“In All Things it is Better to Hope Than to Despair” ~Johann Wolfgang von Goethe

We Got a Break!
We got Good Friday off!  You have no idea how excited I was about this.  I got my car fixed and tomatoes planted!  I got to stay up late on Thursday night eating pizza!  (I probably should have gone to a Maundy Thursday service, but I didn't leave work until 7, and after dealing with defiant Junior Highers, I don't think I was in the right mood.  Glad Jesus forgives!)

Friday work

Took me (and Barb) all afternoon Saturday.  Would never have finished without her.

Fundraising Update
If you look to the right side of my blog update, you should be able to see a handy thermometer showing my goal for monthly income on my fundraising and where it is now.  I will update it as I am made aware of new monthly donations, so keep checking back!

My job is unique and challenging in that, while working as the Volunteer Coordinator and the Kids Coordinator at Pomona Hope, I'm also fundraising my own salary.  Your money is going to good work.  And every little bit helps, so don't forget to tell your friends!  :-)

What to Do with Defiant Junior Highers...
I asked for tips a few weeks back about this.  What we've ended up doing is something that I didn't remember doing before until we started it again recently, and then I remembered Emily using this same tactic to a couple of kids a few years ago!  If they can't act they're age, they get to travel with the K-1st graders (who are usually far better behaved and less annoying).

Last Thursday was a double-whammy.  I spent the last half hour of programs bouncing around between dealing with 2 different kids who decided to be smart alecs and push buttons or just completely ignore any authority figure.  I had to get tough and take a phone away from one of them while having them both write Thank You cards to volunteers while they sat out away from the rest of their group and each other.

Weirdly, they came in Monday still on their guard and trying to cause problems again (because they were still mad at being punished for the last time they caused problems.  Oh, kids.), but for the most part, after I treated them nicely, they settled down again.  Tuesday, they seemed to be mostly okay with me.  I hope they start to figure out that we're not here to butt heads with them, but to help them with their homework, listen when they need to talk about something important, and do our best to get them to do their best.

Messy Kids
On  this past Wednesday,  my 4th-6th graders left me the biggest mess I've seen them leave for a normal day all year, maybe all the time I've been coming here.  I might have given them all a warning for it, but there's one student in the group who has been coming to us for years and has never gotten a warning.  Ever.  That's his claim to fame and something he's proud enough of to step up and take control of the group when I even threaten giving the group a warning for something.  Besides that, he mostly likes to fly under the radar.  And HE didn't leave a mess himself, his area was clean.  He just didn't help his group clean up either.  So, they got to write apology letters to Art (our janitor) and the Pomona Hope staff as well, before they were allowed to go to gym games.  Some of them were pretty cute.  I'm hoping they got the message and won't do that again.

Garden Workshop
We have SO many kids who love going to the garden that I get asked at least once a day if that's the day they're going (I don't know why they haven't caught on yet that it's on Thursdays... even when I tell them so).  Last week, I peeked in when they were picking radishes.

He is way more excited about radishes than I ever was.

Photobombed by radishes.  Really?!

I have no idea what's happening, but it's cute.

Sorry, they're just so cute!

This week, they learned about Rosemary (it's uses, history, lore it's used in, etc.) and then started to make a Rosemary vinegar, which will spend the next week or so getting heated by the sun until it's ready.

I'm a little jealous.

When did we get this table and chairs set?  It's adorable!

She's loving it.

Volunteer Appreciation Week!
This week was Volunteer Appreciation Week at Pomona Hope (although it may stretch out a couple weeks).  Our volunteers are wonderful to spend their free time coming in to work with our kids, so we want to be sure they feel appreciated!

This year, their gift was a T-shirt!  The La Verne Heights Presbyterian Church ministry group for Pomona Hope did all the research and design and ordered them for us (and covered most of the cost!).  We've had t-shirts in the past, but never so many color options (there was black, a light blue, kelly green, paprika, and another shade of red to choose from)!

This evening we are also having a BBQ for volunteers and their families at the home of our new Board Chair, who was kind enough to put this event on for us.  I think he likes doing this kind of stuff, he's definitely got the yard for it.