COLUMBIA –Kathryn Fishman-Weaver first recognized her passion
for community service when she was 8 and serving meals in a soup kitchen with
her fellow second graders.
"I went with my teacher Ms. Williams, and we
helped serve a meal and clean dishes," she said. "I felt special to be going and
pretty empowered as an 8-year-old serving adults."
Rock Bridge Reaches Out
Saturday, November 10, 2012
RBRO Blog Moved
Hey everyone, thanks so much for viewing this blog! We have had a good run on blogger, but we have officially had our blog moved to Rock Bridge's news site. If you want to read more about RBRO please visit http://www.bearingnews.org/category/blogs/rbro-blogs/
Saturday, November 3, 2012
Tiger Night of Fun (Halloween) Video
We have a wonderful journalism program at Rock Bridge. Their website Bearing News is a fantastic resource to learn about what is happening at our school. RBRO was lucky enough to be featured in a great video they made about the Tiger Night of Fun, which we volunteered at on Halloween. http://www.bearingnews.org/2012/11/01/teens-volunteer-at-tiger-night-of-fun/
Friday, November 2, 2012
Columbia Missourian Article
Last month our wonderful teacher sponsor was featured in an article in the Columbia Missourian along with RBRO! Here's a link to the story http://www.columbiamissourian.com/stories/2012/10/02/teacher-sponsor-returns-rock-bridge-reaches-out/
Today, Fishman-Weaver, 31, is a teacher at Rock Bridge High School and sponsor of Rock Bridge Reaches Out, a community service organization she helped found 13 years ago when she was a senior at the school.
In 1999, she wanted to help people in Columbia without food or a place to live, others who had disabilities and an entire community who wanted cleaner water. But mostly she wanted to find outlets for her fellow teens to help, too.
When she joined Rock Bridge High School as a special education teacher, she discovered more needs in the community, so she simply picked up where she left off.
Rock Bridge Reaches Out is divided into nine core groups that take on volunteer projects throughout the year. One bags lunches at the food bank, another makes fleece blankets for Project Linus. The Stream Team addresses water pollution. A couple times a year, the club undertakes a group effort.
The organization is run by three student presidents, who organize the big group activities. Each core group has two or three leaders and 20-50 members.
"What makes Rock Bridge Reaches Out so successful is the fact that we have the core groups," co-president Kelsey Harper said. "I think that creates a big sense of community that has the support and structure of a big club, but, at the same time, a community within your core group."
"Like most people, I am who I am because of my family," Fishman-Weaver said. "My grandmothers were both teachers, and growing up, my parents talked to us a lot about social justice and peace."
As a student at Rock Bridge, she considered a future in social work or medicine but ended up graduating from MU with degrees in sociology and English.
"I liked anything that had to do with literacy — helping my mom with the writing lab and then doing the young writers program in college," Fishman-Weaver said. "All of those opportunities that involve language and story telling really blended my interests."
She continued to volunteer at Rock Bridge and Cedar Creek Therapeutic Riding Center throughout her time at MU.
While she was going to school, she landed her first job, teaching first grade in Oakland, Calif. She taught there for three years.
Positive feedback from students only fuels her to continue her job as a teacher.
"My favorite teacher moments are the times when I can see my students strengthened as a result of their giving to others," she said. "Kids like to see that they can make a difference, and they do, again and again and again."
ARTICLE BY Chelsea
Bengier
Today, Fishman-Weaver, 31, is a teacher at Rock Bridge High School and sponsor of Rock Bridge Reaches Out, a community service organization she helped found 13 years ago when she was a senior at the school.
In 1999, she wanted to help people in Columbia without food or a place to live, others who had disabilities and an entire community who wanted cleaner water. But mostly she wanted to find outlets for her fellow teens to help, too.
When she joined Rock Bridge High School as a special education teacher, she discovered more needs in the community, so she simply picked up where she left off.
Rock Bridge Reaches Out is divided into nine core groups that take on volunteer projects throughout the year. One bags lunches at the food bank, another makes fleece blankets for Project Linus. The Stream Team addresses water pollution. A couple times a year, the club undertakes a group effort.
The organization is run by three student presidents, who organize the big group activities. Each core group has two or three leaders and 20-50 members.
"What makes Rock Bridge Reaches Out so successful is the fact that we have the core groups," co-president Kelsey Harper said. "I think that creates a big sense of community that has the support and structure of a big club, but, at the same time, a community within your core group."
Harper
said Fishman-Weaver, now a gifted education teacher, is a big factor in the
club's energy.
“She
is wonderful to work with and is a great resource whenever we have questions
about how to get something done,” Harper said.
A
Contagious Culture
The
original idea of service came to Fishman-Weaver and a friend, Dave Wax when they
were on a band trip with St. Andrew’s Lutheran Church in the summer of 1999. The
two decided to pitch their idea of a club for volunteers to Kathy Ritter, then
assistant principal for student activities.
“I
wanted to make a difference, and he wanted leadership," Fishman-Weaver said.
"When you piece these together with a teenager’s energy and enthusiasm, great
things happen.”
Roughly
200 kids among a student body of 800 jumped on it. This year, Rock Bridge
Reaches Out has participation from almost 500 of the 1,800 students in the
school — a record for Rock Bridge, she said.
"It's
part of our culture, and that culture is contagious," she said.
