Humane Society

This week, I went to the humane society on Tuesday, April 14 and Wednesday April 15. I spent two and a half hours volunteering on Tuesday and an additional hour on Wednesday. On Tuesday, Vicki and I mainly focussed on walking dogs. We took a young light brown pitbull out. Vicki was really scared of it because of all of the stories of these dogs being mean, but actually this dog was really nice. Then, we walked a border collie. This dog was one of my favorites. She was so nice and easy to walk . Then, we went and played with a few cats for a little while. The next day we walked a beagle and then a black lab. All of these dogs were so good and friendly. I was actually really surprised that almost all of the animals at the humane society are nice to people, but I found out the people there test the animals to make sure they are kind to humans. They test the animals by grabing their tail and bothering them while they are eating. They need people to voluteer with these animals so the animals become use to humans and become more friendly, loveable animals. By voluteering, we make these animals kinder creatures, so they will be more likely to get adopted into a nice home. I try to play with the older more scruffy animals because they are are less likely to be adopted and need a lot of attention.The first day I volunteered, I was really surprised to see how small the kennels and homes were for these animals. They should have more room to run and play. I think the community should raise money to help build a larger humane society. The society should also make paths going back into the woods, so we are not restricted to just walking the dogs around the small building. These dogs should have a large fence outside so we can let them off their leash and play catch with them outside. By volunteering at the humane society, I'm helping the community and gaining knowledge about animals at the same time. I am always excited to voluteer at the humane society, and I look forword to it every week.

My service learning project is going great so far. I really love working with the elderly, especially the Alzheimer's patients. I've been doing about two activities a week the past couple of weeks, and every week we do the same one. Basically we take big baloons and throw them to the elderly person and they hit it back. It really doesn't sound like much, but to them it must be a lot of fun because they are always smiling. The little movement it takes to move their arms is great for them too. Another activity is taking a foam bat and having them hit the balloon which is on a string. I was surprised with how well they all did this. One patient in particular couldn't move her wrist or arm enough to fully the swing the bat. All she could do was lightly tap on the ball with the bat. It was really sad to see that she could barely move, but when I rolled the balloon to her she could really kick it! It surprised me that she had so much more movement in her legs when she is even in a wheel chair. A few of the patients are better off than others, so I took about 4 of them and put them in a small circle and had them kick a ball back and forth to each other. They were sitting though because they have pretty bad balance. They did really good kicking the ball and were smiling and laughing the whole time. I also help with just moving the patient's arms and legs up and down, so they get some movement since most of them can't move them much on their own. It is really a weird feeling to feel how stiff they are and how hard it is to move their joints.

While talking with one of the patients, she asked me what my name was and where I was from. I told her my name is Kayla and I grew up in Green Bay, and she asked if I liked it and I said I did. She then answered well that's great and gave me a big smile. I walked away and came back about two minutes later, and I was surprised that she asked me the same exact question, and had the same responses. I know this is from her dementia, but it still surprised me.

This past week I went in on Wednesday since I had some time, and I hadn't been there since the friday before. I was very surprised when one of the patients who's dementia is pretty severe came up to me and said," Oh your back again!" She then asked what we were going to do that day, so I really think she rememered me. That was such a great feeling because I felt like it really means something when I come in and spend time with them. Even though I work there, the patients don't remember who I am, and always aske me my name, so it was great to know that doing the extra activities was giving us a better relationship.

Cellular Respiration On Track #2

It was another productive week for our group. We met at the library Thursday, April 17th from 3:45-5:30pm to continue the work we've already started. Steven, Steph, Liz, and I brought more information to the table and began, as a group, the discuss the specific outline for our animation and the narration to go along with each step/slide. We found it easy to artistically interpret what information we wanted to get across during glycosis, the kreb cycle, and electron transport stages, but it was difficult to put this information into terms and words that could be used for a variety of biology classes at all levels. There are a lot of technical terms so we worked on breaking down the information to be more suitable for learning and for teachers who are looking for a basic understanding for their students. Liz has spent the past week working on the backround template for the slides and next week we will begin making masks and seperate slides that will eventually run together for an Imovie. This weekend I am going to try to find additional information on the Kreb cycle to see if we can interpret this more easily. Our group is going to meet again on Tuesday after class to do some computer work and gather our thoughts on some lingering issues. Overall, I'm happy with how our project is turning out but we certainly have a lot of work to do yet.

