Day 5

Hey everyone, this is Tori! Today we worked with Adams Elementary School and got to play with kids in preschool, kindergarten, and fourth grade during their free time! We received a tour of their beautifully renovated school from the faculty before learning about the challenges that Adams Elementary faces with competition from other schools in the neighborhood. Due to the state of the public school system in St. Louis, many families opt to attend private schools, magnet schools, or charter schools if it is within their means. Adams is located in an up and coming neighborhood, but in turn it is affected by the consequences of gentrification. This occurs when investors enter an impoverished neighborhood with the intent to beautify it, but unintentionally bring in a new population that drives up the cost of living in the area, thereby pushing out those that lived there before. For example, the lot which contained the community garden across the street from Adams was sold to a real estate company to construct a new development. Although this may benefit the neighborhood economically, the school and many of the children relied on this garden for environmental lessons and fresh produce, so there is definitely a trade-off.

Adams is a partially accredited school which faces several obstacles in obtaining its full accreditation, including low attendance rates and struggling test scores. Although the children that we entertained today seem no different than those we have encountered wealthier neighborhoods, as we have learned several times this week, home life plays a huge role in a child’s success in these other areas. Several of these children face many challenges and hold responsibilities outside of school that children twice their age should not have to deal with. Unfortunately, the requirements for acquiring accreditation do not reflect on the obstacles the students and faculty must overcome.

Other obstacles include funding and staffing, but these are not the only factors that play into gaining accreditation. Faculty shared with us the culture behind each socio-economic class so that we could better understand where these children were coming from, and implored that we bring these lessons home and advocate on their behalf in whatever career field or social circle we end up in. Advocation and changing the minds of others goes much farther in long-term change. These schools need progressive policy changes in the public education system and support from the community to remind the teachers and students that their effort is worthwhile. The investment of time by some kind of role model is critical for these children to develop a sense of identity and self-esteem. Although we are leaving St. Louis tomorrow morning, I feel that we are leaving these children in the hands of adults that truly care about them and want to see them succeed.

Hey guys this is Elizabeth! Wow I can’t believe we have reached the end of our Alternative Break week! It seems like just yesterday we were told that we were going to spend our spring break in St. Louis and now we have reached the end. This week has been absolutely life changing in every way imaginable. When  we started on this journey we were a group of college kids who shared a goal of going out and trying to do some good over spring break. Now that the week is  over we are a family completely changed by the people we have met and the experiences we have had.
    
The kids we have come across this week have all had a special impact on us, and I know I will forever hold them in a special place in my heart. From the beautiful souls at Nottingham (A wonderful school that helps kids with special needs learn independent trades), to the playful tots at Kingdom house (a service that offers cheap to free childcare for children 6 weeks to 5 years to low income families), and finally Adams Elementary School. From a distance these places and children seem so different, but at their core they are purely children. They want everything that children everywhere want. They want to know they are smart, valued, and loved. The schools and community centers we have visited clearly believe this, and do everything they can to give these kids some safety and stability while at school. In these places the kids can do things like read, write, and most importantly play in the safety of childhood innocence, if only for a few hours a day.
    
What was perhaps the most difficult part of the day was the fact that we kept getting asked “are we coming back?”. One of the teachers explained to us that at many of these schools teachers and administrators will come and go often. That coupled with the often broken home-life of the children reminds us that these kids understand more about goodbyes than any child should. It broke all our hearts to feel like we were leaving them too, but there is also this since of hope. We met many adults this week that were ready to continue committing their whole lives to these children, and we are leaving them in their hands. Hands that will nurture and care for them as long as they are able.
    
These kids gave us many wonderful gifts this week (they did far more for us than we could ever do for them). The most precious gift they gave me personally was the gift of gratitude. Thinking of the adults we came across this week, and the adults these kids will be around everyday makes me think of a quote by the great Fred Rogers (Mister Rogers) “Look for the helpers, the ones who give their all to help others. They are the heroes of the world,” These kids have people in their lives who love them so fiercely, and adults who believe in them when it seems like so many people don’t. It got me thinking about my childhood, and the adults in my life who would believe in me when no one else would. Church leaders, teachers, people who ran extracurricular activities (I would not have made it through Senior year without the choir room, and an adult who cared). These kids helped me to appreciate that, and as I return to my hometown next weekend to hug and thank a few of those people I will be thinking of them in deepest gratitude. There is so much wrong with the world, and it is so easy to focus on the negative, but what we learned this week is that in even the darkest places the light of hope shines so bright. We just can’t allow the flare to die, and if the adults we met this week are any indication that flare isn’t going anywhere.
    
There is a part of me that wishes more than anything to stay longer. To spend more time with these kids, and in this environment we have been in for the past week. The mode of “living simply”, which included sleeping on the floor of a church, showering at the local YMCA, and preparing meals on a tight budget. You become used to those things after awhile, and it becomes a routine (especially if you are lucky enough to do it alongside such wonderful people). Tonight we spent no less than 3 hours hugging, crying, laughing, reflecting, and enjoying the company of each other. That’s another part of simple living, you live with less distraction and are truly able to enjoy the more “simple” things in life. Playing cards, singing in the crowded van, and cracking up while quoting Spongebob. I really don’t want to leave that, but another part of me is motivated about going back to Knoxville. I feel like this past week we have been caterpillars in a way. We left behind everything we knew, and everything that made us comfortable to go completely outside our comfort zone. We spent this week isolated from all the things we were familiar with, and allowed ourselves to be transformed by the experiences. I personally believe that these kids and this experience has transformed us into something truly beautiful.