Honors Community Volunteer Project: Day 3 (Final)

Looking Back: A Lasting Experience

My third and final time at my elementary Alma-mater was a bitter-sweet experience. I was sad that it would be over and would miss the kids and the reminiscence of vicariously reliving my elementary days.

The first class I went to was back to the kindergarten class I had volunteered the previous week, and got to meet the teacher who was out sick after the field trip.


The kids had greeted me with fond recognition (especially the one girl who asked me about her hair), much to the teacher's surprise as she realized the class already met me, with no need for introduction. I introduced myself to her and sat down at a table text to a teachers aid who also was helping out and observing the class. The teacher was going over grammar and sentence structure with a story about a mouse in a house (occurring theme) on the board, while the kids sat on the rug and participated by raising their hands to complete the story and identify the phonetic spelling errors .

I was surprise the same boy didn't suggest the mouse was on "we'd", but probably had earlier. After the grammar lesson was done, it was "writing time" where each of the kids had their own journal in which they wrote a story of their choice along with an illustration or drawing. I went around to each table once again helping with spelling and grammar, as one boy (their were more boys than girls again 15 boys and 6 girls) asked me how to spell "monster truck" to go along with the drawing of one for his story. I also helped the same girl with the ponytail to spell "bicycle" (afterward she asked me if I liked Hannah Montana, to which I have no comment), and others correct punctuation and grammar as well.

Once writing time was over, it was time to color behavior charts and be dismissed for lunch, as one of the boys gave the other a "pound of approval/handshake" for his behavior color changing from yellow to green. (Which I thought was a particularly touching display of positive peer encouragement).

After the kindergartners headed for lunch, I was off to the 5th grade class I had visited the first day to assist with their research for their " Important Figure from American History" project. The fifth graders had remembered me as well, greeting me with a "Good Afternoon" after an energy-burning lunch. They began with a review of the history of the 13-colonies and Declaration of Independence. Mostly males had participated in the discussion once again as the ratio of males to females was 18:8 (when I attended it there were more females). As a class they read aloud, took notes, and practiced reading comprehension while reading their history textbooks and reciting facts about the colonies and British rule. As we were heading out one of the as the teacher designated more "popular" male student was greeted by the class as well when he entered, as one of the other boys stated to the teacher "he's taller than you!" to which she replied "he's taller than you too!" Demonstrating a (friendly) challenge of comparison between older students and their teachers/authority figures, with in this case, appearance but later may shift to intellectual comparison as students become older and more adept to challenging authority figures.

They lined up to head our to the computer lab for research of their assigned historical figure. Most boys had George Washington, while many girls had Betsy Ross. Google was a popular starting point, but they were encouraged to use other sites (not Wikipedia) that were most historically accurate and fact based as possible. I visited each student at their computer to help them with the printer configurations/options in printing only the pages with info they needed as requested to conserve paper. I also picked up each paper printed and called out the titles or the pages for students to identify as theirs and handed it to them (some still ended up with over 20 pages.) Afterward I helped them staple the large stacks of paper with info they researched as they lined up, then leading them back to the classroom.

They dropped off their research packets and went to the blacktop to rehearse for the annual multicultural dance show, in which each grade at the end of the year is assigned a cultural dance to perform in front of parents, teachers, and faculty. I have fond memories of this tradition as I watched them rehearse a salsa/meringue inspired dance as a group (the younger kids usually get a variation of the hula or slower simpler dances). The girls and boys were separated into two groups for the dance and watch had a specific set of moves to be performed one after the other. Some kids were enthusiastic (mostly the boys and some girls) while others were less than excited, but came to enjoy after warming up with a few steps. There teachers were watching encouragingly as well as several other 5th grade classes were to perform the dance together as well. I spotted my 3rd grade teacher and said hello as she greeted me amiably, asking where I would be attending school in the fall, which was coincidentally the very same school here daughter went to, and had graduated a couple of years ago. She wished me luck as I said goodbye inviting me to watch the muti-cultual dance later in the month, and farewell my 5th grade teacher as well, thanking me for the help.

Overall, this was a great experience of returning to where my love of learning and educational roots began in my final quarter of high school. I loved this school and really appreciated the foundation it provided me with great teachers and environment. As I left to check out for the last time I thanked the principal for all of her help and hospitality in letting me visit and volunteer in the classrooms. I learned so much from this experience as I love working with kids having volunteered at summer camps for 3 years, now provided with the tools to see the world and aid my community through the eyes of a sociologist.