SERVICE LEARNING REFLECTIVE ESSAY 1

Service Learning Reflective Essay

Jennifer Fernandez

GSU EDUC 3010

SERVICE LEARNING REFLECTIVE ESSAY 2

Abstract

This reflection will discuss my time at Seven Courts Apartment complex. Working with children

who live in urban areas provided insight into the issues surrounding their environment. Also, this

service-learning encouraged me to grow and understand things from a different perspective. The

students became close to me and helped me see that they aren’t different from other children;

they are just going through different life situations. Being with the children of Seven Courts

reminded me “students should always be our focus, that they deserve to be at the center of both

our educational practice and policy” (Ayers, et al., 2008, p. 305)

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Service Learning Reflection

My service began on March 6th at Seven Courts Apartment Complex. When I first went

to the apartments, I thought I would complete my hours and never come back. As soon as I met

Mrs. Johnson and the children, I fell in love. Before the children went into the building, my

classmate and I were unsure of what to do and expect. Mrs. Johnson told us what to do and how

to instruct the students. She also told us a little about her and what to expect. When the children

arrived, a parent in a wheelchair came and started talking loudly to them. The students were

doing whatever they wanted. I tried to help them put their stuff away and get their homework

out, but the parent would try to take control. Eventually, Mrs. Johnson told the parent to let us

handle the kids. With less pressure from the parent, the students calmed down, and they were

more willing to listen.

Growing up in a neighborhood that was in a rural area, yet the school was considered a

high poverty school, I had an idea of what type of issues the children from Seven Courts were

having due to my experience. According to Milner & Lomotey (2014), “high poverty-schools –

schools with more than 40 percent of students receiving free/reduced lunch, enroll large numbers

of students of color, and increasing high proportions of English Language Learners” (p. 171).

One of the main issues in my neighborhood was the increased violence and drugs due to gangs.

The schools I attended were all Title I just like Peyton Forest Elementary, the school the students

from Seven Courts attend. It was easy to understand that the students would be having issues

with their school work due to home issues. I also knew that the students would probably be

smarter “streetwise” rather than in school. “It is often the case that for children who are from

poor communities, critical-thinking skills are basic… They are accustomed to being more
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independent. Often they are familiar with real-life problems and how to solve them” (Ayers et

al., 2008, p. 128).

Since my first day, I was attached to the students and them to me. Seven Courts have a

mixture of both Hispanic and Black families, but the majority of the students who went to the

after-school program were black. Mrs. Johnson soon realized I spoke Spanish and immediately

after put me to work. She said she often needed help translating to the parents who spoke

Spanish, and needed help getting the Hispanic families involved with Rainbow. She wanted all

the families to unite and understand that Rainbow was there to help serve the community.

Several times she would get me to call families so that they can learn about the resources they

offered, such as providing book bags to the children, GED classes, and English Language

Learning courses online. The language barrier did not stop Mrs. Johnson from providing services

to the families who did not speak English; instead, she was very welcoming of everyone.

The materials in the center were minimal, therefore we had to bring our own. One day

Mrs. Johnson asked us what we were going to work on with children. My classmate and I both

quickly looked for something to do. We also realized the center didn’t have many materials. We

eventually went to the store and bought supplies for them to create their Rainbow after they

finished their homework. On an average day, we would work with the students on homework

first and then do an activity or play a game. Many times, if they didn’t bring homework, we

would give them math problems (either adding or multiplication issues depending on their school

level). On Fridays, Mrs. Johnson did not want the children to be in a typical classroom setting.

She wanted us to play games with them or do activities. The first Friday I was with them, I

noticed that not many students go on this day. One of their favorite activities to do on Fridays

was to play board games, especially UNO and Mancala.

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Each child was different realized that the children didn’t talk much about their family

situations. They would mention other siblings but rarely spoke about home. One homework

activity some students had; they had to draw their family. I realized that some children would

draw their family, and only one drew their extended family. I think this is important because you

can observe the differences between the students who grew up in a close family or in families

who are distant from their other relatives. I got close to each of the students, but there was one

student that grabbed my attention the most. She was in fourth grade, and in the center, she would

act like a child, behave, and respect us when she was alone, but whenever her older friends came,

she acted like she didn’t know the rules and would be act adult-like. Mrs. Johnson then informed

us, the volunteers, that she was being abused at home and was being treated as if she was older.

Even though she would act “tough” in front of her peers, I understood that it was just a mask that

was built from everything that was going in at home. When she would do her homework or do

math problems, I would see that she enjoyed interacting with all the other students. Like all the

other students, she liked math and learning in general. In a sense, it was their way of forgetting

about going home. The Seven Courts community was their safe-haven. You could tell that they

enjoyed coming and talking to us or learning from us.

The last day I was there, I saw how close the students and our volunteers were with each

other. Overall, I enjoyed working with the students at Seven Courts because they learned from

me and I from them. They have taught me that children may go through adult-like situations, but

to remember that they are still children. Even though I usually don’t enjoy working with smaller

children, the students here at Seven Courts have made my experience enjoyable. Additionally,

working with them has been a constant reminder of why I want to become an educator and

dismantle the system. The children like the ones at Seven Courts are why I continue to fight.
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Works Cited

Ayers, William. City Kids, City Schools: More Reports from the Front Row. New Press, 2008.

Richard, M. I., & Lomotey, K. (2014). Handbook of Urban Education. New York, NY:

Routledge, Taylor & Francis Group.