It is so crazy that this Wednesday was my last day! I feel like we just started volunteering at the Hispanic Center. It was nice being back with Becca and Autumn on my last day at the center because being without them last week was just way too quiet!
Well, on Wednesday I met another full-time volunteer who works with the GED program and helped her with grading those pre-tests that I had made copies of the week before....putting my hard work to use :) Becca and I worked on correcting the math packets for a while and then when she was asked to help another girl write a paper I continued correcting english and social studies packets and defining the areas that the students struggled with the most. Even though this doesn't sound too exciting, I was happy because I felt like it was good practice for becoming a teacher! Then I had to go make some more copies because of the GED students using them all.
After making those copies, there wasn't much to do so I just walked around asking the kids if they needed help. Most of them told me that they didn't have any homework, or they had already finished it, and were on Facebook instead. Sounds oh so familiar! We waited around for a while and tried to help the girl that Becca was working with by adding a few suggestions when we could and we talked with some other volunteers.
Then finally a boy came up and asked us for some help! He had to write a journal entry as if he was a person going through the Holocaust. He was 17 years old, a junior in high school, and told us that he didn't know what the Holocaust was. How does that happen? I feel like I learned about the Holocaust pretty much every year in school! As we explained everything to him, he said that he remembered parts of it, like that Hitler was they guy with the funky mustache and so on. But he just kept telling us, "tell me I'm stupid. I should know this stuff but I don't so I'm stupid". It literally broke my heart to hear. Is that what people are telling him? Even though he says that he doesn't pay attention much in school because he doesn't think it is interesting, shouldn't the teachers notice that and try to do something to change it? Just a thought. Well after telling him about the Holocaust so he at least knew what he was writing about, he didn't quite know where to start so we made an outline and helped him through the paper. He was so embarrassed when I asked him to read it out loud to me that I had to read it myself. I felt bad making corrections on his grammar because every time I would try to help he would just say something like, "yeah I know it's horrible...I'm so dumb". But I would just keep trying to encourage him and help him realize what the mistake was and how he could fix it. Hopefully he does well when he talks to his teacher about the journal entry!
Lastly, Autumn asked me if I could help her out with the boy she had been working with. She asked if I could help with the probability sections they were struggling with. Sadly, I wasn't much help with that. Ooops!
I can't believe how fast this experience went by! Even though I wasn't tutoring every minute that I was there as I was expecting, I learned so much! I absolutely love working with the Hispanic community and volunteering at the Hispanic Center made me realize how impotent it is to be familiar with that community if I want to be a teacher. It also made me realize how important Spanish is in today's culture. I definitely plan on continuing my education with Spanish! I would love to continue volunteering with the Hispanic Center in the future if my schedule allows because it was such a great experience and I would love to dive more into that culture and develop relationships with some of those students.
Sunday, April 15, 2012
Day #4!
Well our third week at the Hispanic Center was the week that we were supposed to attend Fun Fiesta Friday, but as it turned out this was their spring break week so they were postponing it until the next week :( We all had to reschedule our volunteer times and since I had to work I went in by myself the Wednesday of that spring break week.
Since it was spring break and they didn't have any tutoring or after school sessions for the students, it was kind of lonely. I was given busy office-type work to help out with the staff so that they didn't have to stay so late to get it done.
I was first put to the task of making copies of the GED quizzes of the different subjects. This actually came in very handy the next week when I worked correcting the quizzes that students had taken. After making those copies and organizing all of the subject folders, I worked some more with the WIA and B2B files that I had worked with before since I was so familiar with them. Some students were in the process of being "exited" so I had to clearly make sure that all of their files were in order and that all of the needed papers were in there.
After finishing these tasks and a few other small ones, I was asked to do research on the DREAM Act. The Hispanic Center was having people come in to talk to the students about their future opportunities and the staff wanted me to find more information so that the students could take home a paper that would help them continue to learn more. So I researched and learned so much about the DREAM Act for the last hour and a half. It was so interesting to read about the passing in New York and California and how it was Michigan was working on passing it in our state as well. It definitely reminded me of talking about the DREAM Act in class and it also showed the differences of the Latinos in Michigan versus those in New York and California as the provisions for the act in these states were different.
