Celebrating culture at the Carnegie Center

One of the things that I love most about the Carnegie Center is their acceptance of diversity. Actually, not only do they accept diversity, but they celebrate it. At the most recent event I attended at the Carnegie Center, they made it a point to do just this. We had the tables set up with crafts for the children, some of which were loosely based on thanksgiving, which was coming up soon. When the children came, we gave each of them a piece of construction paper that had been labeled to look like a passport. For each craft that they did, they would get a stamp on their passport. The kids made bracelets, colored, did origami, made head dresses, and made  turkeys out of foam and feathers.

                                     A turkey made by one of the children.

 I think that it would have been more meaningful to match the stamp at each table with a craft that was similar to something done in the place on the stamp to be more consistent with the idea of teaching diversity, but it was neat to watch the children discover different places they didn't know about. It was also interesting how many of them did not know what a passport was. After we did crafts, we watched a performance by “Music Works”, which is a small orchestra consisting of local children. Some of the children said that they had been practicing with their instruments for years, which astonished me because they didn’t look any older than 8 years old. Although I’ve never been into music that much, it was really impressive what those kids could do with instruments I didn’t even know existed when I was their age. Altogether, I enjoyed myself quite a bit more than expected. 

                                                                   A brief description of the events that took place.

My Final Events

Early in November, we worked to set up the Carnegie Center's Fear and Loathing in Las Vegas event. This was a very exciting project, as we played a part in turning the building from its normal library appearance to an atmosphere resembling the 1970's, when the book was set. To add elements from the book, we hung bats and other decorations that were mentioned in the book. We set up prize wheels, hung banners and set up tables in order to give the building into a completely look and feel for the night. Unfortunately, I was unable to work the event. However, I helped put the finishing touches on the preparation work, and the results were magnificent. Complete with a kindly-donated car resembling the one in the book, the building was truly transformed and the excitement was palpable as the event drew nearer. I was told it was a great success, which really vindicated all our efforts. 

The re-decoration of the front desk and the hanging banner were just a few of the new spins we put on the Carnegie Center to help them throw their annual book-themed party.

For my final hours, I worked an event which closely resembled our first one. The first event was dedicated to peace, while this final one was dedicated to Thanksgiving. I noted in September how inspiring it was to see children give their definitions of peace. Similarly, it was humbling to see what these children were thankful for. I saw children write that they were thankful for many things that I think most take for granted, such as warm beds and good food. We simply accept these things, given our relative privilege compared to the rest of the world. However, the children have not yet become cognizant of this privilege and see that these seemingly simply items are more than worthy of our appreciation. 
I truly am happy that I picked the Carnegie Center as my service learning organization. The effects of our contributions include providing children and families with wonderful nights of bonding and togetherness and transformed a library into a classic American novel set. I will always remember these experiences and wish the Carnegie Center the best of successes in their future events.