Hey all,
Where shall I start? It has been several weeks since I first posted.. I'm slacking! My intention is to post a weekly or bi weekly update of my experiences in the corps. Tuesday marks the official beginning of my adventure with City Year and I could not be more excited. I am eager and anxious to learn more and serve this community.
We start our year with a physical service day, working at the Talent Development high school in Garfield Park on Chicago's far west side. We will painting and preparing for the schools opening on the 8th of September. Several of my fellow coworkers have been training and preparing to work in this school for the past month so I am excited to lend a hand. Its also a special experience because this is the first year the school will be opening its doors to the public. I am hopeful and excited for my fellow coworkers as they begin a new program on behalf of City Year. With such a committed, idealistic group of people, I am sure they will make a positive impact!
This past Thursday was our "meet and greet", which gave us all a chance to interact with each other. In a lot of ways it reminded me of that first day in college. The nervousness and anticipation in the room was palpable. I started to realized what we were all about to embark on...I just have to be ready to hold on! We played a lot of getting to know you games, did the "I'm so and so, I'm from x, I graduated from 'x ' , I chose to do City Year because of x, etc. Usually it takes some pushing for me to get into that sort of thing, but was excited, I decided to just dive in. I left there feeling so great about what I am going to be a part of. Such a solid and great group of like minded people! Everyone seems really ready to be a part of something bigger than themselves, ready to try and really make a difference to these kids, to be that person to someone when they really need it.
It is really inspiring the way City Year seems to be such a community, not just a group of people who happen to work together, put in their nine to five and check out at the end of the day. There really is some major heart behind it, something really special and unique. It reminds me a lot of how I felt about working at Passionworks. How could I not feel inspired?
Speaking of inspiration, I have been reading a book by Rafe Esquith, a teacher in the Los Angeles public school system. If you want to talk about a positive, idealistic individual this is your guy. In the process of reading it I actually felt so inspired that I sent my high school English teacher (I haven't spoken with him since my sophomore year of college) a lengthy email thanking him for being such a positive force in my life, for giving me such a love of learning and instilling in me the value of hard work and commitment to others. Can't say any book has ever made me do that! Anyhow, Rafe Esquith, who has written "Teach like your Hair is on Fire" as well as " There are no Shortcuts", is the winner of numerous American teacher of the year awards and a prominent speaker on Education reform in the U.S. This guy works harder than any teacher I have ever known. His students travel around the world, put on Shakespeare plays and actually volunteer to come to school on Saturdays. Getting a child to like school is an endeavor it itself. But on a Saturday?He must be doing something right. But most important this guy really just loves his kids, and it shows. In "There are no Shortcuts", a slogan his class has adopted to sum up their experience together, he details his experiences as an educator in an Urban school system nicknamed "the jungle". Most of his students come from low income homes, and for many English is not their first language. But he get to these kids, and they love him for it. He goes beyond teaching math and reading, he teaches his kids to push for excellence, both in life and in their education. He leads by example, and teaches his kids the importance for hard work.
"I knew that I had to be the person I wanted the kids to be. I never want my kids to be depressed or despairing about any bad breaks or failures that they've had. Well, that had to apply to me as well. I now knew that if I wanted the kids to work hard, then I'd better be the hardest working person they'd ever known. If I wanted them to be kind, I'd better be the kindest human being they'd ever met. Teaching must be by example, not by lecture." (Rafe Esquith, 'There are no Shortcuts')
Sounds like a good place to start.
Hows that for inspiration? Anyhow, the guy is a pile of love. He does what he loves and he does it for the kids. Heres one of his lectures, pretty good stuff:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0TF3fn_Bm3I
More to come.
"While I breathe I hope"- Latin proverb
big hugs and love to all,
Kara
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