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

As the end of the school year starts to near, the students have less and less homework each time I arrive during A+. Some of my regular students are there and ask for help in order to finish their homework before they leave or to gain access to a laptop for gaming. Today, we played Apples to Apples junior, which to them was the most hilarious game. I would never have thought that “Cheese Sandwich” could win any round, regardless if they were playing for the most relative or funniest card in the round. Nevertheless, the short hour of giggles and laughter at Beverly J. Martin passed quite quickly.

This week at BMJ I was needed in the gym, another place I was unfamiliar with. Inside the gym was a bunch of kids basically screaming their heads off. A nice older woman was in there helping from the side, but I decided to play with the kids since my presence was seemingly quite distracting. I played a game with them called “Get the bacon,” which was basically two teams on each end of the gym ready to sprint in the middle and grab the “bacon” (an orange pinny) in the middle of the gym first. I used to looooove playing games in elementary school of the sorts, so it was fun to see the kids play. It was funny to see the different personalities in the game, some resorting to trying their best, some falling immediately, and some crying. One tiny little boy was so focused and did his best every time his number was called. Honestly he had more drive to get the bacon than I think I can sum up for this semester of classes. Just a reminder to do your best!

This BJM visit was a rather quiet one, something I secretly appreciated after such a busy week. As always, I was greeted warmly by Mrs. Sarah and Mrs. Patel before sitting down among the kids, who were pleading desperately for some coloring paper.

For some reason, the sight brought a curious smile to my face. It was just coloring paper. But to these kids, it seemed like the most important thing in the world in that moment. While it’s important to remind those–sweet, but brutally honest–developing souls the significance of manners and that patience is a virtue, it’s also important to encourage their excitement and acknowledge the value of things as little as coloring. Not only is it useful for cognitive and fine motor development, but the art of coloring is therapeutic and creatively stimulating.

I spent most of the hour assisting the kids with their drawings by getting them more paper, finding marker colors, and helping with certain shapes and images that they were having trouble drawing on their own–or trying to guess each little thing that they would draw and then happily shove in my face. Funny how much they value the opinion of a stranger who has only spent a few afternoons with them– but I wasn’t a stranger anymore, was I? I was the girl who would show up occasionally and devote undivided attention to them for about an hour. Regardless of how much time I spent with them, it was the fact that I spent time with them, focused on them.

For the rest of the time, I drew my own artwork, a collage of multi-color hearts and flowers with a few cursive words. This quickly drew the attention of two girls sitting on either side of me, who began leaning on their elbows over my drawing, asking me about the choice of color and my coloring technique–apparently my scribbling in of a flower rather than coloring it fully was really concerning. Isn’t that something? I’ve said it before and I’ll say it again, these students are exceptionally bright. I explained that I did that when I wanted to add layers of color and wanted the shades to be distinct, especially when using markers. They were fascinated by this little discovery, pointing out the places where different colors seemed to melt into each other. I eventually relinquished my markers to them, who could resist those goofy grins that were obviously masking their itch to color my drawing. It was my turn to be fascinated by their technique. They were already, at such a young age, particular about coloring within the lines. Not that there’s anything wrong with scribbling, though I’ve always believed that that sort of expression belongs on a clear page.

Anyhow, this week’s visit was one of relaxed coloring with another lesson on arts & crafts and the cleverness of growing children. Two important aspects to remember when working with or teaching children.

The group today, unlike last week’s small group, was very large and rowdy. One girl in particular was feeling angry and left out from playing and was acting out. I was really amazed by how one of the teachers treated her very sweetly and lovingly and this treatment drastically lifted the student’s mood. This just goes to show how big of an impact being treated with kindness can have on a person, and also how children (and adults too) can behave in ways that are not indicative of their true selves when they are under a lot of stress. I think it’s very important for teachers especially to not label certain kids as “bad kids”, and I was really touched to see the compassion with which Ms Patel treats her students.

While volunteering at Beverly J. Martin, I overheard a student ask his classmates, “do you have a crush on anyone in this room?” I was surprised to hear the kids talking about their this topic at such an early age. In my elementary school experience, my class was very close, and we never would think about liking each other because we were more like a family. I believe that the kids that were in this group were in fifth grade. In my school, they taught us about puberty in fifth grade. The lesson gave us a brief overview of what to expect for our gender while also learning about the other sex as well. I’m unsure if the students at BJM have had that lesson quite yet. Nowadays I feel like the kids are growing up way too fast. They have access to too many things and exposed to adult behavior at a very young age. I think this harms their development because the kids spend most of their time wanting to be like the older kids when that should enjoy their youth.