Having fun

Back Home!

Students -

I just want to thank you for being so awesome on the trip. You all worked hard and understood the importance of what you were doing. All of the chaperones were super proud, and I know your family is as well.

Remember what was said while we were finished working each day? The biggest thing you can do now that you are home is to tell other people about your work and the work that still needs to be done in Louisiana and the Gulf Coast. A small group from Chicago can make a difference!

Enjoy the rest of your summers!

-Ms. Waldock

From Olivia Garza

It's been a very long 5 days here in the amazing city of New Orleans.  We've walked the French Quarter, got a taste of some Cajun food, learned some history, and even sailed down the Mississippi River.  All of those things were fun, but the main thing is that we helped out the people of the city of New Orleans.  Restoring the shorelines will help them out a lot with any future storms.  The work we did down there brought us a great feeling of success, and accomplishment. To come down here again was a great opportunity.  I was also glad that a lot of this years SEE Teamers got to come down here as well, and help out the city, and people. We got to stay in dorms, get woken up by Mr. Holt parading down the hall with frying pans, get some nice sunburn, and swim in the Gulf of Mexico.  It seemed that everyone had an awesome time, and got a lot out of the experience.  Our time down in New Orleans is something to never ever forget, and we won't ever forget it. Let the good times roll!

From Emily Cain

After a long trip to New Orleans, I feel great that I was able to help the people there but mostly I feel tired. Going to bed at 11pm every night and waking up at 6am every morning really drained me. I felt that this was a great experience and I can't wait to share it with my family and friends back at home. Our bus driver, Vernon, lives in New Orleans and told us that he thinks that it is volunteers who have helped the city rebuild. He said that the government did absolutely nothing to help the people in need. Hearing this made me realize that even though the work made us want to hurt somebody it really made an impact on the people of the city. Everywhere we went people asked us if we were here for a school trip to tour the city, and we told them that we were actually helping to rebuild. All of the people were so grateful that someone cares about them and wanted to help when in need. In my opinion, the US should step in to help those who can't help themselves, and that's exactly what we did.

Heading Home

Hello Readers  - 

Thank you for all of the lovely comments.  I have shared them with the group and we all enjoy hearing the praise you are giving.  This trip has been AWESOME and I know the kids have really enjoyed themselves.  They will remember this forever.  

I wasn't able to upload pictures last night but I will try to once I am back in Chicago. Keep reading this blog even though the trip will be over.

We have to finish packing up the room and then off to Mardi Gras World.  See ya at O'Hare, parents!

-Ms. Waldock

Pizza and Ghost Tour

After a hard day of work, we were able to have some free time. First we relaxed in the hotel; some kids enjoyed the pool and others took much needed naps. Later in the afternoon, small groups went shopping around New Orleans. At 5:30 PM, we gathered to head over to a local pizza place. After dinner, we met up with our tour guide for our Haunted New Orleans Experience. We were all a little spooked! We concluded the night with a stop at the Voodoo Store, where many of the kids dressed up in feather boas and funny hats. 

Workday 3: City Park Botanic Garden

Today we woke up, ate a quick breakfast, and drove right to City Park, in the heart of New Orleans. City Park is larger than Central Park in New York, and it is a place of comfort and relaxation for the people of this city. They once had a staff of 385, but now they less than one hundred employees. This would be a small number in good times, but they are now left to deal with the devastation that was done by Katrina. They rely mainly on volunteers. We worked in the beautiful Botanic Gardens today. It is an area that was overgrown with weeds and needed a great deal of maintenance. Our crew persevered through the intense heat, and, in just three hours, we managed to do the work that it would take three employees four days to complete. The park employees were incredibly grateful; they couldn't believe that a group of students from Chicago were willing to spend their first days of summer vacation sweating in a garden. Many visitors to the park actually stopped to thank us for our hard work, and the kids should be very proud!

Meditation on Ecological Restoration by Lana, Diana, Emily and Carly

The SEE Team New Orleans trip has been an interesting, fun and educational experience. When we went on the Katrina tour, we saw things we will never forget; houses were blown fifty yards away from there original spots, there were empty lots where houses used to be and people were left with nothing but the sidewalk for their homes. None of us had any idea how much devastation was left three years after Katrina. We were glad that we were able to help, though. The second day here, we cleaned up the beach which resulted in everybody running into the Gulf of Mexico in all of their clothes. We went to stay in a dorm close to the next day's work site, so that we could get started ASAP. 

