Community Meetings

This summer, I observed a seemingly normal girl engaged actively in a hands-on program. She was engaged, working in a group of kids, sewing away.  Afterwards, out of earshot in a low voice,  the director told me that  she had seen her mom stabbed in front of her eyes the week before.   That's correct, stabbed. Multiple times.  The mother lived.

As educators who work in public institutions, our programs are open to all children.  We embrace each child with an open hand and heart.  Yet each kid comes to us with a personal set of needs and experiences; family history, economic situations, withe predispositions and genes.  A school day may have been tough.  Home life may be chaotic. Sports teams and ballet may not be in the cards.

All this brings me to 'community meetings'.

Regardless of circumstance, kids, and people in general are incredibly resilient.  They can walk the planet and go to the moon.  Run a marathon or write a book.  Overcome depression  or fight back cancer.  At a recent visit, community meeting is a regular part of programming.  Here, after snack, the whole program comes together for a short period of time to reflect, talk about the day, recognize and celebrate.  It is a chance to acknowledge and model  dialog, build community, play together and tell jokes. It's a great opportunity to authentically work as a group unit; to build a team.

Simple, but potentially powerful. A resilience enhancer if you will.  More programs should try this.

Kids at the Center

I get a lot of cool things that come across my work email  as people share info about this or that.  At People's Academy, middle school students are teaching classes afterschool, with the 'real' teachers acting as helpers/facilitators.  I remember seeing a dance class lead by a girl that was one of the most engaged, rigorous, relevant, and inspiring as any I have ever seen.  It appears, more students are teaching more. Below is a picture of a student teaching photography.  And here is a forwarded note from a student ( name changed) of an aspiring leader.  

"dear kate,
I'v been thinking about starting an unbound class. Now that I'm in 6th grade, I can. So i was thinking, with some help from friends and an adult, I could start a movie making class. You know how I made a little club? Well, I love to make movies, and with so many great places to shoot the footage all over the school grounds, I think it could work. I would like to start this class next simester. If you could find a teacher to supervise. Maybe Mr. Weiss, or Mr. Speers. Just think about it. We can talk about a day and more about this at school.

sent from Matt 😄"

Picking up a Hitchhiker in October

The other week I was heading down to Ludlow for an afterschool site visit as part of my work and picked up a hitchhiker.  I figured I was in a state car and should share the wealth.  The guy got in, dirty jeans, a patch of red hair on his chin and a backpack.  He introduced himself politely, shook my hand and mumbled pretty heavily in a thick Vermont accent.  Through sips on his well nursed coffee stained styrofoam cup, I found out he was twenty-two, has gotten his GED after dropping out of school, loved bass fishing and that life in VT was too expensive.  It was not clear where he lived, but that he was going south to visit some relative.  When I mentioned my afterschool work he told me about his two favorite teachers, both of whom had been afterschool site coordinators and whom I happened to know. "Yeah, they helped me stay out of trouble," he said.  Then, unsolicited, he started gushing about the afterschool programs he took and what they meant to him.  I'm not sure that the adults know what they did . If you were in the car and saw his eyes light up when he talked of these two, you would know what impact means.