An Interesting Close to an Interesting Week

Meet my new friend!

This week had been pretty exciting with the fishing Derby and all. I was stationed at George's Island where it's always an adventure. Now if I really think about it, my favorite part of the week was stealing Max's home-run from him in kickball. It was a brilliant strategy in my opinion, but he for some reason disagrees. However David supports me 100%. I also enjoyed fishing this past week at George's. Kids were catching and pulling up crabs left and right. Kharliyah was manning the touch tank and being very cautious of how kids were picking up the crabs. With her at the touch tank a child NEVER gets pinched. Sadly we didn't have our other senior harbor educator Jenn the Mermaid with us so we didn't catch anything super interesting like baby fish or old, mysterious crab traps, but it was still a really great time on the dock with all the different groups of kids.

Friday was my favorite day, it was my first time ever working at Atlantic Wharf! I had no idea how fun it would be. All the kids were so excited to learn about the harbor and how to protect it. I used a sword to inaugurate every single child as a steward of the harbor. Hooray for the harbor!! After the history lesson, Kharliyah and I headed over to the touch tank. We caught

Me explaining to the kids the difference between crab species!

20 green crabs, all of which were females. Throughout the whole day we only saw one male crab in our crab trap. Bridget came over a couple of times and she said that over at Carson, they too only caught female crabs. Anyway, it was a short week but a fun one because everything flew by so fast!

See you next time,
-Patrice

Jen The Mermaid

Hi everyone!

This week at Spectacle Island, I fished every day. Mind you, the most common creatures we catch are typically crabs, whether its from the trap or the kids fishing. Two out of the three days I went fishing were with our senior harbor educator Max. He's great with all the kids and can fix any problem with the rods. But he's no Jenn. Jenn is one with the ocean. Somehow, whenever she's in charge at fishing, we always catch cool things! For example, we caught a SKATE and all the kids went crazy. It took Kharliyah and I a long time to pick it up because it has a really spiky back. But it's belly is just like that of a snail...slimy.

The skate, me, and Kharliyah.

Now the skate was pretty cool, but then Jenn brought out her super powers. There was one boy who was having trouble reeling in his rod so I walked over to assist him. The rod appeared to be stuck on something. Probably some seaweed or a rock I presumed. I kept reeling and pulling, reeling and pulling. "Man he cast this line far," I thought. I was shocked once the hook began to surface. This kid had reeled in an entire crab trap!

Our ancient crab trap. 

I brought the trap over to Kharliyah so that she could help me untie and open it because there were so many creatures inside. As we were untying the rope, we noticed that the trap must have been down there for years because of how decayed that rope was. Once we got it open, we found two baby spider crabs, a couple green crabs and some baby flounder.

A tough day for this baby flounder.

The best part of the day for me was the catch that I made. When fishing started to slow down I decided to cast out a rod of my own. It went pretty far, so I was proud of myself. When I started to reel it in, I noticed it was pretty heavy. As it came closer and closer, I saw a bunch of seaweed on it and assumed that I just got it caught. But the closer it came, the clearer it became that I had a big crab on the end of it. As I was holding the crab I noticed it was in the process of giving birth. I felt so bad so I put her back in the ocean right away. 

My catch of the day!

Catch you next time

-Patrice

Real Friends

The crab lover.

Have you ever been to Red Rock Beach in Lynn? Ever wondered why it's called Red Rock? Well I did, and this past weekend I discovered the answer to both of these problems. I decided to take on the Kids Day Festival at Red Rock Beach. Now, walking into this event I wasn't really at the height of happiness, but that quickly changed. The vibe coming off of everyone attending the event was very hard to ignore. Between the upbeat music and the balloon animals flying through the air, I couldn't shake a smile off my face if I had tried. It was funny at first when the pirate newsletters kept blowing away in the wind. There would be a huge gust and then I'd have to chase the papers down the hill. At one point, all the kids who were near our table went running down the hill with me after the papers. When our senior harbor educator Jenn, and Jahari came back up with the first refill of water, they brought with them a molting crab, a hermit crab, and a baby crab. The baby crab is always a hit for the little girls. They're always afraid to hold crabs because they think they'll get pinched. But once I tell them that the baby cant hurt them, they put their palms straight out and I lay the baby in their palms. Then they always put their little noses right up to the crabs' nose so that they can look them right in the eye. One little boy was obsessed with feeling the crab shells. No matter how many times his mom pulled him away to another table, he always came waddling back looking for a crab to pet!

This past Monday, I was at Community Boating instead of Piers Park. This way new to me, but nonetheless, fun. Max and Henry were using the fish nets to see if they could catch any little fish swimming in the shallow waters, but none seemed to be swimming into the net. Then all of a sudden I heard a yell from the dock. Max had spotted a giant catfish swimming in the shallow water. From that point on, there always had to be one set of eyes on where that fish was seen. At one point, I came so close to catching it; I thrusted the net into the water and that huge fish got halfway in it, then backed himself right out. Overall, it was a great day at community boating that included many laughs and inside jokes.

