the day we ran out of protein

Today was the first day we actually did something at KIPP Gaston! Woot woot!! We had to get up pretty early this morning, so everyone was quite quiet in the van on the way there. We got to see the sunrise (for the first time in a while for a lot of us) and it was really pretty. Once we arrived at the school, we went to C. Muma's chemistry classroom to receive our instructions for the day. The task list consisted of a variety of tasks, ranging from decorating blackboards to reading to the kindergarten classes. We were able to shadow some teachers in the beginning of the day, just to get an idea of the different "cultures" within the different classrooms and Prides (what grades are called at KIPP Gaston). It was really nice to be able to help out the teachers with their different tasks because it was obvious that they were pretty overwhelmed with work. Also, seeing how the teachers interacted with their students allowed us to gain a different perspective on teacher-student interactions. Where we are from, the communication between teachers and students is much more professional and disconnected than what we saw at Gaston. Here, it seems that the students, particularly in the primary school, are very close with their students. At around 11:00 o'clock, it was time for lunch. At KIPP Gaston there are two lunch periods. We decided to sit down and talk to some of the students about their hobbies, their weekend plans, and day-to-day life. The students we communicated with seemed very stress-free and easy to talk to. It was interesting to see that the students were much more welcoming than expected. For the second half of the day, we transitioned into more outside of the classroom help. We learned how to use a copier, and helped make lesson materials for the students. This included making small booklets of stories that the teachers were going to hand out to the kids, and laminating different activities. On Fridays, classes end at 2:00 PM for all students because there are staff meetings from 2:00 to 5:00. We went to introduce ourselves to the rest of the staff, but it was disappointing to be unable to observe the staff meeting for longer. After a long day at KIPP Gaston, we came home and completed reflection. A lot of us noticed that many of the students don't participate in outside of school activities. We also noticed the difference in the teacher-student difference in demographic. For example, there is a much higher percentage of white teachers compared to the amount of African American students. Unfortunately, there is also the issue of a high teacher-turnover rate, which reduced the skills that the students are able to learn. There also needs to be a fine line between expectations of the students and what they are actually capable of doing. Lastly, after a good meal of quinoa, mashed potatoes, and veggies, we enjoyed some very intense team bonding that involved playing mafia, never have I ever, and laughing about college in general. It's only the second day, but it seems we have already done so much! The team overall has really bonded as well, making this experience that much more enjoyable.