Volunteering Reflection At Oak Trace Elementary School

Since the beginning of the trimester, I have been volunteering three days a week in a second grade classroom at Oak Trace Elementary School. I have enjoyed every minute of my time here because I feel so appreciated by everyone that I help. Every day I walk in, I am greeted by the women in the office, and then I am usually waved to by a student in the hall on the way to my classroom. Once I get to the classroom, I am greeted in the best possible way by the students. Most of them will run up and hug me, and Mrs. Hall will always greet me and then put me to work. Lately, I have been leading math stations in the hallway. Mrs. Hall says that the kids often get very rowdy in the hallway, but that she trusts me to take authority in this kind of situation.
I truly do feel as if it takes a certain person to be successful at the kind of volunteer work I do, and I have those qualities. I care for people a lot, and every second grader wants to feel cared for, especially when it comes to learning and they cannot pick up the skill. I always make an effort to ask how their days are going and how their previous nights/weekends because I recognize that there is more to life than school too. Many times, the girls will get in petty arguments, and both will come to me crying or asking what to do, and I think it takes a certain kind of person to deal with that – a person with a lot of patience. It is especially difficult when the girls are upset because “so and so was talking about me behind my back” or “I have a crush on so and so, but he likes her more.” It takes a certain kind of person to hold back the laughter and not look that little girl straight in the eyes and say, “get used to it honey!” All in all, I think that my time at Oak Trace has been impactful for me and the students, and I think that everyone appreciates the work I am