Personal Narrative: Working With The Children And Teachers Of Coal Pit Learning

I was granted the opportunity to work with the children and teachers of Coal Pit Learning Center for community engagement week. I worked with the children throughout the week to provide relief to the exhausted teachers and be a person who can look over the children. I was gifted the opportunity to work with a variety of children of ages from 3-5. My first day was tiring, but full of excitement. The children were a mix of shy and excited as we walked into their classroom for the very first time. I thought to myself, as my 3 classmates and I were thrown into the chaos of a group of 3 and 4 year olds, what I should be doing to help. But there was no need for the teachers to explain to us what to do, the children immediately gave us jobs of playing with them or making us watch them race their cars around the room. The week turned out to be a wonderful learning experience for me and the people I worked with.
I am reflecting back to a previous journal in which I referenced an aphorism made by Sophocles, “To be doing good deeds is man’s most glorious task.” It warmed the heart of each of us as we got to bring joy to these children.
I found Sophocles to be right on one occasion where I was able to bring one little girl who did not play with the other children into a group game. This shy little girl was not included in the games and normally sat in the corner with a puzzle and this child now plays with the others as if they had been life long friends. Being able to make this one change in this child’s life made the whole week worth it in my
eyes. At the beginning of the week I was asked to write down a common stereotype associated with the work I would be doing. Coal Pit Learning Center provides day care education to low income families. Though this area of work does not have any large stereotypes, I felt as if people might think that there would be a higher majority of non-white or caucasian children. I found this stereotype not only to be false, but also highly distracting from the message of the school. The school provides education and food to these children, they should not be divided or looked at through the eyes of someone who is looking for differences in ethnicity. The children I worked with do not see a difference in ethnicity nor in skin color, this just shows how the society we grow up in gives us the scopes in which we see the world. This experience has showed me the difference in how two different age groups can see the world as well as the differences that exist in the world. The children were innocent and represent the purity of humanity, untainted by the some of the darker parts of society. But I also have to ask myself why I am able to attend such a prestigious school, while others do not have the arms of two parents to run into when they return home. Upon reflection I would like to think that while I was working with each child, I showed empathy towards their stories. However, I will never be able to truly understand these children and will only be able to show sympathy. I listen to each children's stories and try to imagine what it would be like in there shoes, but I just can not as I live in a healthy family with plenty of opportunities for me. This really comes down to the difference in sympathy and empathy. Though I try to show empathy for these children, the best I can do is show sympathy because I will, hopefully, never experience this kind of pain. The main lesson to be learned is, despite the troubles of each of the children, they find a way to bring smiles to their