Student Volunteer Making a Difference: Peterson brings theatre to the youth of Farmville

ShaVaughn Peterson is a Longwood University senior theatre major who has invested a lot of his time into volunteer work around the town of Farmville. His work has been greatly appreciated by the Town Planner, Cindy Morris, and the Director of the Recreation Department, William Bailey, as well as the community members and the children that he works with. When speaking about Peterson both Morris and Bailey lit up with enthusiasm for the work he has done. Morris explained that Peterson “is volunteering with the Town and directs all the youth theatre plays.” She went on to say that “everybody just thinks he is awesome.”
Peterson recounted his story of becoming a regular volunteer for the town. It all started at the Longwood Center for the Visual Arts. During the summer of his sophomore year Peterson found himself with lots of time and little to do. “I had a lot of free time on my hands so I walked into town one day and stopped by the LCVA to see if they could use any volunteers, as it turned out they have a children's program every summer that is volunteer supervised so I hopped on to do that to occupy my time while I was job hunting.” This made him a “familiar with a lot of faces in town” so when it came time for him to take on the community project for English 400 he already had a pretty good idea of where he would turn. He knew before starting the class that he wanted to do something that he “was passionate about” which naturally brought him to theatre.
“I did my research, borrowed some money from my aunt, and by the first day of classes I had the scripts, scores, and CDs for The Elves & the Shoemaker.” His English professor was pleased with this idea and soon he met William Bailey. Bailey was all for the idea and helped him get him “space to rehearse and hold auditions.” Bailey explained, “We came together and sat down and created a plan.” He went to schools in the area and soon got himself “a following.”
Peterson strongly believes in what he is doing with the youth of Farmville. “These kids have learned to love theatre and each other.” Peterson stated, “It's absolutely magical watching them together.”
Bailey describes Peterson and his work with the youth program in this way, “He’s an exceptional talent and the things he can teach to children is amazing and how much he has done in bringing this youth theatre program to the town of Farmville.”
Peterson describes himself as an “army brat” that has moved many times but he calls Uniondale, New York his “home.” Peterson remembers the moment he realized theatre was his passion, “I spent the majority of my childhood hell-bent on become a psychologist because helping people made me happy. Theatre and choir had been hobbies of mine but I really didn't invest my soul in it … We did Chicago as our spring musical and something just hit me and I said, "Oh my God, I could be poor doing this the rest of my life and I would be perfectly happy with that." He explained that he realized “with psychology, I would only have been able to help one person at a time, but with theatre I could take entire audiences away from their troubles and into new unthinkable world even if only for two hours at a time.”

Peterson said that his “pride and joy is my children's theatre program.”

Currently he is working on the production of Cinderella Wore Combat Boots. “We bring theatre to the Prince Edward Community free of charge to any kid who will sign up and show up,” Peterson explained. These children, according to Peterson, “now have a gift that, should they choose, they can use and enjoy for the rest of their lives.”
Bailey explained that Peterson is “currently training future directors and theatre students who will take over and keep this program going.” Even though Peterson is bound bigger things he stated, “I'm no where near finished here in Farmville, but seeing the smiles I've brought them I know my work is done.”

Local Needs being Met by College Students

I'm currently in the process of writing an article about the impact Longwood students have on the community and what it is like when they are gone. I had no idea that starting out on this article would lead me to so many different ways that Longwood students give back to the community. I knew the students did volunteer work but it never really struck me as something that would stand out to the community but clearly it does. The services student do was the first thing that the Town Planner told me about when I sat down with her last week. My next blog post will be focused on the impact Longwood students have and what they are doing to give back. For now, I was hoping to hear from you. What kinds of volunteer work do you do around town? How do you think Longwood positively or negatively affects the town? If you would like, post community service ideas in your comments also.

Networking and Non-Profits

Finding ways to help and make a living is difficult especially when you're like me and have big plans to help with very little money to get there. Dr. B, Communications Professor at Longwood, and I were having a conversation a little while ago about what I wanted to do post-graduation. I told him that I wanted to help people here and in other countries. I want to volunteer and change the world in some way. He pointed to my nails and explained that the community service lifestyle won't pay for a french manicure lifestyle. It made me laugh and blush but it got me thinking about how I would make a living and help people. Obviously I would give up my pretty nails to help others but I also have to be able to take of my basic needs. So I'm on the search for non-profit organizations seeking employees. I found a nonprofit network site and was hoping others could send me information on nonprofits they know of or other sites that offer these job listings.

