Campus Director Retreat. Greensboro, NC

In search of brighter days, I ride through the maze of the madness,Struggle is my address, where pain and crack lives,Gunshots comin' from sounds of Blackness,Given this game with no time to practice,
Born on the Black list, told I'm below average,A life with no cabbage,That's no money if you from where I'm from,Funny, I just want some of your sun Dark clouds seem to follow me,Alcohol that my pops swallowed bottled me,No apology, I walk with a boulder on my shoulder,It's a Cold War - I'm a colder soldier,
Hold the same fight that made Martin Luther the King,

-Common "A Dream"

Greensboro, NC 
March 30- 31, 2010 

On Tuesday and Wednesday of this week. I got the opportunity to get together with the rest of the leadership team here in North Carolina for retreat. During these two days we explored the International Civil Rights Museum, work with an Americorps program called Youth Focus, get our hands dirty with film editing software, learn about valuable academic support tools, troubleshoot apprenticeship obstacles, and learn how to clear the mind and center ourselves via Hapkido class.




This could be the last time all five of us are together. Erik is leaving in May to go to Brazil. The remaining four of us may be returning but in potential different roles. Its been great to work with this group here in North Carolina. If this is truly our last time together then I'm glad it we were able to spend it like this!

These past two days have been very refreshing and invigorating. During our dinner, we managed to hold a conversation without using the words Citizen Schools or anything related to work. The topic of conversation was Ms.Badu's latest video where she is walking nude through downtown Dallas.
Question: What would you do if you were walking with your child and Erykah Badu walked by with no clothes on?

The conversation centered around how we would deal with our kids seeing all that goodness exposed by Badu. Answers varied!!!

I think the best part of the retreat was our time spent at Youth Focus. We got to work one on one with some at-risk kids at this home for runaways and homeless youth. We did a Team building activity. A variation of the Egg drop. A "Hot Air Egg Time Machine" competition were one of our staff was paired up with a child and the duo have to build a machine that could float in the air.When we met the kids they had these really bored ass looks on their face. I was a bit nervous that this wasn't going to go over very well with them. For a moment, I had a flashback to program and my kids.  Fortunately, they loved the activity!  I wanted to Photography the Museum and the Homeless shelter, but neither would allow us to take photos!