Thank You Post

Fellow classmates!

      This is my last blog post for the semester. I am so grateful to have been apart of the Kid Zone Staff.  I have learned so much skills that will help me in the future, whether it be my career or personal life.

      I am so happy to have met everyone at Kid Zone. I will miss all the staff and the kids that I have worked with this semester. I have really enjoyed seeing everyone each day and playing with the kids. I will miss doing crafts during centers, helping with the kids at homework club, and even looking at all the pokemon cards at pokemon club.

     Kid Zone has taught me so much this semester about myself and what it takes to be a leader of about 120 kids. I believe that this semester has even prepared me for my next journey in life, which is motherhood. I have great ideas now to play with my kid and keep them happy. I hope to continue my work at Kid Zone in the fall and keep working with all the kids at Fuller Elementary and the staff.

Thank you for the experience!
Adrianna Gleason

Kid Zone has taught me...

I am so happy to have worked for Kid Zone this semester. I thoroughly enjoyed my time working at Fuller Elementary and working with the staff and kids. I did not know what I was getting into when I first accepted the position but after a lot of hard work and a lot of fun I realized I made an excellent choice with working for them.

Some of the things that I learned while working with Kid Zone are work ethic, patience, communication, team building, leadership skills, and learning to be a kid again. With working for Kid Zone the work ethic they expect is very high. I learned to really be accountable for all my actions and to be responsible for 120 kids with the help of other staff. I have always been punctual and getting to work on time but with this job it was critical that if anything should come up someone was notified right away if I was going to be late or not able to come in to work. When working with young kids I had to learn patience. Many times the kids would get upset and mad over little things and you would have to deal with fights over and over and be patient and calm each time. Also cleaning up after the kids took a lot of patience because they are not the best at cleaning up after themselves. Communication was key to having a successful work environment. We were always communicating with the kids and between the staff. We had to keep an eye on each of the kids and communicate on what each group was doing and when kids would go back and forth from areas with our walkie talkies. It took the whole staff to be a good team and get everything accomplished each day and have the site run smoothly. I learned how to be a leader and take charge. Sometimes I had to be stern with the kids and take charge, which I have never been good at but this semester really helped build my self-confidence.

I am so glad to have the opportunity to work with Kid Zone and learn so many new skills and strengths within myself.

Career Service Workshop 2

Because of my school and internship schedule I am having some problems trying to find a workshop that fits into my schedule. I am going to write this career service blog on Professional Communication and Net Etiquette Webinar on April 20. I will expand on the webinar once I attend it.

Update:

Instead of attending the "webinar" I went to the Tempe campus and was able to walk through their part time/summer job fair. I found it very interesting to go and see who was all hiring. I brought my applications with me in case I found a company that I would want to work for and to get my name out there. I am currently not able to work in the summer because of my first child being born in the next few weeks but I still wanted to get my resume out in the job field so that when I can go back to work in the fall they will have made a connection with me prior. I was drawn to the companies that worked with the community especially with kids. I gave my application to the Boys and Girls Club of Scottsdale and Thunderbird branches. Their program sounds similar to the work I have been doing with Kid Zone. I also gave my application to the Escalante Program in Tempe that works with younger kids. I really enjoy working with kids and giving back to the community. All of these jobs also have flexible schedules which may be good with a newborn and getting back into the rhythm of working again in the fall.

Strengths of Kid Zone

Kid Zone is structured and run wonderfully. From the hiring process to how the different school sites are run Kid Zone has the structure down to a science. Kid Zone knows the type of person they want to hire and they have a strict hiring process that brings in the best of staff. They have great training sessions that teach you all you need to know in order to do your job. I like how they have structured their positions and being able to work your way up in the company. The way the management has structured how the Kid Zone sites will run and how they need to be structured across the district is amazing also. I like how if I need to be a sub at another school the strucuture is the same across the schools so I do not feel too lost when going to a new site. The management staff of Kid Zone is the program's biggest strength because they put together the program wonderfully and very structured. 

