Spring Break is finally here!! We left Knoxville this morning at 7:30 and arrived at St. Louis in the afternoon. During our time here, we will be serving youth through direct and indirect service while learning about the issues related to our trip theme, urban youth development. Our first day of service is tomorrow; tonight, we settled in our housing site, Hope Church of Christ, and bought our groceries for the week. 

Each day, we will serve in the morning and afternoon, at the following schools and organizations: South City Family YMCA, Busch Middle School, Nottingham High School, Kingdom House, Adams Park Elementary, and Boys and Girls Club. We will also have a fun evening out where we will be free to explore downtown, and of course sight-see. 

Before our trip, we held four pre-trip meetings in which we got to know each other and explored material relating to St. Louis’s youth. We set expectations (below), learned about recent news and changes in the education system, and discussed poverty and family resource issues. This allows us to get-up-and-go and start service immediately upon arrival! We are all SUPER excited to see how everyone grows this week as we serve, reflect, and learn together!

Also, two of our participants will blog about each day’s experience. Stay tuned!