My First Day
By Riley Burke, Volunteer
Riley helping a student with his collage.
My first day volunteering couldn’t have been better. The kids worked on creating identity collages using stickers, puff balls, and pictures cut out of magazines.
At first, some of the kids weren’t very happy, as they were told this was a weekly class they had to attend. However, by the end of the class, even the ones who didn’t seem excited to participate were engaged and enjoying the project.
“The best Saturday ever!”
It was extremely interesting to see their developing collages. The kids came up with very creative ideas and I felt like I really got a sense of who they were through their creations. One student imitated his hairstyle with puff balls. Another student incorporated his favorite color (green) into his collage as well as basketball and soccer stickers and a cut-out featuring Stephen Curry, demonstrating his love of sports.
One collage featured many pictures of foods organized in a fashion that looked like a periodic table, an observation that one of his friends pointed out. Another student’s desire to travel was incorporated into his collage. He drew a Japanese flag and talked about how much he wanted to visit there because he loves anime.
It was a great first day!
This project was an extremely effective tool giving the kids a chance to open up about themselves and their interests in a very fun environment. When they presented their projects at the end, some students were shyer than others, with one student even having his friend accompany him while presenting. When the puff balls kept falling off of the posters, one student was quick to help the others retrieve the lost pieces of their collages.
It was such a rewarding experience to see the kids so engaged (especially the ones who were not happy upon arrival) and excited to create their collages and present them to their classmates.
One student even remarked at the end that this was “the best Saturday ever.” Knowing that even just one day could have such a great impact made me extremely happy. I’m really looking forward to the rest of the year.