The First Week at the Center

I first entered the West End Community Center, a local Durham after school program, as a mandatory service learning component of Foundations of Education 100. For 2 hours each week, I worked with Dereese, an amazingly street smart self proclaimed "balla" who has endured greater hardships in 11 years than many of us will in a lifetime. In return for my poetry and reading lessons, Dereese taught me how to CHICKEN NOODLE SOUP (with a soda on the side), how to woo the ladies, and-most importantly- how to persevere in the face of adversity.
After a semester of dance parties (as part of number line lessons, of course) and basketball shoot outs (as a probability lessons), I could not wait to return to the center this semester, but this time as a volunteer. During my first day back at the center, one of the brilliant 3rd graders approached me and asked if I could bring all my friends, so that he too could have a tutor. This is the reason why I am hoping to share my experiences with you. Durham public school district and after school programs are desperately in need of volunteers to tutor struggling students. Please consider getting involved! You can truly help change someone’s life forever!