Week 5

The past few weeks have been an interesting time at the center. The week before Thanksgiving the center had a Boys and Girls club dinner for all of the kids on the night we usually go to volunteer. It was a big party held somewhere downtown, and for most of the kids it was probably the first time they were exposed to an event like that. Knowing that we would not be able to go the week after that because of Thanksgiving a couple of us went to the center before we left for break. As like most weeks, the kids just come to run around in the gym and enjoy being kids. As always basketball was a crowd favorite. This week there was a larger group of older boys that came. Normally it is full of middle school students, but when the older kids come they take control of the gym space and the younger ones fall to the background and try to stay out of the way. If anything, my basketball skills went from non existent to a little bit better. Also recently students have been exploring jumping over mats and doing flips and tricks. They don't tend to listen to us when we tell them not to do something, and the main adviser doesn't really leave his office. The past few times at the center no children have chosen to do arts and crafts or any other alternative activities. The girls won't play basketball, but when asked if they would rather do something else they say they just want to watch the boys play. It is obvious that most of the children have not accepted us as authority figures or people they want to open up to. They are reserved and try to push our buttons to see how far they can go. They are acting like regular children.