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cupidmarwani-archive · 5 years

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Come Into the Water (3/15)

After setting the photo album aside, Sarah decides to head down to the shore. It’s not very crowded, the midday sun hidden behind a layer of puffy grey clouds, and the waves look strong but not overwhelming. She rolls up her pants to her calves and walks out the slider, hopping over the railing of the porch and finding herself with her toes in the sand and the ocean air on her face in a different way than it feels when she leaves through the front door. If she squints, she can make out dolphins in the distance, leaping in and out of the water playfully. They have their pods. Social creatures, smart, friendly. Together. A smile tugs at Sarah’s face as she walks through the sand.

She steps only a couple feet into the surf, letting waves lap at her ankles as she wonders toward a cove of little tidepools and caves dipping into where the beach has curved up into a mild cliffside. Something about them calls to her. All of them have little microcosms living inside, rippling in the wind and with the occasionally washes of new waves rolling over where the rocks have divided things up. She goes to one of the biggest, with anemones and starfish and a scuttling crab. Colorful, alive, beautiful, so alluring that she can’t help sitting on the wet rocks and reaching a hand into the cold water. A handful of little fish skitter away, although she’s free to skate her finger across the top of an anemone to feel it stick to the pad for a moment before she pulls away.

Sarah does it again because it feels interesting and she needs sensations that don’t hurt, she thinks. She’s earned it. Then her fingertips trace over the top of a little red starfish, and it’s then that she hears a heavy splash to her right. Immediately she jerks her hand out of the pool and looks around for the source. There seems to be no one else around, or any animal big enough to make a sound like that, but she’s unsettled.

“Hello?”

A humming trill answers back and Sarah stands up, instantly wrinkling her nose over how wet and clingy her clothes are. She hates when they cling tightly, stick to her skin and often go see-through to reveal more than she’s ever prepared to show. Although she can’t be certain, she thinks the sound came from near the caves and makes her way over carefully, almost falling a couple times and managing to sustain a long scrape on her right bicep.

“Is anyone here?”

“Here,” an accented voice calls, a little husky and strained. Sarah scans the area and sees no one, close to giving up when the voice calls to her again. “Look down.”

She does as told and sees the most beautiful woman she’s ever laid eyes on, her wet hair framing her face and lips pouty, splashing a little pathetically in the shallows. But she knows that face. This is Ava. When Sarah studies closer, she can make out Ava’s body and tail, surrounded with a silver web like starlight.

“Holy shit.”

“Can you help me?” Ava asks. The water ripples around her again. “I’m stuck.”

“Yeah.”

Sarah wades over, hating the slimy feel of mossy rocks beneath her feet, but approaching Ava nonetheless. She feels the moment she gets too close, because the tip of Ava’s tail brushes her shins and Sarah flinches so badly she nearly falls yet again. She keeps her eyes down, then, so she doesn’t find herself looking at the human part of Ava’s body.

“Do you just need help getting back out to the water, or…?”

Ava lifts her tail and arches more of her chest out of the water, revealing netting tangled around her body and what appears to be a hook in her side. Poor thing. Sarah should help her. She can’t leave her here, and Ava asked for her help specifically, so she’s got to figure this out and help her. She starts at the tip of Ava’s tail.

Most people would be freaking out about this, she thinks. A real life mermaid is here, and she’s beautiful, and she’s friendly. She’s trapped, too, which is a danger if someone else had found her and taken advantage of the fact that she can’t get anywhere. Thankfully the wire isn’t too thin, so it doesn’t cut into her palms when she starts to pull at it. This would be faster if she could cut through it, but she doesn’t have a knife with her. So she tries to be gentle, easing the knots free so the net will unfold flat again. She doesn’t know how fragile or sensitive Ava’s tail is, but she can hear her breathing harshly, see the water moving with ribcage.

“You’re okay,” Sarah says. “I’ll get you out of this. My name is Sarah.”

“Ava.”

She nods like she didn’t already know and manages to get Ava’s tail freed fairly quickly because the tangles aren’t too bad. But her chest is a whole different story. It’s tightly wound around her, including her arms and her breasts, and there’s the fish hook in her side to deal with as well.

Sarah can’t look. Well, she can look at the fish hook. She was training to be a doctor before this. But everything else, it makes bile rise in her throat, makes her feel dirty and disgusting. Like he made her feel. She can’t look at Ava’s bare chest because it’s wrong and she knows better. Her hands flutter uselessly above Ava, not sure where to go to avoid touching something she shouldn’t. She knows what those touches feel like.

