The First Day of Our Big Adventure

Today was the start to our Joplin trip. It was a five hour bus ride, including one bathroom break and one lunch break. We left the high school around 10:00 A.M. We arrived at the “Relief Spark” house at about 4:00 P.M. It was a nice log cabin hidden in the wilderness. There were many animals to provide for some entertainment such as: horses, a donkey, guinea birds, ducks, cats and some chickens. As soon as we got off the bus, we raced inside to claim our beds. As it turns out, the girls’ beds consisted of air mattresses and cots. Each room held about 4-5 people. The boys however, stayed in a bunkhouse that used to be a large dog kennel. There were many bunk beds for them to choose from. Once we were all settled in, it was time for orientation. We met this nice lady named Tammy. She is the house supervisor. She showed us around the property to where we felt at home. We then got to hear from the person in charge of operations on speakerphone because she wasn’t able to make it. We learned about the whole program and jobs. After all the informational stuff was out of the way, we just hung out for a little bit until it was supper time. In that time we played a little volleyball, petted the horses and played cards. For supper we had pulled pork sandwiches, salad, potato casserole, green beans and watermelon; compliments to the chef Mrs. Vieth. Everyone enjoyed the meal together on the deck. Afterwards, we started a mean game of hantis (game-like mix of tennis and ping-pong using the hands). We played until dark. That is when we went inside to meet our jobsite managers, Michael and Rebecca. He told us about what each jobsite group would be doing and the safety precautions each one would need to be taken. Later Mrs. Dann assigned us all to our jobsites, which included: siding, intereior/exterior painting, gardening and fencing. After discussing all the essential information, we enjoyed some cookies and milk and sat around the lounge room and hung out. Tomorrow is the first day of work to where we will be departing at 8:00 am. Hayley Stiers, Kirsten Leimkuehler, Jamie Gleeson

Day Five: Our Very Last Day

By: Katie Kernen, Emily Kunz, Cullen Horstmann and Tyler Krimmel Exactly 13 months ago today, a devastating tornado disrupted the friendly community of Joplin, Missouri. With that in mind we woke up this morning to the aroma of left over breakfast food from the previous days of our stay. The breakfast was a grand feast of pancakes, biscuits and gravy, bagels, pizza, and an array of assorted pastries and doughnuts. After we all finished gorging ourselves we loaded up the bus and drove to our worksites. The painting crew painted a second coat on the back of the house and put a first coat on the side of the house. The siding crew finished the siding. But, the fencing crew….wasn’t so lucky. After the Thursday’s rain, the holes that the team had been digging, and re-digging and laboring over all week were now full of mud. The fencing crew had to re-dig yet again those blasted holes. But, some good did come out of it all; Tyler unknowingly wounded the giant insect monster that had been terrorizing us all week, known as….Tina. Tina was a large black and white stripped winged insect that terrorized the skies and dragged other insects into the dungeons of her burrow, where they were feasted upon. With one mighty swing of his shovel, Cullen killed Tina. There was cheering and then… more work. The pickets that had been put into place the day before we now discovered to be unlevel and crooked. We had to rip them out and start again, by this point our moral was diminished and Roxanne (Mrs. Ziess) was at wits end! But then Michael, our supervisor, gave us a little speech about integrity, telling us to stay focused and not give up but to complete the job to the best of our abilities. With this we pressed on while Mrs. Dann and a few others set fence posts in concrete. Then, it was noon and we were let out early! Our work was finished, it was time to play. We headed back to the house for yet another feast of leftovers. We packed the bus, changed into our swimming suits and headed off to the water falls. It was beautiful! The water falls sparkled blue and we went swimmin’. Bikinis and tennis shoes were the fashion and we were styling! Dodging snakes and other reptiles in the water we made it to the top of the falls and though we all wished we could take a leap of faith down the falls, we couldn’t …it was a rule. We still sat up there and enjoyed the view. While up there, we ran into a guy that was with his team. They worked for USA Today and had a blog called, “The Best of the Road”. Anyway, this guy had a small water video camera and he jumped off of the cliff into the water. We were cheering for him and the blog people said that our picture was taken while we were cheering and that we would be featured in the blog, which is exciting!! After more swimming and sun we were on the bus, this time headed for home, stopping for dinner and going back to our normal lives. We won’t forget our trip though. The stories that we were told, the people we met or the memories we’ve made. We have all learned from this experience and are fortunate to have had the opportunity to go and help in Joplin. Devastation so close to home, we didn’t think much of it until we came down here. It feels good to pay it forward and we can only hope that we can do it again next year. Bye!