I can't believe my time with the Hispanic Center is almost over, I feel like I just started yesterday!
Since it was spring break and they didn't have any tutoring or after school sessions for the students, it was kind of lonely. I was given busy office-type work to help out with the staff so that they didn't have to stay so late to get it done.
I was first put to the task of making copies of the GED quizzes of the different subjects. This actually came in very handy the next week when I worked correcting the quizzes that students had taken. After making those copies and organizing all of the subject folders, I worked some more with the WIA and B2B files that I had worked with before since I was so familiar with them. Some students were in the process of being "exited" so I had to clearly make sure that all of their files were in order and that all of the needed papers were in there.
After finishing these tasks and a few other small ones, I was asked to do research on the DREAM Act. The Hispanic Center was having people come in to talk to the students about their future opportunities and the staff wanted me to find more information so that the students could take home a paper that would help them continue to learn more. So I researched and learned so much about the DREAM Act for the last hour and a half. It was so interesting to read about the passing in New York and California and how it was Michigan was working on passing it in our state as well. It definitely reminded me of talking about the DREAM Act in class and it also showed the differences of the Latinos in Michigan versus those in New York and California as the provisions for the act in these states were different.
I can't believe my time with the Hispanic Center is almost over, I feel like I just started yesterday!
Friday, April 13, 2012
Day #3!
Our second week at the Hispanic Center we only helped out on Wednesday but it was definitely the best time I have had there so far!
Becca, Autumn, and I began by putting together certificates for those graduating from the GED program at the Hispanic Center.
Then, because the three of us working together were so quick and efficient, we were done in a jiffy and were looking for more work to do! The staff told us to walk around and ask people if they needed help. Believe it or not, this is actually super intimidating when you don't know anyone there. So we walked around for a while and asked the GED students if they needed any help but most of them were either testing or didn't want help. Finally Becca got a response from one of the boys who wanted help with his multiplication flashcards. So while Becca helped him Autumn and I watched and chimed in every so often to help out!
Then came the best part of my day! I had noticed two girls who had walked in and were just sitting on the chairs and I also watched as the director of the youth program headed over there to talk to them because they seemed new. The director then came over to us girls and asked if we would be willing to help the girls out. He told us that they knew no English and we were supposed to help them read. You can imagine my thoughts.... How am I supposed to help these girls read an English book if they don't even know anything about the language?
Since there were two girls, we split up and I was able to help a sixteen year old girl by myself. Not only did she amaze me with her reading skills, but we also had some great talks...After I got used to speaking in Spanish that is :] So to help her with her reading we used a children's book that had both Spanish and English parts. First we would read the Spanish so she could actually comprehend what she was reading and then we would read through the English portion. I was surprised to to hear her read so well and pronounce the English words so well. Pretty much the only word she struggled with was "vegetable" which I guess is a super hard word to say when you think about it! After we finished reading the book that way, I would flip to random pages and block out all the other sentences and have her read only one but in the opposite language. I was hoping this translating would help her learn, understand, and comprehend the English words and she did a remarkable job! When the director came over to see how the girls were doing he was so impressed that he gave us the book Holes to try and read. She did a great job reading the English, but I don't think she understood most of what she was reading. I didn't know enough Spanish to help explain it to her and she was tired so we quit reading that after about 4 pages.
Now came the best part of the day, we actually got to talk! She told me that she had been in Michigan for less than a week and had come to the US only about a month ago. She told me that she had come from Guatemala and was now living at a foster home here in Grand Rapids. Before coming to Michigan she had lived in Texas for a couple weeks but she said she likes Michigan a lot more :) I asked her if she knew any English and she said yes so we went over some initial phrases that you would say when meeting someone. It was fun to have a cute little introductory conversation in English with her and teach her how to respond to simple questions. It reminded me of working with the teenagers while I was in Mexicali, Mexico and having just silly little conversations.
