Free School Breakfast

About three weeks ago I started monitoring the breakfast period at the elementary school down the street--Orr Elementary (about a block away).

Most of the kids in the school get free breakfast every morning as part of the free lunch program by the federal government.
During that time period each day the teachers are going through professional development. So the only people monitoring the 200-300 kids from age 3-11 are a few aides. Most disciplinary action includes a lot of yelling, blowing of whistles, etc. Not a lot of positive reinforcement going around--but also the scene is wild--imagine even just a few kids chasing each other in a small room....chaos ensues.

One of my roommates--another IV staff at George Washington University takes a couple of students down to the school to volunteer one day a week. When they were getting to know the principal they asked if there were other volunteer needs. She spoke about how crazy the kids get during breakfast. And how much she would rather have the breakfast be a time for reading quietly rather than crazy running around/getting in trouble before the day even starts.....

So enter me--I can be free from 8am-8:45am most every morning. So at first I committed to two days a week. But starting this week I've been going more often because I really enjoy it.


So several incentives here......
A. We've had trouble getting to know kids in the neighborhood--our street has only older people on it. Elementary schools are local--so all these kids live near here. I've started to see them walking by on the street, they wave, etc.
B. Short time period--I'm not super into kids....but 45 minutes is a great amount of time. lots of activity, smiles, hugs.....and they're on their way.

So overall it's been a great experience, getting to know the kids, the school, the teachers (one's Teach for America program, a girl we're trying to get to know). At first I felt like the kids were stand offish. But by now a few weeks later.....they run up to me, I'm internalizing more names every day and I'm beginning to see them around the neighborhood too.