The Day of Firsts

The day started out unlike any other we have experienced before on an enrichment trip. To start, everyone was allowed to sleep in an extra hour. When we woke, there was the sound of raindrops falling on the rooftop, along with the aroma of fresh pancakes. The four of us walked down to see Roxanne covered in flapjack artwork. Then to our surprise, we were told we could go back to sleep, because the rain was impairing our ability to build houses for the day. THIS WAS A FIRST. Once everyone was fully rested, we loaded up the bus and were off to Wal Mart. This is yet again another first. While we were there the kids bought miscellaneous things such as movies, magazines, and junk food. After our stop at Wal Mart, everyone had a “go with the flow” attitude. We made our way to the Joplin Warehouse, which consisted of different volunteer groups that brought together a variety of skills to help rebuild the city. Inside the warehouse was an assortment of tools; hundreds of thousands of dollars worth of supplies. As we were walking through the warehouse, we were introduced to an extraordinary woman, Sandy. We were fortunate enough that she told us her survivor story. From her story, it helped us to focus on the aftermath of the tornado. Sandy suffers from post traumatic stress disorder, along with many other survivors of the disaster. This was really brought into perspective when she mentioned before the tornado she read an average of three books of week; now she can’t focus long enough to do this. Instead Sandy volunteers at the Joplin Warehouse, which she seems to be very beneficial in helping her recover from the tragedy. Once we were finished at the warehouse the group was starving, possibly because it was an hour and a half past normal lunch time. With this in mind, our group took a break at Cunningham Park, where we devoured our packed lunch. The park was approximately a block away from the once functional St. Johns hospital, which is now a reminder of the devastation from May 22. With the help of a few friendly strangers, we heard of a memorial museum that told the different stories of the tornado survivors. We arrived to the museum and instantly were shocked by the sights. The different images, stories, and 911 voice recordings silenced us. The rooms were filled with photographs of many survivors with different words of hope and encouragement painted on their arms, back, or face. Underneath these photos were their stories, some more upsetting than others. While reading the stories, the only words that were spoken seemed to be “oh my gosh”, “wow”, “that’s terrible”, etc; they really hit close to home. The day ended on a lighter note once we met up with some fellow Joplin students at one of the local swimming pools. We enjoyed pizza and other refreshments before hopping in the pool, which seemed more like a water park to be honest. There were waterslides, giant lily pads, and tons of room to swim. After two hours of this excitement it was time to pack up for the day and head back to our humble abode. We said goodbye to the Joplin students and pawned off as much extra pizza as possible. Once we arrived home, we met for our FINAL fireside chat. We discussed the activities for the day ahead of us, which consisted of preparing for the journey home tomorrow. Now we’re winding down for the day and it’s time to sign off. Maybe we’ll go to bed; maybe not? Let’s just say we are. Goodnight all. By: Talisa, Jessica, Natalie, and Kelsey

Day 3: A Wondrous Wednesday of Work and Whimsy

This morning we awoke to the squawking of the guineas and the snorting of the horses. After slowly waking up and washing away weariness in the shower, we ate a hearty breakfast of egg casserole, donuts, fruit, and cheddar mashed potatoes. After a short fireside chat where we voted to have pancakes for breakfast Friday, we finally piled onto the luxurious school bus, chauffeured by Mr. Allen Speckhals, and headed off to a backbreaking day of labor. We, the master painting group, arrived at our sight with high hopes and big smiles. We quickly dispersed into different rooms to divide and conquer. The north side of the house was sided by Jon, Evan, and Hannah. The painting crew began work on the final room - the interior bathroom. MiKayla and Natalie put all the effort forward to complete this room quickly. Jessica and Everett began the second coat of paint on the soffits, as Kelsey, Talisa, and Torrie moved many rocks that were littering the yard. After the soffits were dry, the whole crew began and finished painting the south siding, a beautiful bronzed ivy color. Since most of the painting work was finished, most of the crew went to a local school to water their garden. The plan for tomorrow is to finish all of the painting inside and outside of the house. The fencing crew began their day joyously. We skipped all the way to the holes we had to continue to chisel. Little by little the rocks in our two foot holes disappeared. Soon we were mixing concrete and measuring, measuring, and more measuring. After marking out all the measurements with “straight” lines, we nailed the boards into place. Our fence was finally coming to life! After a refreshing lunch, we continued our wonderful day of labor. Hayley, Katie, Kirsten, and Jamie helped to mulch the children’s play set while the rest of the crew started to prepare the wood for the fence. Michael cut the wood with masterful precision as the students watched intently. Emma helped to haul scraps into a pile. Andrew and Cullen removed the nails from the stakes we had used the day before. It was hot, sweaty work, but we loved every second of it and couldn’t stop smiling. Soon Rebecca was recruiting members to go to the garden at the elementary school. Emma, Cullen, Tyler and Hayley reluctantly left their work at the fence sight to go water the plants. Seven members from the painting crew came along as well. It took a few extra moments to actually locate the garden, but once we did, we dived in head first. Soon the cold water was a flowin’ and the plants were drinkin’ it up. We watered all that we could and then left to pick up the other members. We arrived back at the ranch and proceeded to wash all of the dirt and sweat away and get spiffed up for a night at the carousel park. Mrs. Vieth cooked up a wonderful build-your-own taco bar and we had sodas and ice cream as a special treat. Then we loaded up and headed out to the carousel park where we met up with a religious group and shared fun times. Carousel park was a magical land of bumper boats, go-karts, mini golf, a Ferris wheel, and bumper cars. Ironically, the only carousel to be found was part of the kiddy rides and no one rode it. We proceeded back to the shack to finally use our pool after another nightly fireside chat. The crew told funny stories and then drifted off to sleep to rest up for another day of work.