Time went by so fast that day and I was sad when it was time for the kids to leave :( Autumn, Becca, and I stayed after to talk with the director for a little bit. I was absolutely in shock when he told us that the girls that we were just working with had come to the US because they were involved in sex trafficking back in Guatemala and El Salvador. I couldn't believe it. This girl was only 16 and already had gone through more than I could even imagine. It's horrible and it literally makes my heart hurt to think that these horrible atrocities occur every day in our world. I really hope that I see *Hannah again so I can talk more with her.
Like I said, a GREAT day!
Becca, Autumn, and I began by putting together certificates for those graduating from the GED program at the Hispanic Center.
Then, because the three of us working together were so quick and efficient, we were done in a jiffy and were looking for more work to do! The staff told us to walk around and ask people if they needed help. Believe it or not, this is actually super intimidating when you don't know anyone there. So we walked around for a while and asked the GED students if they needed any help but most of them were either testing or didn't want help. Finally Becca got a response from one of the boys who wanted help with his multiplication flashcards. So while Becca helped him Autumn and I watched and chimed in every so often to help out!
Then came the best part of my day! I had noticed two girls who had walked in and were just sitting on the chairs and I also watched as the director of the youth program headed over there to talk to them because they seemed new. The director then came over to us girls and asked if we would be willing to help the girls out. He told us that they knew no English and we were supposed to help them read. You can imagine my thoughts.... How am I supposed to help these girls read an English book if they don't even know anything about the language?
Since there were two girls, we split up and I was able to help a sixteen year old girl by myself. Not only did she amaze me with her reading skills, but we also had some great talks...After I got used to speaking in Spanish that is :] So to help her with her reading we used a children's book that had both Spanish and English parts. First we would read the Spanish so she could actually comprehend what she was reading and then we would read through the English portion. I was surprised to to hear her read so well and pronounce the English words so well. Pretty much the only word she struggled with was "vegetable" which I guess is a super hard word to say when you think about it! After we finished reading the book that way, I would flip to random pages and block out all the other sentences and have her read only one but in the opposite language. I was hoping this translating would help her learn, understand, and comprehend the English words and she did a remarkable job! When the director came over to see how the girls were doing he was so impressed that he gave us the book Holes to try and read. She did a great job reading the English, but I don't think she understood most of what she was reading. I didn't know enough Spanish to help explain it to her and she was tired so we quit reading that after about 4 pages.
Now came the best part of the day, we actually got to talk! She told me that she had been in Michigan for less than a week and had come to the US only about a month ago. She told me that she had come from Guatemala and was now living at a foster home here in Grand Rapids. Before coming to Michigan she had lived in Texas for a couple weeks but she said she likes Michigan a lot more :) I asked her if she knew any English and she said yes so we went over some initial phrases that you would say when meeting someone. It was fun to have a cute little introductory conversation in English with her and teach her how to respond to simple questions. It reminded me of working with the teenagers while I was in Mexicali, Mexico and having just silly little conversations.
Time went by so fast that day and I was sad when it was time for the kids to leave :( Autumn, Becca, and I stayed after to talk with the director for a little bit. I was absolutely in shock when he told us that the girls that we were just working with had come to the US because they were involved in sex trafficking back in Guatemala and El Salvador. I couldn't believe it. This girl was only 16 and already had gone through more than I could even imagine. It's horrible and it literally makes my heart hurt to think that these horrible atrocities occur every day in our world. I really hope that I see *Hannah again so I can talk more with her.
Like I said, a GREAT day!
Day #2!
Wednesday was our second day volunteering and it was filled with lots of tedious work. As soon as we reached the center Becca, Autumn, and I were split up to work on different tasks. I was asked by some of the staff to work in their office and do some filing. And by some filing, I mean LOTS of filing.
Since the Hispanic Center is run as a non-profit agency, they have a lot of paperwork that deals with governmental things that I am not very familiar with. Each student has their own file containing everything from their social security number and a photo ID to certificates that they earned at school or at the Hispanic Center.
My job on that Wednesday was to make sure the order of the papers in each file was consistent with the order specified on the cover page. I had to go through all of the WIA and B2B files (not really sure what those stand for..) I actually learned a lot about their system while doing this for 3 hours.
