Posted by Sarah
We were on Good Morning America this morning! Watch the episode at http://abcnews.go.com/watch/good-morning-america/SH5587637
Regionally Focused. Globally Connected. Find out what the college has been doing recently. Featuring posts by students and faculty!
Archive for the 'SHRM' Category
Studio Tour and Broadway Play
Wednesday morning, March 23, some of our UWO SHRM members were on the Today Show! We started our morning with a tour of NBC studios. At the end of the tour, we were fortunate enough to run into a camera crew taping a segment for the Today Show with Kathie Lee Gifford. She was doing some Indianapolis 500 trivia.
We went back to the Boys and Girls Club in the afternoon. We again helped with homework and made some worksheets. Also some of us participated in a discussion about sexual harassment with the older students.
We capped off our night with a Broadway show. God’s Love We Deliver gave us free tickets to a show. Our seats were great!
Posted by Sarah at 9:43
Tuesday we had our company tour. The President of HRNY, the NYC professional chapter of SHRM was kind enough to set up our tour. We visited Parsons Brinckerhoff, one of the world’s leading planning, engineering, and program and construction management organizations. We were greeted with bagels and other refreshments. We spent the morning with representatives from all of their major HR divisions and the Vice President of HR. We learned more about the company and what they do in their areas of HR. We then went to Astron Solutions, a human resources consulting firm. Here we had lunch with the staff and another member of HRNY. They were kind enough to answer questions and feed us some great NYC pizza.
Tuesday we had our company tour. The President of HRNY, the NYC professional chapter of SHRM was kind enough to set up our tour. We visited Parsons Brinckerhoff, one of the world’s leading planning, engineering, and program and construction management organizations. We were greeted with bagels and other refreshments. We spent the morning with representatives from all of their major HR divisions and the Vice President of HR. We learned more about the company and what they do in their areas of HR. We then went to Astron Solutions, a human resources consulting firm. Here we had lunch with the staff and another member of HRNY. They were kind enough to answer questions and feed us some great NYC pizza.
Posted by Sarah at 9:21 am
Monday morning was our first day volunteering. We were up bright and early to take the subway to God’s Love We Deliver. This agency makes and delivers nutritious meals to people who are suffering from serious illnesses such as AIDS/HIV and cancer. There we received orientation. We nominated three leaders who were taught delivery routes and how to pack meals for clients. Those leaders then broke the rest of us into three groups. Each group packed meals and split up to deliver meals in different parts of the city. We had the opportunity to see parts of the city we had not yet seen and meet some very kind people who seemed happy to get their food. We grabbed a quick lunch and made our way to the Madison Square Boys and Girls Club Navy Yard Clubhouse in Brooklyn. There we had the opportunity to assist students with homework, play games, and a few of us even participated in a dance class.
Monday morning was our first day volunteering. We were up bright and early to take the subway to God’s Love We Deliver. This agency makes and delivers nutritious meals to people who are suffering from serious illnesses such as AIDS/HIV and cancer. There we received orientation. We nominated three leaders who were taught delivery routes and how to pack meals for clients. Those leaders then broke the rest of us into three groups. Each group packed meals and split up to deliver meals in different parts of the city. We had the opportunity to see parts of the city we had not yet seen and meet some very kind people who seemed happy to get their food. We grabbed a quick lunch and made our way to the Madison Square Boys and Girls Club Navy Yard Clubhouse in Brooklyn. There we had the opportunity to assist students with homework, play games, and a few of us even participated in a dance class.
Posted by Sarah at 8:43 am
We arrived in New York City Saturday evening. Our adventure began Sunday morning. We navigated the subway to Battery Park where we caught a ferry to the Statue of Liberty and Ellis Island. We then visited Ground Zero and St. Paul’s Chapel, the church where many gathered during and after the 9/11 tragedy. We ate lunch in Chinatown and balanced this with a little dessert while shopping in Little Italy. We walked from there into Soho. After more exploring, we headed into Times Square. We ended the night celebrating one of our student’s birthdays at the Hard Rock Cafe.
We arrived in New York City Saturday evening. Our adventure began Sunday morning. We navigated the subway to Battery Park where we caught a ferry to the Statue of Liberty and Ellis Island. We then visited Ground Zero and St. Paul’s Chapel, the church where many gathered during and after the 9/11 tragedy. We ate lunch in Chinatown and balanced this with a little dessert while shopping in Little Italy. We walked from there into Soho. After more exploring, we headed into Times Square. We ended the night celebrating one of our student’s birthdays at the Hard Rock Cafe.
To this point, I have not formally introduced myself. I am Sarah DeArmond. I am the faculty advisor for UW Oshkosh SHRM. I have been writing the blog entries for our student organization’s trip to New Orleans. I will write this last entry on my own behalf.
