Way too flexible my little friend..

So I have pretty much been to almost every programming site, and the new one that I went to this week was Piers Park in East Boston. It was pretty windy but I loved it! When we finally had all our little explorers we played a name game in where three of the kids proceeded to have a grass war with me. Of course, they beat me, since six hands are always better than two and I had to surrender. Maybe next time.

After playing a hardcore game of Capture the Flag, Jared proceeded in doing front and back cartwheels, flips, and splits. My mouth DROPPED, I could not believe what I just witnessed, a little boy with the energy of the Energizer bunny and the flexibility of I don't even know what. It was cool, and the other children kept telling him to continue doing all the cool tricks. And of course he continued with their request not at all tired from all the running and previous gymnastic tricks. The best part of the job is working with the kids. They are just so full of surprises and you actually learn a lot and have fun with them. They are a little bubble of fun and craziness that you cannot help but enjoy.


The COOL Kids

Down on the dock, we caught fish and crabs in our crab trap. It was my first time that I saw a native crab to the harbor and that was not a green or spider crab. Almost all of the crabs had barnacles, which personally for me, it is a disturbing view but it is somewhat an indicator that the crabs were doing well on the bottom of the ocean. Overall, Piers Park was fun and I enjoyed myself and the kids did as well. The kids were a group that I for sure won't ever forget.

Fish Are Friends

Chavelyn Santana

AN EEL!!!

I thought I would have seen it all by now. Yesterday was my first time at Courageous and Community Sailing, as we were settling and preparing for the day I heard Sej say it was time to pull up the eel trap. "An EEL TRAP?" I quickly thought to myself, and yes there was a live eel slithering around everywhere in the trap. I had to ask if it was poisonous or even dangerous because last time I checked eels could sting you. I was wrong, I learned that there are different types and that the particular eel we caught could actually change color to fit with its surrounding. Pretty interesting if you ask me. What I enjoyed the most was leaving my hand in the tank and if you let it just hang as if it were dead the eel (at least it did for me) would slither through your fingers and you can feel how smooth the eel is in the water.

The Slithering Eel

 

It was pretty fun, I got to learn something new and be at a new site with fun and interesting people. I am looking forward to finding more sea animals.

Until the next one,

Chavelyn Santana

Splash Away!

When it comes to free hot dogs, best believe kids will show up bright and early. It was amazing to see so many children from different neighborhoods get together and enjoy the hot sand, the beach, face painting and of course the free hot dogs. Not only were the kids excited but the mentors and adults that supervised the children. This was a time everybody can work and have fun.

I was put on petition duty, and I honestly did not mind. I got the opportunity to tell people the good things Save the Harbor was trying to do, which is to provide reduced or free fare to the Boston Harbor Island which also included the ride there. Being able to do so gave me the opportunity to learn how to advocate and think on the spot when you did not know the answer to a question. I suggested for people to look online to our website, which will also serve the purpose of company exposure. 

Getting Signatures for the petition

I got to talk to a mom that loved the idea of a free trip to the island, she was telling me how she would love to take her kids out but things are just so expensive especially going out to the harbor island. She loved that we provide free activities for children and said that she was going to look into our program as soon as she got home. Another woman, was not so happy with this idea, and she did have a point.

At the end of the day, the JPAs and LHEs with some SHEs got together to play and enjoy ourselves. It was the best part of the day when we got the buckets and started out a friendly war with the water under the hot sun. It was the best day ever.

Preparing for the big SPLASH

Tah Tah,

Chavelyn S.

Hey! Guess who I saw

This Thursday was like no other and not just because it was more windy then the usual that morning but because I got to do something new.

It was my first day being part of All Access and I was really excited. I was going to a new site and I wondered what it was going to be like? What do they do first? What do they do at all access? I kept thinking to myself. That's when I found out that the famous David Coffin was located at the that site. What makes him so famous you might ask? Well, I'll tell you! He has the legand of throwing and dumping people into the bay.  It's somewhat evil but the intentions aren't evil. Before you know it if you do not watch out for your back (literally) he will come behind you and dump you right into the water.

Imagine my surprise when I heard that. However, today was special. Not only because today there was about 500 children but because of something a little more different than the amount of children going to the island.

David tells people before we go off to do something new, to take advantage of the free oppertunity. At first I thought there really wasn't much you could do that is completely new or couldn't do at home so I disregarded the comment.

