying all bills outstanding from the event, etc.  So the whole team got right to work writing and such. 
 
    After a while of working, the group got together to discuss some dates, preferences about the trip and some ways to make it less expensive.  It was a productive conversation. 
Then it was time to head for the buses.

Bob Kovar, Project Director
Intercultural Leadership Initiative
Intercultural Leadership Initiative
After School Leadership Session #28
4-29-08 3:45-5:45pm
 
LUHS ILI Students:  5.
ILI Staff: Matt White, Craig Kerr, Alice McFarlane.

   There was a lot of kinetic, electric energy in the room as we started out with Attitude of Gratitude.   We snacked and visited, telling stories and sharing explanations of our favorite books, comics and movies. Really what was happening was we were getting to see how and why each other were interested in what we are interested in.

  Then the group spent some time on word riddles and logic problems.  It is a lot of fun to see students really unlocking their brain power on something they like to do even if it’s hard.

     Then we settled down and got t o the busy-ness of planning and double checking our plan for the dance on Friday.  6-9 at LUHS.  Be there.  Whoot whoot!  We are very proud of these students and how they are energetic, optimistic, and accepting as they work under a deadline.  Good job there Ladies and gentlemen!

Bob Kovar, Project Director
Intercultural Leadership Initiative
Intercultural Leadership Initiative
After School Leadership Program #27
April 23, 2008 3:45-5:45pm
LUHS
 
Students: 4
ILI Staff: Craig Kerr, Matt White and Alice McFarlane
 
With such a beautiful afternoon, we had to go outside and soak up some sun before jumping back into planning next Friday’s dance.  We tried out our skills with Frisbee.  These students have good throwing arms, and creative ways to throw the Frisbee.

Once back inside, the students divided up tasks for the dance.  Betty finished working on the flyer and typing up our to-do list.  John wrote a letter requesting a donation from a local business.  Jackie created a list of businesses to ask for certificate donations.  Katie made several phone calls and found a DJ who is willing to come for a reduced cost.  The students are making the details come together for the dance.  It is great to see them excited about making it work.

Bob Kovar, Project Director
Intercultural Leadership Initiative
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Intercultural Leadership Initiative
After School Leadership Session #26
3:45-5:45pm
4-16-08

LUHS ILI Students:  7.
ILI Staff: Matt White, Craig Kerr, Alice McFarlane.

      We started, as always, with our Attitude of Gratitude.  The joking and story telling over food has always been such a good time to get to know each other.  While we were eating some of the students familiar with the Ojibwe language started playing language quiz games with the ILI staff.  Double-checking what we know.  Double-checking what they know.  It was a lot of fun and they were proud to realize that they know so much.  We were very proud that they know so much and are willing to share.
 
    From that the group moved right into more planning for the middle school dance to be held on May 2nd at LUHS.  The students came up with the idea and are doing a great job of getting things together.  Another idea was to go on a service learning trip to the Twin Cities in early June.  On this trip the students would participate in a project (yet to be determined because of funds) that would either help the homeless or some kind of cooperative effort with a program for kids.  The dance is one of their ideas to raise funds for this project. There a hundred and one things to think of and anticipate so they are learning a lot and sharing ideas.  We will keep you updated on their progress and plans.

Bob Kovar, Project Director
Intercultural Leadership Initiative
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Intercultural Leadership Initiative
After School Leadership Program #24
April 2, 2008
LUHS
 
Students: 5
ILI Staff: Craig Kerr, Matt White and Alice McFarlane
 
Thanks to a sunny day and dry cement, we got to play kickball outside—boys versus girls.  Guess who won?  You’ll have to ask one of the contestants.  There were some great kicks, catches, stealing of bases and dives into the snow.
After quenching our thirst, the group continued the discussion and planning of the upcoming fundraiser dance.  During the last week the students talked with administration and the proper channels and received permission for holding the dance at the high school.  They have a good start on organizing a good event.  The students decided that they need more time to plan than just meeting on Wednesday afternoons.  So they talked about other times when they can meet, such as lunchtime.  They worked through the list of things to be done for the list, and started assigning people to different tasks.  This group has lots of good ideas and energy.  The ILI staff thinks they have great potential.  We look forward to seeing what can happen with their creativity and enthusiasm.

