Blog Post 2

     Whenever I have gone to the Lexington Public Library to volunteer with homework help, there is either an abundance of volunteers, or a an obvious shortage of them. Sometimes children will have to wait 30 minutes before their name is even called for help, or they are in and out within 15 minutes. The system as a whole is fairly unorganized, but I feel they are doing the best they can with inconsistent volunteer hours and not knowing how many children are going to show up from day to day. 

     All of the volunteers help with every subject, and with children of all ages. None of the volunteers specialize to help with a specific subject or age group. Whatever child shows up when you call the next name off of the waiting list is the child you help. Whichever subject they need help with is what you focus on for however long it will take to finish the given assignment. The older kids, ages from about 12-15, usually need help on math. The help I need to provide ranges anything from just double checking their work to explaining each step of a problem to them. Typical homework I see from the older kids that come in for homework help resembles the one below.

Although I do enjoy my time with the older kids, my favorite is helping the youngest age group of kids that come in (around the age of 5). Not only because their homework is much easier for me to help them with, but because of the tangents we end up going off on as well. The typical homework help with the kindergarten aged kids looks like the image below.

With the younger kids, I often find myself engaging in conversations about things like an extensive family history of various pets we've both owned, or why in the world I go to school eight hours away from my mom and dad. "Don't you miss the way your mom smells? I would miss the way my mom smells." That was an actual quote from a younger boy about the age of 5 or 6. If that doesn't hit you right in the feelings, I don't know what will. By volunteering at the library, it has only reassured my decision to go into the field of pediatrics as my future profession.

Written Reflection

           My time spent volunteering at the Village Branch of the Lexington Public Library has been a very rewarding experience for me. The kids I work with are great; they are both well behaved and willing to listen. The other volunteers are friendly and they work well with the kids. There is no shortage of volunteers or animal crackers. Overall, it seems to be a great after school program.

           Although many of the kids come from families lacking financial resources and/or time to devote to their children, these kids still have limitless potential. This program has opened my eyes to just how important education is, and how it can alter a child's future. For the sake of their privacy, I will not post the pictures or names of the students, but pictured below is one particular assignment that I helped a student complete.

                                          

          This assignment belonged to a little boy that I tutored a couple weeks ago. He was in the second grade and he was a lot of fun to work with. The packet had various tasks to complete, from writing numbers to summarizing stories. He was pretty good at math and his handwriting is very neat. When I told him this, he didn't really believe me. It seemed like no one ever took the time to tell him how smart he was. He seemed to be a great kid, all of the kids I work with there are. I truly believe he has what it takes to grow up and be incredible. If I get to tutor him again, I will not forget to remind him that he is smart and he can be anything he wants to be. I have done my best to be encouraging and patient with every student I tutor. Giving them my undivided attention for a couple hours is more exhausting than my other service project where I do yard work. It is far more rewarding though. I'm very privileged to be able to work with these students. I think the homework help program can make a tangible difference in their lives. 

Post Number 2

After volunteering with the Village Branch homework help for somewhere around 8 weeks, I have only missed a couple of Thursdays, so I have somewhere around 6 of our required hours. It doesn't seem like it's been 8 weeks. This whole semester has gone by in a massive blur, so it's been pretty difficult to keep track of how many days I've gone. Thankfully Daniel carpools with me most days, and he has a better memory than I do.
Most days I only put in an hour or so, as I almost always have homework due the next day, and in that time I usually only get a chance to help one kid with their homework, or on a good day two. Recently , there have been a huge number of volunteers on the days I have gone, so even finding one kid to help has been a pain. There have been a couple of times that I've gone and spent the majority of my time just standing around due to the sheer number of volunteers at the organization. On one such day, I ended up at a table that was being used for arts and crafts by one girl and two volunteers, and while I was there I helped them make this:

The whole process of finding a child and then helping them is actually very informal. Kids go to the desk near the door, and the guy that supervises the volunteers just calls out, "Who wants to help -insert kid's name here-?" and one of the volunteers goes and takes the kid to a desk to help them. Pretty much all of the kids know what they're doing, all that the volunteers have to do is make sure that they are actually doing everything right, or as I had to do once, time them while they do math worksheets. The only time I have ever had to do something for a child was the last time I volunteered, the girl I was helping had to read a book, and her English wasn't good enough to finish the book, so we took turns. After I finish volunteering each Thursday, I always feel really good about myself, as I feel like I actually made an impact on one of these kids, and helped them to further their education, when they didn't have much of an opportunity otherwise. It gives me that warm and fuzzy feeling inside.
I guess my next post has to be a video, so wish me luck. I'm not a fan of having my picture taken o being recorded or that sort of thing.

written reflection post (Daniel Cox)

            The Lexington Public Library has become one of the best times of my week.  I have been to the library four times, every time with Brady (because I do not have a car) and it has been so enjoyable.  There are some triplets that I have tutored twice, and they are the cutest things.  They are all so full of energy and excitement it makes me both dread and look forward to kids (if that is what the future holds).  The whole experience is great because all the kids there are still eager to learn and are open to almost anything.  Probably the funniest thing that has happened so far is one of the kids asked what grade I was in, and I said I was a freshman in college.  He looked at me, a bit confused, and asked what that was.   I said it was like thirteenth grade, and his jaw just dropped.  Like, literally, he looked so shocked.  He was in second grade and thought that he was pretty old (most kids there are second grade or younger) and that just blew his mind.