What to do... What to do.

A friend of mine came over last night and we got to talking about what we want to do with our lives. We both came to the conclusion that what we are majoring in as undergrads is not fulfilling. We have aspirations and things we want to change but we haven’t done anything to make this change. I am almost finished with school and whether or not my degree get used as it is intended no longer matters to me as much as it did two years ago. My ambitions have been gradually changing over the last few months from the drive to graduate, get a job, get married, get a better job, buy a house, have kids, retire, and die ... to now wanting to make a difference. I still want love in my life and I fully intend to get married eventually but my work is no longer a top priority. I want to travel while I can, do volunteer work while I can, and more than anything I want to go to Africa to purify water and/or help build schools. How I’m going to pay for these service adventures, I’m still not sure. Any suggestions?

Interesting Finds on Ways to Help

I've decided to change things up and add some ideas of ways you can help either in your community or around the world. Free the Children is a group who works to build schools and purify water in developing countries. I learned about them last night at a speech at Longwood University given by Michel Chikwanine, a former child soldier who was finally saved from the war in Congo and brought to Canada. His inspiring story and the work he does now has really pushed me to start thinking about my life and what I can do to help. I am going to use my blog to try to find a way to make a difference whether it be through another organization or something I can do on my own. The only thing I ask of you is that you offer ideas of things that we can do. Look into these two sites and tell me what inspires you!

Fighting for your Right

While getting off the path of least resistance is difficult at times it is wonderful to hear about people's experiences with trying it. Amanda George (Blogger of This Week in Weird) said that she has found herself consciously getting off the path and speaking up. I think the reason she has started doing this is because she, like she mentioned in her comment, is getting more educated about the "isms" and now has an understanding of why it is important to get off the path.
Getting off the path can cause you to be met with ignorant people or major blockades. This is just what happened in a Mississippi high school where a lesbian student is having to step out and speak up for what she wants. The school cancelled the prom to avoid having to deal with the 'issue' of having a same sex couple at the prom. This caused an even bigger issue for the school.
What are your thoughts on this?

Why do we do it?

"He's so gay!"

"Look at her- she is so butch!"

"Bet he bought that car with drug money..."

How do you respond when your friends or family members say things like this? Do you agree, laugh it off, sit their in silence, or shrug and walk away? Guess what! No matter if you whole-heartedly agree or just sit there quietly you have just participated in an "ism." Allan Johnson calls this staying on the "path of least resistance" in his book Privilege, Power, and Difference (2006). This path is the easy road. The smile or nod instead of speaking up and telling those people why it's wrong to judge people like that and how they are continuing the spiral of oppression in our society.

This week I'm asking you to speak up. Get off the Path. Respond to this blog! Tell me what you think!

What do you do when these situations arise?

What will you do to make a change?

________

Johnson, A. G. (2006). Privilege, Power, And Difference - Second Edition. New York, San Fransisco.

Strides4kidz- One Coach's Effort to Make a Difference

Longwood University's Assistant Women's Soccer Coach, Svetozar "Steve" Brdarski, has started his very own charity with support from his team and his friends. Brdarski wants to make a difference and be remembered for something great much like the inspiration for the group Sgt. Andrew McConnell who passed away in September 2009. Brdarski described him as "a great young man who served his family, friends and country everyday of his life." In a message sent out to all the members of the Strides4kidz Facebook group, Brdarski stated that at Sgt. McConnell's "it was said that ‘one’s life is not judged by the duration, but by the donation you give to life’. Sgt. McConnell and this idea inspired Brdarski to do something more with his life, to give back, and to help children in need.

He wants this to "continue to be a driving force in [his] life and other people's lives." The group's mission is explained in more detail in an article I wrote for Longwood University's campus newspaper, The Rotunda. Since this article the group's membership has jumped to 480 and more concrete plans have been made for the Shamrock Marathon coming up on March 20 in Virginia Beach. Brdarski is looking forward to this event and is asking that even "if you can’t run or donate, don’t worry. Feel free to come down to Va. Beach and join the rest of the group that will be down." He has plans to interact with the kids there and he hopes to "be giving out free T-shirts."