Then for the last hour I was asked to help a boy, who was my age, write a resume. As we talked and reviewed his resume, he told me a lot about his life. He is only 19 years old and has been married for almost a year and has a child on the way. I couldn't even imagine having a child right now, let alone being married right now. He told me how he hadn't graduated high school but instead had used the Hispanic Center to get his GED. It was just a huge culture shock to me even though I have been around this Hispanic community in Mexico. Seeing someone my age having the pressures of finding a job to provide for his family and create a better future was a big change from the normal 'go to college and have fun' type of society most 19 year olds have.
Since the Hispanic Center is run as a non-profit agency, they have a lot of paperwork that deals with governmental things that I am not very familiar with. Each student has their own file containing everything from their social security number and a photo ID to certificates that they earned at school or at the Hispanic Center.
My job on that Wednesday was to make sure the order of the papers in each file was consistent with the order specified on the cover page. I had to go through all of the WIA and B2B files (not really sure what those stand for..) I actually learned a lot about their system while doing this for 3 hours.
Then for the last hour I was asked to help a boy, who was my age, write a resume. As we talked and reviewed his resume, he told me a lot about his life. He is only 19 years old and has been married for almost a year and has a child on the way. I couldn't even imagine having a child right now, let alone being married right now. He told me how he hadn't graduated high school but instead had used the Hispanic Center to get his GED. It was just a huge culture shock to me even though I have been around this Hispanic community in Mexico. Seeing someone my age having the pressures of finding a job to provide for his family and create a better future was a big change from the normal 'go to college and have fun' type of society most 19 year olds have.
Tuesday, March 27, 2012
Day #1!
Well... Monday was our first day at the Hispanic Center and I think it's safe to say that it didn't quite turn out as we expected. Coming into the center a couple weeks before our actual volunteering began helped Autumn, Becca, and I to be familiar with the place so we weren't in need of a tour so we met with *Victoria as soon as we got there. We set up a schedule, of course making sure to include one Fun Fiesta Friday, in which we thought we would be working with the students and tutoring. Our scheduling included both Mondays and Wednesdays. Well come to find out, there was no after school program available on Mondays so of course we met with *Victoria as soon as we found this out and changed it so that we would no longer come on Mondays since there wasn't much to do.
Well obviously since there was no after school program for us to help out with, we were given other tasks. We were sent to a guy who works with the Language Department. As we sat in his office, we talked about our majors and why we were interested in working with the Hispanic community. He then asked us to write articles for their blog involving something with our majors. I was asked to write about upcoming events in the Hispanic community which was very interesting to research. The only one I had really known about before was the Hispanic Festival which happens in September so it was cool to learn more about events happening around town.
After finishing with those articles, we were asked by *Greg to help him prepare for the Community Parent Night that was going on that night. The whole focus of the parent meeting was to help the people prepare their children for a college future. Our goal in our research was to look up savings plans. We actually found a lot of stuff that I didn't even know about myself!
Next we spent some time talking with *Miguel. *Miguel, he is an awesome man that is deeply devoted to these kids. He moved to the US from El Salvador when he was 9 and he told us a little about he got into the gang scene when they first moved here. It wasn't until he moved to Michigan that he decided to shape up and live a better life for himself. He told us how he was originally a well-respected architect but then realized that his heart was devoted to working with kids and helping the Hispanic community so he started volunteering with the Hispanic Center and eventually became part of the staff. It was really amazing getting to know him and then working with him again on Wednesday! I mean he's hard on the kids, but that's what they need. They know that he loves them and is just trying to motivate them to a better life than they have set out for themselves.
So after talking to *Miguel and hearing about his life story, we went across the street to the Cesar E. Chavez Elementary School across the street from the Hispanic Center to help *Greg continue setting up. They have these meetings monthly, at least I think so, and they hold them in both English and Spanish so the parents can choose their preference. *Greg said that at least 50 families show up each month. I thought that was outstanding! I was so blown away by just the small part of the school that I saw. We went over there around 5:15 and they were still holding after-school programs until 5:45! It is just very inspiring to see how much the community is involved in helping out these students and families. The after-school programs are run by volunteers which is totally something I could see myself getting involved in since I am going into Elementary Education.
Well, that was it for the first day! Totally not what I was expecting to do for the day, but definitely a memorable experience!
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