Today’s journey has been an interesting experience. It was our first day at Scott’s Hall Primary School, working with grades 1-6. Each and every one of us were not quite sure of what to expect. Knowing that we would be taking part in summer school, the amount of students that would be there was uncertain. A group of students and teachers from KBC Learning have joined us for this week at Scott’s Hall. Giovanni, Terrence, Ryan, and Jason, have all helped work to make our experience at Scott’s Hall better. Trying to prepare for our visit, we scrambled to organize our fun and educational activities to teach the students.
Once at the school, everyone was excited and anxious to get to know the kids. We split into groups to make our visit easier. Victory and myself were assigned to grade two. There were about seventeen students that we had to entertain and make sure that they did their work. While trying to pull out my inner teacher, I realized that I was ready to help these kids and make the day fun. Finally me and Victory were getting to know the kids and had them involved.
We played ice breakers such as Simon Says and Follow the Leader. Surprisingly, the kids were eager to play the games and followed along respectfully. After a while, there were a few kids who began to interrupt the class by hitting each other or not participating. Before I was able to blink, I found myself correcting the kids by putting them in time out, making sure they participated, or being a peer mediator. We then began to play “American Idol”, letting the students show their talents to each other. This was a fun and interesting game, because I was able to watch the kids sing or recite famous songs from their homeland or daily sayings. Three judges (students) picked the winner and second and third place, which added a nice touch to the game.
After lunch we made sure that they played something educational such as a math game in which they competed in teams to solve the math problem first. This was a good game for them because every student in that class is competitive. While working with these kids, it was hectic at times but it taught me patience and brought me back to my younger elementary school days. It felt good to interact with each student and help make their summer program brighter.
Lastly, after the students left, we were able to start on our projects for the school. The three goals that the Learn Serve and KBC Learning group plan to complete by Friday are to clean up and organize the library, paint murals on the outside of the building, and clean up and paint the sickbay. Even though I planned to help out with painting the mural, I then found myself working in the library. Helping to organize books and count the number of each, Nikki, Gabby, and myself made sure that everything was accurate. While watching others clean the library or paint the mural, it inspired me to keep working.
Knowing that we were able to get a lot done today made me proud. It shows that we are devoted to helping Scott’s Hall and that our projects will be completed. Today was a very productive day and I look forward to the next.
~Ralph