On day three, we woke up to Mr. Holt parading/stomping up and down the hallway beating a strainer with a spoon and singing at the top of his lungs. That started our hard day of work. After breakfast, we took a bus/boat ride to Fifi Island to plant native species in mud and water. Some of the mud was so floppy that some of us sank in up to our waists. After we were all done and had time to look around, we were quite proud of ourselves.

You may be wondering how this workday affects the people of New Orleans. When a hurricane approaches land, it creates huge walls of water that keep building until it hits something (i.e. land, building, etc.). However, when there are plants in the water, the waves decrease in size and strength, and there is less devastation on land. We have been doing some helpful work these last couple days, and we can't wait until tomorrow!

Pictures from Fifi Island

Down the Bayou!

Please comment!

Dear Loyal Readers,

Where are you? The children are eager to hear your responses and answer any questions that you may have. We miss you! Let us know that we are being heard! Pleeeeease!

Love,

The SEE Team

Sam, Ben, Cody and Austin... Greetings from Bourbon Street!

During the second work day, while outside of New Orleans, we helped restore the native wetlands. We worked for several hours and planted on Fifi Island. The wetlands help to reduce hurricanes and storm surge heading toward cities. Sadly, the wetlands are getting lost and turning into open water. To help, people currently dredge up extra silt and sediment from the Mississippi River and dump them into mounds to make land on which the habitat can be restored.

Our Bus Drivers

This is our second trip to New Orleans, and some of the most meaningful conversations we've had here have been with our wonderful bus drivers. Last year, we had "D." He helped to evacuate survivors of the hurricane and actually witnessed death en route to higher ground. This year we have Vernon (VCR). Vernon lost everything. He had been living in his family's house in the Upper Ninth Ward. When the storm hit, he evacuated to Dallas, Texas with his son. Through his job with Hotard Coach Busses, he was then contracted to do work for FEMA. He lived on the bus for a month, but he managed to make enough money for a down payment on a new house. This was very fortunate, as the city decided to tear down his family's property without his knowledge or consent. Luckily, he drove by his old house one day and saw the sign that it was going to be torn down. He appealed to the city to save the house; he wanted to rebuild. He did not win his case. On our Hurricane Katrina Bus Tour, we drove the empty lot where his family house had once stood. It's a ghost town. 

Unfortunately Vernon's story is one of many. 

The Diary of Nick, Keegan, and Steve

This trip has been very fun, yet meaningful! We have learned a lot and made an impact on the places we've visited. The Katrina tour was very eye opening. It really brought the suffering of the people of New Orleans to light. Also, it showed the rays of hope of people rebuilding. It really inspired us to work harder on our restoration work. We made a lot of progress with our ecological restoration and planted about four acres of grass in an attempt to reclaim the wetlands from open water. This helps the people by providing a buffer from future storms, creates habitat for wildlife, and it could possibly save lives!!! 

Ruminations from the Alum (Samy, Garza, and Melanie)

Katrina Tour: We saw a few more places than we did last year, and there has not been that much improvement made.

Monday: Garbage day! Picking up garbage on the shore of the Gulf of Mexico, which we didn't get to do last year, was fun! We hung out and swam at the beach after a hard day's work. We stayed in the dorms and slept on bunk beds. We didn't get to do that last year. We woke up to Mr. Holt going up and down the hall banging frying pans together to get us up. 

Tuesday: We went to Fifi Island and planted $4,000 to $6,000 worth of Smooth Cord Grass. We had a great time splashing around in the water and getting stuck in the mud. We were bummed about our two and a half hour drive home (most of us got sunburned too). We got back to New Orleans and rushed to get cleaned. Then we walked to the Natchez Jazz Dinner Cruise. After the cruise, we all took a walk to the amazing Cafe Du Monde. We all had beignets, iced-coffee, hot-chocolate, soda and water. The cockroach joined us too! After finishing our desserts, we walked back to the hotel and waited on another day of work and play.

