TFA Chicago Day 5

Hello Everyone,

Urban Prep gave me an amazing last day. From beginning to end, I experienced things I’ll remember for a very long time. One memorable moment came this morning in community (the assembly that starts the day). After some generic announcements, an administrator mentioned that he had a very special acknowledgement to make. An Urban Prep junior named Cortez Wallace applied for a $20,000 scholarship opportunity and won. The whole gym erupted with praise and excitement for Cortez who will be assisted by the organization in a college search to find the one that fits him the best. This instance highlighted something I like a lot about their school: they celebrate students’ personal achievements in front of the school as a means of setting an example of what the students were capable of. Without ever speaking to Cortez or even knowing what he looked like, I clapped loudly and smiled with everyone else. It was really cool to see in person an example of a kid who worked hard to beat the odds he was given and give himself an amazing opportunity.

Throughout the middle of the day, Grant and I used our artistic sides or lack thereof to make posters of key concepts that Mr. Rock could use during lectures. We also finished developing a list of practice problems for each outcome the students need to master. Then, Mr. Rock allowed us to actually work with students in his last class of the day, which is considerably smaller than the others. The students split into three groups, and Mr. Rock, Grant and I all led one group in going over the homework problems that were assigned for last night. I was very impressed with how quickly the students picked up on material. As a matter of fact, one interjected with an emphatic “We got it,” in the middle of one of my explanations. I got the message. As we finished the problems, we began to just chat. They were interested in my career goals and we began to talk about colleges and where they wanted to go. They also asked if I liked Chicago. When I told them that I loved it here, they all smiled, shook their heads and said its too violent and they wanted to get out. One said he wanted to move to Utah where he could just chill. This cracked me up that these inner-city kids wanted to move to remote wilderness, but it made sense at the same time. One kid in my group wanted to be a lawyer, another a chemical engineer. For kids that are as driven as them, I cannot imagine how burdensome some of the distractions of urban poverty could be. As I left the building after school, I shook hands and said bye to a couple kids from Mr. Rock’s PRIDE class and thought about how lucky we were to volunteer in and learn about such a great place.

The trip flew by. I could easily spend another week volunteering here in Chicago instead of starting the second semester for myself. The random picture is of the bookshelf Grant and I spend almost all of Wednesday making out of scrap. I learned a lot and was told that I was very helpful. Therefore, the experience was a success. Tomorrow I’ll be back with my last post devoted entirely to other group members’ experiences. Buenos Noche.

-Jason