Bob Kovar, Project Director
Intercultural Leadership Initiative
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Intercultural Leadership Initiative
After School Leadership Program #23
March 26, 2008
3:45-5:45PM LUHS
 
Students: 7
ILI Staff: Craig Kerr and Alice McFarlane
 
This was our first session after spring break.  After a snack of ‘create your own trail mix’ we did some activities.  Craig asked each student to write down two true statements and one false statement about themselves.  Each person read their statements and then the rest of the group had to guess which one was false.  We learned some new things about each other.  Next Craig asked the students to write the answer to the following three questions: what do you want to be when you grow up? If you could live anywhere, where would you want to live?  Who is the most important person to you, or the most important thing?  Once everyone had written them down, Alice read them off and the rest of the group had to guess who the statements were about.  The group usually guessed the right person on the first try.  They know each other well.

Then we continued working on a dance that the students started planning before break.  Betty had done a lot of the initial planning at our last session.  She is a good planner.  Randi Jo led the group through the Action Plan process that she had just learned this past week at the leadership conference in Louisiana.  She did a good job taking the group step by step.  The students brainstormed all that was needed for the dance, obstacles to having the dance, resources available to them, and started creating a list of what needed to be done and by whom.  They chose to put on a dance to raise money, so that they can take a trip to do service projects in another community.  They did a great job brainstorming and completed the first step on the list.  They completed a form to turn into the high school and will be talking with Mr. Kleinhans tomorrow.

Bob Kovar, Project Director
Intercultural Leadership Initiative
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Intercultural Leadership Initiative
After School Leadership Program #22
3/12/08
LUHS
 
ILI Students: 3
ILI Staff: Alice McFarlane, Matt White, and Craig Kerr.
 
We had a small but enthusiastic group today.  We had a wonderful time sharing in the leftovers from last night’s community meeting.  One of the students was enjoying showing their talent as a “laugher”.  This student had so many different laughs that they came up with and we were all laughing with them.  There are professional laughers in the world of TV and we think we might very well have a star in the making.  We also enjoyed sharing about what has been going on in our lives.  Craig had the group do a clap activity that helped us focus and change our attention to what was coming next.  Matt then initiated a improvisational activity where the students and staff act out some activity that the others must figure out.  However, the actor and audience were under two different assumptions of what the context is.  For example one of the staff came in the room and was pretending to be planting some seeds and the audience was under the impression that she was selling hot dogs.  This is an activity that creates and encourages creativity; a skill that is being highly recruited in today’s market society.  Finally we ended with the students deciding that they would like to do a fundraiser to go to the Twin Cities for a service-learning opportunity.  One student in particular jumped on this idea and was incredibly motivated to make it happen.  We were impressed with the drive and passion that erupted when the idea was brought up and how quickly the student had things categorized and organized so that we could get right to business when we return from Spring Break.  It was an amazing afternoon!
 
Next meeting is 3/26

Bob Kovar, Project Director
Intercultural Leadership Initiative
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Intercultural Leadership Initiative
After School Leadership Session #21
3:45-5:45pm
3-06-08

LUHS ILI Students:  5
ILI Staff: Matt White, Craig Kerr.
 
      Tonight we started once again with Attitude of Gratitude.  It was good because the students are starting to feel more and more comfortable and go right to the traditions that have been set.  This specific group of students have really only been meeting since January.  As students graduate or find other ways to be involved with things we sometimes see a gradual shift in who actually comes and finds ILI to be their safe place. That has started to happen with this group.

   After snacking and visiting, we moved to some activities and games that were focused mostly on playing safely and fairly with one another.  The staff is trying to focus on establishing a place where all can be safe and feel valued.  This can take some time and look like just playing games.  Even to the students doing the activities but after a while they will look back and say “Hey, we all get along and I can trust those people”.   So, we “played” for a while.