Sunshine and Schmeekle

This week, Lauren and I ventured out to Schmeekle again to check out how it looks since we've had such nice weather. The trails were almost all dried out from the rain and snow, so we got to work clearing out extra brush and debris that could get in the way of bikers, runners, or people just walking and enjoying the scenery. We picked up A LOT of litter as well, which really enhanced how pretty the environment is out there. In addition, we looked around for a type of weed, which is an invasive species in Schmeekle, but we didn't see any. We actually walked in pretty far since it was so nice out, and saw a variety of wildlife including ducks, several birds, a few rabbits, and a small rodent or two. It's a great feeling to be helping out in Schmeekle, especially with the nice weather because we're helping others enjoy wildlife without having to step over a bunch of litter and debris. It's also good to know that the animals don't have to deal with it either. It should be fun to go out there more now that it keeps getting warmer!

Service Learning- YMCA

Last Monday at the Y, there were only two kids working out, so when they were done, I went to the other section of the room and played air hockey and pool against James who come to Family Prime Time. I learned that his father is a physical therapist who works in Stevens Point, which I found interesting because that is what I planned on going into. It was fun switching up what I do from working out to having fun, it was a good change of pace. In my time at the YMCA, I learned all that kids can do to get into or stay in shape from a very early age. The Y offers many programs for the kids ranging from the machines that only work by resistance, to exercise programs that involve running and being aerobically active. I believe that this volunteering has helped shed some light on what I want to do with my life. I learned that I really like working with kids and I also like making muscled work correctly, so I think my thoughts about becoming a physical therapist are very good, maybe I should specialize in pediatrics. Based on the service I had, people can really make a difference in the community. I found myself looking forward to Mondays because I got to go volunteer at the Y and have a good time doing it. The people who work there have a really sweet gig. They get to play with the kids or help them work out and they get paid for it.

Where Debot Goes #3

Our project on Where Debot Goes is working fairly well. Tyler found out that the HEC is free, we just have to sign up for a certain time. Last week we met and planned out what we all would be doing. We all agreed to take different parts of the digestive system and to explain how that part works, one of the most common problems with it, ways to keep that part healthy. This weekend we are going to put together all of our information on a poster and get ready to hopefully present next week or the week after that.

Update

The bathroom notices have worked pretty well they haven't been torn off the walls so I see that as having a positive response to them. Working together with the other guys has been fun we get along with each other really well. Now we are starting to put together a strategy for our dorm board stats and facts. Also starting to plan for the question night in the dorm. Both should go very well and be very benificial for the people that stop by or observe the notices. The sicknesses we are researching are very interesting and I am learning some new things about them that I never knew about before. Some of the ways to treat them are very cool and the medicines can be sometimes be very advanced. Hopefully things will continue going as smoothly as they have been for the rest of the year.

Enjoying the nice weather

My partner and I were once again out at Schmeekle, however we had much nicer weather this week so we got a lot more done. Most of the trails are now dry so we began cleaning the trails. We cleared any debris away, as well as any litter. The guy in charge of the center told us also to look out for a type of weed. This weed is an invasive species that they try to get rid of. We did not see any; it is probably still a little early.
I think that the work Sarah and I are doing provides a great service to the community because we are allowing the public to observe the natural surroundings without any distractions. With clear and clean trails visitors are allowed to see a wide variety of habitats as well as animals. It is only the beginning of spring and so far we have observed many kinds of birds, rabbits and other small rodents. It would be nice for the public to be able to enjoy these animals to.

