Lindsey- Playworks- Day Five

Friday, January 18
On Friday, we were back at College View with students with whom we had started building relationships. It was a beautiful day again this day, so we had outdoor recess again. We began the day by playing Drop That Cookie with the younger students. Drop That Cookie is like tag, but everyone is trying to tag the players that have dodge balls in their hands. When a player tags a ball holder, the tagger yells “Drop that cookie!” and the tagger can then pick up the ball and they are now the person everyone else is chasing. Since we are much bigger than the kindergarteners and first graders we played the game with, it was a lot more fun for us to play. We ran around the field for a long enough time to the point where the kids would still chase us, but once they started getting tired that’s when we would slow down so the kids had the chance to tag us. Despite the part were I twisted my ankle in a divot, it was probably the most fun I had all week when it came to playing with the kids. It’s very clear that the students enjoy playing games with adults, and in turn, we loved playing games with them.
This day was one of the more difficult days for our group. Since we had been around College View for four days now, the students began feeling more comfortable around us. It was difficult for us to know that it would be our last day at the school. What made it even more difficult is that the students really began to open up and show their trust towards us. One student in 4th grade was sitting at a picnic table on the playground and avoiding doing any physical activity. Another group member and I tried to find out what games he wanted to play, but his only response was that he was tired and didn’t feel like playing any games or running around. All he wanted to do was sit. As the other group member asked more questions about why he was so tired, it came out that he was tired because he has to take care of his pregnant mom and his two younger siblings. His older brother recently died of cancer. He went to bed at midnight the night before we talked to him, and was woken up two times early in the morning to change his baby sister’s diaper. The other member in my group sat with this boy the whole 15 minutes they were at recess. When I came back over, the 4th grader seemed like he was happier, and thinking less about his responsibilities at home. He ended up making jokes about how we all sound like cowboys and cowgirls because we have accents. He told me personally that he could “definitely see me riding a horse,” to which I responded with a laugh and informed him that I am really terrified of horses.
Friday was a very relaxed day, because we had recess and one class. It made for a great wrap up to a very eye opening and fun-filled week.