“Please, just help me get out.”

The desperate tone to Ava’s voice takes precedence, and she forces herself to take a deep breath and get to work, still pointedly keeping her eyes on safe areas like Ava’s shoulders. Not her waist. Not her… nothing like that. She can’t. But she starts untangling carefully, wary of unwanted contact or touching the fish hook. As she loosens the grip the net has, Ava’s breathing calms down and she stops twitching restlessly in the water.

“Almost done,” Sarah soothes.

She reaches the last of it and pulls the net away, then casts it onto the rocks instead of the ocean so it won’t tangle around another hapless victim, perhaps one who can’t call for help like Ava did.

“Thank you,” Ava says, smiling brightly and stretching before remembering the fish hook in her side, quickly curling back up with a wince. “Shit.”

“I’ll take care of that.”

Sarah places one hand flat on Ava’s stomach- and doesn’t notice how warm and soft her skin is, where it hasn’t been burned by the rope friction- and the other on the hook. She should be doing this somewhere sterile, have stitches and bandages at the ready, but she can’t just bring a mermaid to a hospital. So she carefully eases it out, apologizing every time Ava winces or tenses in response. Blood drools from the wound, but not too much, thankfully. If she’s lucky, maybe it’ll heal on its own.

Another beautiful smile, more at ease this time, stretches across Ava’s face, and then she’s cupping Sarah’s face and pulling her in for a salt-water kiss. It’s too much, but she doesn’t have time to pull away before it’s over and she’s a little dizzy. It wasn’t a bad kiss. It felt nice, but now her throat is closing up and she’s only thinking about the way he felt when he kissed her. He had grabbed her neck, not her face. His hands were bigger, colder.

“I have to- I have to go.”

She stumbles to her feet and leaves Ava behind, still bleeding a little and no doubt confused, but at the very least she’s now safe. Sarah doesn’t have to add that to her list of anxieties as she hurries back home where it’s safe. Where she’s safe. The door opens easily because she didn’t lock it. She doesn’t know where the key even is, actually. And now she’s in the living room surrounded by the moving boxes and it just feels like she’s surrounded by a past she doesn’t know how to control or overcome.

Her clothes are soaked with salt water, and her scrapes are starting to hurt. She doesn’t know what to do next, short of opening one of the boxes of clean clothes, which she doesn’t want to do. It feels like a lot, and she’s had a long day already. She went to see Olivia (and Noah) and met Ava, and if she’s honest, that’s more social interaction in a single day than she dealt with in a whole week before she came here. No wonder she’s tired.

She looks to the three books sitting on her floor, and goes over to one of the clothes boxes. All she has to do is open it and get something clean to wear. It’s not hard. Three steps: one, open the box; two, get out something to change into; three, put it on. She shouldn’t be struggling this much with it, especially when she’s supposed to be getting better. For all that it’s worth, she has her exhaustion to show for the progress she’s made. This is the easiest thing she’s done all day. And if she’s going to eat today, it would have to be at dinner like Olivia invited her to, which means she absolutely needs clean clothes. And if she doesn’t go to that, she has her first appointment with her new therapist in the morning, anyways.

Sarah digs her nails into the cellophane packing tape, which absolutely fails to break it open. That’s the sharpest thing she has. Fuck. She feels her eyes start to burn with tears and she hates it so much. If only she could go back in time, keep her life from spiraling so completely out of control like this.

Just then, someone knocks on her door and she almost screams in frustration. Instead, she stares at the box a little more until a voice cuts through the wood.

“Hey, we brought you some dinner, thought you might be hungry.”

At Liv’s voice, she knows she has to open it. Olivia and Maggie have been kind to her, and she doesn’t want to burn that bridge. Sarah drags herself to the door to open it, revealing Olivia holding a few containers of takeout and Maggie with Noah balanced on her hip.

“We got a little of everything,” Maggie says. “Take your pick.”

She doesn’t want to, but Sarah’s been taught to be a good host. Her chest tightens, but she steps back into the house and opens the door wider. “Come on in.”

