Week 6

            This week the high school campers were at Starke on Monday and Tuesday.  Earlier in the summer Sarah-Michelle and I discussed possible projects with the vice principal for the campers to do while they spent their time at Starke. We ended up deciding on fixing up the grade-level garden boxes that the school has. Throughout the summer these little gardens became a little neglected and the weeds had grown very large very quickly. This resulted in some of the gardens looking like mini jungles. Our job was to weed all of the gardens and then plant flowers in the empty garden boxes.

            The first afternoon was really hot and we felt so bad for the campers out in the sun weeding. Unfortunately Sarah-Michelle and I were in school clothes and couldn’t really help them much so we tried to give them a lot time playing with the kids inside. However, on the second day we brought clothes to change into and were able to help the campers finish weeding the gardens. The gardens looked amazing compared to what they looked like before. After the gardens were all cleaned up we had some of the kids come out with us and plant the flowers. It was great to see the campers working one-on-one with the kids- they all had so much fun!

            This project was really important for the school and everyone at the school was so happy with the results! The garden gives the students something to care about and nurture. The students at Starke are growing up in very rough homes and don’t have a lot to care for. These gardens are a source of pride for the students. It will be great for the students to see that the gardens are still in good condition when they come back to school in a few weeks.

            The campers ended up really enjoying volunteering at Starke and working with the kids. We were a little nervous about how they would react to how the teachers interact with the students. At first it may seem like the teachers are really strict or even mean and yell at the kids all of the time. However, due to the students’ backgrounds, they thrive in a classroom of structure. They know that the teachers care about them when they are stricter. The students need to be in an environment like this. Of course the teachers also show affection towards the students and are nurturing towards them. This was a difficult concept for the campers to understand, but by the end of the week I think they were finally starting to understand.

            It was great being able to share my service site with the campers. I love talking about Starke and sharing stories so being able to show other people my site and give them the opportunity to interact with my students was a great opportunity!