Reflection on Community Service

By: Drew Hento

Volunteer work is a great way to give back to one’s community. I believe that it is

important to be involved in both the school and the community, especially as a future teacher. I

feel that being visible in the community helps you build relationships with different families and

members of the community. These relationships will be very beneficial in your career moving

forward. I think it shows your community that you are not just there for your job, but that you

care about what is happening outside of your own personal interests.

Recently, I was lucky enough to be able to spend over thirty hours volunteering at an

elementary school. During my volunteer hours, I helped teachers in the fourth grade and assisted

in their classrooms. I graded papers, helped clean classrooms, assisted students with their

schoolwork, supervised students at lunch and recess, etc. I was a little worried about helping

students with some of their schoolwork at first, because it had been quite a while since I had

taken the lessons they were teaching that week in class. I wanted to do a good job and help the

students as much as I could. In math class, the students were adding and subtracting mixed

fractions. Even though I was a little apprehensive, my memory kicked in quickly and I was able

to help many students go through the steps of solving their math problems. I was surprised at

how eager the students were to ask a newcomer in their classroom for help. The kids seemed to

welcome my assistance and really listen to what I had to teach them. I found it particularly

rewarding when you saw a student go from not understanding the lesson to figuring it out. They

were so happy and proud of themselves when they finally understood how to solve the problems.

This made me very proud of the students I was helping.

 It had been a very long time since I had been in an elementary classroom. Going back to

school gave me a little bit of a blast from the past feeling. I started remembering all the time that

I had spent back when I was an elementary school student. I grew up in a small town in rural

South Dakota. Many of the children I started school with back in kindergarten were there with

me all the way through our Senior year of high school. I still keep in touch with many of my old

hometown classmates. I have a lot of very fond memories from those years, and I got a small

glimpse of what it would be like to see it from the teachers’ perspective.

I believe that this community service was extremely helpful to me. This volunteer work

gave me some great experience and insight into what being a teacher will be like after I graduate.

I was able to help teachers and students at a school, but they were also able to help me. I learned

a lot from helping students with their schoolwork. I gained confidence that I can be an effective

teacher and found out that I have a lot to contribute to students and their learning. At times, it

took a lot of patience and persistence to help teach concepts that students were not able to grasp

quickly, but that patience and persistence paid off in the end when you were able to ultimately

help the student understand their assignment. This experience also helped to confirm for me that

teaching is what I want to do for the rest of my career.

I had a great time with the teachers and students. Even though I was only there for a short

time, I feel like I was able to make some great connections with both the students and the

teachers. I will remember what I learned during this community service experience and apply

these lessons to my classes and teaching efforts moving forward.