Throughout dinner, Sarah is quiet because it’s easy. Maggie talks about her students while she feeds Noah bites of dinner between her own. Olivia mostly stares wistfully out the window, quieter than earlier in the day, but pleasant to be around nonetheless. What little energy Sarah has left depletes itself. By the time they leave, she can barely keep her eyes open, but hauls herself back to her box of clothes and painstakingly peels up the tape until the flaps open and she’s face to face with tightly packed, soft clothes that she didn’t throw away with the others and don’t irritate her skin or bring up bad memories. She pulls out a tee shirt and boxers, but doesn’t bother digging deeper for more clothes.

She doesn’t have it in her to even rinse off, only to change into dry clothes and collapse on her couch with cushions that aren’t even soft or comfortable. Her mattress might be better, but it’s farther away, and she doesn’t want to go to it. Instead she settles with her head on the arm rest and remembers Ava. The rope around her, the hook in her side, the pain inflicted upon her by a careless fisherman who thought himself above caring for the safety of sea life.

Ava’s more beautiful in person than in the pictures, even hurt, and she had been so gentle when she pulled Sarah in for a kiss. She’s sweet. In that moment, she was the mermaid in the photo album, but otherwise, Sarah has to wonder why she suddenly disappeared from the photos. Something could have happened, like it did to her at school, but somehow she doesn’t believe Maggie or Olivia would ever hurt someone.

The thoughts wrestle with her consciousness until fitful sleep drags her down.

@bookreader525 @sextonsharpwinhalstead @sarahreeese @bipeteypie @sapphiccsharks

#ava bekker #sarah reese #chicago med #reesker #fic #mine #ciwfic

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clubpassim · 5 years

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Women in Folk - Isa Burke

Hi there!

Katie here with another wonderful interview for the ‘Women in Folk’ blog. Today’s interviewee is none other but Isa Burke!

Isa is a founding member of the famed Lula Wiles band. She has been in and around music longer than she can remember. Both of her parents are professional musicians who have been making their way around the New England folk scene for quite some time. Growing up, the hallways of her house were filled with the likes of the Beatles, Joni Mitchell, Ella Fitzgerald, and many other iconic figures in music. A little known fact is that for three years, Isa Burke was a band geek, playing trumpet in her school band and stealing hearts at every pep-rally. However, her love of trumpet just wasn’t enough to continue her on this path, and so when she was 10 years old her parents gave her her first - bright red - electric guitar.

Isa thought that rock music was her calling, because “folk music is for old people.” But when she was 12 her parents convinced her to attend the Maine Fiddle Camp for the first time - where her parents both taught. That was the first place she saw young people playing folk music, and, well, the rest is history.

The following year she decided to pick up the fiddle and attacked it “with the fury of hell”. Most of her fiddle-playing friends were older and had been playing fiddle for much longer than she, so Isa practiced, practiced more, and practiced hard. She got pretty good pretty fast, but her technique still wasn’t where she wanted it to be, so she started taking private lessons in both fiddle and classical.

“One really pivotal thing for me was the Black Bean Cafe in Rollinsford, NH. Every month they had an open mic night geared towards songwriters, and I must have attended every single one from middle school all the way through high school. I made a lot of wonderful friends there, as well as collaborated with a ton of wonderful musicians.”

This, in addition to her many returns to Maine Fiddle Camp, pushed her to apply to Berklee to study violin, which eventually became her reality. Once there, Passim was a frequently visited and locale for her, as well as a favorite venue of hers to perform at. College wasn’t the first time she found herself on Passim’s stage...

“The first time I played at Passim was with my first band ever. It was a duo with my friend Lina, and we were called Isa and Lina. Matt Smith (booking manager for Passim) asked us to play at the Campfire. festival, and we were horrible. We couldn’t get our instruments in tune and Lena had forgotten her tuner at home. It was such a mess. Clearly, I overcame it, though.”

And overcome it she did. Lula Wiles often credits the founding of the band to a particular night at Maine Fiddle Camp where Ellie and Isa sang harmonies together and said they “felt this really special thing when we sang together”. Through Berklee, they got a showcase at the Grey Fox Bluegrass Festival and decided they wanted three-part harmony and bass. They asked incoming Berklee freshman and longtime friend Mali if she wanted to play the gig with them, and she quickly became an indispensable member of the group. “We realized we were a band now, and that’s how Lula Wiles happened.”

In addition to her work with Lula Wiles, Isa plays rock guitar in Shawn Trischka’s band Corporate Punk and is producing her first record for Liv Greene, an up and coming singer-songwriter. You can also catch her at Passim’s School of Music where she has taught classes from harmony singing to music theory to our Bluegrass ensemble. Catch her Vocal Harmony Singing Workshop on Monday, July 8th!