Praire Chicken #2

I went out last week with some people from the TWS to watch and count the praire chickens. I had to be up at 4am and leave from the parking lot here at 445am so we could be in the blind before it started getting light out. That was the first day that the DNR was also there to try and trap the praire chicken to tag them and get a blood sample from them for the records. Well they had a big net set up in the middle of this big praire, and the chickens did not want nothing to do with it, they said it takes some getting use to. I did see maybe 7 total, a couple of them were all bloomed up, but they really were not close enough to get a real good look at them, I am going to try and get out again this week to watch if there is room, and for sure next week. I took my camera out, but they were too far away for a good picture. It was a long morning, and I hope the next tie I go it goes a little better. April 14, 2008 12:31 PM

Praire Chicken #1

For this week with my project I went to a meeting in the TNR to learn how to keep records on the Praire Chickens. Starting next Tuesday, it sounded like everyday in the month of April they will leave here between 530am and 500am to drive about 15 minutes to Buena Vista to watch these Praire Chickens. I have now only got two days that I am signed up for, next Tuesday and the Tuesday after. I am also going to try and get in on a deer capturing effort before they are done with it for the year, this should all be very interesting.
March 26, 2008 11:03 PM

Oh Deer!!

The work that I am doing with the deer project is significant to many in the Stevens Point area. The deer herd on and around campus has grown to significant size and it is important that we understand how this herd works and monitor the deer for disease and overpopulation. I think with what I have learned working with the deer project it just further solidifies my desire to work in the wildlife management field. It is becoming increasingly important, especially in urban areas, that we learn to better manage the wildlife that are a integral part of our environment. Getting to work hands on with the deer on campus excited me for my future career and gave me some insight into what my future job may hold. I also got to know the types of skills and knowledge needed to work on a project like this one. It is important to understand the species you are working with and be able to understand how they make react or respond in certain situations. Trapping even the seemingly tame deer in Schmeekle is no easy task and requires knowledge of deer behavior. You can’t simply expect them to walk into the most obvious traps. You must account for their instinctive behaviors and plan accordingly. One of the biggest surprises to me was the amount of planning and behind the scenes work that goes into a project like this. Adam, the deer project leader, works nearly year round to keep the project working. He has to write a budget and lobby to college financial boards to receive funding for all his work. Him and his dad also spent much of Christmas break building the drop net that the project uses.

Adults or Children?

Last Friday (4/11) I volunteered again. The first activity we did involved showing the residents flash cards of random items and they had to tell us what it was and what it was used for. I showed the first card to an older lady and I asked her what it was. She looked at it and shouted out "A brush!?" and gave me a somewhat confused looked. It was a look of "are you seriously asking me what that is?". This really bugged me. She looked at me as though I was treating her like a child and like I was almost questioning her intelligence. But my first day at the health care facility the activity director told us that many of the residents have trouble comprehending what’s going on and understanding what you’re saying, almost as if they have regressed to when they were children. But the more time I spend with these people I just do not think that’s true. Maybe they can't tell us in words that they understand because they’re basically trapped in their own heads, but i think they know exactly what's going on, at least for the most part.

Well after the first 20 minutes it was very clear that all the residents were bored out of their minds, because most of them had fallen asleep at this point. That day, me and the other people I volunteer with were left alone and in charge of what we did for that hour. We all looked at each other and decided that this was not in any way helping to better these people. So we decided to turn on some music. This seemed to wake a few of them up. One of the residents (who happens to be someone I enjoy talking to and spending time with very much, not that I'm choosing favorites or anything :]), gave me an awful odd look when I started dancing and rocking out to 'Sweet Home Alabama'. I saw him staring at me and asked if he wanted to dance with me. When I grabbed his hand I felt him hold on real tight, and he gave me a big smile. After the song ended I got a beach ball and asked him if he wanted to hit it back and forth. He really seemed to like this idea. I'd throw it to him and he'd spike it right back. I told him that he could probably have started on my volleyball team in high school and he seemed to get a kick out of that.
The next activity we did was playing with the big ball again. This week I took some pictures so that you guys could get an idea of what exactly we do with them.


This particular activity seems to be pretty popular with the residents. They enjoy getting to kick the ball as hard as they can. At the same time this really helps them to get some blood flowing because as you can see from the pictures every single one of the residents is confined to a wheel chair.

It’s really starting to become clear to me that these people just want someone to spend time with them. They all seem so lonely and want someone to show them some form of love. One lady in particular always reaches for my hand whenever I’m near her. She just wants to feel that closeness to someone and feel the kindness from something as simple as me holding her hand. Doing this service learning project has really been an eye opening experience. It’s almost been like a slap in the face about how fortune we all have it and how precious life really is.