My "Real Friends" on our lunch break.

Until the next adventure,

Patrice 

The Princess and the Crab

There once was a girl who lived in Holbrook, Massachusetts. She loved to travel to Boston and visit the harbor. During the summer of 2017, her grandmother suggested she get a job with a friend of hers who runs Save The Harbor Save The Bay. After orientation and a couple days or training, she ended up on the All Access team.

One week, she was working on George's Island. She happened to be very sick this day. When she got there, she took her temperature and turned out she had a fever of 101, and a migraine. Even though there were many clouds, she had to wear sunglasses because of how badly her head hurt. 

On the boat ride over, she became friends with a young lad named Kayleb. Kayleb loved boats and couldn't wait to go fishing. He was only five years old, and had never left the city before. Kayleb and his fellow friends got off the boat and immediately ran to the lunch tables. They ate their lunches at lightning speed so that they could explore the fort before their scheduled fishing time. 

Patrice couldn't wait until her young friends came to fish with her. She'd spent the morning cutting up squid and showing other kids how to hold crabs. She found it very amusing how girls wanted to hold female crabs and boys wanted to hold male crabs. She loved crabs. Such amazing creatures and were so strong but so small at the same time. 

The magical kiss!

It finally came time for Kayleb's group. She'd waited all day to see her friends. They were so fascinated when Max was demonstrating how to hold the rod and cast properly. Kayleb grabbed her hand after the demonstrations and dragged her over to the touch tank. He wanted to hold all of the crabs. In his words, there were "1,000 crabs" in the tank. He asked Patrice if she was scared of crabs. Before Patrice could think of an answer, her friend Vince jumped in and said, "Patrice loves crabs so much she'd probably kiss one!" All of the little girls shrieked and the boys laughed. Then, one little girl whispered, "Will it turn into a prince if you kiss it?".  So naturally, Patrice picked up the largest crab in the tank, gave it a good look, and a nice big kiss!

Sadly, the crab did not turn into a prince, and shortly after had to be returned to the ocean where it belonged. So Patrice didn't have to marry a Crab Prince and all the little children went home happy. But Patrice had done something she'd never done before, which is really the only goal on George's Island.

Until the next crab kiss,

Patrice 

No Flashlights Allowed Here

So far, this week has been pretty interesting. I started the week off at Piers Park. Now I knew Monday was going to be a crabby day weather wise, but I didn't think it was going to be this bad. When we went down to the dock, I tried talking to a young boy named Justin. He loves hockey and so do I so we began to talk about our favorite teams and how much we cant wait until NHL season. This poor kid was so cold the hairs on his leg were sticking straight out and his teeth were chattering every time he opened his mouth. At lunch, my fingers were too cold to even pick up my food. Now although the day was as miserable looking as can be, all the kids were still happy to be there, go sailing, and play with the crabs we brought up. Then of course Moana caught all of their undivided attention.

The next two days I spent on George's Island. I can't explain how much I love this island. On Tuesday I was fishing with Kharliyah, Vince, and Max. We had so much fun cutting up the bait pretending we were actual chefs. It was really funny. One kid got super excited that he caught seaweed on his hook and he wanted to keep it as his "trophy".

On Wednesday, I went to sports. Of course, the first thing we did was climb the tree. Vince pushed up Kharliyah and me, then Jenn tried to help him up. Eventually we all got up, but the hard part was yet to come. We had to get back down. Kharliyah was first. Jenn was so confident that she'd be able to help her down, but when the time came, Jenn's eyes grew very wide and she almost started crying saying "I can't I can't. I don't have that strength. Kharliyah was laughing so hard I thought she'd pee her pants.

Our tree climbing adventures

After our tree climbing adventures, I decided to go play football with Christian Charities. They were playing tackle football. All of them thought that since I was a girl I was going to be slow and weak. Once I got the ball though, I ran through them all very fast and scored the first touchdown. I scored another one after that and then they realized that for a girl, I'm not so fragile and slow.

Me trying to stop another counselor 

See you next time,

-Patrice

Kids Say The Darndest Things

I had such an amazing week last week.  On Thursday, I worked the Book and Boogie at the Tot Lot on Wollaston beach. Now this was way more fun than I thought it was going to be. I became friends with this 4 year old named Rylee to start off the night. She was just adorable and loved to dance to any kind of music. So she pulled me right up in front of the speakers to dance with her. Then we took a break to go fish printing. She mixed a TON of colors together but in her eyes it was beautiful and that's all that matters. Later on, Rylee and I became friends with Lauren, Bailey, and Sam. All who joined our dance party.

