Prompt Number 1

The school where I am doing my service learning is in a neighborhood right next to the hospitals. It is a brick building surrounded by parking lots. One of the first things I noticed is that there is no playground or grassy fields to play in, or anything green for that matter. From the outside it does not look that inviting. My first time to the school was very overwhelming. After being buzzed in, I went to the main office. The secretaries were barking at the children and did not seem very organized. Somebody came down to get me to bring me where I needed to go. The majority of the school is very colorless and cold, but there were some murals painted on the walls as well as student work closer to the classrooms. The teachers all had their doors and entrance ways decorated and colorful. The inside of the classrooms were colorful and there were no bare spots on the walls in contrast to the majority of the hallways. Something that I could not help but to chuckle at is that when I walked by the Principal’s office there was a very upset student sitting by himself at the desk. The phone rang and he just casually picked it up and said, “Hello?” I could not believe he answered the principal’s phone!
The student body is very different from where I went to school. Almost all of the students are Black or Hispanic. There are very few White children. This is the exact opposite of my elementary school. The majority of the teachers are white. Something else that I noticed was that every teacher has at least one teacher assistant, many have two. I never remember having anyone except my classroom teacher present when I was in elementary school.
Some things that I know that school values are respect, responsibility, and safety. I know this because there are numerous posters hanging in the hallway that have those words displayed on them. The Principal also repeats them on the morning announcements. Outside of the Principal’s office, there is a bulletin board with pictures of students who have exemplified these values. Another thing that this school values is the diversity of its students and their parents, especially when it comes to language. Every poster and sign in the school is written in both English and Spanish. There are also bi-lingual classrooms where the teacher conducts the lessons mainly in Spanish. Structure and organization are also valued in the school as well as quietness. The same posters that display “responsibility, respect, and safety,” indicate that the volume in the hallway should be zero. In the classroom itself, there are signs that say “remain quiet,” and “raise your hand.”
All in all, I’d say I’m having a positive experience at my elementary school. Although the building itself is lifeless and cold, the classrooms are inviting and so are the teachers and students. I even had one little boy hold the door open for me. The teacher always thanks us and invites us back. The students argue over who is going to sit the closest to me and then hug me when it is time for me to go.