But then I fount out that Governor Deval Patrick was going to be at Peddock Island! Who would have guessed. That's when I decided that my mission for the day was to take a selfie with the governor. As soon as the governor was set and ready after the small speech, I extended my hand, introduced myself, and asked for a selfie. Before I knew it David was right there. And that was  my something new to do, I got my selfie with Governor Deval Patrick!

All Access, FUN... Goodbye Wilson

So far All Access is a win. At first I was really scared when I saw that about 300 kids where getting on the boat to go to an island with only about 5 or 6 of us. Chaos? Not really. The supervisors helped out a lot in keeping the kids together and organized. When we got to the boat I was introduced to a game of double bounce. It sounds easy until the ball is spun and does not go in the direction you think  it is going to head.

David is one sneaky guy. I thought I was safe and I had escaped his wrath but nope, I thought wrong. Before I knew it I was grabbed and put into the cold Spectacle Island water. It's actually pretty scary when you do not know what you are going to end up stepping on with your next step. So, I pretty much feel like a survivor right now. At first you play a nice game of Kickball (if Carlos does not aim for your soul) or go fishing with Sam and then once you are pretty tired and ready to relax you get to splash into the nice cooling water, and that is how you finish your day.

On our way back, staff and children decided to play an easy going game of Double Bounce. Double Bounce is almost like four squares instead that if you let the ball bounce twice before getting the ball you are out. We were passing by Camp Harbor View when the little boy who had the ball had mysteriously slipped out of his hand, hit the top part of smoke stack of the boat, bounced on the edge of the trash bin, bouncing onto the top of the string railing of the boat TWICE and then off into the water. That experience was one you had to see to believe, it looked like something that could only happen in Tom and Jerry.  The little boy felt bad, and we assured him that it was nothing to worry about, which is true I rather had the ball than the boy going overboard.

All Access was an experience to remember, a fun experience!

Doing something... fun

-Until the next one
Chavelyn S.

HOT!

Come one, come all! Stay away from the sun, and play with some chalk.

For some, the sun may not be our best friends during hot blazing days. Luckily, the Children's Museum provides a tent for us and I provided some the chalk. I am not an artist but what does it matter. The kids and I drew or doodled what our minds desire. Art is art and it's it's special because it's unique to each and every single individual.

The point is to have some fun, to engage with the books and learn and interact with sea creatures.  It is nice to hear that the kids do care about the lives of these creatures that they probably don't know very much about. They ask in a concerned voice "So what is going to happen to them?" or even tell us that we need to put them back in the harbor where they belong. I tell them that this organization is suppose to be a catch and release organization.

 

 

 

One little, Two little

 

 A lovely Thursday morning and it seems as if the day was going to run smoothly. Boy, isn't that wonderful. Slowly, and little by little we started catching a handful of green crabs. Kids would come to look around and then go inside the museum.

"I think I caught something!" the little girl exclaims to what it seems to be out of nowhere as we help her pull up the fishing rod. She actually did catch a fish! Everybody was so surprised she accomplished something that we have been trying to do all summer in just a matter of minutes. Quickly, we put the fish in the touch tank with the other crabs and two other small fish that got caught in the crab trap. The fish that the child caught was bigger compared to those that were accidently caught by us in the trap.

Seconds after taking pictures of the most exciting thing that happened during that Thursday morning the parents took her back inside giving her props for catching her first fish and doing something cool before even entering the museum. I thought my day was going to go exactly like that until one by one and two by two kids started coming in packs. I was shocked to notice how many kids can actually crowd a small plastic box (the touch tank) in only a few minutes.

 I quickly demonstrated to them how to use the net as to not hurt any of the animals. It was nice to see the kids taking a small leadership roles and taking turns as well as enjoying the marine life.


-Chavelyn

I caught something new

The sun is shining, the wind is blowing, and I am still wishing I did not wake up at 6:00 am to catch some fish. As I approach downtown crossing I realized how hungry I was, since I forgot to grab lunch and breakfast.

However, my day turned around.  I was able to meet up with my friends and meet a bunch of new people at the tournament. It was nice being able to talk and share experiences with one another and have that down time to really get to know one another with out it being awkward.  Although at the end of the day my boat did not catch anything, I caught a new experience fishing on a boat with delicious pretzels and awesome new people!

Fishing Tournament 2014

Till the next one,

Chavelyn S.

