Day 1 of Project 2

School:

Today was my first day at Woodlake Elementary School here in Sacramento!!!  The kids are super cute and all of the faculty and staff were very welcoming and supportive of us today.

Woodlake Elementary School, like many in CA and across the nation, have gone through some major budget cuts in the last few years.  This means that they have had to cut back on some of the fun stuff.  What I mean by that is they don't have any gym class, extra curriculurs during lunch or after school, music classes, or art projects for the students to participate in.  None.  As a result of the No Child Left Behind Act, they focus almost their entire day on Math and Reading.  That does not make for a fun day for a bunch of kindergarten through sixth graders.  In addition to cutting back on programs for the students, a large percentage of the faculty and staff have been laid off, resulting in less teachers, which in turn causes larger class sizes.  Let's not forget that that clearly leaves the school with no room in the budget for any classroom aides.  Thus, Americorps is here to help out with classroom management, tutoring, and reintroducing the fun activities that make kids want to come to school in the first place. 

Beyond all of this, the teachers have been thrown for an extra loop in the past few years-the school has been redistricted and a new population of students have entered the classroom.  The school building itself is situated in a nice neighborhood with cute little houses that have tons of character.  This is not where the majority of the students come from, however.  The majority of the students are bussed over from "the projects" just across the river.  According to the report we got from the school, 94% of the students qualify for free or reduced price lunch, 32% are homeless, 40% are transient, and 30% are English Language Learners (with the primary languages being Spanish, Russian, and Ukranian).  Despite all of this, many of the parents and teachers are super eager to help their students.  One of the faculty members was telling me today about how they used to have a bunch of the mothers volunteer their time as aides throughout the school day.  Unfortunately, many of the fathers have been laid off, which has forced the mothers to take paying jobs instead.  It was actually a father of one of the students who went through all of the paperwork (and there's quite a bit!) that made it possible for Americorps to come and help in the first place.  This is a very exciting opportunity, because my group is the first Americorps group to come and work at this school!

As a whole, the school has given me a very fun, bubbly, and upbeat first impression.  And it's incredibly diverse!  50% of the students are Hispanic, 25% are Black, and the rest are a combination of Ukranian, White, and Hmong.  I have to say I'm super excited for this project!  And I know that no matter how tough a day might be, I have four walls and heat to come back to at the end of the day...and that's not something I was able to say while on Catalina!

On a completely different note:

I called Grandma today!  The day after her birthday...oops.  She's doing quite well though.  After I got off the phone, I thought to myself, "Why haven't I done this before?  She's super fun to talk to."  Also, "why don't I do this more often?"  So, I made a new resolution: to talk to grandma more.  It's such a strange thing that I've never really called just to chat with her before.