Featured Blogs
Reflection is an essential component of service learning, and the PSL students regularly engage in activities which allow them to process their service experiences and classroom understandings. Featured below are student blogs that highlight these experiences.
“Facts do not cease to exist because they are ignored.” -Aldous Huxley
Admittedly, I grew up in a bubble, and I began to realize it as I started to become older and more mature. One of my main reasons for signing up for PSL was to find out for myself exactly what was happening in the world around me beyond my home and the Perry Local School District. So far, calling the experience eye-opening would be quite the understatement. After a decent interval of contemplation, I could not dredge up any major personal experiences of poverty and homelessness before taking this class. The PSL field trip to the Salvation Army soup kitchen was the first encounter with the issue. It was shocking to see to real-life examples of homeless people after such a short drive from the school. A sheltered mind like myself had largely relegated homeless people to major cities before the experience, but I am now well-aware that one does not have to travel far to see poverty. The experience, however, has helped me to become a more informed citizen and has inspired me to take action myself to help improve the lives of those that are a short drive away.
I remember the bus ride on the way to the soup kitchen that morning. My ignorance of the social issue of poverty caused me to be unsure of what I was about to experience that day. I was wearing my earbuds and listening to music from my phone, a luxury that I no longer take for granted. The bus came to a halt and all of the students got out. The first activities of the trip were poverty simulations, where I had to dress for a job interview with only the things people who were better off were willing to give up and where my ignorance about the cost of living was revealed. Even these simulations, where I was not in contact with any homeless person, shook me to my core. How much did I really know about this world? Very little before today, I thought, and I still have a long way to go down the road. Then, it was time to serve the food. When we walked through a narrow room to get to the gym to start preparing the food, I look at the people I see sitting at the tables. They’re people, just like me. I could one day be sitting in the same spot as them. It’s much easier to have compassion for those in poverty when they are 3 feet away from you. It was a life-changing moment. Obviously I knew that being poor was a bad thing before the field trip, but I could never fully understand until I saw it with my own eyes. Once I understood, I was in a better position to help.
The human beings I saw at those tables moved me enough to take action. I became more of a personally responsible citizen because I wanted to learn more about the causes of poverty and homelessness and what I could do to help. I became a participatory citizen because I immediately knew the Salvation Army soup kitchen would be where my volunteer hours would be allotted from the moment I left the building on the day of the field trip. I soon plan to be a transformative citizen by participating in Shantytown to educate more people about the issue. The bubble has been burst, and I am now ready to use my newfound knowledge to make a change in the world.
Ryan Sears '16 currently volunteers at the Salvation Army in Painesville, OH. He is also committed to creating a positive and inspired community by sharing motivational quotations with nearly 200 text subscribers.each day.
Admittedly, I grew up in a bubble, and I began to realize it as I started to become older and more mature. One of my main reasons for signing up for PSL was to find out for myself exactly what was happening in the world around me beyond my home and the Perry Local School District. So far, calling the experience eye-opening would be quite the understatement. After a decent interval of contemplation, I could not dredge up any major personal experiences of poverty and homelessness before taking this class. The PSL field trip to the Salvation Army soup kitchen was the first encounter with the issue. It was shocking to see to real-life examples of homeless people after such a short drive from the school. A sheltered mind like myself had largely relegated homeless people to major cities before the experience, but I am now well-aware that one does not have to travel far to see poverty. The experience, however, has helped me to become a more informed citizen and has inspired me to take action myself to help improve the lives of those that are a short drive away.
I remember the bus ride on the way to the soup kitchen that morning. My ignorance of the social issue of poverty caused me to be unsure of what I was about to experience that day. I was wearing my earbuds and listening to music from my phone, a luxury that I no longer take for granted. The bus came to a halt and all of the students got out. The first activities of the trip were poverty simulations, where I had to dress for a job interview with only the things people who were better off were willing to give up and where my ignorance about the cost of living was revealed. Even these simulations, where I was not in contact with any homeless person, shook me to my core. How much did I really know about this world? Very little before today, I thought, and I still have a long way to go down the road. Then, it was time to serve the food. When we walked through a narrow room to get to the gym to start preparing the food, I look at the people I see sitting at the tables. They’re people, just like me. I could one day be sitting in the same spot as them. It’s much easier to have compassion for those in poverty when they are 3 feet away from you. It was a life-changing moment. Obviously I knew that being poor was a bad thing before the field trip, but I could never fully understand until I saw it with my own eyes. Once I understood, I was in a better position to help.