The next part of the interview discusses her role as a female in the folk industry.

(*strong language warning*)

[full interview under the cut]

Club Passim: Talk a little about your experiences as a female artist/all-female group in a heavily male-dominated music genre.

Isa Burke: It’s such a double-edged sword. That’s something I always come back to. Being a member of an all-female band vs. just being a female musician are totally different experiences too. I think often times women will start bands with other women because they know they won’t be belittled or talked down to, they know that their bandmates will assume that they generally know what they’re talking about, or they’ll feel comfortable enough to voice something if they don’t know it. This happened all the time at Berklee when I was the only girl in my classes. If I didn’t know something I would be too afraid to ask because I didn’t want all the guys in the room to think, ‘Well of course she doesn’t know this because she’s a woman,’ when in fact a lot of them probably didn’t know what that thing was either.

Being in an all-women band is so amazing. That’s a huge reason why I started playing lead guitar. When Ellie and I played duo, we were playing all of these country songs and I just said, “Wouldn’t it be funny if I took a guitar solo? I don’t really know how to do that’. But then I started doing it, and then I started getting pretty good at it. I think if I had been in a band with men, I wouldn’t have been comfortable trying to do this thing I’m not very good at yet but will get better at. We’re all very supportive of each other in the band.

Biases can come in many different forms. For example, when I was just starting to play electric guitar, my friend asked me to play a gig with them. We were rehearsing and I borrowed my friend’s pedal because I was still new to the electric and didn’t have my own set-up figured out yet. One of the other band members asked me, “Oh, is that your pedalboard?” And I just thought to myself, ‘Motherf*cker, you would never have asked ANOTHER GUY if that was their pedal board, you’re asking me because I’m a girl.’ But it wasn’t my pedal board. I didn’t want him to think that women can’t own sick pedal boards and by the way, I have a sick pedal board now, so I think I just ended up lying and saying that it was mine.

I’ve also noticed real differences in how people talk to me about my fiddle playing vs. my guitar playing. People expect women to take fiddle solos more than guitar solos. Often there’s a tone of surprise when they compliment me on my guitar playing because they’re not expecting it, you know? All of these things are very subtle and most of the time people probably don’t even realize or notice the little biases that they have. I take very seriously the role that I have to be visible to other women and men. I get really psyched when I see a young boy in the audience at a gig and I take a guitar solo because then he’s not going to grow up thinking only men can play the guitar, and maybe if he starts a band he’ll hire a woman guitarist. But of course, inspiring the young gals is my literal favorite thing in life. I feel really lucky that I have a platform to move the needle a little bit and help break down these biases.

CP: Do you notice a difference in how you’re treated by other artists, venues, audiences, and industry professionals before vs. after you play?

IB: Yes, I’ve definitely noticed it more when Lula Wiles was younger. We’d walk in to play a gig and here were three girls in floral-print dresses with our “little band”, but then we get on stage and you see three multi-instrumentalist women doing their thing and playing pretty powerfully. That’s when people usually figure out we know what we’re doing.

I have heard some crazy stories from other people though. For example, a friend of mine was an instructor at a music camp and after she played in the faculty concert one time, one of the other faculty members who was a guy came up to her and her bandmate and said, “At first I thought of you two as sexual objects but now I know you’re also great musicians.” I think he thought he was joking but like, come. On. My blood still boils every time I think about it.

CP: Incredible classical artists such as classical pianist Yuja Wang use their performance attire as a way to express themselves. This provocative style of dress has been viewed as “distracting” from the music. What are your personal thoughts on women using fashion and sex-appeal as a means of bringing in more audience members and assisting in selling their music?

IB: Another one I could talk about all day. It’s so complicated, right? You want to look good and feel good on stage. That is usually my primary goal when I am getting dressed for a show: ‘what will make me feel good and enable me to give the best possible show?’ A lot of times it feels like putting on armor.

As women, it is drilled into our heads that we have to look attractive, that we have to look sexy. It’s really hard to escape that. I never want to fault women for using that phenomenon to their advantage, but I also want the music world to be a hospitable place for women who don’t want to do that, who want to just wear a t-shirt and sneakers on stage and not wear make-up and sound incredible.

