Thoughts On My Service Location

We discussed this topic in class. I feel my location was a great place for a freshmen to do service learning. This was a very well ran organization and many of the people working there are volunteers. I was very fortunate because the community outreach program that I wanted to take part in was only ran on Wed. mornings. I had no issues with my hospital clinical so I was able to take part in that experience. Other than that they were very catering to what my schedule was and they were so thankful of the time that I spent there. I want to do some more hours helping this summer when I have some extra time. They have summer camps for kids of all ages and from what I hear the kids have so much fun attending these camps. After working in an organization such as this, I feel great that I was able to see how volunteers can spend just a fraction of their time with these children and can make such a positive impact in their lives.

Final Reflection

I have finished my last day at my location and I have mixed emotions. I'm not going to lie, one part of me feels relieved that I'm done and can put more attention to my school work and family. But I also feel upset that I won't be helping these kids anymore. I know that there are many qualified teachers and volunteers that dedicate their time and service to this organization but helping these children made me feel good. I know community service isn't about trying to make yourself feel good but it's for the population your working with to feel good. But in my case I feel that I achieved both and I'm proud to say that working with these kids has opened my eyes to how good helping the less fortunate can feel. It's heart warming to know when I leave not only will the children have a smile on there face but I will too. I also feel that this experience helped me to be a better father and I now know what to expect as my son matures. I got a chance to see how children of all ages and races interact. It's amazing to see these children so pure. They have no problems with each other based on race or financial situations. They can be molded into great human beings without prejudices. Knowing how impressionable young children can be I only hope I can teach my son to be able to stay pure of heart and not to judge individuals based on their life situations.

Last Winter Concert Of The Season

http://www.parentresource.org/
This another great turnout to the PRC Winter Concert Series. It took place on Saturday. This event had a few less parents and children but the entertainment was awesome and they really got the kids involved and excited. A free plug here, the band was "Miss Holli and Tommy" and they seem very musically talented and do many children events. This is the second event that I have participated in as a volunteer. I had such a good time at the last one my wife came along to lend a hand. One thing that kind of bothered me was that there are never any men volunteering for any event. I get alot of praise from the board members and I don't think that I'm doing anything greater than anyone else but I feel they treat me differently because of my gender. It doesn't bother me, I just wish that more men would help out for these events and not leave it up to the women. I got there an hour early to help set up for the event and that meant that things like tables, chairs and cases of water and snacks need to be carried through the hall way down the stairs into the gym. Until I started volunteering these women had to do all of this heavy lifting and where I was raised a women shouldn't have to do this. I also think it sets a good example to the children, seeing a man help out will help the children not differentiate what is a mans job and what is a women's. I hope in the future that more men will begin to participate in these events.

1st Outreach Program Class

This posting is a little late, but I had my first interaction with the children from the outreach program class on this past Wednesday. The class ages were from 1 to 5 years of age. The name of the class is Stepping Stones or "Esculeta" which means school in Spanish. It was a real fun week to meet the children and there families because it was their Easter party. I plan to take Rosetta Stone over the summer and after this day I realized that it's a necessity. There were about 60 kids there and they were all Spanish speaking. One of the fun little projects that myself and another volunteer did with the children was to make them an Easter basket. Just completing this minute task seemed to be a struggle. The children seemed to take direction very well and the parents not so well. It goes to show that children's growing brains suck up everything like a sponge. Whether it's physically repeating something that is demonstrated to them or hearing something repeatedly said to them their brains retain so much and so quickly. I love helping out with this population because my son is half Spanish and my wife speaks to him in Spanish so the more I spend with these Spanish children I can learn more words to talk to my son. So I guess in the long run these kids help me just as much as I help them.

Just another day of Service Learning

I will be brutally honest, I like volunteering but I don't like the timing. I hate that I'm so busy with all my school work, paid work and family. I talked to my supervisor and told her when my hours are over I would love to help out during the summer when I'm not so busy. But I won't be able to continue while school is in session. I don't know if this makes me a bad person but every time I'm done with a day of service I add up how much money I missed out on not working or how much time I could have spent studying. I think it's just because I'm so pressed for time.

