Saving Culture- Initial Reflections

     We live in a culture filled with zombies. We wonder around with our eyes glued on our phone screens and our minds driven about by every advertisement and flashing light. This aimlessness dulls our minds and our hearts. The Carnegie Center for Literacy and Learning fights this ever increasing trend in our culture. According to its mission statement, the center's main objective is essentially to help people learn about the literary arts and imaginative learning so that they can voice their own thoughts. I believe that this kind of learning is absolutely key in fighting the epidemic our culture is facing. 
     Their programs, centered around writing and literature, include classes in creative, fiction, non-fiction, and poetry writing as well as several language classes. For example, starting on the 30th of this month,  Renia Belmadani, a professor who believes strongly in the power of education, will be holding an Arabic class through the Carnegie Center. 
     There are also writing contests fairly regularly at the Carnegie Center. Below is a picture taken during the Gabehart Prize winner's reading. 

This photo was taken from the Instagram account of a volunteer at the Carnegie Center. 

     I have not yet gone to the center, but I am looking forward to working with such a unique and powerful program. You can learn more about this center through their Facebook, Twitter, and of course their website. 

Initial Written Reflection

The CARNEGIE CENTER

of Lexington Kentucky 

MISSION STATEMENT:

"The Carnegie Center for Literacy and Learning empowers people to explore and express their voices through imaginative learning and the literary arts."

               
As a center for literacy, Carnegie has created some goals that all their programs incorporate. Promoting learning in all age groups through fun and interactive activities that develop reading, writing, speaking, listening, viewing, and technological skills is what they live by. Not only are community members welcome and encouraged to come gain something from the Carnegie center, but also artists and authors as well, especially local ones. 

The importance of the building itself, pictured below is true to Carnegie as well as it was to the original Lexington public library.

This photo was obtained from the Carnegie Center twitter  page which posts updates about upcoming events and informs followers of news and announcements at the Carnegie Center. It is a great way to see what they have going on currently rather than looking through their website to try to find basic information about current activities of theirs. 

  The Carnegie Center is known for providing rich and prevalent opportunities for writers and most recently they had an event for women's writers called The Yellow Wallpaper Project. This event was pretty simple but powerful and it involved a cork board full of yellow post its with degrading things about female writers that have been said and people were asked to take one down in exchange for something positive and encouraging that accurately depicts female writers. By the end of the week the wall was filled with positive pink notes. This is one example of the great interactive aspects at the Carnegie Center.

Above are Instagram posts from community members who have participated in the various events Carnegie has to offer. Although the Carnegie Center does not have it's own Instagram account, they have a location which is still searchable through the app.

First impression of the Carnegie Center

                The service organization that I am going to be dedicating my time to this semester is the Carnegie Center for Literacy and Learning. I have not yet been able to visit the Carnegie Center, but I look forward to attending my orientation on Thursday, September 17. From what I have gathered online, my volunteer work will consist mainly of organizing bookshelves, helping with crafts, and assisting with an event that will be held at the Carnegie center on November 7^th called “Carnegie Classics: Fear and Loathing in Las Vegas” inspired by the classic novel written by Hunter S. Thompson in 1971. The event features a band called “The Other Brothers” who will be playing psychedelic rock from the 70’s, a drag show, and other activities inspired by the novel.

The goal of the Carnegie center is to help people grow and expand their knowledge of culture and literacy as well as express themselves through art.  They offer lessons in foreign languages, tutoring, and have numerous groups for writers, book lovers, poetry enthusiasts, artists, and much more. 

 I look forward to my volunteer work at the Carnegie Center because I think it will be a great opportunity to reach out to the Lexington community and get to know some people outside the university. I also think that it is a great way to learn skills that I can use later in my college career that I may not have the ability to learn in a classroom setting.

Initial Impression

The service site I will happily be investing my time into this semester is the Carnegie Center for Literacy and Learning. Although I have not yet gotten the chance to visit, I plan on attending an orientation this Thursday, September 17. Something that really caught my interest when deciding between service sites were the visionary goals of the Carnegie Center which include:

• Encourage active, critical, and creative learning
• Promote the components of literacy, including reading, writing, speaking, listening, viewing, & technology
• Provide educational opportunities for people of all ages and levels of learning
• Establish partnerships with artists, educators, and community groups
• Support and promote Kentucky writers and artists
• Engage the imagination through literary arts
• Preserve and enhance the historic Carnegie building for the benefit of the community

These goals reflect the Carnegie Center really well and truly expose the focus of this organization. 

 I have studied the website for a glimpse of what I might be helping with and have been pleasantly surprised. It appears that most of my volunteer work will deal with stocking book shelves, helping with arts and crafts, and offering assistance with the Carnegie Classics: Fear and Loathing in Las Vegas event that is happening in November. This event offers a night filled with fun entertainment such as an exciting performance by The Other Brothers, a drag show, a Vegas-style buffet and art inspired by cult classic, Hunter S. Thompson. As a volunteer, I would be helping with registration, ushering, serving non-alcoholic drinks, and cleaning. 

I am looking forward to the orientation Thursday and getting a chance to help out the Lexington community in a unique way!

My Initial Impression of the Carnegie Center

     Though I have not yet visited the Carnegie Center, I can honestly say that I am excited to begin the process of service learning when I go for my orientation this Thursday. I think that this experience will be very worthwhile and help me learn in ways inaccessible through an ordinary classroom. Since I have not been able to visit yet, I have tried to familiarize myself with the organization by reading about it online. Using these means, I have discovered much about the Carnegie Center and this new information has made me very excited to volunteer there.

The Carnegie Center is an organization dedicated to helping people find new ways to express their true selves. I thought that I would be working in a library-like environment, but I was pleasantly surprised to learn that there is so much more to the Carnegie Center. The Carnegie Center will help you read and write better if that is all you desire. However, they are willing to help you in much more ways than that. Their true mission is to help you find the best way to express yourself, so they offer myriad opportunities to discover how best to express yourself. These opportunities include learning to be a better playwright, learning other languages and so much more (a more detailed list of opportunities can be seen here: http://carnegiecenterlex.org/workshops/special-interests/). Essentially, the Carnegie Center aims to help people learn more about themselves through the literary arts. This is a mission that I would love to assist. 

Book club meetings are just one of the many ways through which the Carnegie Center helps people connect and learn.

I am very excited to begin this service learning experience and try to relate my experiences there to the lessons I learn in the classroom. I also hope to be able to take lessons away from this experience and use those lessons on a day-to-day basis in my life as a whole and not simply leave those experiences in the classroom. To get a more in-depth look at the Carnegie Center and a better understanding of why I am so excited to volunteer there, you can access the organization's website or Twitter. I am looking forward to starting this Thursday.