I still don’t really know where I come down on that one, to be honest, but I had a really great conversation with my bandmates in the van last week. We were talking about the “whatever choice you choose to make is a feminist choice” brand of feminism, but we had a problem with that. The thing is, all choices can’t be equal choices if some are rewarded by society and certain others are punished.

It’s really important to interrogate your own desires. Ask yourself, ‘am I doing this because it makes me feel more like myself? Or am I doing this because it makes me feel more acceptable to the world?’ Until all traces of patriarchy are gone from the world, which will probably never happen, we won’t ever really know what our true deepest desires are because they are so shaped by the world around us. At the end of the day, it’s important to constantly ask yourself questions, interrogate, and critique.

CP: What do you do in a situation when you feel disrespected by the artists/co-workers you’re surrounded by?

IB: It depends on the situation. If someone is blatantly rude to me I would probably just call them out on it and walk away. But if someone does something a little more subtle or if they show a bias they have, I will try to find a way to poke at that in a friendly way. For example the pedal board guy. I probably would have said something like, “Well, what makes you think this isn’t my pedal board? Why wouldn’t it be?” It’s a hard balance because you do want to stand up for yourself, but you also want to reach them, right? You hopefully want to change someone’s mind a little bit.

Sometimes people will give my bandmate Mali a condescending or patronizing compliment such as, “Oh you sweet girl, you play such nice music! You must have been gifted this talent”, and what I love that she does is she’ll say something like, “Oh well, thank you, but I actually just practiced a ton and worked hard to get good at my instrument.” I think letting people in on the hard work musicians have to put in can shift their perceptions in a subtle way.

CP: In your opinion, how can men be more aware or informed about their women peers and co-workers in the music industry?

IB: First off, I think that it’s really important to examine your own perceptions and try to figure out where you might have a bias, which is not your fault and is the fault of society. Take a mental inventory of the way you regard your male musician friends, versus the way you regard your female musician friends and see if there are any significant differences. Really try to dig into why you think that may be.

The second thing I would say is to make a conscious effort to hire women. Try to stay away from all-dude bands. I think that men instinctively go to other men when starting a band because they’re more visible in this male-dominated industry, but I think with a slight mental adjustment you can find equally qualified women who maybe haven’t been given as many opportunities, even though they deserve the opportunities just as much. That also has the pleasant side effect of increasing visibility for women, and I cannot say enough how important it is for people to see themselves represented. It’s something I focus on a lot.

There’s also a real premium and value placed on being able to “shred” on your instrument and being technically proficient; I saw this at Berklee a lot. I know a lot of women who can seriously shred on their instrument, but this value placed on shredding is so prominent amongst men, and I just don’t think that’s the most important thing about music. A lot of my favorite musicians aren’t that technically proficient but play with such emotion and musicality. I love getting to hear musicians play on their second or third instruments because they can’t fall back on their muscle memory and so they have no choice but to express themselves. Remember what music is all about.

CP: What message do you want to display as a woman in folk music?

IB: Overall, what I want to project into the world is that there is nothing weird about a band of women in floral dresses who have hairy legs and play the shit out of their instruments. Those things can all co-exist very peacefully. I think it is equally important to increase visibility to women and trans/non-binary people in the music industry so that we can eliminate the expectation that only certain genders can do certain things; who can be a producer, who can be a band leader, who can play drums, who can play guitar. I think that it didn’t even occur to me that I could be a producer until I heard about women producers. It didn’t occur to me that I could be a drummer (one of my secret but not-so-secret dreams) until I heard about women drummers.

I want to make people aware we all have certain biases that aren’t our fault. We’re all born into a world that creates those biases in us, but it is our responsibility to dismantle them and un-learn them.

I also want to pass on all the help and opportunities that were given to me when I was first starting out. There were a lot of incredible women that gave us the chance to open for them, as well as some great men like Matt Smith and Matt Glaser who helped us out and guided us, and now that I’m in a position where I can help others out I want to do that because so many people did it for me.

CP: What words of wisdom/encouragement do you have for aspiring women in folk?

IB: Keep an eye out for the sexist bullsh*t, but also give men a chance to surprise you. A lot of them can learn. Plan for the worst, hope for the best. That’s what I try to approach every new situation with. I also think that collaborating with other women will pretty much always give you a huge confidence boost. I think that playing with women will give you a chance to explore parts of your musical identity you haven’t before, which will give you more confidence the next time you’re in a rehearsal and some guy makes a comment assuming you don’t know how to play your instrument.

