Monday.First day of all the excitement began today. Yesterday Pat gave us a tour of the empy school, but today, we got to see EVERYONE in the halls and classroom. It was amazing to say the least. I ended up helping out the 8th grade teachers, mostly mingling with the 8th grade class (go Pride 2013!!). I spent most of the morning sitting in the back of the 8th grade reading class entering grades into Ms. Urbanzcyk's tracking file. Just observing from behind, I was definitely in awe. They were discussing Romeo and Juliet, something I didn't read till high school! The curriculum wasn't the only thing that caught my eye, the classroom environment was also very open and inviting. The teachers somehow were able to not just be a figure to respect, a role model for the kids, but also a friend, a peer. They spoke to the kids and led discussions, while still joking around and having fun with them. I forget how it's like sometimes to be a kid again, but I remember looking up to my teachers and sometimes even fearing them. The kids had no fear and only curiosity in their eyes, all too eager to learn and submerge themselves in these discussions. They all rose their hands when asked a question, even if they didn't hear what the question was! If called on and they didn't know, they just asked what the question was without any shame or guilt. I definitely admire the teachers for sharing their enthusiasm with the kids, and admire them even more for maintaining this time of positive learning atmosphere.
Tuesday.Today was my first of 4 days of doing outside work and helping Mr. G with beautifying the GCP campus. Mr. G is in charge of the whole campus grounds, maintenance, and bus trafficking (3 hats in one, which is quite the job for a 65 year old man). As many of the trip members have noticed, the KIPP staff are all amazing. I too must attest to that, even those who's responsibilities does not directly connect them to the children in a classroom really do care for each and every student. Mr. G not only knows the name of most of the children there but also jokes around with them. After spending a whole day digging holes to put up blue bird houses around the campus, I got to know Mr. G's plans around campus. This included a football field, soccor field, and baseball diamond. With 37 acres (of which some of it is wetland and can not be touched), Mr. G hopes to utilize the land available to help expand GCP's extra curricular activities, promoting a safe environment not just in classrooms but also in outdoor sports. It's all for the kids!I also took time out to play basketball with the 6th graders. Boy, were they energetic!! The ball was bouncing everywhere! And, they're all taller than me already, so when it came to basketball, I was at a disadvantage. They sure know how to block! Needless to say, it was fun. What was even great was to see some of these girls on the track field after class for track practice. These kids have so much energy, and watching them all play in the gym made me see that what Mr. G is doing will definitely help. Once the school grounds are more established, these kids will be able to let out all their energy outside, and not confined to an indoor basketball court.
Wednesday.Nimish helped me outside today with Mr. G and we had tons of fun deforesting an area for the future baseball diamond. We also dug up cedar trees to replant near the edge of the school grounds, to devoid cars from driving through. Eventually those trees would also serve as a privacy boundary for the school. Our hardwork was not only noticed by Mr. G but also by the football coach. Coach Thomas gave us some powerade to help replenish our energy. Just being noticed and appreciated was enough for us to continue working hard. It was great seeing the support coming from not just the person responsible but also the teachers. KIPP seems to manifest a supporting atmostphere in general. Every employee there work as a team, no matter if they're part of the administration or teaching department. It's this attitude that keeps the school productive and this example set for the students learn from that keep the shool a positve learning environment.
Thursday.The field where the baseball diamond was to be placed will be leveled and burned and plowed by next week. Which means we had to finish what we can with removing the trees and it's stumps from the area hopefully by early next week. This was a big task. Unfortunately I didn't have anyone to help, so Mr. G came out and took time off to give me a hand. I got to know him as quite the father figure of the school. Overlooking the whole school grounds is a big task, but knowing it's in his hands to create a beautiful campus and a safe learning environment seems achievable. Props to Mr. G!!
Friday.Last day! and we all felt the bitter sweet ending to our awesome week here at KIPP. Getting to know the students and teachers on a more personal note truly allowed us to experience the GCP pride. We are definitely proud of the school and their accomplishments, and all their endeavors. I defintely will do my best in supporting programs like this. Though that may be limited right now, it'll be written in my plans for the future.
-Janet Hsu
Wednesday, March 25, 2009
Week in Summary
I came into KIPP pretty much expecting to be a teacher’s aide—running papers back and forth, making billions of copies, putting up bulletin boards, the usual. Since that’s what I was expecting, it didn’t come as much of a surprise on Monday when I looked at the list I picked up from Ms. Chen. Although I was disappointed that there wasn’t going to be much student interaction, I figured that since I plan on one day becoming a teacher myself, I definitely didn’t mind helping; I’ll probably be super grateful to be on the receiving end of any help available in the near future.
When we did wrap-up on Monday night, I did get a little disheartened. I’d spent my day doing pretty mundane things compared to most of the people who worked at the middle school, who raved about how cool working with the kids had been.
On Tuesday I got to eat lunch with some freshmen, which was pretty interesting. They seemed a lot less jaded than the few upper classmen I’d talked to seemed to be. Ms. Chen asked me to do one on one tutoring in Pre-Calc, so I helped a junior girl out with an exam review. I hadn’t done pre-calc in awhile, so I was pretty nervous, but it seemed to go well, and ShaQuana seemed genuinely appreciative. My second day was really good, and even though I had still spent time doing the little things, the few “big” things that I did were worth it.
