One of the kids, perhaps around age 7, was painting so I offered him gloves. He told me he didn’t need gloves because he was a gangster. He also took his shirt off in one of the previous sessions. Real G stuff.

There was a scandal about a kid paying a girl five dollars to kiss him in another class. The kids were interrogated about who did it. They eventually coughed up.

I helped a kid spell radioactive. I could do this all day, guys.

This was my sixth time volunteering this semester. The seventh and last time was on Slope Day. I prepared to tell Mr. Vitucci how much I learned from watching him over the past year and how I appreciated him having me around even when I didn’t do much. But when I went, Mr. Vitucci was gone on vacation, the Makerspace was closed, and I spent my time in the Lego room. It was a very disappointing end to it all.

— Hartek

This, too, is off of notes that I took.

This time was interesting. The kids opened up a pretend store. They put a plank of wood on top of two stools to serve as their counter. They assiduously wrote up a menu. They had shopkeepers and customers and fake money.

Two kids kept stealing the fake money. I wasn’t sure if I was supposed to intervene because it was their game and fake money. Mr. Patel ultimately did intervene. He told the thief that he could go to jail and then quickly added, “but, like, not real jail.”

The kid with the mullet forged a bill by writing 1 followed by a ton of zeroes, spilling onto several lines, on a piece of paper. He spent a lot of time on it and proudly presented it to the shopkeepers. Someone could have told him that that sort of thing could land him in not-real-jail too, but we gave him a pass.

Mr. Vitucci told this kid’s parents that he was the best in today’s session, even though that kid called him ugly the week before. I’m no Christian, but that’s what Jesus would do.

— Hartek

I took notes on this one too; it’s okay.

This day was quite uneventful because half the kids were just playing with Beyblades the whole time. It’s a little disappointing when there isn’t some cool activity planned, but Mr. Vitucci only has so many supplies to work with–especially at the rate small children go through supplies.

They also had a Barbie doll which they stripped of clothing and tore apart, which is pretty common kid stuff. Then someone threw it at someone else over the Beyblade game which is less okay.

Every time I volunteer, the kids seem to have a catchphrase that they repeat ad nauseum. One time it was avocado. This time it was ebola.

— Hartek

This post is late, but I’m prepared this time because I took notes shortly after my visit.

This visit was nice because one of the kids called me by my name. I wear my name tag, so this isn’t insane, but it is a first. We also have to consider that many of the kids can’t read, and that my name is Hartek. The kid’s name was Abram. I’ll probably remember it for a while too.

One very small kid did a backflip. It was pretty cool. This is one of those gray areas that I struggle with as a volunteer. I wasn’t sure if people are allowed to do backflips in the classrooms, and I didn’t want to overstep my bounds by telling him not to. He also tried a little parkour with the tables and chairs. I did stop him on that.

There was a kid with a mullet that he pulled off very well. It was pretty cute, and he was good with legos too.

All in all, a smooth experience and some interesting new characters this time.

— Hartek

It was the day before Valentine’s Day. A girl wanted to write poems, but struggled with the fact that she didn’t like anyone enough to write a poem for them. That’s a vibe. I helped her spell “compliment.” You’re welcome, Ithaca community.

There was a yet another volunteer in the room this time. To be clear, there’s me, Mr. Vitucci (the main teacher), Mr. Patel, and this fourth person, all supervising a group of less than fifteen kids. Needless to say, I contributed very little beyond the spelling of “compliment.” (But I did look at the context in the poem to make sure she wasn’t trying to spell “complement,” so I was still putting in the effort.)

The fourth volunteer was talking about how in Texas they allow corporal punishment in schools. After further research, it turns out this is true and actually pretty common. The fourth volunteer didn’t seem to denounce the practice, but fortunately, didn’t seem to need it either. Instead she threatened to call this kid’s parents. In my head, I was thinking oooooh, you’re in trooooouble. 

After possibly a record low level of contribution, I inquired about switching from the makerspace to the math/science program. It seems that I can switch whenever I want, but my class schedule doesn’t allow it. It’s a shame because I’m actually really good at adding fractions.

– Hartek

To be honest, I don’t remember a single thing that happened when I volunteered on January 30th. All I have to share with you guys is that it’s very important to do your blog posts around the same time you do the thing.

This would’ve been my sixth visit, though, so I can construct a memory very close to the actual one by inference. It was a very cold day. I supervised the kids as they built things. I gotta say, the creative output has declined over the course of the year. These kids are running dry. Some days it ends up being a lot more like babysitting until the parents come and pick everyone up. Some of the kids are incorrigible, and I genuinely worry for their development if they already resent following instructions this much. Watching Mr. Vitucci handle them continues to be an invaluable learning experience. He picks his battles and supplies levity when things get out of hand.

— Hartek