Mission Hill: Grade 7-8 Program
Session 1: September 18 - October 16
Week 6: October 16, 2013
Putting up the new sign
Today was our last meeting together, and the first half was all physical. Everyone showed how much they had learned and how much effort they put in by following Mr. Warner in some physical challenges and some martial arts. Next Luis and Jonathan had the opportunity to show us they learned a recipe by making a smoothie for everyone. It was delicious and a great treat after working hard. Congrats to Alpha for passing the kicks test and to Imanol for being the only one to bring back some freshly grown sprouts! To close the day and the session, we went to put up our sign over the garden space. Thanks to everyone for a great first session at Mission Hill!
Week 5: October 9, 2013
Pulling some weeds
While we still did everything the Green Dragons usually do, we had one big focus today: martial arts! We worked hard learning basic moves - punches, kicks, and blocks. A common mistake we saw was someone falling off balance during their moves, but this was a great opportunity to stress how important it is to have a strong root! After a hard workout, everyone tasted the pea sprouts from last week while two students made some dragon water on their own for us to enjoy at the end of the class. Next we all put our ideas together to create one sign for the Mission Hill green space. We pulled up the weeds in what will be a butterfly garden in the spring, and will have our sign to put in it next week!
Week 4: October 2, 2013
Making Dragon Water!
It was another busy day today. Mr. Warner's challenge to do 40 pushups on the gravel was met with shocked looks, but those that showed commitment to the challenge were relieved when we stopped at ten! Some running to get our bodies working came next. Congratulations to Melissa who has been working hard to master the Garden Form! We learned a new recipe today, a staple of the Green Dragons...Dragon Water! Chock-full of electrolytes, this cucumber, mint, and lemon infused water is a great substitute for Gatorade. While waiting for the nutrients to seep into the water, everyone drew up a sign they would want to put in our green space. Our final two sessions will be focused on our community improvement project. After some big kicks to get our blood pumping again (you have to earn your dragon water!), we enjoyed a refreshing drink to close out the session.
Week 3: September 25, 2013
What positive changes can we make?
We started our session with a loss as two of our members - John and Imanol - were out for the day. The Green Dragons pushed forward anyway and continued their mastery of the Garden Form. Congrats to Melissa and Alpha for successfully completing the Wheatgrass Challenge! After some testing of everyone's jumping and kicking abilities, we had them draw out their vision of how to improve the green space of their school. We're hoping to do multiple projects throughout the year to make the school area a better place, and this is the first step! Using Alpha's freshly grown wheatgrass, we had the new students create another Self Defense smoothie to make sure they could do it themselves. It was even better than last time!
Week 2: September 18, 2013
Working hard.
This week we really got the group moving! They frog hopped up a hill, and then crawled like a lizard up and down it before trying out some pushups. Once warmed up, we reviewed the moves of the Garden Form that we learned last week while testing to see how long everyone can hold their root stance. Melissa showed the guys how to focus by holding her root the longest! Nice job! Next the group got to see the results of the wheatgrass they planted last week, and then used some of it to help create our Self Defense Smoothie. Their homework for the week is to try and grow some wheatgrass on their own. Each was sent home with a kit containing all they need to become in-home farmers. Let's see what they have for us next week!
Week 1: September 11, 2013
Today we met Tabias, Melissa, Jonathan, Alpha, Luis, Brian, Josua, and Imanol and introduced them to the Green Dragon philosophy. We started with a warm up that had them sweating the the 90 degree heat and wondering why they were doing this! It was a hot day, but everyone put in some hard work to learn the first three moves of the Garden Form and test their root stance. Next we cooled off in the shade to learn about some gardening. Wheatgrass was our plant of the day and once they learned how much some places charge for it, some eyes lit up. Tabias definitely has some entrepreneurial aspirations! They all planted some wheatgrass of their own and looked excited for more. First lesson of the Green Dragons at Mission Hill: success!