Our society tries to put women in a box, and I think really trying to see the box as clearly as you can so you know how to break out of it is important. Recognize that women are often working with a confidence deficit, and ‘fake it till you make it’ is honestly one of the best pieces of advice I can give to anyone. Obviously, know your weaknesses, know what you need to work on and work hard at it. Hit the shed and work hard but don’t feel like you have to be totally perfect at everything. There’s a common feeling among women that you have to be twice as good to get half the recognition. But try to say f*ck that. Whenever you can.

Thank you, Isa, for such a thoughtful and eye-opening interview! You have such wonderful and informed opinions. I think we can all learn from this and try to examine our own biases a little more.

When’s the last time you’ve given your judgments a second thought?

Thanks again to Isa, and thank you for reading! Stay tuned for the next installment of the ‘Women in Folk’ blog!

Katie

PC: Louise Bichan

#womeninfolk #club passim #women #feminism #lulawiles #band #boston #folk music #womeninpower #speakup

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ledenews · 4 years

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Stacey Creely – Linsly Mom, Worried Wife

She’s deemed essential, but Stacey Creely is capable of working remotely as public relations director of The Linsly School in Wheeling. Her husband, Dennis, was deemed essential, as well, but it’s not possible for him to work from their Clearview home. He’s in the nuclear power industry, and for millions in New England, Dennis is the guy why the lights still come on during this coronavirus pandemic. Meanwhile, Stacey holds down the fort with her daughter, Olivia, a seventh grader at Linsly who has been introduced to online learning thanks to the quick transition made in mid-March by the school’s administration and faculty. After missing only two days of instruction inside Banes Hall, the 11-year-old spends at least five hours per weekday learning virtually while Stacey serves as homeroom mother, house chef (except for the chocolate chip cookies), and primary protector. She’s a Wheeling girl, Central Catholic and Bethany graduate, and her Master’s was earned at WVU. Stacey has been an integral part of the Linsly community for 16 years after being recruited by former Headmaster Reno DiOrio. “When Mr. DiOrio asks you something, it's pretty hard to say no,” she said. “And I have been at Linsly ever since, and I am so blessed to now have my daughter attending.”

What has proven to be the biggest challenge since Linsly was closed on March 13?

Interestingly, I think what faculty and administrators at Linsly THOUGHT would be the biggest challenge - the transition to online learning - really didn't turn out to be our biggest challenge at all. When Linsly made the decision to close, our faculty only had two professional development days to prepare their curriculum to go online. When we re-opened to an online teaching platform on Tuesday, March 17, I was so completely impressed at how quickly and efficiently Linsly's faculty were able to transition their lessons and assignments online into meaningful experiences for our students. So, the transition itself to online learning and instruction wasn't necessarily the biggest challenge that we faced. I think the biggest challenge since we closed is simply that our students and teachers miss physically seeing each other, walking the halls of Banes, changing classes and socializing in the halls and at lunchtime, and of course, all of the spring athletics and fine arts events that we are missing out on as a result of COVID-19. I also think that finding a way to properly recognize and honor our seniors during this difficult time is going to be a challenge. We know they are missing spending their final days together and events like prom and graduation are still uncertain right now. But I know that our Head of School and administrative team are working on figuring out ways to overcome these challenges, and to find ways to honor our senior class in the way that they deserve.

Stacey and her daughter, Olivia, butt heads from time to time, of course, but it's about structure these days.

How has Linsly’s online learning system surprised you as a parent of a student?

Well, as you might know, I personally am not a stranger to online instruction. I've been an online adjunct instructor at West Virginia University in their online graduate IMC (Integrated Marketing Communications) program for more than 15 years. But the difference is, I am teaching graduate students online. So, I was really curious as to how our teachers at Linsly could figure out a way to teach middle school and high school students in an online format that is typically reserved for the college and graduate levels. As a parent of a current Linsly seventh grader, I have to say that I have been so impressed at the level and quality of instruction that my daughter is getting online at Linsly from all of her teachers. Her assignments are not review or busy work. She is actively learning new material and engaging with her teachers on a daily basis. Just yesterday in her online science lab, she was comparing photos of pea plants that they had planted in jars before school was closed. Her science teacher, Mrs. Jennifer Hempelmann, took pictures of the seedlings to show how they had grown and asked questions pertaining to their genetics (genotypes and phenotypes) that my daughter, Liv, had to answer by analyzing the photos and reading her science activity. It also surprised me as a parent how fast my daughter fell into a routine. She knows that every weekday we are at home is still a school day. She wakes up and knows exactly what class period to begin with and starts her schoolwork for the day. It's definitely a new normal, but from an academic perspective I don't think my child has missed a beat.