The one thing I would change about the structure of Kid Zone is that their are many rules that you must follow. I am all for rules that make sense but not ones that really are very unrealistic or silly. Kid Zones rules are its strength but also weakness. Kid Zone is very safe because of the rules but that means the staff has to follow them to a "T" and remember all of them. One of the rules that I disagree with is not being able to play with the kids when they are playing active games. This ensure our safety along with the kids from getting physically hurt. The kids always ask us if we can join in and play with them but we have to tell them no and just watch them play dodgball for an hour and that can get boring. So some of the rules I would change if I was in charge of an organization similar to Kid Zone.

Money Management

One program that Kid Zone offers the kids is "money management". The kids on Monday can go to the money management club and talk with the presentor. I cannot remember her name who puts on Money Management, sorry :( She talks to the kids about saving money and earning money. The kids are able to earn money by doing activities and they learn to save the money. Some weeks she brings the "store" with her where the kids are able to buy little toys such as erasers and pencils with the money that they have earned and saved. Some of the kids do buy the toys and others will save their money for weeks and wait to buy some bigger toys at the "store".

I think this is a valuable program/club that Kid Zone offers because too many people are wasteful with their money and do not know how to manage their money. Teens start getting jobs and buy everything without thinking about saving and it becomes a habit that goes into their adult life. Teaching kids at a young age about money and saving is so beneficial in this economic time.

Electronic devices at Kid Zone

Each Friday at Kid Zone we have "Fun Friday". On Friday we find some activity to do with the kids that is different than any other day and is fun to do. In the past we have done movie day, root beer float day, picnic day etc... But with each activity on Friday we also have "electronic day". The kids are allowed to bring whatever electronic device that they have and play with it. The first Friday that I worked I was surprised on how many kids have electronic devices and not even "child" devices such as a flip phone but these kids have iPhone and tablets and laptops. The kids have more electronic devices than I have and more expensive ones than I even have. This generation of kids and the generation in general is electronic obsessed. We all have to have our "smart" phone and have the latest one.

The part that concerns me is these kids start playing their devices and their eyes just glaze over and they will play these games for hours and when you tell them to put it away it becomes a fight. The kids are missing out on playing outside with the balls and equipment because they sit in the shade and just play on their devices and do not look up.

This is my opinion and I would never push my opinion on any other parent or person but I think that letting these kids have electronic devices at school and all the time access is not the healthiest for their development. I love distracting some kids with a movie or a game for a half hour while I do chores or as a reward but I do not think they should have access to it 24/7. These kids are also going on inappropriate sites for their ages and it is not healthy for their development. I think with the right amount of supervision and limited use electronics can be good. But it is crazy to see a kindergartner able to pull up a YouTube video and start sending it to friends using social sites that they have accounts on. Just blows my mind on how young they are and what they are capable of doing.

Public Service

Kid Zone in itself is a public service that Tempe puts together to help families that need child care after school. Kid Zone participates in community service projects such as obtaining food and clothes for food/clothes drives. Kid Zone has a running club that practices during the school year and then the participants participate in Pat's Run each year. Kid Zone also gives back to Fuller School by planting a garden to beautify the campus. Kid Zone also participates and runs the Cotton Candy booth at the spring carnival.

Article on AZ Central-- PEEPS!!!!! :)

Easter is coming up and that means the return of those yellow, marshmallow treats called Peeps. The popular, chick-shaped candy has been around for more than 60 years.

USA TODAY Network shares some surprising facts about these iconic marshmallow confections:

1. Peeps were once made by hand and took nearly 30 hours to create.

Peeps are owned and made by Just Born Inc., a candy company located in Bethlehem, Pa.

The company is named after Sam Born, a Russian-born founder and confectioner, who started the brand in 1917 after immigrating to the United States. His candy company grew and eventually acquired Rodda Candy Company in 1953.

"They were primarily interested in that company for the jelly bean technology," Matt Pye, the vice president of corporate affairs for Just Born, told USA TODAY Network.

"But while the family was touring the Rodda Candy Company, in the back part of the factory were these women with pastry tubes squirting these marshmallow chicks by hand," Pye said. It took the women 27 hours from start to finish to make the Peeps mostly because it took the marshmallow a long time to cool before it could be packaged for consumers.

The Born family figured out a way to automate the process and quickly cool the Peeps. By 1954, the company had shortened the manufacturing time to only about six minutes.

Today, Just Born makes about 5.5 million each day in a variety of shapes and colors.

