Three Days that Improved in Progression

The last three days at St. Gabriel Mercy Center have been filled with lessons - not just for the kids but for us!

Wednesday was perhaps our least successful day thus far because we were overwhelmed by the sheer size of our program. An unexpected 51 children showed up, and our activities involved keeping them all together. This did not go over so well. To begin with, Nina orchestrated a Spelling Bee. 5 older kids were assigned to be team captains, and they helped pick the younger children to be on their respective teams. The spelling bee was competitive and probably the most successful event of the day. Afterwards when we went out for kickball, the chaos ensued. We had 4 teams but with so many kids it was hard to maintain order. A lot of the little kids didn't want to play and ran to the large spinning play wheel on the side of the field. Luckily Josh went over to supervise those kids so they weren't by themselves. It started to drizzle so we had to get everyone back in side. Next up was my meditation activity. I was able to use a CD with quiet music that Sister Cleo gave me. The meditation set up and activity itself lasted a total of 15 minutes. Overall it was a moderate success. Some kids really got a lot out of it. Yet a few kids who were disruptive and made noises during the meditation exercise ruined it for the others. Josh and Nina did more diagnostic activities during this time too. Snack time did not go over so well. There was a lot of restlessness and the kids were talking over me. They simply did not listen to my loud "SHHHHHHH!!!!!!" or my declaration to cease making any sound. It was the sheer number of kids that made things so difficult I feel. 51 kids was the most we had yet. Wednesday was my day to be in charge of the group as Nina and Josh did diagnostic tests. My activity was Mad Libs with a grammar lesson. I felt the whole time I was shouting. Interspersed between everything I said was also a command or two telling everyone to quiet down. Failure on my part to control the group indeed. Still, I managed to muscle through this painful activity with some of the kids actually enjoying it. However with so many kids there were definitely those that zoned out, fought with one another, or simply got nothing out of the activity. Journal time ended the day, and we all decided to make some changes to how we operate based on all that happened. Debriefing with Sister Donella, we decided it would be best to separate the kids into three groups by age level and have them go to different rotating activity stations. Later that evening most of the Robertson Scholars went to a cookout hosted by Eddie Willis of a local Methodist church. They were EXTREMELY friendly and inviting. The food was amazing too.

On Thursday we put forth our new plan into action. We divided the three groups by ages 5-7 years old, 8-9 years old, and 10-13 years old. These three groups were roughly the same in size (approx. 20). At this point our enrollment was up to 58 kids! It was finally time to decide to stop allowing new kids to participate in our summer program. Thursday's plan consisted of having the initial 30 minutes for kids to come in and write in their journals. We had them try and use the words "ameliorate" and "obscure" in sentences since these were the "words of the day" thus far that week. Next we commenced with our rotating activity schedule. Nina would be teaching geography in our normal classroom. She had a map activity for kids in groups to come up and see if they could correctly identify certain states. Nina also tried to teach the kids the "50 States Song." She said the youngest group was the hardest to work with. In the future, we will be planning to keep our subjects consistent per day but change the activity depending on the age level. Nina will be planning to approach the younger kids through an arts/crafts perspective in the future for whatever subject she teaches. Josh taught the kids a history lesson on Thursday. He took his groups to the St. Gabriel's Cafeteria. We're implementing locations that are far apart for our stations so that kids cannot distract one another. Using a great online resource he found, Josh developed a lesson plan thta allowed the children to select a historical figure that they wanted to learn more about. Josh said most of the children all wanted to learn about Dr. Martin Luther King. For Josh the younger children were again a challenge. Josh will likely continue to be our history teacher expert until we switch it up, but he is learning a lot about how to approach teaching the kids the material. He is coming up with new ideas and will possibly bring up current events for the kids as well. My activity session was an introduction to the Martial Arts. Personally, I had tremendous success with all three of my groups. I have taught younger children Martial Arts back home at my dojo before, so this prior experience helped me out enormously. I was very impressed how fast the kids picked up my lesson. Not only that, the degree of focus and self-disciple exhibited (even by some of the most active kids) was simply incredible. Snack time went quite smoothly on Thursday, and we followed it up with a spontaneous game of Freeze Dance. The kids loved it. After one last rotating session, the day ended. Later that night, Nina and I cooked dinner for our all our friends. We combined the different recipes of our moms to make a stuffed pepper masterpiece. If Mrs. Woolley or my mom is reading this - THANKS A BUNCH! Dinner was a hit, and I am glad I was able to have some success on one of my first cooking endeavors (...sad... I have almost zero experience)!

WOW! Friday was an oasis from all our high energy interactions that had taken place with the kids the past week. The Summer Youth Program only runs Mon.-Thurs., so we spent the day learning about Saint Gabriel's Senior Program. After talking to the Senior Program coordinator, Mrs. Lyles, we went out with some of the shuttle drivers to pick up the senior citizens enrolled in the program. Once we arrived back at St. Gabriel's, Nina, Josh, and I began to have some FASCINATING exchanges with these older folk. I was stunned to learn how many of these women often had anywhere from 12-15 children during their lifetime!! Perhaps what was even more shocking to me was the fact that this enormous family size WAS NOT surprising to any of the women! I loved asking them about their take on Barack Obama. None of them thought they'd live to see the day when America would elect its first black president. Hearing the stories of these ladies also made me think about life and death. We often don't realize the scope of our lives. Many of these ladies have seen the death of children and loved ones. They've lived such long lives and have experienced all the stages of life (hard to imagine they were once energetic youth just like the kids we deal with in the summer program).
The senior devotional was truly moving. In their prayers, I felt genuine love. They were so sincere. It touched me to listen to them. The ladies did a wonderful job incorporating Josh, Nina, and myself along with everything. They asked us if we wanted to share anything, and we all did. For me this whole experience was food for my soul. I felt such a nourishment that I my description does not give this justice. After lunch, Nina, Josh, and I participated in the activity of the day (line dancing) with the seniors. None of them really wanted to get up - so they just watched the instruction video. Ha ha, Josh and I provided some comedic relief/entertainment since we struggled so much with the dancing. But the seniors LOVED watching Nina dance since she was able to gracefully pick up the moves so fast. Overall it was a blast.

Finally we started planning our week and debriefed with Sister Donella. Later that night, all the Robertson Scholars in Mississippi drove to Indianola to see B.B. King's Homecoming. It was so much FUN!! I've never really had an appreciation for B.B. King, but I enjoyed his music so much last night. It was so great to see him live.

Today we just met with the famous Luther Brown of the Delta State Center for Culture and Learning. We have planned the dates for some the cultural trips he'll be taking us this summer (not to mention pay the rent for our housing!). It has been one week since we've arrived, but what an amazing week it has been!!!

-Braveen