First of all, I am not sure I've really explained CFY as an organization. If I have, I apologize; feel free to skip over this :)
CFY is a national organization whose mission is to partner with students, teachers, and parents in low-income communities to harness the power of digital learning to increase educational outcomes. We do this two ways:
1) CFY has a digital learning platform, http://powermylearning.com/, which is a K-12 Learning Platform, and free to anyone with internet access. It has over 2,000 educational games and tutorials. It's available for teachers, students and parents. Teachers can customize lesson plans and activities to help students build new skills. Parents can link their account to their students' to monitor their learning. Students can play fun games, and not even know they're learning! If you have a minute, my favorite game on there is World of Goo. You can find it in the Science tab under Physics, or search World of Goo.
2) The second way we live out our mission is through our Digital Learning Program, which our Family Learning Workshops are a part. Most Saturdays this fall, we go into the schools and host a workshop for the sixth grades students, their parents, and their teachers. The families learn how to connect their computer, and then learn how to implement powermylearning at home. The teachers learn how to use powermylearning in the classroom. At the end of the workshop, the families go home with their Home Learning Centers, which is a desktop computer equipped with Microsoft Office, Windows XP, and Launchpad, a mini version of powermylearning, so if the family doesn't have internet, the students can still play some games. During the workshop the families also take a survey to see if they are eligible for discounted internet through CFY.
This is the context for Saturday's workshop. I was serving as Volunteer Coordinator in the Bronx. It took me about 90 minutes to get to the school from my house. My role was to make sure staff were supported by volunteers, the volunteers were having a great time, and were engaging the families.
The morning went great. I didn't have any hiccups with my volunteers. They came on time, they were excited to be here, and they were ready to work. I had enough Spanish speakers which helped too.
The Bad.
The afternoon was a mess. I had a group of buildOn students coming to volunteer. BuildOn is a national organization that partners with high schools across the country to provide volunteering opportunities for high school students so they can gain leadership experience and serve in their communities. They are also high schoolers. They came with a liason who was chaperoning them. I could not have done it without her!
The first student came 30 minutes early. Then there was a group of about four that trickled in, and they were ready to go at 12, which was when they were supposed to arrive. I knew I had three classrooms I needed to place students in, so it was a perfect number. I oriented them, and was just about to start the tour of the school to give them the lay of the land, when another group of about six showed up. Half an hour late. I decided that was fine. I would give everyone the tour, then orient the late comers while volunteers on time would help staff out with half-time set-up to get ready for the next batch of families. That went well.
When it was time to orient the late batch, my morning volunteers were back and ready to talk about their experiences. I ignored the students, gave them some pizza, and visited with the morning volunteers. They had a great experience, and talked about wanting to come back. Great!
I oriented the late comers, and then took them to the auditorium where they would meet the families, and escort them to their classrooms. Remember, they are high schoolers. During the tour of the school, the of course were not paying attention, and didn't connect the dots that when I say, "You are serving in this classroom, so when the families are dismissed from the classroom, you will take them to this room," that meant, "Listen up children! You need to know where to go, because you will have 15 families following behind you, and you need to lead them here!"
As is predictable, they did not know where to go. I got them all in the right classrooms, then was about to eat lunch. It's 2:00. They're liaison finds me, and says, "Allison, there are two more students coming! Isn't that great?" Is she kidding me? The workshop has started. They need to be oriented. I need to eat. I look for them. I don't see them. I go eat food, because at this point I have turned into a savage beast needing to prey on pizza to calm my inner rage. I finally find them. I orient them in 3 minutes instead of 30. I send them back in the classroom. I breath a sigh of relief.
Oh. Did I mention I found out as the families were dismissing that they were opening up a fourth classroom? I had to reorganize my assignments. Luckily, the liaison knew her students, and took care of the reorganization. Also, with 30 minutes of the workshop left, two more students come to volunteer. By this point, I don't even care. I'm ready to go home, although I was annoyed they showed up so late. What does that say to the families? Whatever.
The Ugly.
During my rounds (checking in on the rooms, checking up on the volunteers) I find out from the Family Trainer (the teacher in the classroom) that a parent beat his son in front of everyone, then left the room very angry. The child is sitting by herself. She doesn't speak English. Great. High school students witnessed this.
I find the Program Manager, CFY's liaison to the school, and explain the situation. She finds the Parent Coordinator for the school, and alerts her to the situation. We gather the Family Trainer so he can talk to authority, but there's no on to run the workshop. In the meantime, the child is sitting by herself, because her dad is gone. He never came back. She spent the whole workshop by herself.
The Good.
These buildOn students were AMAZING. I asked one of the students, a junior in high school and a guy, to sit with the girl until her dad came back. He stayed the whole time, and did a great job. He knew French. I have no idea if that was helpful to him in helping her, but I was so happy to see him sitting with her. It was really amazing.
Also, of the four classrooms, there was only one English classroom. Of the fourteen student volunteers we had, there were only two that spoke Spanish. Most of the kids were placed in a Spanish classroom. They complained for the first bit, but after the workshop got going, they were involved. Every time I would check on them, they were helping students, and being engaged. I rarely saw them off to the side. It was truly a gift from God.
That was my day yesterday. It was long. It was exhausting. It was stretching. But it was also rewarding. Who knew high school students would step up to the plate like that? Who knew they could be such great role models for sixth graders? Who knew they would indicate interest in coming back to volunteer again? I thank God for them, and their commitment to volunteering, and supporting their neighborhood. They attend the high school across the street from this school. Bless them.
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