You have lived at home with your daughter, but not your husband, Dennis ... how stressful has that situation been on you and your family?

It has definitely been stressful. My husband has worked in Nuclear Power for over 20 years, so I am pretty used to him traveling for work, and Olivia and I have our own busy daily routines while he is gone. But this time, it's different. He is considered an "essential worker" because power plant workers keep our lights on, and I worry constantly that today is the day he's going to go into the power plant and be exposed to COVID-19. He is currently working in a plant in Seabrook, New Hampshire but before that he was in Salem, NJ, one of the states right in the thick of this pandemic. Since he's been gone, I have been trying to keep things as normal as possible for me and my daughter. We have established our new routines of working and doing school at home together from about 8:30 a.m.-4:00 p.m., and we take breaks for lunch and to walk our dog, Jewel. Liv is almost 13, so there definitely have been days when her sassy attitude doesn't mix well with my stressed-out Italian temper, but in the end, we know we are in this together. So even though it's been stressful, we recognize that we are the lucky ones. We are safe at home while others, like my husband and medical professionals, are still going into work. I'm really close to my mom, and she has always taught me to focus on what we can be grateful for, and that's really good advice for everyone right now.

Gianna Landis was with the Creelys during the first week of Linsly's closure.

What change that you have been forced to make will you maintain once the pandemic is over?

Praying. I grew up in a strong Italian Catholic family, but I have to admit that I don't go to Mass every Sunday anymore. My Nana's patron saint was St. Jude. He is the patron Saint of Hopeless Causes. When my Nana passed, I got her St. Jude prayer card and medals. Since the pandemic, I have been praying to St. Jude every single night. I have found a lot of comfort in that, and I'll definitely keep doing that when the pandemic is over.

Once all of this is over, what is the first thing you and your family will do outside of the house?

Well, the first thing that I am going to do is head straight to the gym! I guess I never realized just how important my "gym tribe" is to me until now. I workout with a fantastic group of ladies at the Howard Long Wellness Center - we call ourselves the "bootcamp buddies" and we go out to dinner after our workouts once a month. I can't believe how important the support and camaraderie of those women have become to me, and I am really looking forward to working out with them again soon. As for my daughter, she will head straight to the barn at Cedar Groves Farm where she boards her horse, Jaggs. She misses grooming and riding him every Sunday afternoon. And while I can't speak for my husband because he is at work right now, I would guess that his response would be that he just can't wait to get home - the one place where we are all ready to live again. He has been on the road since this pandemic began, and to have him safe at home will be a blessing. Read the full article

#CatholicCharities #CCHS #coronavirus #COVID19 #Linsly #wheeling

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cre8facilitation-blog · 6 years

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BigFoot Session 3 (18/11/17):

The structure of this weeks session:

This week was a key week for us as we were each given the chance to run a game or song at the beginning of the session. I (Abby) took the role of leading as song, at first this was difficult as the majority of the songs that had been used previously had been made/ adapted by Natalie to fit the theme of the show. However ,I struggled to adapt the songs I found, therefore I decided to explore songs that would be high energy and would involve actions to keep the children stimulated. When researching songs, I came across a website (http://www.songsforteaching.com/animalsongs/heymistermonkey.htm) One song which stuck out to me was ‘Hello Mr Monkey’. Although the song didn’t have any actions attached, I came up with a series of actions for each lyric which would require the children to use their whole bodies.The lyrics and movements of the song were quite humorous, which I believed would in turn create a happy and energised work space.

This song could be used in further workshops as it can be adapted to fit different workshop groups for example, actions such as jumping can be included if the group has an excess of energy, but it can also be sang sitting down. This song could also be performed through the use of puppets which would allow for all levels of interactions, for example using a monkey puppet to create the character of ‘Mister Monkey’

‘Hey, Mister Monkey’ Lyrics By Margie La Bella

(Chorus) Oo, oo oo. Ah, ah ah. Ee ee ee. Oo, oo oo. Ah, ah ah. Ee ee ee. Oo oo oo. Ah, ah, ah. Ee, ee, ee. Oo, oo oo. Ah, ah ah. Ee ee ee, swinging in a tree.