   Then we spent some time each person thinking of a couple of questions.  Some students wrote as many as 5.  Some questions were just for fun but most reflected some questing for serious answers.  “What gift would you most like to give the people you meet?”  “Why is the grass always greener?”  The students have started to get to a place to have serious discussion about stuff of life like this.  It was lighthearted talk this time but depth will come as they move beyond their freshmen year.  The staff left feeling good about the student’s progress and prospects for the future.  Hope!
Bob Kovar, Project Director
Intercultural Leadership Initiative
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Intercultural Leadership Initiative
2007-2008
Service-Learning Overnight
March 1 & 2, 2008
 
ILI Students: 21.
ILI Staff: Alice McFarlane, Craig Kerr, Ernie St. Germaine, and Matt White.
ILI Volunteer: Adam St. Germaine
 
We had 21 students attend the service-learning overnight this year.  That is a new record!  These were a wonderful group of young people to work with.  After everyone had arrived Craig asked everyone to circle up in the entryway of Lakeland Union High School.  Then, he talked to the students about our expectations of them.  Many of the students did not know each other’s names so we began with an activity that allowed us to get comfortable with each other’s names.  Then it was off to Minocqua Winter Park to volunteer at the Lakeland Loppet.
 
Our students were enlisted to help with handing out and collecting timing chips.  The total number of racers this year was down by about 100 so we also had students working on the ice rink.  Some of the students enjoyed rolling down the hill and discovered the wonder of using cardboard as a sled.  Unfortunately, one of the students who was rolling down the hill became so dizzy that it would not go away and his father ended up having to take him home.  The students also (wo)manned a drink station during the 25K race.  They really enjoyed helping and had a good time chatting with the skiers who were out to enjoy the day.  Handing out drinks in a race is a learned skill and the girls did a great job of learning how to get the liquids to the skiers with the least amount of spilling.
 
After we finished our responsibilities at the ski race we headed to the school forest for some playtime.  When we all arrived out at the forest Uncle Ernie and Adam were around the fire cooking up some wonderful “road kill” soup.  We often tease the students that Ernie finds animals by the road and uses them as the meat in the soup.  The students were excited about eating some of the soup.  It is famous in ILI.  We asked the students to go around the circle telling us what they were thankful for.  Many of the students talked about the thankfulness they felt for being on this trip.  Many also were thankful for their family and friends.  We are thankful for so many wonderful young adults who willing take up the challenge to spend a couple of days with people they haven’t ever met and to sleep in a canvass lodge in the winter.  We ate heartily and then it was off to play at the tubing hill.  The students enjoyed the tubing hills that students from LUHS have built.  There was a lot of laughter and some screams to be heard as the students headed down the hill on their tubes. When everyone was tired out at the tubing hills we all headed back to the lodge.  After a short time of resting it was time to make hobo dinners.
Many of the students had never made a hobo dinner and were intrigued by the whole concept.  How can you put all these ingredients together and have something good to eat?  However, all of them were completely blown away by the wonderful culinary feats they had achieved with just a few ingredients and some spices.  Save-more Foods donated half of the food on our food list and Trig’s gave us an incredible discount on the other half.  We are thankful to have such wonderful supporters of our program.
 
We finished up dinner, cleaned up the cooking area and headed to LUHS.  We arrived and headed to the climbing room.  We had a birthday to celebrate and we did it in style with cake and singing in the hallway.  The singing was great and the cake was wonderful.  After the festivities we piled into the climbing room and watched a fabulous movie called Akeela and the Bee.    The movie inspires people to follow their dreams and motivates us not to be afraid of the person we are meant to become, but rather embrace, nourish and encourage that person to achieve our best.  After the movie Craig talked about those very things with the students.  He encouraged the students to get help to achieve their goals, and offered the staff of ILI as a resource.
 
After the discussion on the movie we headed back out to the school forest for a night out in the lodge.  Everyone made themselves comfortable and we got ready for the night.
 
In the morning, after everyone had helped get all of our stuff out of the forest, we headed to Ella’s restaurant for breakfast.  There was no whining and complaining about having to get up and they all helped each other.  It really was wonderful to see how they were all helping each other and working hard.  We had an attitude of gratitude at breakfast. A number of students were thankful for the warmth and once more many were thankful for the opportunity to have such an incredible experience.
 
We ate our fill and it was off for some fun at The Waters.  The students really enjoyed their time at the water park.  They played games in the pool, hung out in the hot tub, and slid down the slides.  Friendships were formed all weekend and we could clearly see the strength of these bonds as these students interacted with each other in this environment.  The students exchanged phone numbers and were laughing and joking together and having a wonderful time.  The last couple of years we felt that we were pressed for time at The Waters so we added extra time this year and it made a big difference.  The students were able to interact in a way that is natural and fun and it strengthened their bonds.
 
