EXPLORE! at Shea - Day One

9/27/11

I would definitely classify our first day at Shea as successful and full of potential for the rest of this semester. Although some of us did get lost on our way there, it ended up being a good way to observe the neighborhoods surrounding Shea and gave us a deeper understanding and a better context for Shea. At first glance, I could tell that Shea is a very historic building and upon entering it was clear that some of the internal fixtures could use some modernizing. Something I found very interesting was the words etched on to either side of the main entrance on the building itself. The school counselor, Amy Kane, pointed these words out to us on the very first day. One side of the entrance is deemed the “bad path” and words such as “FEAR” are etched. The other side, the “good path” has words such as “ACHIEVEMENT” and “AMBITION.” I thought this aspect of the building was especially unique and a very defining aspect of the building itself. As far as internal aesthetics, nothing about the school struck me as overly awful or decrepit, and their auditorium was actually very pretty and nice to see right when we walked in. When we arrived, we introduced ourselves to seven of the EXPLORE! students and began the program with some icebreakers. For example, we played “Move Your Butt,” which involved expressing facts about yourself, and “Ninja” which served as a good way of simply loosening up and feeling more comfortable around one another. We also listed the students’ expectations and hopes for the program, and this list gave us a good sense of what we should focus our lesson plans around. During this activity, one student in my group mentioned that she would like to visit more colleges, another stated that she was “definitely going to college,” and another girl said that she was “afraid” of college. These three wholly different approaches to college demonstrated to me that as volunteers we need to focus on portraying the reality of college to these students so that they don’t have to be wary about the process and the experience itself. Perhaps the most enlightening activity was sharing our idea of a “perfect day.” In groups, a few students and volunteers joined together and provided aspects that would create their perfect day. Some perfect days comprised of going to a Celtics game, others mentioned vacationing in Paris, and others simply mentioned waking up and getting ready for the day. These disparate ideas about students’ perfect day truly provided insight for the volunteers to better understand the students’ thought process and ideals. On our way out, we met with the Principal, Mr. Lord, who encouraged us to express any needs/concerns with him and invited us to go to lunch at Shea next Tuesday. It was very helpful to see that the Mr. Lord was so engaged in our program and truly wanted to see it flourish and succeed. Ultimately, our first day at Shea was definitely a good start to what is hopefully a successful EXPLORE! program. Although each student was a little reserved at first, it was very obvious that each of them was engaged and willing to learn from each of us. I am hopeful for the remainder of the semester and look forward to working with and creating a more personal bond with the students at Shea.