            It is also interesting seeing where I started and what I have become.  We all were in second grade once, and each had so much potential.  Our options were limitless.  For all I know, one of those kids in there could be president in forty years.  I just found it strange and awe-inspiring that every child goes through almost the same schooling, but because of minute differences in how our parents raised us and what experiences we all go through, one child decides to become a brain surgeon while another child sitting next to him in first grade decides to become a firefighter.  In addition, considering this is a critical time in the development of the child’s brain, I could have a huge impact on them, without either of us realizing it.  I could push one of them down a path that leads to a completely different outcome than what that child may have been on.  It is amazing to me how much each child could be and the impact they could have on the world later on.

(This picture is a panoramic of the room where all the tutoring takes place.  It is meant to show how many volunteers are here, all willing to help these children grow.  There are plenty of volunteers for one-on-one time with each child, and oftentimes the volunteers outnumber the children.  One of the triplets is in this, in the bottom right of the picture, in the pink flowered shirt facing to her left.)

My First Post

I've never really made a blog post before, so I guess I'll just keep it brief. Just like the rest of my group, I haven't gotten a chance to volunteer at the Village Branch for Homework help, so I'll focus on what I've learned about the organization.
    Village Branch Homework help was made to, well. help with homework. Kids from the area around the Village Branch of the Lexington public library can come from 4 to 8 Monday through Thursday. The volunteers, such as  my groupmates and I, will be assigned to a kid, and we will help them with whatever homework they need, and when they finish, we will go on to help another kid.
    I believe that I am scheduled to volunteer this Thursday, so I hope that when I go, it will be a rewarding experience for me and everyone else involved. I'm not normally the volunteering type, or even the kids type, but last summer, I was involved with a feeding program for underprivileged kids while I was in the Governor's Scholars Program, which actually turned out to be fun, and educational as well. On Mondays, Wednesdays, and Fridays my class and I would walk out to a local park and assist adult volunteers with providing kids with lunches and handing out free books, or even performing science experiments for them.
    I believe that this organization provides a great opportunity to all kids, but especially to low income kids, who may not have as many chances to get help with their studies as kids who can afford tutors. One of the most prevalent issues in today's society is the massive number of low income families, so anything that can help them to turn around their situation is a massive plus.
   

Beginning Reflection

I have not yet volunteered at the Lexington Public Library-Village Branch, but the more I research the facility the more enthused I become about being a volunteer there. As I have emailed back and forth with Heather Prichard, our contact within the library, and the more I research the facility, the more I see that this opportunity will a great experience to work with children who need the extra help, and with great staff at the library.

        As a full time student with a job that has varying hours, my schedule is not the easiest to work with, but Heather Prichard has been nothing but accommodating and patient, which is pretty impressive considering I sent her three different emails initially in regards to my work hours. As long as we could settle on a day of the week and time to help the children, Heather did not seem inconvenienced by my emails.

         The amount of information on the Lexington Public Library’s website, http://www.lexpublib.org, is very impressive coupled with the site being so easy to navigate through. What I was most impressed by was the amount of resources and opportunities they offer to the public other than checking out book and children in need. Just a few to mention are Book Buddies, where they deliver books for to permanently home-bound adults, and a language service that teaches people English, Spanish, and even Japanese for those who want to enhance their language skills. Along with their home website, the Lexington Pubic Library is very active on Facebook with over 5,000 likes and a 4.7/5 rating from people who use the library. The Facebook page allows people to stay actively up-to-date with the recent and upcoming events and opportunities that the library gives the public.

         I have always had a passion for children and being a positive influence on their lives, hence my intended career as a pediatric nurse. So, being able to influence these children in a positive manner academically and aiding in teaching them the skills, such as literacy, to succeed in their lives is a very exciting thing for me. Heather has made it clear that some of the children I will work with may not have the total support at home needed to fully grasp some concepts they are being taught at school, and I am more than happy to be the one granted the opportunity to help fill in the gaps.

Service Learning introduction

Lexington Public Library
from lexpublib.org

Service Learning: Homework Help Program at the Lexington Public Library

by Kendall Myers

            This semester, my fellow peers and I will begin volunteering at the Lexington Public Library. The Village Branch has a program for helping children with their homework, and this is where my partners and I will be serving. The homework help program serves over 2,100 students per semester, and the demand for volunteers is growing. As volunteers, we will be serving as a tutor for one on one sessions open to children anywhere from kindergarten to twelfth grade.

            The kids we are serving need help in a variety of subjects, from social studies to math to science, so we have to be flexible as volunteers in the ways we help them, all the while understanding our limits in how much we know about each individual subject. Students can be struggling academically because they are being overlooked in the school system, because they have learning disorders, or even because they are too shy to ask questions in class. Some students may not only need help understanding content, but also in being confident in their intellectual abilities. This confidence can be encouraged by volunteers who are positive and patient.

             My classmates and I can positively impact the community through this program. As academically successful students ourselves, it is our social responsibility to reproduce the resources and attention we were once given that allowed us to excel. The library staff cannot singlehandedly maintain the homework help center alongside their duties for running the library. Volunteers are needed to continue this program, and in serving the library, they also positively influence the youth of Lexington, teaching a love for reading and learning, and providing kids with positive role models who lead them to excel academically. Our small amount of time spent there may impact someone for a life time.