Twist and Turn Surprise!!

Today June 9, 2005 the Student Leadership Development Institute candidates were volunteering at the Kerr St. recreational center to help younger children create tie-dyed shirts. They started the day off with simple recreational activities such as tennis, basketball, and pool. After the kids were tired out, they sat down and began working on their creations. The SLDI candidates ation center by assisting them picking out the kind of shirt as well as what style tie-dye they would like to have on it. The SLDI candidates wrapped the shirts up with rubber bands to their partner’s liking, then headed outside where they were dipped in either red, blue, or yellow dye. Cathy Mayor, a counselor at the recreation center, dunked the shirts in the colors then passed them on to Yongheui Creech, also from the center, who rinsed them off. After this was completed, the children took the rubber bands off to receive a surprise of an entirely different shirt! They hung the shirts up on a clothesline to create a rainbow of tie-dye shirts.

Tie Dye Time

There is only one word to describe the scene at the Boys and Girls Club this morning: chaotic. The Boys and Girls Club is located at Clyde Erwin Elementary School. Over a hundred kids between the ages of 5-13 packed into the cafeteria eagerly awaiting their turn to tie dye their Sturgeon City shirts. As the children turned rubber bands into deadly pared the buckets to pour the dye into. The fellows of the Student Leadership Development helped twist and tie shirts while trying to show the children how to use rubber bands to secure pieces of a shirt instead of a tool in combat. After talking to Michael Sundent Leadership Institute, one can clearly see the impact and the service the organization provides to the community of Jacksonville. As Sunday stated, “They [children] have a place where people care for them.” The smiles on the children’s faces aren’t just because of the caring atmosphere the Boys and Girls Club provide but in pure joy of creating a unique tie die shirt.