New Friend

Is it going to rain? With the sky constantly changing we never knew if it was going to start raining, pouring or just drizzle. Not that I minded, the wind made up for the hot sun that was directly shining down on us. As soon as the equipment was put out, curiosity began to bring kids over to see what we were up to. As we grabbed a couple of crabs in the crab trap the children were eager to learn about them, even if some were scared to touch them they did not turn their attention away.

Some kids were scared, some were brave

When I was showing this little girl the crab with no claws and the baby crab she instantly fell in love with them. She told me how she has a tank at home for the crabs and that she was willing to take care of them. The girl was about the age of 4 and really smart.  She was multitasking at the site, when she was not looking over the crabs she was fishing and vice versa. It did not take long until she got completely distracted with the baby crab that she lost the fishing rod to another kid, but she did not seem bothered by it.  She just turned her complete attention to the baby crab and kept showing the adults with her "the cute crab".

A few mins had past she was still entertained, and did not want to go inside the Children's Museum.  My friend Somtoo came over and sat next to me to interact with the other kids and the little girl that was just sitting and searching for the baby crab in the tank. When it was finally time to go she gave Somtoo and I her two favorite shark stickers that she had on her for us to wear.  Her action touched us, and made us feel special and that we had done a good job. It was not long till the same little girl came back to play with us and the crabs, and she became our new friend.

The sticker that was given to me

Until next time,
Chavelyn

Knowledge means power

This week I had a lot of new experiences and learned many things while working at our program sites. Walking along the beach at Camp Harbor View I saw a lot of life in the crystal clear waters. The shape of the island is also fascinating, as you look up you can tell how powerful the ocean tides could be because it seems as if part of the island was just ripped off. I also saw old pipes, doors, and a kid even found an old military button and another found a small door that probably belonged to an oven. Its amazing the amount of history that you can find on the Boston's Harbor Islands. 

The cliffs on Long Islands south end.

At the Children's Museum I grabbed a crab for the very first time, crabs remind me of creepy spiders so I had previously only acknowledged them from afar. To think that I would grow some courage after seeing all types of kids younger then me excitedly grab them as if it were a bottle of soda. I also learned that you can spell out "green" on the spikes on a Green Crab's shell, so I do what I do, and pass on what I learned to those that know less than me. One thing that I have been trying to teach the kids is that killing for no reason but a laugh is not right, and that in order to preserve the harbor we need to do the same for those that live in it. 

Fearless

Where do I even begin. My first week at Blacks Creek and Camp Harbor View sure has been something different. It's interesting to see the kids know so much about the water and what is in it, and even if some do not know anything they are not afraid to find out and dip their hands straight into the dark water. Some kids sure have taught me a lot, and they are the best part of the whole experience.  At Blacks Creek and Camp Harbor View we explore and learn what nature has to offer, which I hope teaches them how to appreciate how valuable everything we have is regardless of how small or ugly it may be.

Campers Exploring an tide pool at CHV

I try my best to engage myself with the kids that may be disengaged and more to themselves. Mostly, because I can relate to how scary and intimidating certain things may be.

Me helping point out some cool finds to a kid at Blacks Creek

Working at CHV is a little more challenging because we don't get to see the groups for as long, but I look forward to becoming buddies with some of the kids at this awesome camp. 

Sugar, spice and everything nice!

My name is Chavelyn Santana. I graduated from the John D. O'Bryant and I will be attending Massachusetts College of Liberal Arts (MCLA) this fall as an incoming freshmen and majoring in phycology. I do not have any set hobbies, but I've played softball for four years, and like to dance and watch t.v. I love to eat and my passion is towards animals. I hope to become an activist against animal cruelty.

I have a dog, she's a German Shepard mixed in with chow and two small turtles.❤️

 

I've traveled to Texas, Canada, California, France, Spain, Florida ect. I have also been to both Disney World and Disney Land. I hope to travel more as I grow older.

 

I have worked at the Museum of Fine Arts since my sophomore year of high school and have had awesome opportunities and the MFA has become like a family to me.

This will be my first year at Save the Harbor. What I am looking forward to working here is learning more about the ocean and the animals in it. I'm excited to get me feet wet, and play with the kids this summer. I must admit I'm nervous about fishing and cutting fish open, however, I will try to learn (although cutting fishes up is not on the top of my bucket list). My parents LOVE the idea of me being able to bring fish home but what I love is being able to make a difference at the harbor and perhaps even a child. Everybody seemed friendly and outgoing and I hope to get to work with everybody and create funny and long lasting memories. 

- Chavelyn