I went into the neighborhood and visited the school yesterday to get a feel for what it was like.
The first stop was to the school. I didn't go inside, but I parked and walked around the block. It's on a corner with a big blue sign displaying it's name and slogan "Where the only thing going on is "Learning."" I don't know how I feel about that slogan...It doesn't sound genuine or unique. I don't know. The Building is made out of brick and the windows look fairly new. It doesn't seem to be in rough shape at all. On the end of the school towards the main road there was an addition put on made of a more yellow brick rather than red, but that is also in pretty good condition. The playground also is in very good shape. It looks fairly new, and not too small. The playground is fenced in and elevated off the sidewalk which slopes downward. On the wall elevating the playground to be at the same level as the school there is intentional graffiti art with the school name (picture above taken from school website).
I also took note of the houses around the school. The first building I noticed was the Convent right next to the school and St. Bridget's Catholic Church right across the street from the School. Otherwise many of the houses I saw were one level, probably only 2-4 different rooms on the inside. They were very small. The conditions varied from house to house. Some were well taken care of and others looked like the upkeep had been neglected for quite a while. Then I noticed a random large house amongst the smaller ones. It was two stories and much larger than it's neighbors. The garage was also quite a bit larger and it looked like the siding had just recently been put on.
My next stop was Well's Fargo Bank. Not much to be said about that...it was in what used to be "downtown Camden." I passed a Guy-am Grocery store on Lyndale (the main street in the Camden neighborhood) which is a grocery store that sells different ethnic foods-mostly Indian. It was yellow, red, green, and white on the outside. There was another grocery store that I found that was a little bit farther away than that. It was kind of sketchy looking to me though. Mostly because it didn't have windows besides the two that were by the door that was at the very corner of the store. The only windows they had were full of things and signs and one of them had bars on it. Just the feeling that I couldn't see inside it and I probably wouldn't be able to see much outside either made me feel like it wouldn't be a place I would want to shop. It was also connected to the Laundry Mat.
The closest playground is obviously the one at their school but besides that I found a playground at another school that is near the grocery store and Laundry Mat. I only saw it at a distance, but it wasn't small, and looked like it was in good shape. Weber Park is also nearby and has a Library.
The Camden Physicians is the closest doctors office to Sojourner Truth Academy and that is right off of Lyndale as well.
As I first drove through downtown Camden I noticed a cute corner coffee shop called 42nd Ave. Station. I decided to go in and take a look because from the outside it didn't look very appealing. It was fun, and artistic on the inside. Booths line one side of the cafe with tables and chairs scattered throughout the rest of it. The coffee bar (and bakery display) was at the back of the cafe. The place where you pick up ur coffee after you order it there was a display of a Native American's artwork. He made pictures out of beads, and had cards with pictures of his artwork on it. At the front of the cafe there was a corner stage and couches where they have live musicians come in and grace them with their talent.
I got talking with the manager of the cafe who was taking my order. I asked him if he knew of Sojourner Truth Academy. He said that he had heard of it, but didn't know much. He knew that it used to be St. Bridget's School at one point, but then changed to Sojourner's. He was able to inform me a lot about the Camden neighborhood though (he was the one to inform me that it was called the Camden neighborhood). Apparently Camden used to be what the city was called until Minneapolis took over and they put a freeway in. Lyndale was known as "Downtown Camden" as previously stated.
I then went about my business doing a little reading, drinking my sugar-cane, Ghiradelli chocolate, free trade turtle mocha. I figured I should probably be getting back to school, so i put my things together and started to leave. On my way out a woman who was sitting with her daughter complimented me on my purse. I thanked her and then used it as a doorway to ask them about Sojourner Truth. They also didn't know very much about it, but we talked about the coffee shop and the people in the neighborhood. The daughter works for the coffee shop and is in charge of choosing the art to be put up in the cafe. She told me what it's been like to sit in the cafe for over a year and see people come in with their families and individuals randomly meet people and interact. She said that if I come in enough I'll see a lot of people from the community. The mother assured me that despite what I might assume about the families and neighborhood in Camden that they actually treat each other like neighbors, and include their families in daily activites, such as, going to the local coffee shop.
I explained my purpose in asking them about Sojourner Truth, and apparently the daughter had started a program in her neighborhood when she was growing up that helped the kids implement ideas and act on them. She also gave me her card because she was hoping that in the summer she could show artwork from kids in the area in the cafe.
I have to admidt that my first reaction going into downtown Camden were very skeptical. Because I didn't have any results for the crime search for that area I had no idea what to expect. When I had parked in a parking lot to go to the cafe I was already worried that my car might get broken into. Upon getting out of my car and walking towards the cafe there was a huge sign on the brick building that talked about busting car theifs...and I thought, "Great...that makes me feel sooooo much better..."
But the first impressions I recieved from the three people I met were encouraging. I'm excited to meet more people from the Camden neighborhood.
My first impression of the school was fine too. I didn't feel like I was in danger being there. I felt fairly safe. The kids were out playing on the playground, so I was reminded of how Elementary students act. Working with Early Elementary students I sometimes forget how BIG elementary students are in comparison! It should be fun and interesting to actually go inside the building.
I start next Wednesday and I couldn't be MORE EXCITED!!
