After I started college I was looking for another group to help out with. I had been a young adult youth leader when I was growing up. I met this girl who was helping out at an urban church's youth group and started to get involved. Here I started to realize my calling.
So the reason I am writing this is to inform those of you reading it about how much great, caring people are needed in the urban setting. Believe me its not for everyone but I really think that some of you could do it! Right now I doing pro-sem at an urban school and I am so surprised by what those 8th grade students are going through and what their siblings and parents are doing/have done. I have also observed teachers who I am not sure are necessarily meant to be there because they are so hostile towards the students, but only a few.
Urban schools aren't really as scary as people make them out to be. Definitely not the middle school. Those kids are great. Yeah they have their issues but nothing to bad yet. I am just hoping to spark some interest in someone so that maybe one student will be helped.
Jenna : )
P.S.- If you haven't watched Freedom Writers its a really great movie, and its very inspiring.
I totally agree with you! I did Alternative Spring Break this past year, and my group and I went to downtown Cleveland. I never realized just how much help these areas need.
ReplyDeleteUrban schools definitely are intimidating, but I think it's probably so much more rewarding because you know you will be making such a great impact on these kids lives.
I grew up in rural southern New Jersey (Cumberland County) so I was also isolated from the urban / big city lifestyle. I went to college in Philly (Drexel), but even the "University City" section of Philly is not what I would call the "real city"; it was still kind of isolated.
ReplyDeleteMy present employer sponsors this event with "Junior Achievement" (www.ja.org, if you haven't heard of it, like me until five years ago). JA gets volunteer "teaacher" to go into schools (usually K thru 8) to teach about our economic system, financial systems but more importantly I think, the value and importantance of doing well in school, finishing school, so you can get a decent job so you can buy the things you "need" and "want".
All that is a long way of saying that I've done the JA thing about a half dozen times (doing it tomorrow too). We go into Philly inner city public schools for a day and go over about four or five lesson plans (JA provides the material).
It is certainly an "eye opener". For the most part the kids are really receptive and interact in a positive way. But the schools can be really run down, libraries that have nothing in them, kids that act really disturbed (I've had security come in and remove kids; the regular teachers can be quite abrasive with the kids).
I don't know what the answer is. I think that environment is a big part of the issue - I don't "know" but I'd bet that many kids have a really bad homelife and poor socio-economic status.
I try to really connect with the kids, even if it's just a few of them. I always feel that "I'm glad I went" at the end of the day. I've been to some of the schools more than once over the years and some kids remember me and I've had email contact with a student that was looking for some career information.
But of course, I've only done it for a day. It takes a real "special" person to commit to that environment and do it day after day, year after year, . . .
It's great that you guys are trying to do something to make a difference.