April+21+Work+Experiences

Today we worked at several sites today. It was a busy day!

Hello, my name is Peter Pavelka. I am senior carpentry student and also an O.K veteran. On Tuesday, I started my week shoveling dirt, and removing weeds. On Wednesday, I returned to the same job site, but this time, the other carpentry students and myself nailed pieces of trim strips to finish off the bottom of the house. Unfortunately we ran out of trim and we decided as a group to leave this site and move to another. The next job we had for Wednesday was we had to get "quotes" for materials for building a deck. Today, we heard back from the woman we gave the deck quote to, and we began to dig the holes for the posts, and we are currently more than half way done for concrete. Overall, I had a very successful work week, so far.

Hello my name is Tysheira Maddox and I am a junior business student and a newly elected member of the Operation Katrina Team VI 2011. My first day of work consisted on helping Mercy Housing and Development Center finish planting cucumber, squash, yellow pepper and orange plants. It was a good experience for me because it was my first time learning how to garden. On my second day of work I finished painting the exterior of Ms. Myrtle Davis House; while conquering my fear of standing 17ft high on a scaffold. All in all, I am enjoying and accomplishing all my goals and doing things out of my comfort zone.

Hey guys, I'm April Miller and I am a culinary arts student and this is my first year on Operation Katrina. So far we haven't done work that is directly connected to the hurricane because the Hope place is unorganized. However, the Mercy housing people have hooked us up with some people who need little things done like having their lawn mowed, because they cannot do it themselves due to injuries. Being a culinary arts student, I had a very special opportunity along with the other two culinary kids. We did a food demo for nine children from the Mississippi area and taught them how to cook. We were on the news and I did an interview. The cyo kids who came to have dinner with us were amazing. They were so sweet and welcoming. We ate dinner together, played manhunt, and sat around and talked about the great difference's in our towns. Although this trip has not been completely smooth sailing, it is a wonderful experience that I will remember for the rest of my life.

Bobby Gagliardi- Today was an interesting day for me, i went to 84 Lumber to place the order for this deck we are building for Miss Mary. when she found out that Mercy Housing was paying for this deck and that we were building it she was in shock. She literally dropped on her knees and started to pray and thank god for sending us to her she called us her angels sent from god. All of us carpenters are thrilled since we get to put our skills to good use and we are saving Miss Mary thousands of dollars.

Hey everyone, it’s Sean here! Just wanted to say that so far this trip has been an amazing experience, and I’m really happy that I’ve had this opportunity. The van rides were long days but we passed the time in the vans by making each other laugh, taking pictures, and playing cars games like car bingo! Living with everyone has also been an experience in itself. it is enjoyable and definitely gives you a new perspective on students and teachers alike; not to mention that we’ve become pretty close, like a family almost =) Today was a rather interesting day. It started out by going to mercy housing where I presented the information we gather yesterday on the electrical problems at Ms. Lindsey’s house. We got the approval to do the worked needed to properly reinstall a ceiling fan that is practically falling out of the ceiling. We started on the job today and although we ran into some minor issues we hope to have it finished tomorrow.Finally the most enjoyable and memorable part of the day was dinner; where the local high school’s C.Y.O. came over to Our Lady of Fatima to have a BBQ with the Katrina Team. It was really nice to hear their stories and see that we have a lot in common. After dinner we all went into the play ground where we played man-hunt together, and talked about food, school, Wawa, and life in general both here in Biloxi and back home in Philadelphia. Although we all have lived half way across the country from each other our whole lives, we still bonded rather quickly and enjoyed each other’s company. I have to say this has been one of my favorite parts of the trip so far! I look forward to the rest of the trip and to helping as many more people as I can, as well as making many more memories that I will never forget! -Sean Bucher