In the past two days, I have been reflecting on the trip. I have done this knowing that I really needed to post one final blog entry. At the risk of sounding melodramatic, I feel a little like Anthony Michael Hall’s character in The Breakfast Club. I am having difficulty putting my feelings about this trip into words. To some this trip might seem like a cheap way for students to go to a cool place over spring break. However, just like that Saturday morning detention in The Breakfast Club was much more than detention, this trip was much more than a trip. I can honestly say that this has been the most fulfilling experience I have had as an educator.
Why was this trip so fulfilling? Why was it so great? This trip was planned and made possible by students. The funding for the trip came from a grant from Target (The UW Oshkosh SHRM executive board applied for and received the grant funding.), the College of Business, and the student participants themselves. While I admit that these students all had the opportunity to experience New Orleans, they all spent a majority of their spring break getting up early to paint, mix cement by hand, dig holes, and install baseboards. Further, each student lived for a week in close quarters with four other people who the student likely did not know well prior to the trip.
This information will help you to understand, why I was so extremely proud when on their last day of service these students agreed to stay late on the Habitat site to insure that two cement pads that needed to be poured were finished. If you have ever mixed cement by hand, you will understand why leaving would have been a very attractive option. Our site leader gave our team the option to leave. Without hesitation, the students said they did not want to leave without finishing the job.
I also think this trip was great because it was a tremendous learning opportunity. I believe all of the participants including me learned a little more about each other, teamwork, New Orleans, and community service. The students showed a thirst for knowledge. They wanted to understand each other better. They wanted to learn how to work together to properly install baseboards. They wanted to venture into the 9th Ward to see what progress had been made toward reconstruction. They wanted to understand how human resources practices had been impacted at companies such as Emeril’s. They wanted to know why our 25-year-old site leader was working for Habitat. This curiosity and willingness to learn is inspiring to observe.
Finally, this trip reminded me that our student body consists of some really great people. I know some parents have been reading this blog, and I hope that they have continued to monitor it. It has been my pleasure to work with your sons and daughters (some for the week, others for a year or more). You should be very proud.
In closing, I would like to thank Target and the College of Business for helping to make this trip possible! We could not have done this without you!
Today, we completed our third day of work. We were painting the interior walls and trim in the house. We are getting better at all of our tasks; however, we still make a few errors. Two of our students cut a board too short. After this happened, our site leader Aaron asked them to go find a board stretcher in his truck. They obliged. Please watch this video footage of one of the students explaining her experience.
http://www.youtube.com/get_player
We will complete a half day of work tomorrow and head home. Good bye New Orleans!
So, last night we bumped into Brad Pitt while eating dinner. He was extremely kind and offered to take us all out for coffee and beignets at Cafe Du Monde. Just kidding y’all…it did make you read the post didn’t it?
Today was our second work day. We felt like the day went better. We have several students who are interested in putting in base boards and painting for faculty for free. I’m full of jokes today! We did accomplish a lot, and we should be able to begin painting interior walls tomorrow.
Our site leader recommended a great BBQ restaurant for us. We ate at “The Joint” on Poland. We had brisket, ribs, pulled pork, macaroni and cheese, baked beans and more. We then drove deeper into the 9th Ward to see what progress has been made in that area since Hurricane Katrina. We found Brad Pitt and Angelina Jolie’s “Make it Right Project”. Please see our videos below.
We are off in search of souvenirs and more beignets!
http://www.youtube.com/get_player
http://www.youtube.com/get_player
Today we completed our first day of work with Habitat for Humanity. When we originally arrived at the site, there were over 100 volunteers. We were split into smaller groups for work. We are doing trim work in a house in Harvey, Louisiana. Our site leader is named Aaron. We are working with another small group, and three AmeriCorp volunteers.
We worked on painting, installing base boards, and installing doors. Members of the group learned how to use saws, staple guns, and nail guns (no injuries yet). We are on our way to Cafe Du Monde and to ride the trolley into the Garden District.
http://www.youtube.com/get_player
The SHRM club members have arrived in New Orleans. This is what Professor DeArmond had to say about their first day.
So, we are now in New Orleans. We had a good trip down. We arrived at noon on Sunday and spent time exploring the French Quarter. Today we visited Emeril’s Corporate Headquarters (Bam!), and learned more about their human resources function. We ate at Acme Oyster House. This is where Adam Richman from Man vs. Food recently ate 180 oysters. We sampled oysters, gumbo, red beans and rice, jambalaya and more. We also went on a swamp tour. Tomorrow we start work with Habitat for Humanity.