Reflection on Hospice Volunteering

After about 7 hours of visiting with hospice patients, I have learned a great deal. I believe that what I am doing is very important in the community, because I think that older people don't always get the attention that they need and they appreciate how I have been educating them about what I have been learning in biology! Some of the patients that I have visited have a very dreary outlook on life, and when people like me go to visit them it brightens up their day. Everyone should perform some type of service whenever they have time, it helps people out in ways that you could never know! Some of the people that I have talked to told me that not even their family comes to see them- how sad! This experience has been harder than I thought it would: when one of the women that I was visiting passed away, I had no idea what to do. I realize that there may be some negative aspects of performing community service, but the perks are worth it! I was invited to a 99th birthday party for a man named Philip that I have been talking with. His memory isn't in working condition anymore, so he reminds me every couple of minutes how much he loves learning from me and how much he loves seeing me! What I am doing is improving the quality of life for these people, and it makes me feel very good inside. I hope that everyone else can feel as good as I do about what we've been doing!

Where Debot Goes #2

Adam, Tyler and I have been working out what all is going on our post. We decided to that we are going to talk about all the different important areas in the digestion system. We are going to include what each one does with the food and what some common diseases are that are found in there. We are going to be talking to someone from the HEC to see when we can set up a stand for our poster. Our post will include a complete picture of the whole digestive tract and all the information that we have been gathering from get sources. Our sources are giving us the perfect information that we need to complete our project.

Autism Night

The Children's Museum of Stevens Point holds autism night on the first Monday of every month. A young mom was there with her four-year-old son, Austin. He was a very happy little boy with enough energy to run a marathon. When Austin was born he appeared to be a normal healthy little boy, but when he turned two his development hit a standstill and almost everything he learned dissappeared. With the help of specialists he is learning to talk again, although is speech is limited. Being the mom of a child with autism is without a doubt a full-time job. Austin eat's anything. He will literally eat his clothing. He also has a problem with running away. He's a master escape artist (they live on 40 acres of land with alot of water). He also has no concept of pain. She hasn't taken him to a grocery store in over 3 months. The last time she took him to a grocery store, he cracked his head open. His whole body is almost insensitive, except for his head. His mom has a hard time brushing his teeth and he's already had to have surgery to remove some of his teeth because of decay that led to his gums. Something that is unique to his form of Autism is that he does "edging". He has rituals that he does to calm himself down in exciting situations. When new people walk past him he swings his arms in excitement and hops up and down in order to take-in new information. He also lines up his hot-wheel cars. He lines them up every time in a specific order. If he turns his head for a second, after he lined up the cars, his mom will move one just a slight bit. When he turns around and looks back at the cars, he is quick to realize it.

The other family that came in had a son named Logan. Logan was very passive, but he was very verbal. He even came over by us to talk and asked us a few questions. Logan, has a lower form of autism on the "spectrum" as his mom called it. His parents knew that Logan was autistic from when he was only a baby. He was always behind on development. Logan only goes to a school for kids with special needs for half a day. He hates loud noises. The Children's Museum has a train that the kids can play on and he was scared to even walk into that half of the building because he doesn't like the noise. He doesn't handle busy areas or stressful situations very well. The difference between the two boys shows the variations of autism.

Cellular Respiration Animation

With the two tests these last couple of weeks, our progress has moved pretty slowly. But now that we can get some real work done, I think we'll have something to show pretty soon. We finally decided exactly how we are going to begin and go about the animation. We will start with a broad shot of the entire cell, complete with organelles, and a basic definition of cellular respiration. Then we'll zoom in on each of the important components of respiration and give basic definitions of those. Then we'll go step by step through the process, being specific, yet simple enough for high school biology students to understand. Finally, we will quickly review the process one last time. We plan to leave the loop running with out our voices a few times as to allow the instructor some time to say things. My task as the art major, is to begin creating the image files we will use in the animation, starting with the overview of the cell. The others will be coming up with the simple steps and definitions. We hope that in a week or two, we can begin the recording process.