2nd Work Day at Joplin

Today started out as almost a mirror of yesterday, we woke up early and were served egg casserole, bagels, and fruit. We left for the work site around eight even beating our work site leaders out the gate because we were so eager to work. The work itself went smoother than yesterday because everyone knew what they were doing. The paint crew managed to apply a second coat of paint to the entire interior including the safe room and garage. The siding crew made a lot of progress and covered an entire section of the backside of the house and filled the cracks with caulk so the siding will be ready to be painted tomorrow. The work was a lot more enjoyable after the work site leader, Rebecca, dropped off a radio to replace the broken record of Allen Speckhals’ greatest Christmas hits. We discovered a lot of hidden talent in students like Torrie Roodhouse who managed to sing over the radio loud enough to entertain the siding crew outside. Noelle, the home owner, and her neighbor relieved some of their built up stress by venting to the students during breaks about their concerns towards their contractors and expressed their gratitude for all of our help. Noelle even went so far as to running out in the middle of the street to stop the ice cream truck and treated us all to Bomb Pops—which were delicious! We are so lucky to have a kind homeowner like Noelle, who always made sure we had what we needed. The fencing crew got into some dirty work while cleaning out the holes they drilled yesterday for the posts. They learned many new things today like the word plumb, which means that they had to make sure the posts were leveled up and down. They also got to use mini jack hammers to break the rocks at the bottom of the holes. One of the students on the fencing crew, Katie Kernen said,”Using the jack hammer was interesting and it was really dirty work.” They were rewarded with chocolate chip cookies from the homeowner, Misty. At quitting time Misty’s neighbor followed suit by bringing oatmeal cookies as well. After all our hard work, we came home to a lovely dinner. Mrs. Vieth proved to us that she could challenge Rachel Ray in a cook-off and most likely win. She served us pork steaks, mashed potatoes, salad, cornbread salad, and corn. Mrs. Vieth knew just what we needed to refuel after our long day so we had enough energy to head over to the laser tag arena for several epic battles. It got more competitive after each round. Mrs. Dann proved her tenacity by chasing and “accidentally” hitting her prey while running through the arena. It was questionable whether or not we sweated more during our eight hours of work or two hours of laser tag. Some people may have forgotten one of the rules that “it is just a game” and laughed at their victims as they fell to the floor and their guns were deactivated. One of the other leaders, Eric, decided to join in on the fun and show that he was more skilled than us when his screen name, Birthday Cake, showed up at the top of the scoreboard almost every time. All of the workers shouldn’t have any trouble falling asleep tonight after all the excitement from the day. Hannah Steinbeck, Valerie Hagedorn, MiKayla Engemann

The First Work-Day in Joplin

This mornin’ we woke up at 6:30 to get ready for our first full day o’ work. Errr-body was anxious ‘bout gettin’ started. Ms. Vieth made us a hearty breakfast of egg, water, ham, sausage, onion, salt, pepper, pear, eggs, grape, peach, grape, pineapple, fruit, potatoes, cheeze, eggs, more eggs, milk, water, grape, and peach… and eggs. We left at approximately 800 hours and we arrived at our first house ready to go! We were split into three different groups: One was in-charge of paintin’, another hangin’ siding, and the last one buildin’ a fence! The four people who were in charge of siding were kind of off in their own world for the day but they got a lot accomplished! Surprisingly, we discovered that Bean and Jon knew how to read a tape measure! For the painting crew, we had a couple of pro painters with us and the new-bees caught on really quick! The fencing crew was the last to arrive at their job site and started by measuring the fence line. Then the fencing crew split in two and while one worked outside digging holes in the heat the other waited for wood in the air conditioned Home Depot. After a long hard difficult challenging day of demanding, arduous, excruciating, back-breaking, lung-busting, debilitating labor, the whole group took a tour of the City of Joplin. During this tour, we saw many homes and buildings that had been recently rebuilt. We learned from our tour guide Shenen, who was one of the survivors, many interesting facts like there were 400 mph+ winds and that the high school was moved to a mall. It was all very shocking and very heart-breaking. The mile wide tornado travelled six miles through Joplin and destroyed everything in its path. Afterwards we ate a restaurant that came highly recommended by Coach Gubera. He was right when he said we would bet lots of good food at a reasonable price. Then we arrived back and ate homemade ice cream while we had our evening meeting. We are looking forward to another hard day of work.