The marathon is going to be raising money for the VCU Children's Medical Center. Shira Cantor, public relations coordinator for the medical center, stated that "this is the first year they have done the marathon to benefit us." All money raised for Strides4kidz will be going directly to the medical center. Brdarski explained,

"I want every single penny to go to whoever we’re trying to help. The good thing about the race coming up is that I’m not even touching the money."

All money raised in the name of Strides4kidz from now until the marathon is going to the VCU Children's Medical Center. Once the race is over another child or group of children in need will be selected as the focus of the group. Brdarski told the group, "The most important thing is to think about the lil' people ... If there is a situation or someone you know that needs help, please tell me so that we can get information out to the group."

Brdarski and Ashlee McConnell, a former member of the women's soccer team and Longwood University alum, are working to sell the T-shirts with the logo shown above displayed on the front. Brdarski is "currently looking for a business sponsor for the shirts, so that all the money can be donated to VCU Children’s Hospital."

On top of running in other organizations' marathons, Brdarski would like to set up his own Strides4kidz marathon at Longwood University. He has considered "doing a 5k on campus in [Sgt. McConnell's] honor for the ROTC program" but no plans have been set as of yet. "The second thing I want to do is to get Longwood students to go to the YMCA and work with the after school athletic programs [and] eventually I'd like to set up a race for kids in this area.” He stated that he wants to help the kids in the local community as much as he wants to help kids all over the world. Brdarski has big plans for the fledgling charity and he wants everyone to get on board, including children. He's asking that "if you've got kids bring them to the race ... that's who I want to see there."

One goal that Brdarski hopes to see accomplished is that children can "eventually say that 'Strides4kidz really helped me out whether it be that Strides4kidz put me on the right path or gave me the attention I needed to get confidence in myself or helped me pay my medical bills so I could get on with my life.'" He strongly believes that this charity is not only about raising money because, he explains,

"Money helps in a lot of situations but so can your time and energy."

He wants this charity to help children financially but to also do something for them individually. The Facebook group should be looked at like an open forum, Brdarski stated, where people can get on there and post about children in need so that Strides4kidz can work to find a way to help.

Interested in helping out? Go to Facebook and search Strides4kidz.

Social Construction & Ignorance

"For most Whites, to think about what it means to be White is itself a radical move" (Cooks, 2003).
How would you describe yourself? What are some important characteristics that you would list about yourself if you had to write them all down? Take a minute and think about this. Make your list. What did you come up with? Did you include your race in this list? If you're white, you probably didn't even consider it. In fact, you probably never consider your race unless something outwardly brings it to your attention. And a white person rarely considers what it means to be white in this country. Race, even though it is socially constructed, meaning that society decides what race means or stands for, plays a huge role in how we see people and treat them. Society puts the focus on whites as being the "better" race and the one's deserving of more than others. To not be white is to not be part of the norm. The unprivileged groups get largely ignored since this is a white centered nation. Black people get one month out of the year to focus on them and whites get the rest. The privilege that comes with being male, nondisabled, heterosexual, and white has nothing to do with these characteristics in and of themselves. It has everything to do with the way society views them through these social constructions. In order to understand inequality we must first see our own privilege and we must see privilege as an issue instead of hiding behind it. Whites hide behind this privilege whether consciously or not. Being able to ignore one's race is a privilege and the only time that whites usually consider their privilege or their race at all is when something happens to bring it to their attention. Something just like that happened last week at the Longwood Men's Basketball game. It was Greek night and a large crowd had gathered to cheer on the team. A player on the visiting team was being a bit obnoxious on the court and calling attention to himself but when he missed a foul shot the crowd decided to let him know that he was noticed. A group of young men began making sounds like monkeys in this player's direction and no one in the crowd or on the court did anything to stop this outright racism. Our silence added to this racist act because we did nothing. We chose to ignore this. But I'm willing to bet that the young man on the court wasn't able to ignore it. Our ignorance adds to the societal view that whites have privilege. I'm sure that everyone would agree that these men in the crowd were in the wrong and should not have done this, but why did they think they could in the first place? Because they knew they could get away with it? Because they knew they could hide behind their privilege and claim that they didn't mean anything by it? This is unacceptable behavior and I hate that myself, my peers, and everyone else in that building didn't do anything to stop it. That was inequality in our faces and we did nothing. Why?
"Although most scientists agree that race is socially constructed, people still act on race as if it were natural" (Cooks, 2003).