Towards the end of our time at The Waters a mentor of one of the students brought another cake, and we had another time of singing and eating.  It was great to see them enjoying each other, simply as friends, oblivious about where they live or go to school.
 
Craig ended our experience with a time of reflection and asked the students to share some thoughts of the weekend.  The students talked of the fun that they had and the friends that they had made.  They were thankful for the people who put the whole experience together and for all of the new experiences they were exposed to.    With the act of opening themselves up to new experiences and new people these students took a big step into changing not only their own futures, but also the futures of us all.

Bob Kovar, Project Director
Intercultural Leadership Initiative
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Intercultural Leadership Initiative
After School Leadership Session #20
3:45-5:45pm LUHS School Forest
2-27-08

LUHS ILI Students:   4
ILI Staff: Matt White, Alice McFarlane, Craig Kerr.

            Tonight was special.  We did our traditional start with “Attitude of Gratitude” and then snacks but we tried to hurry so we could go to the LUHS forest to help prepare for the upcoming service learning overnight and have some fun in the snow. This weekend we will have a good number of ILI students volunteering at the Lakeland Loppett ski race and then attended the ILI overnight in the forest-so we need to make preparations. We all looked like little marshmallows with heads after we were bundled up.  It’s hard to fit the normal number of people in a van when they are all twice as big as normal.  At least it was warm and friendly.
            At the forest, the students helped dig out fire pits and dining areas.  They also packed down snow for trails and the tubing hill.  Tromping around in snow-shoes was a lot of fun.  There are a lot of Snow Angels in the forest:  Some on purpose, others more by accident as students fell over with their snowshoes on!
            The students really enjoyed each other and the fact that they were being very helpful; the whole idea of doing community service! The area is ready for a great overnight experience!
Bob Kovar, Project Director
Intercultural Leadership Initiative
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Intercultural Leadership Initiative
After School Leadership Session #27
2-20-08 3:45-5:45pm
 
LUHS ILI Students:  4
ILI Staff: Matt White, Alice McFarlane.

    We started the evening as always, with the Attitude of Gratitude.  Even after a few years it is still great for the staff to hear what the students are thinking about each time we meet.  They have sometimes very non-linear ways of getting to what they are thankful for but it is great to hear when it is genuine.

   After a day of dutifully attending classes and sitting up straight sometimes we just need to get some wigglies out.  We played a few different variations of old favorites involving a foam noodle.  Sometimes even including interested passers-by in the hallway! 

   Then the group played a very lively and educational game of “Pla-doh-nary”.  It’s Kind of like “Pictionary” except using Play-doh to shape the words instead of drawing them.  The staff was very impressed with the student’s vocabulary and grasp of meanings.   Students often try to get us think they don’t remember anything but they do retain a lot of good stuff.  We played until it was time for a couple students to leave for previous responsibilities.  The remaining group then immersed themselves in brain puzzles and challenging each other with ones that they each knew.  We have some really smart kids in ILI!

Bob Kovar, Project Director
Intercultural Leadership Initiative
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Intercultural Leadership Initiative
After School Leadership Program #18
February 13, 2008
LUHS
 
Students: 9
ILI Staff:  Matt White, Alice McFarlane, Craig Kerr
 
This afternoon started with word play riddles on the board.  Some of the riddles were figured out quickly, and there are some that we have yet to solve.  We moved into Attitude of Gratitude, sharing what we are thankful for and then enjoyed snacks together. 
 
The group decided to do some activities.  We started with ‘Detective’.  One student had to leave the room, while the rest of the group stood in a circle and picked one person to start a motion.  The rest of the group followed any motion changes by the leader.  When the Detective returned to the group, their job was to find out who was the leader.  We have some good detectives in our group. 
 
Next we played Samurai Tag.  One person stands in the middle of the circle, trying to get out of the circle by challenging a person.  Others can also work to get points by sneaking into the circle and challenging the Samurai without getting caught.  This is a bold group, because they continually tried to earn more points, with the risk of being ‘out’ of the game for a short amount of time.  There were some very creative sneak attacks to the center of the circle.
 
