DAS

Dinner and a Story  

Asylum Hill Family Center 7/18/2017

Families come together for a healthy 
dinner, a story and an activity.

The book of choice was "Whistle for Wille" written by Ezra Jack Keats.  Peter, a young boy wished he could whistle, but was having difficulty whistling.

He saw a boy in the park playing with his dog and each time the boy whistled, the dog came to him.  He wanted to do the same with his dog, but he was unable to whistle. He tried multiple times, but struggled with each attempt.  He continued trying, until eventually he was successful at whistling.  He hid in a carton from his dog, and whistled and Willie, his dog, stopped and looked around to see who it was.  He stood up, shouted to the dog and Willie ran right to him.  He went home and showed his parents that he could whistle and was proud of his accomplishment.

Moral of the story, if you try and don't succeed, try and try again.  With practice and persistence all things are possible.  The children all took turns whistling, then were asked to recreate the scene with Peter and Willie using pipe cleaner, cotton balls, paint, paint brushes, paper, scissors and glue. They were told to be creative and the end result was amazing.  Some children painted a picture, some used pipe cleaner to make a boy, one child made a girl instead because she is a girl, one student went outside the box and made a 3D dog which was amazing.



Their masterpieces were left to dry and will be displayed until the next Dinner

and A Story (7/25/2017).  Total number of projects completed = 15

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Families were greeted and invited to join the program. Today's dinner and a story session, Asylum Hill joined with Parker Memorial and their black giving circle program, which fathers enrolled in the center to facilitate dinner and a story. Kitchen helpers began prepping the food, while fathers prepped for the evening’s story and activities. On the menu was mashed potatoes paired with sweet corn, baked bbq chicken and fried whiting with eschovitch onions. The menu choices for this session was an absolute hit with the families and they enjoyed the dinner portion of the evening. The fathers who facilitated the evening’s story and activities were Mr. Ron Martin and Mr. Benjamin Rivers, who are both active participants in the fatherhood program. The idea is to engage the fathers and encourage them to be active not only in their children’s lives, but in their community.

The story chosen for the evening was titled “Be Who You Are” by Todd Parr, a New York Times Bestselling Author. The story started with the message “be old, be young,” which I thought was fitting for everyone in the room, not just the children. It went on to explain that being yourself means to embrace color, the way you dress, the way you speak, the way you learn, your neighborhood or country, your family.

It stressed the importance of being who you are and not who others may want you to be. It went on to encourage bravery, kindness, fun, learning, expressing feelings, trying new things, confidence and so much more. The message in this story was it doesn’t matter who you are and how different others may be, everyone needs to love themselves and others.

I thought the story chosen was very appropriate, as it can be difficult to live amongst so many different people and try to conform to the things society label “normal” while those things may not be normal to you. In a society of bullies and harsh criticism, sometimes being true to one’s self can be quite difficult, but having that understanding that everyone is different and should be accepted and loved is very important and is an invaluable lesson; for children especially.

Mr. Martin followed the story with a song titled “Let me be a little kinder” which was accompanied by acoustics from his guitar. He taught the group the words to the song and invited everyone to sign along.The children were asked to join Mr. Ron at the front of the room to partake in the sing-along, and the song and guitar chords were followed by clapping. Everyone enjoyed this segment of the program. The children were then asked to draw pictures of kindness and the outcomes were amazing. One child explained her art, stating she drew a butterfly with a broken wing which she helped and the butterfly was able to fly again.

Another child drew himself helping a homeless person. Another constructed a 3D house with garbage bins and expressed that she cleaned up the area around her house, remembering to recycle and also assisted a neighbor in disposing of her garbage. They were so creative and we couldn’t be more proud of their projects. Children were also asked what they would like to be when they grow up and the first response was a pediatrician, which came from an eight year old from one of our newest family center families; her response was quite refreshing. Other responses included soccer player, professional gamer, ballerina, teacher and many more.

In conclusion, the children stayed engaged, they were excited about their projects and the fathers did an amazing job hosting this dinner and a story. The collaboration with Parker was as success and gives a great message about teamwork.

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Dinner and a Story 8/8/17