Cooks, L. (2003). Pedagogy, Performance, and Positionality: Teaching about Whiteness
in Interracial Communication. Communication Education, 52(3/4), 245-257. http://search.ebscohost.com, doi:10.1080/0363452032000156226

Ableism Showing up at Longwood

A large amount of snow fell this weekend here in Farmville, VA. The campus of Longwood University is still covered under the snow and many sidewalks are still treacherous. I know because I've slipped several times just walking to and from class. On Monday the school opted to have a short delay and open up for classes starting at ten. The sidewalks were in a much worse condition than they are now and were slowly being cleaned up. I'm not bashing the staff and volunteers who came out to do the big job of shoveling all that snow because I know how hard of a job that is and campus has a lot of sidewalks to try to uncover, especially since the snow had just stopped coming down on Saturday evening. Now, I'm not complaining just because classes weren't cancelled and I didn't want to get out of bed. I'm complaining because of how ableism showed up here at Longwood on that icy morning.

As a nondisabled person I had very little trouble besides maybe a few slips here and there getting to and from class, but what about those who are disabled? Who was concerned about them when classes started and the sidewalks weren't clear? Who was concerned about their wheelchairs not being able to make it up a hill or through the icy patches? It seems to me that no one considered them in the decision to keep school open. If I'm wrong and there was a plan for disabled students to be able to get to class then please tell me. But as far I can tell from the stories I've heard there was no such plan. Rumors tell me that a student in a power chair got stuck and had to be physically carried into a building. My professor of Sociology, Dr. Milne, said today that it was kind of that person to help out but why did they have to? He also pointed out something that I hadn't considered: The nondisabled students got an unearned privilege on Monday which is something that some lazy college students may not look at as a privilege but on that day even the laziest nondisabled student had the privilege of physically being able to make it to class one step at a time all on their own.

This unequal treatment for the disabled by the nondisabled is ridiculous. What should the University have done in order to help these students? Maybe for starters they should have considered the condition of the sidewalk before telling students to go to class when not ALL students had an equal chance to get there. Now some could argue that the students who had to drive to campus in the mess were in a predicament too or that those who had to walk to class could have trouble also. But mind you, the unequal treatment that I'm talking about here has to do with the fact that nondisabled commuters and students had many more options of how to get to class than those students who are confined to wheelchairs.

Ignoring our privilege is easy because we don't feel like we have to deal with it for many different reasons. As nondisabled people, we can choose to consider our disability or the disability of others. Taken from Allan Johnson's book entitled "Privilege, Power, and Difference" he points out that "nondisabled people can choose whether to be conscious of their disability status or to ignore it and regard themselves simply as human beings." On that day, when the snow and ice still covered many walkways the nondisabled students got to see themselves simply as students who could go to class or leave their building with very little consideration of their disability status.

Sometimes facing inequality makes us uncomfortable or feel guilt but that won't help the situation. We must face inequality and our own dominance in society in order to ever have a chance of getting things evened out.

The Fear of Facing It

"I don't see color"

"I'm not a racist but..."

"Racism is over."

We are living in a time following the Civil Rights Movement where people fear dealing with racism or even talking about it. My good friend Amanda George relayed a story to me that fits neatly into this topic. She said that while she was at the bar hanging in a mixed race group and discussing what she had learned in her Sociology class that "racism" was brought up. The bartender quickly said, "Don't say that! Racism is a dirty word."
People are afraid of dealing with racial issues. They are afraid of showing that they do notice when a person's skin color is different from their own. They are afraid of being considered a racist and many hold to the belief that racism is over. They believe that people are all treated equally now and that there is no need to discuss it anymore. I disagree.
Talking about inequality and all that goes with it like oppression, discrimination, privilege, racism, ableism, sexism, heterosexism, etc. is vital in finding a way to change society. This is not one man's job but through this blog I intend to force these topics to the forefront and allow for an open discussion of inequality in all its forms.