Final Thoughts on the Carnegie Center

After three months, my time volunteering at the Carnegie Center for Literacy and Learning has come to an end. Here is a video with some of my final thoughts and reflections on my overall experience with this service site. 

TED Talk: Why a Good Book is a Secret Door

Mac Barnett, a children's book author, delivered this TED talk in 2014 about the importance of fiction and imagination in a child's life. He begins his talk with an interesting first line that immediately grabs the attention of the audience. He introduces himself as a man with a career that involves lying to children. This opening statement successfully hooks the audience and sets the whole tone for the rest of the TED talk. He then begins explaining his main point he will be presenting throughout the entirety of his speech which is that it is very important to find truth in art, especially as a child. This TED talk is very entertaining due to Mac's comfort in front of a crowd. He constantly engages the audience in laughter with his colorful stories about working with kids as a camp counselor. During his time working at this summer camp, Mac entertained the children with his whimsical stories of his time spent spying for the Queen of England and other imaginary adventures he has embarked on. Mac truly believes in helping children find some truth in fiction that he even went as far to stash a cantaloupe in a garden to follow through with some of his stories. 

                  Above is a quote Mac used to introduce his main idea of the potential truth that can be found in art. 

My favorite part of this TED talk though were Mac's stories about his interest in secret doors and how he managed to incorporate these entrances to other worlds into his career. He is very passionate about tutoring children and assisting them with their reading skills so it only makes sense that he continued on into a career surrounding these interests. The first place he worked at was a pirate souvenir shop that led into a tutoring program through a "secret door". Mac described some of the merchandise to further emphasize this idea of an imaginary world. He explained the importance of having children walk through this whimsical setting on their way to study sessions because it really opens their minds to the idea that anything is possible. Reading fiction and telling stories about imaginary worlds allows children to express themselves by escaping into another life while still having a way to find truth in the lies. 

I chose this TED Talk because it discussed some of the similar interests as the Carnegie Center. This talk expressed the importance of books in a child's life which is something the Carnegie Center really focuses on with their work. The Carnegie Center offers similar services to those Mac describes in his talk which really caught my attention when I was listening. Both are equally interested in educating children in the importance of reading and engaging their imaginations whenever possible.


Mac did a wonderful job of connecting with his audience and conveying his idea in a practical, entertaining way. He was very comfortable in the crowd and confidently delivered his message. Although it was a rather long one, I thoroughly enjoyed this TED Talk.

Video Reflection: Setting Up for the Event

Above is my video reflection for the Carnegie Center. I explain what it was like to volunteer for the first time and discuss my feelings towards my service site. I am very pleased with the Carnegie Center and look forward to volunteering again.

Midterm Reflection

A service-learning class is something I have never participated in before and I was extremely excited to choose my site and begin volunteering as the course began; however, I have unfortunately not been able to volunteer yet and it is already half-way through the semester. Looking through the list of possible sites, I was immediately drawn towards the Carnegie Center for Literacy and Learning. I have always enjoyed working with children and have spent the past five summers tutoring a young girl so I knew a site that dealt with education and young children was perfect for me. I was ecstatic when I discovered I was given my first choice and could not wait for my first visit. It was difficult to find a day our whole group could go together because of our conflicting schedules. We eventually found a day four of us could go, but unfortunately, it was the four members of the group without cars. After a long debate of whether we should walk or attempt to figure out the bus system, we decided to try the bus. We managed to miss our first bus and ended up having to walk half-way across campus to get to another bus stop. We waited at least forty minutes in the blazing heat for a bus with no idea if it would actually show up or not.

                                          Waiting for the bus to take us to the Carnegie Center.

The bus eventually pulled up and we all climbed on, eager to escape the heat and finally make it to the Carnegie Center. However, we were greeted with glares and rude comments from the bus passengers. None of us were expecting to get harassed on public transportation that day so we hopped off on the nearest stop and walked the rest of the way. Once we finally made it to the Carnegie Center, we met with Erica, the volunteer coordinator and she explained our roles for the semester. The organization did not really need volunteers until late October and November because that is when they host their main charity event. They expressed how important it was that we were available to volunteer for many hours during those few weeks because there is lots of preparation that goes into this event. After discussing our volunteering roles, Erica gave us a tour of the Carnegie Center. It was very interesting getting to see first-hand how their organization helps children and adults in the community. 

Although we had a difficult time getting there, we were all impressed with the Carnegie Center and were excited to start volunteering. I am very excited to finally get the chance to actually help with the Carnegie Center during the next week by assisting with their charity event. I look forward to finally getting the chance to having a first-hand effect on this wonderful organization. 

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.