2. Original Peeps had wings.

The original Peep had two small wings coming off the back of each bird.

Just Born initially included those wings in the process as well, but it made the automation process more complicated, according to Pye.

In 1955, the company decided to skip the wings to streamline the process, he said.

3. Peeps stores exist.

You can find Peeps on grocery store shelves and in candy stores, but there are also several brick-and-mortar shops specializing in Peeps.

The first Peeps-theme store opened in 2009 in Oxon Hill, Md., right outside Washington, D.C.

Since then the company has opened two other locations: one in Bethlehem, Pa., and another in the Mall of America in Bloomington, Minn. The stores carry Peeps of all colors, flavors and shapes in addition to Peeps-brand merchandise such as T-shirts and plush toys. They also sell other Just Born candies such as Mike & Ike's and Hot Tamales.

4. There are bunny Peeps. Yes, bunnies.

Even from the very beginning, the company made bunnies in addition to chicks and very quickly introduced other shapes by the 1960s, Pye said.

Today there are bunny and chick Peeps available in a number of colors including yellow, blue, lavender, orange, pink and white. Just Born also makes marshmallow treats for other holidays including trees for Christmas, pumpkins for Halloween and hearts for Valentine's Day.

That being said, chicks still rule supreme. Four out 5 Peeps purchased are shaped like chicks, according to a statement from Just Born.

5. Facebook groups are dedicated to disliking Peeps.

Not everyone loves to eat the marshmallow candies. They can be "a little bit polarizing," according to Pye. "(People) either love them or hate them when it comes to consumption," he said.

There are Facebook groups dedicated to disliking Peeps, for example. And it seems at least one columnist each spring writes about his or her disgust for the candy. "They're just candy – and gross candy at that," Brian Moylan wrote for The Guardian in 2012.

An estimated one-third of all Peeps purchased are not eaten but instead used for decorations or for craft projects like dioramas, according to Pye.

"We think there are more people who love the brand whether they eat it or not," he said.

What do you think of Peeps?

This past weekend

This past weekend was pretty low key for me. Usually I feel that I am always busy on the weekend and do not have much time for just relaxing :( But this weekend I had some down time. On Saturday my husband and I went to Turf Paradise in Phoenix and saw the horse races. It also happened to be the weekend that the "drama" llamas were there along with camel and ostritch races. The camel races were a sight to see! They were pretty fast with the riders on them. They were fun to watch because they would run a little bit then stop and try to buck the riders off. They would then either stand and not move or slowly walk to the finish line. The race was only a few yards for them. The ostritch races were very funny. I think the funniest part was seeing the riders on them and them looking as though they would fall off at any point. The ostritches were more of a trouble to control and race. They did not cooperate the same way that the camels did or especially the horses are controlled.

On Sunday I helped my husband build our crib and changing table that we received for Christmas. Some of the parts and instructions on the crib were quite confusing! But after a few hours we managed to build it and it looks beautiful! I am so happy to have one more thing accomplished for the baby. The only bad part about the crib is that we built it in our living room and now cannot fit it into our bedroom :( oops! So now we may have to take it apart and fit it into the bedroom. The rest of the weekend was laying around and playing with the dog.

Capstone Paper

The topic that I choose to explore and write my capstone project on is rehabilitation programs for the accused criminal. I am a public service/policy major emphasizing in criminology. I am particularly interested in rehabilitation programs rather than just incarcerating law breakers. I would like to explore what rehabilitation programs work, what makes them work, and to what population it has been successful with. Do rehabilitation programs really stop repeated offenses? I believe that the more we know about why the rehabilitation programs are successful, the more we can understand the criminal and the thought process of breaking the law. Also exploring the cost and benefits to society that rehabilitation programs bring about rather than incarceration can be interesting to look at. I think that too many times citizens believe in taking the fast and quick path to throwing convicts into jail/prison, when they may benefit better with a rehabilitation program.  I would like to dig deeper into the different kinds of rehabilitation programs that are in use right now. So far my research has been hard but very interesting. It is outrageous the amount of money that citizens have been paying for incarceration!

