This week we have been invited to speak to several neighborhood groups to let them know about the Neighborhood Animator Project that we are launching. On Tuesday, we spoke to the Hilltop Activities Committee and the Hilltop Neighborhood Association. I was impressed with both of these organizations. They are great at hospitality (providing refreshments at their meetings) and they have a lot going on. They talked about gratitude and how to thank the many neighbors who volunteer at the various events. There were several people active in Hilltop who don't even live there, but are very passionate about the neighborhood where they work. 

On Wednesday evening, Adam and I attended a block party in the South Area neighborhood. It was so much fun to witness a new family to the neighborhood meeting some of their neighbors for the first time - yay block parties!  The party started with neighborhood kids arriving - enticed by free pizza and games. Adam played giant Jenga and a long game of water bottle football with them.

We had two dry erase boards on which neighbors could write their favorite things about the neighborhood and the hobbies they enjoy. Honestly, the highlight of the evening for me was when a kid wrote that his hobby was math. That began 30-45 minutes of kids vying for the 3 dry erase markers so that they could solve math problems on the white boards! At first they asked us to make up multiplication and division problems, then order of operations, then algebraic equations. They even ate up the word problems I created for them. It was so much fun - what great kids!

Oh yes, by the way, one person even assured they us they would apply for a Neighborhood Animator position.