Hey, Mr. Monkey livin’ up in a tree. A coconut is what I see. Climb to the top and what do you think? Crack it open and take a drink.

Scratch your head and scratch your chin. Stick out your tongue and pull it in. Scratch your side. Oh, what could it be? You're turning into a chimpanzee!

Bridge: Livin’ in the circus. Livin’ in the zoo. Livin’ in the jungle. Livin’ true blue. Livin’ in the trees is the best thing yet. I wish that you could be my pet!

How was the session for us?

The session started quite chaotic as we were one facilitator down plus Natalie and Kyra were late to arrive to open the school to begin the session, because of these the children had already become tetchy which meant it was difficult initially to get them to focus and into the circle. However, once they were in the circle and calm Natalie ran a quick game to get them focused. I (Abby) then took over and taught them the song. I (Abby) was extremely nervous to begin with as it was my first time running the song with a group of people, although I did forget one lyric and had to adapt the song I think the song was successful in energising the children and warming up their voices. Forgetting this lyric highlighted the importance for a facilitator to be able to adapt and have the confidence to think on their feet in situations like these.

This song was then followed by a game ran by Olivia of ‘Grandma’s keys’ which has been adapted by Olivia to follow the theme of the production of High School Musical. The game was then named ‘Kelsey’s sheet music’.

I (Olivia) decided to adapt the game of ‘Grandma’s keys’ to make it theme appropriate for the production of High School Musical. This game is good for gaining focus within the classroom whilst allowing the children to concentrate and have fun. The game includes children having to tip-toe, travel from one side of the room to another to collect Kelsey’s music sheet without being caught. The game included physical elements whilst encouraging the children to use their senses. Although the game was stimulating I found that it was too simplistic for their age range. To overcome this, I asked the children to travel the way their character would whilst also travelling in a different way such as; crawling, skipping, slow motion walking. I found when explaining the game I was nervous and apprehensive, but this was put at ease once the children understood the game and didn't need any further explanation.

What challenges did we overcome?

As we were one facilitator down we each swapped roles, I (Abby) worked on singing with Kyra this week. Initially this involved us going through the lyrics of each song making sure the soloists knew where they should be singing and they knew the tune. In this activity I was out of my comfort zone as I don’t normally explore vocal/singing elements as a facilitator. I (Abby) was then tasked with helping some of the children work on their ‘failed audition’ characters, the video of the original is attached above. These characters are the characters from HSM which fail their auditions for the winter musical. For these sections the children were required to have eccentric moves, ‘bad’ singing voices or funny characteristics. To begin with some of the children were apprehensive of solo improvising in front of each other. To overcome this, I asked all the children to stand in the space together and just improvise some actions or sounds along to the music. I (Abby) chose to do this as a big group as I believe it allowed to children to explore and improvise without feeling vulnerable and self-conscious. But doing this activity as a full group also allowed the children to get used to performing in a group space which would allow them to build the confidence to perform on their own.

We then sat in a circle and discussed what each child would like their character to be like for example, a girl with stage fright, someone who does crazy dance moves etc. Once this was established I (Abby) tasked them to enter the room one by one to the music and perform their improvisation. This was successful as the children were already comfortable with each other after improvising as a group.

The children were then required to join the rest of the main group and put the whole song together, some of the children were nervous about showing their work to Natalie and the other children. However, after some gentle encouragement from both Olivia and I they became excited to perform.

I (Abby) really enjoyed being able to facilitate a small group of children as it allowed me to explore and work on my own style as a facilitator as well as allowing me to work closely with a group of children which enabled me to learn what techniques and styles worked for them.

Critical evaluation of the facilitators:

The facilitators all have an extremely laid back style of facilitating. Although Liv and Kyra facilitate their own activities it is clear that they have gained their facilitating style from observing Natalie. Although Natalie is the lead facilitator, it is important to note, that she never had put her ideas above those of the assistant facilitators or above Olivia and I. I think this important quality to have when working with a number of other facilitators, at it creates the basis for a successful team and also makes feel comfortable as facilitator to be able to share ideas and know that they will be recognised and explored. As facilitators I feel this it an important model for us to follow when we go on to run our own workshops, we must make sure that as facilitators we are willing to explore each others ideas and techniques and also make sures that both of us are comfortable with the work and activities we’re doing and also the work we will produce.

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