Lauren, Rylee, and I dancing

Soon enough, they discovered the bubbles. Now I know that everyone loves bubbles, but they enjoyed them on a whole new level. First we played the ninja game, where I would blow the bubbles and they would try to pop them as fast as they could. Then they realized they liked getting the bubbles right in their face. So naturally, they all lined up and I would blow the bubbles right at them. Sam enjoyed the bubbles the most. He was only 2 years old so he really didnt like talking to anyone. I tried everything and no matter what I just couldnt get him to smile. Finally, when I blew the bubbles at his belly, he started giggling and giggling and couldnt stop.

Rylee's beautiful fish print

By the end of the night, Rylee had to go home and she really didnt want to. I found a little toy for her on the table and said, "here you can take this home with you". To which she replied, "I don't really want that. I want to take you home with me". No matter what anyone says Rylee is my new best friend. Lauren also had trouble saying goodbye to me. Her goodbye was very sad. When I handed her over to her dad, he told her to wave goodbye. She reached towards me and started screaming and crying. I felt so awful because I couldn't stay with her. But at the same time, I know that I made an impact on her. If I was just some random lady working at a table she would have had no problem saying bye. But since I interacted and played with her she say me as a friend. And I her. This job only makes me love kids even more than I already do and further encourages me to become a teacher. 

My new best friend 

Catch you next time

-Patrice

Sunscreen Rain and Crabs

Hi everyone!! This is my third week working at the BEST job ever. On Monday I got to go to piers park again. This time all of the kids were so excited to get started playing all the games that none of them were upset to be away from their parents. There was one kid who couldn't put on sunscreen. His name is Wesley. So, he squirted almost the entire bottle onto his face. It was so funny. It took about 5 people to rub it all in. Then I took him and a girl named Charlie kayaking. I've never kayaked on the ocean before. It was really difficult but also really fun. We went searching for periwinkles and snails.

At Spectacle Island, I went fishing and played sports. The day I went fishing, I found a crab that no one could identify. All of the kids thought it was the coolest thing ever. On the day I played sports, I played football with a big group of kids. Even their counselors joined in. Then Vince, Jaiden, and I all attempted heading a soccer ball. I already know how to but I wanted to show them an easy way to do it. We even tried to get Jen to try it but she was afraid of the ball. Oh and then the best part came. We were about to go swimming when suddenly it started down-pouring. I was the first to run straight into the water. I love swimming in the rain because the water is always warmer. Soon everyone followed and dunked right in too. We started playing catch and throwing seaweed at each other (well that was mostly me).

Right after I headed the soccer ball

I love working here so much. It's like a second life for me. At home I'm usually shy and find it hard to interact with people I don't know. But here I'm completely myself. I couldn't be more happy. I wish I could simply stay here every single day and never leave. I wish it would never end. It my only chance to be outgoing and happy.

Our unique crab 

Until the next adventure ;) 

-Patrice 

A Day Away From All Access

Here are my new friends from Piers Park squished into one car :).

On Monday of this week I spent my day at Piers Park. I was nervous at first, because I didn't know the people working at my site, but I quickly fell into place. The first game we played was "Where the Wind Blows". There were two little kids sitting on the grass crying because they were scared and alone. I couldn't bear seeing them so sad so I went over and sat next to the young girl. I talked to her and explained that I was new as well. That made her feel a whole lot better and we kept talking until her eyes stopped tearing up. Then I turned to the little boy and tried to talk to him to make him feel better about being away from his mom, but nothing seemed to help. Then I asked him if he needed a hug, because who doesn't love hugs? He waddled right over to me, hugged me, and wouldn't let go. I felt so good inside. I had the power to help the kids feel welcome and stop crying. For the rest of the day, the young girl did not leave my side. She wouldn't participate in any activity unless I was on her team. After lunch, when we went over to the park, the young boy kept puling me to come help him on the monkey bars and run around the playground with him. Halfway through the playground time, the girl convinced  me to run through the water park with her. She grabbed my hand and pulled me through the water as we ran. It was so much fun. I loved playing with them so much.


There was another little kid who made an impression on me as well. He took applying sunscreen to a whole new level. On every single break he would run over to his bag and spray himself again. I felt bad when his water bottle cracked and kept leaking so I helped him drink out of it whenever he needed a sip. For the rest of the day, he kept coming up to me holding his water bottle and having me hold it while he sipped it. I got genuinely sad when I didn't get to say goodbye. It broke my heart to see the young girl's face when I told her I wouldn't be there  for the rest of the week. If I wasn't lucky enough to be at All Access, I would definitely want to be at Piers Park. I listened to every story each kid told me. The worst was when the girl told me her dad passed away when she was very young. I couldn't imagine a life without my dad. He is the most important figure in my life and the first person to ever bring me to the beach. I felt even more blessed to be able to introduce her to the harbor and all the life it is teeming with!

