James and the Giant Reach Chapter 1

So, James is 25 and has had a lot of life. Hopefully, this post will inspire others as James and his story will.

Question: If you could do whatever you wanted for a career, what would you do?

I would work with the youth of the Mississippi Delta and show them that there is a life outside of the place and that they can be and do whatever they want in life. All they would have to do is get the goals and go for them and them no one tell them they can't.

James Henry Glenn II

Life, lessons, and Lemonade.

August 15, 2010

We turn lemons into lemonade, lemonade into money, and money into community investments.


Concept:

Life lessons and Lemonade stand opens at 11am! Come on and buy or share a lesson on life and get a lemonade for free!! 50% of the profits go the amazing Sunflower County Freedom Project.

Result:

We made $32 today from our lemonade sales. We'll do more promo, but we've got some good word of mouth marketing working now. 'Preciate Shaun (11th) and his little buddy who's name escapes me (6th grade.) They want to be franchisees. What should we call it? Well, in the meantime $16 to the SCFP. Help us decide what pa...rt/program of the Freedom Project we should support.

"James and the Giant Reach"

Youth.

Adversity.

Discipline.

Struggle.

Hope.

James and the Giant Reach.

...Coming Soon...




















--Greg McCoy
O.K.A.Y. C.M.

Inch by Inch- Math, Music, and Motivation Pt. 2

This is part two of this math, music, and motivation series.

So I volunteered at Kid's University this afternoon with Mykia Clayton as we explored possibilities for the OKAY Community to develop sustainable service projects. Among other things, I was able to work with a sixth grader and taught him a magic math trick with the 11 times tables. He was pretty quick with it, but still struggled and his mom showed up while we were still working. She said "I can wait," noticing his excitement and focus as he approached mastery of the trick. He finally got it right as she was saying "I'll wait in the car..." He lit up. I can't wait to see him challenge me next time.

Isn't it amazing how little things can make a difference. Well, I'm working on doing more personal and reflective writing, which I'll provide a link to on a different blog (The Beautiful Struggle, I think) . I want to keep this blog focused on projects, results, and connections, rather than anecdotes ( which I have a ton of by the way!)

This is a song I forgot about and oh, before I forget, if you want to learn the math trick, please do email us as okaycommunity@gmail.com and we'll teach you.

Inch by Inch yall. Be the change you want to see in the world.

Tupac: Changes. Reflect and enjoy. Enjoy and reflect.

Let's make it happen,

--Greg McCoy
Founding Community Member

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Math, Music, and Motivation. Part 1

This is a four part series through which I'll be posting something that is either math, music, or motivation, or maybe a combination of both.

This week at the SCFP we have MATH RAP WARS!! How can I explain it? The culmination of a summer's worth of intense math classes channeled into a musical performance by our students. It is however, a competition and in a competition at the SCFP, there are no quitters!

Are you a quitter? Or are you a Go Getter?

"I'm going for the gold, my heart is in control. My mind is on succeed and I am in the LEAD." ....

A Change Is Gonna Come

I prefer the Otis Redding version, to me, he just gets so into it. No knock on Sam Cooke, but Otis really gets it on this one:
The Sunflower County Freedom Project is definitely in the building!

Teach For America Delta is definitely in the building!

The BB King Museum is definitely in the building!

The Delta Health Alliance is definitely in the building!

Greenville Renaissance Scholars is definitely in the building!

And the list goes on, the opportunities are growing, and the saga continues.... ( Wu-tang, Wu-tang... :) Sorry, I had to through that in there."

"Never doubt that a small group of dedicated individuals can change the world, indeed it is the only thing that ever has." --Margaret Mead

Let's make it happen,

--Greg McCoy

Founding Community Member