Sunday, February 23, 2014

We did it!! See you in New Orleans!

The team has reached its Indiegogo donation goal!!! A huge thanks is due to everyone who contributed! For those who did make a contribution, you will receive an electronic shoutout on our Facebook page, as well as in an upcoming blog. We are so grateful to have such supportive friends and family! We couldn't have done it without you!

A huge thanks is also due to those who came to our benefit performance last Wednesday at Omonia Cafe in Astoria! The performance consisted of a collection of popular and original songs sung and played by our talented team members, including "You've Got a Friend in Me" (Toy Story), "I Can Go the Distance" (Hercules), "Royals", and several others.  I know I speak for all of the team members when I say we had a blast performing for everyone (and we enjoyed the delicious treats)! Thank you, Omonia Cafe and friends!

In other exciting news, winners of the raffle have been drawn! If your ticket was drawn, a team member will contact you with instructions on how to redeem your prize.

With that being said, the team has been hard at work finalizing last-minute donations and preparations for the trip. In today's final meeting, our teaching groups solidified lesson plans for our time at the Shalom Zone, and the team discussed logistics for our arrival in New Orleans. Only 10 more days until the fun begins!!

As second-year team member, I cannot describe how excited I am to return to New Orleans. It is a truly life changing experience, as all of our first-timers will soon discover.

Stay tuned for another update. We'll see you in New Orleans!!

-Jacob

Meet Allison


Meet Kalia


Ain't No Mountain High Enough

No better way to spend your Sunday morning than eagerly planning, organizing, laughing, singing and dancing with the Juilliard NOLA crew!  Kicking off the meeting with our tradition of playing icebreaker games, we had eggs with our "one word story." Not to mention crazily shaking our limbs just to make sure no one was still sleeping on the job!

The fundraising is well on its way with the raffle tickets, Indiegogo website, and benefit concert.  We will be selling raffle tickets Monday in the Juilliard Cafe and lobby from 12:30-2:30, Wednesday in the Juilliard lobby from 12:45-2:15, and Friday in the cafe from 12:30-2:30. Don't miss your opportunity to not only win BIG with these amazing prizes but also win big in the hearts of the New Orleans community.  As for Indiegogo, we are almost to our goal of $5,000 but we encourage to share, share, SHARE the page because we need to get that number as high as possible.

Our most recent fundraising endeavor will take place this Wednesday as NOLA team members light up the stage for our benefit concert.  It will take place at Omonia Cafe (which supplies the baked goods for the amazing Europan and other bakeries) which is located in Astoria. The cover fee will be a measly $5 and the proceeds will benefit yours truly.  Need a fun night out to make it through hump day and get through the week?  Come enjoy this wonderful performance loaded with singing, poetry, music and so much more!

Next on the agenda was the guest speaker and four year attendee of the NOLA trip, Mitch Lyon.  Mitch provided us with insightful wisdom on his experiences and what to expect.  We even split up into 4 musical groups which included Jasmine and the Boys, The Tator Tots, Tiffany and the Boppers, and. Through this team building exercise we got to experience first hand some of the difficulties such as uninterested kids, shy individuals, etc. that we could be faced with in New Orleans.

Last but not least, we divided into groups to work on our lesson plan templates for the trip.  How exciting it was to start brainstorming on what messages we wanted to send the children and the fun and educational activities we could use to engage them!  We are starting to organize our performance line up for the Trinity Church, NOCCA and Lusher and it is starting to shape up very nicely if I do say so myself.  We ended on a positive note with feelings of excitement, happiness, satisfaction and more while we danced and jammed out to our team song "Ain't No Mountain High Enough."


-Kellie

Wednesday, February 12, 2014

Flower Sale

Want to send some love to a friend, classmate or that special someone?

The Nola Team will be holding a Flower Sale on Valentine's Day.

We will be in the Juilliard Lobby from 11:30am to 1:30pm
And at the Yule Ball 10pm to 1am.

A flower for $3.00
and a $1.00 charge for dorm delivery that night.

A HUGE thank you to Starbright Floral Design for the donation of the flowers!

Sunday, February 9, 2014

Meet Jasminn Johnson!

Hear what the incredibly talented Jasminn Johnson has to say about the trip to New Orleans.

Wednesday, February 5, 2014

A picture is worth a thousand words...

   
The team hard at work writing our mission statement.
 The NOLA team takes a quick break for Beyonce. A moment spent on Beyonce is never a moment wasted.
                  Angela.
                  Tiffany and Zach
                The musicians planning their performances.
                 The actors are always on their game.
                Austin is jumping with joy for the NOLA trip.
               Austin.

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Remember to check out our INDIEGOGO!

Tuesday, February 4, 2014

One Month 'till Madness!

With just over one month before the team departs, it was another early morning Sunday as we all made our way down to the lobby, coffee in hand, to discuss preparations for the trip. Before long, however, any lingering feelings of tiredness were dissolved by an energetic round of “Big Booty,” a fast-paced game that actually has nothing to do with butts of any size. By 9:45 the coffee cups were empty, Sabrina had beaten myself, Zack, in a competition of who could be the best vegetable (squash, to be specific), and it was time to get down to business.

After holding four bake sales over the past two weeks, the team ended with a profit of $750! And the fundraising has just begun. An update on the Indiegogo site showed that over $1500 had been raised online so far, with 21 days left to reach our goal. With Valentines Day in the near future, talk of carnations and candy gram sales gained everyone’s approval. With the help of a few designated coordinators, members of the Juilliard community and beyond will be able to buy flowers and cards for their special someone, while supporting our campaign to make a difference in New Orleans!

As exciting as this all was, our dear team advisor Sabrina let us in on a reality check: with time winding down, we were still nearly $14,000 short of our goal. In these final weeks before the trip, it will become increasingly important for everyone to raise as much money as possible. Without the proper funding, the beignets are on the line...

Another great development was made at our latest meeting: the mission statement was finalized! And it’s beautiful.

As daring young artists, the 2014 New Orleans Service Project team will nurture the New Orleans community by sharing ourselves and our art. Fueled by the collaborative spirit, we will encourage the growth of creativity, empowerment, and choice. We recognize and embrace the potential of this exchange to invigorate both the lives of those we encounter and our own.

Art Nurtures.

After the official t-shirt design had been approved, the wristband colors agreed on, and the program finalized for our performances down south, feelings of satisfaction and excitement washed over the team’s exhausted minds. With the trip quickly approaching, and no team meeting next week, everyone knew what needed to be done, and was determined to do it well.
-- Zach