Until next time,
Patrice

The Lady in Black Haunts

This week at All Access we went to George's Island. This is officially my new favorite island. I have also gained a new nickname. David now calls me "yawns". On Wednesday, I yawned a total of 97 times while on the island, my coworker Jaiden kept count. It was absolutely ridiculous because I wasn't even tired.

Me yawning at lunch...

Anyways, Marly, Jaiden, and myself were in charge of sports that day. For a while we played football with the Dorchester Y kids, and then the camp from West Roxbury joined us. This created quite the game. I kept having to pull this one camper off of Jaiden. I swear every chance he got he would jump onto Jaiden's neck and just hang there. As the kids began filing back down to the dock for fishing, David took us into the dark tunnel because we'd never been there before. I myself don't scare that easily, but Marly on the other hand would NOT let go of my arm. Now, David isn't the type to ease up on the tricks, so he would walk behind Marly and scream, which would then cause her to scream even louder. The funniest part was when we all decided to start scaring the kids. I would hold their hands and lead them into the chamber. Jaiden would jump out and scream at them while David reached out from the dark and put only his hand into the light. Their reactions were priceless. We definitely gave them an experience that they'd never forget!

Me getting real familiar with Fort Warren.

On Friday, I started my day off again with "the yawns". I still don't understand it. I just say "some people get the hiccups, but I get the yawns". The weather wasn't spectacular this day, very cold and wet. On the boat ride in, I tried to tell as many kids as I could about the Lady in Black. Of course David had already explained it to them but let's face it, most of them were just sitting on their phones. But I can certainly say that once we got to the island and started running around with them, the phones went right into their bags. Anyone who passed by that wouldn't come to sports, I would encourage them to visit the dark tunnel. We may have had less children than Thursday but there were still the same amount of screams as the kids entered the tunnel. I've learned that so many people are afraid of the dark and don't realize it.

Until the next adventure,

Patrice 

Track Star to Expert Fisherwoman

Winter Track 2017 (I won the 55m dash by 0.1 seconds!)

Hello! My name is Patrice Haney. I grew up in Holbrook, MA and am 17 years old. I love playing soccer and running track just about as much as I can. I've been playing soccer since I was 3 and I've been going to states for track since I was in 7th grade. They are my passions. This year I will be captains of both the varsity soccer and spring track teams. I have two younger brothers. One is an animal expert who could rattle off 5 facts about any animal you can name, the other is a major sports fan. Anything he tries he's good at. His main goal is to be better than me at all the sports I play, but you already know I'm going to make that as difficult as possible for him. I started going to Cardinal Spellman in 9th grade and have loved it ever since. I'm usually scared when it comes to making new friends but now I have more than I could've ever asked for thanks to sports. My dad grew up on Revere beach and it's one of his favorite places-- that and the mountains of course. His mom still lives there and there's nothing more she'd rather do than bring her grandchildren to HER beach.

I always visited my grandmother as much as I could for as long as I can remember. She lives on revere beach in the Point of Pines. I always adored her love for the harbor. I'm pretty sure I learned to dig for clams before I could walk. There was nothing I loved more than going to the beach with her as much as I could. My first time helping Save the Harbor Save the Bay was about four years ago when my grandmother asked me to do the Cupid Splash with her, but that shortly turned into the Shamrock Splash because of all the snow and freezing temperature of the water! I gladly joined and helped her raise as much money as we could. I've been jumping into the ocean in March ever since then. I love my grandmother and Lord knows she loves her beach, so naturally that love has passed down to me.

See you on the harbor
-Patrice

Adventures from All Access

It's safe to say that working for Save the Harbor Save the Bay is the best job ever. On my very first day I was a little nervous. I'm not always great at talking loud of making new friends, but through working on All Access with David Coffin I learned how to use a loud voice. All the kids who came were so excited to be on the boat, never mind to travel to an island. One kid really touched my heart. He was only two years old. Jenn and I referred to him as "blue crayon kid" because we didn't know his name, but we knew he wouldn't let go of the blue crayon we gave him. After we got off the boat however he shortly found me again up in the meadow. He became obsessed with the soccer ball I had and we began to play catch and chase. After about 15 minutes we were best friends and when his mom tried to put a hat on his head he ran and hugged me to hide from her.

Me and the infamous blue crayon kid!

On Thursday, I met another girl who works with the circus. She showed Vince and I how to do cartwheels which was very amusing. Below is a picture that our senior harbor educator Jen took of us. The rest of the day we played pickle with the island visitors and we all swam in the ocean!

Until the next adventure!
Patrice Haney