Throughout
her involvement, Fishman-Weaver has become a dependable adviser with a
willingness to help students, said Nidhi Khurana, one of the co-presidents of
Rock Bridge Reaches Out.
"She
is charismatic, incredibly smart and inspirational," Khurana said. "It's hard to
put her and her personality into words because she means so much to everyone at
Rock Bridge."
Generations
of Inspiration
Fishman-Weaver's enthusiasm for service has roots in her
childhood. She grew up with parents who encouraged community involvement,
whether helping with church service projects, volunteering at school or spending
time at the library."Like most people, I am who I am because of my family," Fishman-Weaver said. "My grandmothers were both teachers, and growing up, my parents talked to us a lot about social justice and peace."
As a student at Rock Bridge, she considered a future in social work or medicine but ended up graduating from MU with degrees in sociology and English.
"I liked anything that had to do with literacy — helping my mom with the writing lab and then doing the young writers program in college," Fishman-Weaver said. "All of those opportunities that involve language and story telling really blended my interests."
She continued to volunteer at Rock Bridge and Cedar Creek Therapeutic Riding Center throughout her time at MU.
Transition
to Teaching
After
college, she packed up and moved to California to become a publicist for a
social justice nonprofit organization, and she began volunteering in the Latino
community.
“It
had a huge impression on me to become a teacher,” Fishman-Weaver said.
“Especially in California where the Latino population was so large, I wanted to
help that community.”
She decided to attend San Francisco State University
and earn a master's degree with an emphasis in special education.While she was going to school, she landed her first job, teaching first grade in Oakland, Calif. She taught there for three years.
“Service
was cool, but I missed direct action, being with people who needed help every
day,” Fishman-Weaver said about her transition from publicist to teacher.
Return
to Rock Bridge
She
initially came back to Rock Bridge in special education, then became an English
teacher and eventually moved to the gifted program.
“Rock
Bridge is a boomerang school," she said. "An unbelievable number of teachers are
alumni."
What
she learned through social work was not lost; in fact, it folded seamlessly into
her teaching methods.
“Part
of my teaching philosophy still centers around service, getting kids involved
and making a difference,” she said. “Blending or blurring or bridging those
lines of teaching and service is what I do and what I teach my kids to
do.”
When
she taught English, she encouraged her students to partner with others in Rock
Bridge’s community skills program for a literature project.
"I had a group
of boys — really fantastic boys, thoughtful, smart, smart boys ... and they came
to talk to me when it was all done and just said what a profound impact it had
on them and how they would carry that with them," Fishman-Weaver
said.Positive feedback from students only fuels her to continue her job as a teacher.
"My favorite teacher moments are the times when I can see my students strengthened as a result of their giving to others," she said. "Kids like to see that they can make a difference, and they do, again and again and again."
Family
Virtues
While she was in California, she married Chris Weaver, whom she
met while a student at San Francisco State. They adopted a boy, James, now 13,
and have a daughter, Lilah, 15 months.
Fishman-Weaver
said they try to pass their values and lessons on to their children.
“We
as parents try to lead by example,” she said. “We encourage diverse
organizations, where they can meet lots of different people from different walks
of life.”
One
such example came from her own childhood. Growing up, her family participated in
the "adopt a child for Christmas" program through St. Andrew's Lutheran Church,
an experience which she continues to do with her kids.
Among
training for a half-marathon with her son, church activities and a photography
business, she stays involved. Yet, no matter how busy her life might get, she
always makes time for her Rock Bridge Reaches Out students.
“My
work is empowering the kids to make a difference,” Fishman-Weaver
said.
Supervising editor is Jeanne
Abbott.
Wednesday, October 31, 2012
October 31st, 2012
Getting Ready for all the kiddos. |
Wednesday, October 17, 2012
Meet RBRO #1
Welcome to our first installment of Meet RBRO! Here's some more information on our core leaders and all of the fantastic work they are doing with their groups.
Brittany and David are our leaders for
the Missouri Food Bank Core. Two
Thursdays a month they take a group of Rock Bridge kids to the food bank to help package foods. The most common food we package is cereal.
Also for a general update on today's events, we played UNO at the nursing home, and we have expanded our work with The Intersection to 5 days a week!
Brittany and David are our leaders for
the Missouri Food Bank Core. Two
Thursdays a month they take a group of Rock Bridge kids to the food bank to help package foods. The most common food we package is cereal.
Also for a general update on today's events, we played UNO at the nursing home, and we have expanded our work with The Intersection to 5 days a week!
Wednesday, October 3, 2012
October 3rd 2012
We had three different activities tonight with RBRO!! Our Project Linus Core group had their second blanket making meeting of the year! We made 4 blankets for kids in the hospital. We also had our weekly outing to South Hampton Nursing Home and played UNO, and enjoyed the beautiful fall weather under a crab apple tree with one of the residents. Our Wednesday meeting at the Intersection also went well. We did the Coke and Mentos experiment.
Our eager blanket makers, especially when fueled by cookies, can get a lot done. |
We had a great game of UNO going today! |
Sunday, September 30, 2012
September 30th 2012
This weekend has been an incredible one for RBRO. We have had many major events. Saturday morning our Stream Team met to remove invasive species and old fences from Rock Bridge State Park. From 3:30pm-8:30pm we helped out with Songs and Tongs BBQ to raise money for MU's Childrens Hospital with the Reece Raises Hope Foundation. Today we had workers at Crush Hunger, where we helped to package 100,000 meals to be sent to Africa.
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