Michaela - TFA - Blog 3

I can't believe my last day of volunteering at Howe elementary is tomorrow! I feel like as soon as I start connecting with these kids and getting to know them, I leave. Though many of these kids have behavioral problems I believe that they have a tremendous amount of potential. And if these kids are able to  continue to receive a good education they will succeed later on. After spending the last couple days with the 1st/2nd grade class I have seen how crucial it is for these children to really understand the fundamental skill they are learning. Even more so, it is important to have a teacher that has the ability to teach these skills is a fun and engaging manner. Because without this foundation these children will have difficulties all throughout their educational career. This lag that the children will have without these fundamental skills is shown at the high school I was at Monday. At this school the students math and reading skills were far below what they should have been, data showed that the average ACT score was a 13. And I believe this is due to the fact that these high school students never received the fundamental skills when they were in elementary school.

Being at both schools has also made me realize how incredibly privileged I am. I can only imagine the type of things these students face on a daily basis,  some have probably gone through more in their lives at six years old than I have in my entire life. Just the fact that I had the means to travel to Chicago is something some kids may never have the opportunity to do. I also feel as though I have been living two separate lives this whole week. I wake up every morning on "The Miracle Mile" with people shopping in stores where a t-shirt costs $50-$200 and then I take a bus forty minutes west where people are struggling to buy their groceries.

In all, I am feeling incredibly humbled and sad to be leaving these children. Knowing that on Saturday I will be going back to a safe home where I have few things to worry about, but these kids will continue to live in struggling homes and continue to not get the resources they need to be successful. But I am also very happy that I was able to spend the week with the kids. Not only for my personal gain but in hopes that I may have motivated some to want to go to college or even behave been in school, even if only for a week!