Then the group gathered together for the human knot.  Each person reached across the circle with their right hand for someone else to hold onto.  Then the goal was to become untangled.  The students worked well together, helping each other to see the next move.  They completely untangled themselves in a very short amount of time.  It is clear to see there are take charge students in this group who are up for a challenge.
 
We spent some time on the ‘Maze’ a thinking game, and then moved into Elbow Tag after several requests for it were made.  To wrap up the evening we played a round of Pictionary, with the girls versus the boys.  The girls won!
 
It was great to see the students and their energy.  We closed the evening with asking the students to start thinking about projects they would like to work on in the coming weeks.

Bob Kovar, Project Director
Intercultural Leadership Initiative

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Intercultural Leadership Initiative
LUHS After School Leadership #17
LUHS 4pm – 6pm
2-6-08
 
ILI Students: 5
ILI Staff: Alice McFarlane, Craig Kerr, and Matt White
 
Today we had a wonderful group of students! We began by sharing what we were thankful for this day.  It is a way for all of us to get into a frame of mind that helps us focus on the positive things that we have in our lives rather than to dwell on what is not so positive.  LUHS’s Kim Neal Wasserburger taught this activity to us.  He has done wonderful things with and for students here at Lakeland Union High School.
 
Then we had a time to enjoy stories and treats together.  Ernie had left us a riddle to solve.  What do the words:
Banana
Dresser
Potato
Uneven
Assess
Revive
 
All have in common?
ananaB
resserD
otatoP
nevenU
ssessA
eviveR
(The riddle is if you erase the first letter and put it at the end,  It spells the same word!)
 
We headed to update our ILI board and the students did a great job with the project.  They have just begun and it is looking really cool.
 
We ended with a couple of activities, one called train wreck and the other elbow tag.  The students worked together with different disabilities that they received on a “train wreck” and had to get their group from one place to another.  The group did a good job of working together to accomplish the task.  It was neat to see how well the students related to each other and connected very easily.
 
Finally as the student’s request we ended with an ILI favorite “Elbow Tag.”
 
Next meeting February 13, 2008

Bob Kovar, Project Director
Intercultural Leadership Initiative

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Intercultural Leadership Initiative
After School Leadership Session #16
3:45-5:45pm LUHS
1-23-08
 
LUHS ILI Students:  3
ILI Staff: Matt White, Alice McFarlane.
 
     Two of the three students this evening were attending for the first time.  They came in with crafts on their brains.  So we decorated Balloons for a while.  We gifted them to each other.  We put some up as decoration.  We shot them across the room.  We had fun.
   
    Then it was time for snacks and our Attitude of Gratitude.   Every one shared something they were thankful for.  Then we laughed and chatted about what life might be like for them in the future.  It was good for the staff to hear what the students think.  It is also valuable for the students to hear some first hand testimonies of possibilities.
 
    After that the group went in the hall to have a hula hoop show-down.  After some of us thoroughly embarrassed ourselves, we made up a few games with hula-hoops.  Passers by were deeply amused.
 
    Then someone suggested hide and seek.  We laid some ground rules and proceeded to explore and work together.
 
   After a while we returned to the ILI room and shared riddles, card tricks and questions about life. 
 
   A good time of getting to know some new, first time, students at After School ILI.

Bob Kovar, Project Director
Intercultural Leadership Initiative

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Intercultural Leadership Initiative
After School Leadership Program #15
LUHS
1/16/08
 
LUHS Students: 1
ILI Alumni: Vince Miller
ILI Staff: Alice McFarlane, Craig Kerr, Matt White
 
The students begin their finals tomorrow and we expected a small group of students.  We had a very good time catching up with what Vince has been up to in his life.  We also talked with Randi Jo about the trip to New Orleans we have applied to attend.
 
We all asked wonderful questions and had a great time of sharing.  One of the questions that was asked was what makes your personal peace leave.  Can someone steal it or do you give it away?  Another question was why are humans so affected by music?  We had a wonderful discussion on these questions and others, and had a great time of sharing what is going on in our lives.  This time of having positive conversations with students is a very rewarding time as we get to invest in them with more a personal connection.
 
Next meeting 1/23/08

Bob Kovar, Project Director
Intercultural Leadership Initiative

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