Moments in the Community

 As some of you might know, I don't currently have a job. My job ended in December because it would not work with my Winter school schedule. So, even though I don't have a job, I am managing to keep myself very busy! I have a full load of classes at school. I am taking: Conversation Spanish; Spanish; Health and Fitness for Life; and Chicano/Latino Studies. For the most part the classes are great :)


When I am not in school I have 3 different volunteer gigs that I do each week. On Tuesday, Thursday, and Friday I volunteer at Barnes Elementary in the morning. It is a 2nd grade class with 25 wonderful children. The class is taught in Spanish, so that is fun way for me to practice my Spanish! My job there is to just do what the teacher tells me :) I have a few core kids that I help the most. I love the kids, they are so loving and welcoming to me. 


My other volunteer job is through PCC. I touter English to a lady from Mexico 1 day a week. I started working with her in June. We meet 2 days a week until January because I only have time for 1 day now. It has been so much fun getting to know her and her family. I go to their home Thursday evenings and usually end up staying for 3 or more hours, depending on how chatty we are :)   It has been great seeing her English improve over the months. 


My third volunteer job is at a church just down the street from me. The program is called Sunset ESL. Every Saturday there are classes to teach English to adults, and an the same time classes for their children. I am in the Kindergarten-2nd grade class. I started doing this in the beginning of September as an assistant. The teacher from last term is no longer with us, so I have taken a more active role in the classroom. I am in charge of the lesson planning for the 3 hours that the kids are there. It is a lot of fun. There are a few kids in the class who are also in my class at Barnes. 


So, as you can see, I manage to keep myself pretty busy without a 'real' job at this point. I love working with the community, and getting to know the kids. It's fun when I am out and about and run into one of them. They get a big smile on their face :)


My goal in school is to get a 2 year degree focusing on being in an ESL classroom. So all the volunteering I am doing focus on what I want to do when I am done with school.
I will be needing to get a paying job at some point, but in the mean time I am enjoying what I am doing. I won't be getting a job until I come back from my 3 month trip to Colombia. That would be a whole other post :)