Kid Zone Program Manager

I am assigned to Fuller Elementary School as a Kid Zone Staff. My Program Manager at Fuller Elementary School is Miss Carla. Miss Carla is responsible for the Kid Zone program at Fuller. She oversees all the assistant program managers, activity leaders, and assistant activity leaders. She is the laizon between parents, school and the Kid Zone program. She helps plans the special events that happen throughout the school year. She attends meeting with other program managers at other schools and superviosors (supervisors oversee multiple school sites). Carla orders the supplies that are needed each week for the program. She is there each day for morning program and after school program. Carla works with the faculty at Fuller and coordinates classrooms and resources for Kid Zone.

Miss Carla has a sister that worked with Kid Zone and got her introduced to the program. She started out as an activity leader and worked her way up to Program manager. She is currently trying to interview for a supervisor position. Kid Zone offers training for each level you work at. They do training prior to each program session for 1-2 weeks depending on the position. They discuss the responsibilities and procedures for each duty. Off site training would be CPR/First Aid.

Miss Carla would stress having a positive attitude, team player, responisble, go-to attitude and willing to be silly when considering this job. One must be always ready to be hands on with the kids and willing to jump into activities. They also must be strict and responsible with the kids in order to prevent accidents and to ensure safety of everyone. Being upbeat and smiley is a plus because kids will feed off the staff behaviors and will be more willing to have a good time and follow directions when the staff is engaged and happy.

I am interested in her job because it carries more responsibility than just playing with kids for a few hours. I enjoy more of the business part of the role. Miss Carla has to keep track of the paperwork for each staff and kid involved in the program. She has to work with budgeting and inventory. I enjoy the business side of work, but also being able to interact with the kids each day. Miss Carla is perfect for the job because she can act like the boss when the situation calls for it but also be silly and play with the kids.

Spring Break 2015!

Wow, last college spring break! I ended up going to Las Vegas with my husband for the weekend at the start of spring break. We have not had a proper honeymoon or a vacation since getting married, and it worked out we both had vacations from work for part of the spring break. We drove up Friday night and stayed until Sunday evening. I have never been to Las Vegas, so I was very excited to go. I think my favorite part of the trip was going up the mountain right before hitting the city and seeing the city from a high peak and all the lights from the strip in the distance.

Las Vegas is really the city that does not sleep! People were up walking around at all hours during the night, and the city was so beautiful with all the lights and people. During the day it looked funny without all the glitz and glammer and rather dirty. During our trip we walked around the strip and went into many of the hotels/casinos. I wanted to see all of them! Each one was unique and very cool! I loved all the decorations all over and everything to see in the hotels! They were enormous! My feet were so swollen after each day of walking aorund! I also realized that I could get seriously fat in a town like Vegas, if I stayed long enough. The food was delicious everywhere we went!!

We plan on going some other time, after I have the baby and seeing more of the hotels that we missed walking through. We couldn't stay longer because we both had to work later on during that week.

Leadership roles at Kid Zone

At Kid Zone you are put into leadership roles right at the beginning. The interview process is to see whether or not you would be a good fit for Kid Zone and working with kids, but also on what leadership roles you can be placed into when being hired. I have been fortunate enough to have previous leadership roles and experience with working with kids, that I was hired on as an "AL" which means Assistant Leader. At each school you have a site coordinator that looks over more than one school, a supervisor, assistant supervisor, assistant leader, and assistant student leader.

As an AL I am in charge of a certain age group of kids and lead/instruct different clubs that we have. My coworker Deyzi is an AL and she is in charge of the tennis club. I am working with the 2nd-5th graders along with two or so more ALs because of the amount of kids in that age group. I mostly oversee "centers" time, where we have different stations that the kids can go to and play. On Wednesday I am in charge of homework club. I oversee the kids that they are accomplishing their homework. Kid Zone is always putting the employees in leadership roles. We are expected to be leaders at all time and to strive to go higher in leadership roles.

Over spring break, I worked at a kid zone spring break camp. I was put into a leadership role that had me in charge of all the kindergartners at the camp. This was a huge role and one that I was a little nervous about, but found it very fun and rewarding. I thoroughly enjoy being in leadership roles, and am happy that it makes me come out of my comfort zone and put myself out there.