Humane society

This week I went to the humane society and voluteered for two hours. Vicki and I went straight to the dog kennels to walk and play with the dogs. However, it was raining so we couldn't take any of the dogs outside , so we just took them into a large room. First, we took a fun and loveing mixed puppy, and just played some catch with him. Then, we took a large Saint Bernard out because he looked like he needed some attention. He only had three legs but was still almost stronger than I was. When I took him out of his kennel, he started barking really lound at the dog in the end kennel. I could bairly get him away from the small dog at the end. I found out later the small dog just had surgery, so he wasn't acting himself and would bark at any dog that passed. After playing with these dogs, we descided to play with some of the cats and kittens in a small room with many cat toys. I was playing with them with a rope that they chased around the room. When it was almost time to leave, we took out another black puppy and took him into the room to play catch. I had a lot of fun and can't wait to go again next tuesday.

Service Learning Day 2 - YMCA

First off, I need to clarify a few things. In my last post I said that kids ages 3-12 can use the exercise equipment. I misspoke. There is two rooms at Family Prime Time, the “weight room” and the play room. The play room is open to kids in grades kindergarten to sixth. The weight room is open to kids ages 7-12, which is much safer and makes sense. I am sorry for the wrong information. The Body Motion machines that the kids use were donated by Ministry Health Care. According to Ashley, the person working in the weight room, these machines are rare, not many places have them. The machines have five settings, they progressively get heavier by utilizing more of the person's body weight. The maximum that the kids can use is three quarters of their wight, which is a safe amount and will not stunt growth or have other side effects. There are 10 stations using legs, back, chest, shoulders, and abs. The kids are told to do around 15 reps and they do one circuit. They have to warm up by running on the treadmill of bike for a few minutes then stretch after the workout. Also, the kids can only work out three times a week so their body has time to heal. When someone new wants to work out, they have to go three orientations. The first and second orientations the kids have to do the exercises as the instructor tells them and the third orientation is in front of their parents and instructor to show the parents that they can do the exercises. I also found out the date of the earth day activities, but still don't really know what I will be doing there.

Autism Night

This evening my group took a trip over to the children's museum and spent a few hours there for autism night. It was a great learning experience, even though only two autistic children came in. The first boy's name was Austen and he was four years old. He was diagnosed with autism when he was two years old. He was very hyper, and very rarely stayed in one place for more than 15-20 seconds. He is always on the move, and he loves to dance around and climb on anything possible. While we were watching him play, his mother was anxious to talk about him and his condition and she was willing to answer any questions we had. She mentioned that Austen has a very high pain tolerance and never cries. When he hits his head hard she said that he just lets out a death scream. A little later Logan came in with his parents and little brother. Logan was also four years old and knows Austen from school. Logan was different than Austen in that he was much more calm and was not running around and climbing on things all the time. He could speak much better than Austen and had a much longer attention span. Logan's mother and father were also very much willing to talk about his condition and were happy to answer the questions we had. Neither of these two boys were completely potty trained, which makes it very hard for their teachers when they go to school. Later we went and painted and drew on the chalkboard with the children. I know it has got to be hard for their parents and could not imagine what a handful it must be. I really enjoyed playing with these boys even though they were a handful. It was great talking to the boys' parents and I could tell they enjoyed telling us anything we wanted to know.

Sturgeon Patrol Update 1

This week in sturgeon patrol I was expecting to receive an email from the coordinator of the program concerning details about our volunteering. The schedule was to be posted by April 1 but was not posted. I received an email that information would be sent out by Friday afternoon concerning the missing information and it still did not come. I did find out some information about what we are going to be doing from some who are involved while I was making phone calls. It sounds as though Chad Leanna and I will need to arrive a little before 7:00 pm where we will be briefed about what we need to do. This will include making sure people don’t tamper with the fish while they spawn. The locations we will be watching include shallow stretches of the river as well as some commonly used rock piles that are popular for the sturgeon. The shift will be from 7 to 7 and the program will provide us with 3 separate meals including dinner when we arrive, a midnight snack, and a breakfast before we leave in the morning. We signed up for 3 different night shifts on April 23, 24, and 30. Hopefully by next week the dnr will have a schedule out that will let us know when we will be watching the sturgeon. The reason for the delay on scheduleing could be because of the weather because the movement of the sturgeon as well as when they spawn is directly dependant on the weather and the water temperature. If the conditions are not right then the fish will not move up into the river.