Food for Thought from Cassie, Anna and Brenna

Coming on this trip has been a truly unique experience. We have done so much stuff, and we have enjoyed every minute of it. Even though it was brutally hard work, it was well worth it in the end. It is only day three, and we've gotten so much done in so little time (in spite of the fact that we have wicked bad sun-burns and tans). Speaking of being wicked, the food is amazing. We haven't been to a restaurant where the food has been bad. Even when we went to the beach for a clean-up, the sandwiches, jambalaya, and snacks were yummy. When we were on the beach we had a blast. The water was warm, and the air was hot. Seeing the alligator and dolphins was really cool. Overall, this trip has been a complete surprise!

Deep Thoughts from Alex, Cody, and John

It seems as if the development in the ninth ward since last year has been very slow.  The beach clean on Monday was pretty fun, but the dorm rooms scared us. On Tuesday we planted Salt Marsh Grass and Spartania Grass.  The first half was fun (with some mud fights).  The second half of planting was very long and hot, but in the end we realized how much of a difference we made in one day.  We planted $4,000 to $6,000 worth of plants.  And in the words of Aerosmith..."I don't want to close my eyes!  I don't want to fall asleep because I miss you babe, and I don't want to miss a thing!  Cause even when I think of New Orleans, the sweetest dream will never do.  I still miss you New Orleans, and I don't want to miss a thing!"

More pictures...

We ran into "Mr." The RB band was also in New Orleans!
The "crew" picking up trash along the Gulf of Mexico.  (Monday)
More clean-up.
Impromptu baseball game.  Notice the bat, a piece of driftwood. 
The group in front of the trust bus.  BTNEP stands for the Barrataria Terrebonne National Estuary Program.  We worked with them on Monday and Tuesday.

Musings from Room 1123

Since we've been here we have been quite busy.  First, with our Katrina tour and more recently, our work days.  On Tuesday we went to FiFi Island and planted cord grass.  It was very messy and most of us got sunburned.  Tuesday evening we went on the dinner cruise.

Makayla, Mary, Norah

Photos from Tuesday - FiFi Island

Back from the Bayous

We are back in the city after two days out in the bayous of Louisiana!  I don't have a ton of time to update, as we have to catch the dinner cruise, but I, along with students, will update later tonight!!!

-Ms. Waldock

Recap of Day #1

It is HOT!!!!

Regardless, we are having fun. I think the kids really like the city and are excited to work tomorrow. Here is what we did post-"nap."

6pm: Dinner at Cafe Maspero. Many kids tried local favorites like red beans and rice, muffaletta, and jambalaya. Others enjoyed shrimp and catfish. Mmmm. Yum.

7pm-8pm-ish: Shopping. Funny t-shirts. Beads. Masks. Hot sauce. More beads. Pins. Magnets. Voodoo dolls.

8pm: CAFE DU MONDE!!! Beignets. Mmmm. Mr. Holt especially loves these doughnut-goodness-creations. He'd eat them three times a day if he could.

Afterwards, Mr. Holt got caught in an alligator's mouth:

Tomorrow we have to get up at 6am in order to be to our work site. Assuming we'll still have internet access, we'll post updates on how we did in the field!

-Ms. Waldock

SEE Team Arrives!

Greetings from the Big Easy!

All 27 of us arrived safely in New Orleans and have already had a full day of the heat, humidity, and southern hospitality. After a lunch at Bubba Gumps we had a two hour city tour where we learned about, and witnessed, the devastation brought about by Hurricane Katrina.

We are currently resting in our hotel rooms before heading out for some local cuisine. Tomorrow is our first full work day. 90 degrees and sunny is the forecast. Can't wait!

-Ms. Waldock

Pictures from "Katrina" tour:

Vacant lots are still abound in the Lower 9th Ward. Nearly 3 years after the storm, this neighborhood has not come back. The streets used to be packed with homes and now all you see is what you see below:



The middle pictures is the foundation of a house which blew across the street. The house and its foundation serve as a reminder of the damage caused by Katrina.

The last picture is a memorial. The blue poles show the varying heights of the water line. The chairs represent the people affected and lives lost. The partial house frame represents the homes that weathered the storm.