The Bachelor

So, I am like many women and girls out there who watch the bachelor religiously. I have loved the drama and the fun dates that the girls seem to go on with the bachelor. But I can't help but wonder if the show could actually find true love for the bachelor. Do people think that someone could fall in love with someone that quickly and in that way? I wonder what their feelings really are for one another. Do the women realize that the dates they are on are not realisitc in the least bit and that once he picks one the fancy dates are over? I love the show but sometimes I feel the show is one of the stupidist show out there because it is so unrealistic. I do not like the concept of the "fantasy suite". I do not think that it is appropriate for the show to be airing a show that lets you know there is a designated area to spend the night with the bachelor and most likely have sex. You really wonder if these relationships have any chance to make it.

Do the women get paid to take leave from their job and film this I wonder?

Field Day

For Kid Zone one of my duties is to come up with a "club" that I run once a week with a group of kids. We need to come up with a theme, tools/equipment we need, and lesson plan. I have thought about doing a cooking club, where each week we make a nutritious snack. I thought about doing a music club, but couldnt' think of anything to teach the kids or have them particpate in maybe other than karaoke.

I have come up with a theme that I think may work. I am thinking of doing a Field Day club. During the club I will have different competitions set up that the kids can go against each other. I am thinking about having a basketball shooting contest, having a balancing contest, a hula hoop contest, etc... I am not 100% sure with the club, but i think that it will be fun for the kids. My concern though is that when it gets too hot outside the kids won't want to participate because it will be too uncomfortable to be outside.

Career Post

Throughout the semester it has been hard to find time to get to a career service event. But I did attend the spring career fair at the downtown campus. Now that I have moved the downtown campus is about 10 minutes down the road from me. I have never been to a career fair before so I was not sure what to expect. I was mostly nervous about what to wear and so on. Being pregnant has limited my wardrobe and I do not have many business casual clothes that still fit me :( I brought along my resume in case I found some booth that interested me. I found many of the booths interesting, but none of them were my calling. I was fascinated though in how they presented their company and marketed their business. Some had brochures, others had displays etc.. to give out information. There were mostly lines for students wanting to talk to the representatives, but I just walked around. This was an interesting experience for me to attend.

Fun Friday!

So today I want to talk about Fun Friday at Kid Zone. 

All around the state schools have had to cut their budgets, and one of the ways that some school districts have done so is by cutting one day each week in half. So at Fuller Elementary School where I am assigned to, they have Fridays cut as a half day. That means I have to report to school by 12:30 and not at 2:30 like other days. On Fridays we think of a fun activity or theme for the kids to participate in. 

On Friday 2/20, we had electronic day. This meant that the kids could bring in their electronics and for a designated time and in a designated place they could use their electronics. I expected some kids to bring in an ipod or maybe a phone, but these kids all pulled out fancy phones, tablets, ipads, gameboys, etc... They have more electronics than I have and even nicer ones than I am. It was a shock to see how the younger generation has so much access to electronics than I had while growing up. Along with our time for electronics I conducted a "center" where we did fuse beads. With fuse beads the kids put beads on a design and then I iron the design together for them and they have an art project to take home. The kids had alot of fun making the fuse beads, but the tiny beads went everywhere which made clean up sooo much fun..

This upcoming Friday we are having a pajama day theme and watching How to Train your Dragon 2 and eating popcorn! I am excited because I have not seen the movie yet!

Moving!

My free write today is about my moving! I am taking 18 credits this semester that includes my internship and I am currently 7 months pregnant, have a puppy less than a year, and I just moved! Phew, what a busy last week it was. I am so happy to have moved from my previous apartment to a new apartment with my husband. We moved to be closer to his work, but it does mean I am driving furhter for the internship.

Moving was harder than I believed it was going to be. This is my first child, so I didn't know how tired I would be each day after organizing and packing up all of our items. And who knew I owned so many things!! I was able to pack all of our belongings up, while my husband loaded and unloaded the cars each trip. I am so blessed to have family and friends that helped with the moving. I made time each day for school work, so that I would not fall behind, but I have decided I never want to move while pregnant again!