On Wednesday, I spent pretty much the entire day tutoring—I spent every period except for one helping students with Pre-Calc. It was definitely more tiring that anything I’d done on Monday or Tuesday, but so much more rewarding. ShaQuana brought two of her friends with her, and they actually asked if they could miss class to stay with me to get extra help. It made me feel really good, and even though there was still stuff I couldn’t remember how to do, I re-taught myself in the process of trying to help the students with it. (An excellent review for me…the Math major…J)
After spending half the week in the high school, I was ready to experience the middle school. I ended up watching the principal lecture the sixth grade pride about their recent behaviors that he was disappointed with. I was blown away by how much different the middle school atmosphere was than the high school. At first glance, it didn’t really feel like both schools could’ve been part of the KIPP program; the middle schoolers were jumping out of their seats to answer questions, and were incredibly obedient and seemed eager to do anything. The high school felt more like a regular high school, except that teachers probably had more control over the students there than in regular schools. But still, I loved being at the middle school because the kids were so lively and hilarious.
On Friday, most people finished up the tasks they had for teachers, and a lot of us went to the middle school to watch the Mental Math competition. It was so much fun! The students were so into the competition and it was funny to watch. We got to go to CiCi’s to eat with some teachers and some students, which was also great.
The week was over so quickly, and it was eye-opening and great. Our group had awesome conversations during reflections (and even otherwise), and everybody got along great. It was a little bittersweet to be leaving Gaston, but we all, including myself, came out of this experience as better, more educated people. We saw things in person that a lot of people only hear about or see on TV, and hopefully, we can bring our new insights back home and help do something about the education system in America. We’ve seen what some effort can do, and I’m sure I speak for everybody when I say that more schools like KIPP are worth it.
-Harveen Bindra
When we did wrap-up on Monday night, I did get a little disheartened. I’d spent my day doing pretty mundane things compared to most of the people who worked at the middle school, who raved about how cool working with the kids had been.
On Tuesday I got to eat lunch with some freshmen, which was pretty interesting. They seemed a lot less jaded than the few upper classmen I’d talked to seemed to be. Ms. Chen asked me to do one on one tutoring in Pre-Calc, so I helped a junior girl out with an exam review. I hadn’t done pre-calc in awhile, so I was pretty nervous, but it seemed to go well, and ShaQuana seemed genuinely appreciative. My second day was really good, and even though I had still spent time doing the little things, the few “big” things that I did were worth it.
On Wednesday, I spent pretty much the entire day tutoring—I spent every period except for one helping students with Pre-Calc. It was definitely more tiring that anything I’d done on Monday or Tuesday, but so much more rewarding. ShaQuana brought two of her friends with her, and they actually asked if they could miss class to stay with me to get extra help. It made me feel really good, and even though there was still stuff I couldn’t remember how to do, I re-taught myself in the process of trying to help the students with it. (An excellent review for me…the Math major…J)
After spending half the week in the high school, I was ready to experience the middle school. I ended up watching the principal lecture the sixth grade pride about their recent behaviors that he was disappointed with. I was blown away by how much different the middle school atmosphere was than the high school. At first glance, it didn’t really feel like both schools could’ve been part of the KIPP program; the middle schoolers were jumping out of their seats to answer questions, and were incredibly obedient and seemed eager to do anything. The high school felt more like a regular high school, except that teachers probably had more control over the students there than in regular schools. But still, I loved being at the middle school because the kids were so lively and hilarious.
On Friday, most people finished up the tasks they had for teachers, and a lot of us went to the middle school to watch the Mental Math competition. It was so much fun! The students were so into the competition and it was funny to watch. We got to go to CiCi’s to eat with some teachers and some students, which was also great.
The week was over so quickly, and it was eye-opening and great. Our group had awesome conversations during reflections (and even otherwise), and everybody got along great. It was a little bittersweet to be leaving Gaston, but we all, including myself, came out of this experience as better, more educated people. We saw things in person that a lot of people only hear about or see on TV, and hopefully, we can bring our new insights back home and help do something about the education system in America. We’ve seen what some effort can do, and I’m sure I speak for everybody when I say that more schools like KIPP are worth it.
-Harveen Bindra
were backkkkkk
So, I do apoligize for the lack of updates over the week. We had no computer or internet at the house and at school, there were limited computers and those were for the technology class so we were in a rough situation. But good news is our trip was amazing. Some of the other members of the trip may be posting their afterthoughts on here but I just wanted to explain why we did not update as much as we would have liked!
Monday, March 9, 2009
Five days until the adventure...
Hey everyone! Welcome to the University of Maryland's Alternative Spring Break 2009 Gaston, North Carolina trip's blog! wooo...okay so today is Monday and we are leaving this Saturday and I know we all could not be anymore excited! I'm Kelsey, one of the trip leaders and I just want to say it has been a joy planning this trip all year. I'm a little nervous but I know all of our hard work will pay off once we are down there.
If you are a friend or family of any of the participants of this trip, thank you soooo much for all of your support and donations. We could not be doing this trip without you and it is important that you know we appreciate you! You honestly are helping us make a difference in children's lives and do our part in the fight for equal educational opportunities for all children in the United States.
So, I sincerely hope you continue to read our postings about our expiereince in the KIPP school down there. We will try our hardest to update you every day! Next time you hear from us, we will be in Gaston! So, enjoy and have a great rest of the week!
~Kelsey
"Empty pockets never held anyone back. Only enpyty heads and empty hearts can do that."
-Normal Vincent Peale
If you are a friend or family of any of the participants of this trip, thank you soooo much for all of your support and donations. We could not be doing this trip without you and it is important that you know we appreciate you! You honestly are helping us make a difference in children's lives and do our part in the fight for equal educational opportunities for all children in the United States.
So, I sincerely hope you continue to read our postings about our expiereince in the KIPP school down there. We will try our hardest to update you every day! Next time you hear from us, we will be in Gaston! So, enjoy and have a great rest of the week!
~Kelsey
"Empty pockets never held anyone back. Only enpyty heads and empty hearts can do that."
-Normal Vincent Peale
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