PRC Winter Concert

Saturday was a concert for the kids at the Parent Resource Center. The event was fun and had a great turnout. I helped with refreshments and played with the kids while a DJ had a dance party going. They charged $5 per person for the entry fee for people 1 and older. This is a little steep in my opinion. I know that the money goes to fund these events and the classes they have, but I know my family of 3 and soon to be 4 wouldn't spend $15-$20 on an event like this for a couple hours. I do alot of things with my family when I can. I spend time with them when I should be doing something else. One thing I've noticed since moving to Long Island from St. Louis is that fathers don't spend as much time with their children. I know that this area is competitive and you have to keep up with the Jones's, so work is very time consuming. It was a great feeling to see so many dads at this event. I don't think I've been to anything on Long Island that had so many dads at one event. I actually talked to a couple of guys that want to get together for a beer, the wives always go out and get a night off so we figured we should too.

Having fun with the Kids

Well today I was taken by surprise when I was called upon to help teach a class full of thirty 2 & 3 year old. I was talking to potential members in the office when someone came up and said they needed help because the instructor is not coming because she feels ill. This was the first time this class was ran so many parents were upset that they brought their kids to a class the instructor didn't even show up for. I felt horrible because I know if I were to bring my kid to a class I paid for and it was ran by two people that didn't know what the hell there doing, I would be pretty pissed off. Some of these people paid $5 some people paid $30 for this class, regardless things should have been handled differently. I don't blame the PRC, I blame the women that didn't give and advanced notice that she wasn't coming in. I know I would get fired if I pulled that shit. But all and all it was a fun experience. My supervisor said that when my clinical gets changed from Tues and weds to Tues and Thurs I will be able to help teach a community outreach class on Wed morning.

Descent Day @ PRC

Today I spent more time talking to families that were wanting to sign their children up for new spring classes. It was a little hectic, because today was the first day of the semester. It was an overall fulfilling experience except for this one family that came in to sign up for the community outreach program. In my mind everyone could come in and sign up, but I quickly learned that's not the case. If you're considered low income you can do the community outreach program, but their confined to only one class. The fee is $5 per class for the semester. The normal going rate if your not low income is $220 per class. That is a huge difference, and a great opportunity for parents. If a parent wants their child to take more than one class they need to have whats called a scholarship. I didn't know that their were only a certain amount that are given out. The parent was so happy we could get her children into classes and there is no way they could afford these classes without assistance. I really felt like shit to have to let them know that we had no more scholarships to give for the classes she wanted. They came in at the time the class started and the child was just standing outside the classroom watching all the other kids sing and dance "it was a music class". He was so upset because he couldn't join in. I was kind of pissed off, in my eyes I don't see what the problem is with having a few extra kids. I'm aware and prepared to do this again to another family in need, but I think it's a bunch of bullshit.

1st Day of Service Learning

Well today was technically my first day of my service learning experience. My tasks for the day were less than spectacular. Tomorrow is the first day of the new spring classes so my job was to call teachers and parents of the children attending classes to let them know if there class was running as scheduled, some classes were cancelled because a too few participants . I will be doing my service learning at a great organization that is close to my home. http://www.parentresource.org/ The Parent Resource Center specializes in structured classes for children of all ages. They also have birthday parties, children's concerts "which I will be working at on one Saturday," and a outreach program for low income families. This program is special because it gives the child a chance to participate in fun and educational activities that the parents couldn't normally afford without this assistance. Tomorrow I will be starting my first full day of activites with a shift from 12 - 4. Wish me luck!

Service Learning

I am currently a nursing major. This semester I am in pediatrics. I hope to one day work in a NICU and to either achieve my masters as a Neonatal Nurse Practitioner or a Nurse Anesthetist. I have one child and one due in June. I feel I would like to do my service learning with children. I work with young athletes at my present job as a personal trainer. I would enjoy spreading my knowledge on fitness and sports to a younger age group that can't afford the hefty fee of training at a gym. I have always played sports since a young age and I feel that it's a great way to teach kids how to communicate, teamwork, sportsmanship.