A typical day at Kid Zone consists of keeping track of kids and putting together activities. After the bell rings at the end of the school day, the kids filter into Kid Zone. We sign them into the program and take attendance. We need to know who is there and who isn't in the first 15 minutes of the program starting for security reasons. The kids then have some free time to interact with everyone and socialize. They are given a nutritious snack while they have their free time. Many times the kids will want to help with snack time and handing the snacks out and cleaning up. The kids then have homework time that lasts between 30-45 minutes. Every child participates in homework time unless they are signed out of the option by their parents at the start of the semester.

The second half of the program consists of "centers" and "clubs". Centers and clubs are organized by members of the Kid Zone staff. Each week staff members are asked to think of activities to teach or put together for the following week. They must state the activity, resources/tools needed, and enrichment goals for the activity. The activities can include singing songs, putting on a puppet show, drawing, building with Lego's etc... Each kid can choose which center they would like to participate in for that designated time and then they rotate to other ones throughout the afternoon. The kids are constantly doing an activity and on the move. I am always walking around surpervising the kids and making sure they are following rules and helping out when needed. I have not yet planned a center or club out but I am sure I will soon now that I am understanding the program more.

Kid Zone and What it is

Kid Zone is an after school and before school program put on by the City of Tempe. The Kid Zone Enrichment Program is a dynamic community response to changing lifestyles and needs of families in Tempe, Arizona.  Our goal is to address the increased number of children needing a safe , enriching place to be in out-of-school time.  Kid Zone operates both before and after school programs at 18 Tempe and Kyrene Schools.  Our program is for children in the grades K-5 at 14 of our schools and K-8 at 3 of our schools (Curry, Rover, Ward).  We also offer a Pre-School Program for 3 year olds - Pre-K's.

At Kid Zone we offer a homework station where kids work on homework for 45 minutes, that way they have more time to interact with their families after the program ends and are not leaving it to the end of the night. Kid Zone provides "centers" and "clubs" that are designated areas in the multi purpose room of the school and has different activities for the kids to participate in. Some activities can be puzzles, drawing, Lego's, doing a simple science project, theatre workshop, music instruments, bead making etc... We also have opportunities to play outside on the playground during cooler weather seasons. The kids are always involved in activities and should never be bored!

Training

Training as in many jobs was tedious and full of a lot of information that we needed to remember. My training for Kid Zone lasted 3 days for a couple hours each day. The training was held at a local elementary school so that we could watch the Kid Zone program in person and in action as we learned the rules and what Kid Zone was all about. We got to tour around a typical multi center area where Kid Zone is held at schools, which was fun. We got to see examples of the activities they put on for the kids. Hopefully I can bring some of the ideas at this particular school to my school I will be permanently working at.

Many of our training was learning about protocols with the kids and the facility. It was also training on kid safety as well as protecting ourselves from situations that may arise. I think one of the most difficult things to learn was what you can and cannot say to the kids and how you can interact with them. An example would be that we can put on activities such as dodge ball but we are not allowed to actually play in the game. We can referee the game and supervise the game but we are technically not allowed to play with the kids in their games. I am very hands on and have always played with the kids when they play sports or even playing dolls, so this will be really hard to transition into not being so hands on.

I came into the program thinking that the program was more of a babysitting site where kids could do homework or maybe play on the playground. Boy was I wrong! Kid Zone is truly a hands on program that strives to enrich kids' lives and be a fun environment for kids while they wait for their parents after school. We provide many activities for them to participate in and are constantly on our feet. Training was our only time we will be sitting.

All About Kid Zone

My name is Adrianna Gleason. I am a senior at Arizona State University. I am majoring in Public Service/Policy and emphasizing in Criminology. I am planning on graduating in May, as long as everything goes according to plan!

I recently just accepted a position interning at the City of Tempe's Kid Zone Enrichment Program. I will be working at a local school as the assistant activity leader for the after school program. I am excited to be working with young children and making their after school program awesome!

I have been working with kids since I was very young. I enjoy playing with kids and enriching their lives with activities. I have been babysitting since I was 13 years and have always worked in jobs that cater to families and children.

Through this internship I hope to get a foot in the door with the City of Tempe. I would ideally love to work at the local level working with Child Protective Services or other services that protect children and families after graduation. I feel that the state needs more employees working on the behalf of children and becoming their voice. I hope to impact children's lives in a positive, fun way after school while they wait for their guardians to come pick them up.