The human beings I saw at those tables moved me enough to take action. I became more of a personally responsible citizen because I wanted to learn more about the causes of poverty and homelessness and what I could do to help. I became a participatory citizen because I immediately knew the Salvation Army soup kitchen would be where my volunteer hours would be allotted from the moment I left the building on the day of the field trip. I soon plan to be a transformative citizen by participating in Shantytown to educate more people about the issue. The bubble has been burst, and I am now ready to use my newfound knowledge to make a change in the world.
Ryan Sears '16 currently volunteers at the Salvation Army in Painesville, OH. He is also committed to creating a positive and inspired community by sharing motivational quotations with nearly 200 text subscribers.each day.
While I had encountered homelessness before my tour of Project Hope, none of those experiences were quite so profound. My previous perception of homelessness had resulted from the people on the Streets and in the subways of New York City, the beggars that I overlooked because I was afraid, or rather, I was ashamed. I was ashamed that I had so much, and they had so little. Despite this, I continued to turn a blind eye to the people who needed the most help. I had no idea that homelessness could be a problem so close to my own home.
My dance studio raises money through 50/50 tickets for Project Hope at our annual Christmas Recital and I had been selling these tickets for many years, however my participation in this act of charity never really meant much to me before I was truly made aware of Project Hope and all that it does for our community. A couple years ago, my dance teacher was disappointed with our lack of enthusiasm towards ticket selling and decided that we should take a field trip to Project Hope. When I arrived that day, I was reminded of the same old fear and shame, and was dreading the tour of the facility. We began in the offices and proceded through the dining area, bedrooms, and bathrooms, all while we were educated about homelessness in Lake County. We spent less than an hour there and yet that hour changed my perception of the world around me forever. I had never thought that Lake County had any homeless people, let alone the numbers that they were showing me. I had believed that everyone in Lake County lived a life like mine, a life with stability and safety. Project Hope showed me that I was wrong, they showed me that I was even luckier than I thought.
I stayed at the back of the group, silent and attentive, as we walked through the building. I wanted to hear everything, I wanted to know about the things that I had ignored my whole life. The woman from Project Hope who I had seen at every Christmas show for years was telling me about women who were heroin addicts passing their addiction on to their unborn children or teaching their young teenagers to shoot up. She explained how the plastic boxes on top of all the beds held all of that person’s belongings. She told us that the people who hadn’t showered in a long time developed sores that made it painful to wash themselves when they were given the opportunity. As each of these details were revealed I became more and more emotional. My mother advises me to avoid drugs at all costs, my belongings barely fit in my house let alone a plastic box, and I am able shower whenever I want. None of the things that affect these people have ever affected me in the same way, or even at all.
After our tour, our group had the opportunity to present the money we had raised to the woman in charge of the shelter. She was so grateful for all that we did, but I found it hard to get rid of the thought that we hadn’t done enough. I left Project Hope and explained to my father all that I had saw and all that I had learned, and I would be lying if I said that I didn’t cry all the way to my warm and loving home, for which I had never been so grateful for. The next year at our show, my friend and I decided to step up our ticket selling technique and we bought giant Christmas Tree costumes. We wore our costumes at every show and by ourselves, we raised around $2500, all of which went straight to Project Hope. It is more beneficial for everyone to recognize the downfalls in society than to ignore the problems right in front of our faces.
Lydia Karlsson '16 (center) currently volunteers at Tri-Point Health Center in Concord, OH. Before she chose to participate in the Perry Service Learning Program, Lydia has served our community through her work at Savelli Dance Studio. She has also volunteered at the Salvation Army in Painesville, OH.
For my volunteer placement, I volunteer in a special needs classroom at Perry Elementary School. The type of work my supervisor does is extremely rare in the fact that no day is the same. When it comes to working with children with special needs, you find yourself not only working to make the current year a success, but the many years to come as well. Also, the children my supervisor works with do not remain in her room the entire day because they also complete activities with the rest of their peers in a regular classroom setting. The work my supervisor does can constitute as work of both charity and justice because she not only works to give her students the best education possible, but to find solutions to issues that will set her students up for better futures for years to come.
As my supervisor works directly with her students, she tends to their current needs, finding solutions to problems almost as soon as they arise. This is the charity aspect of my supervisors work. For example, when one of her students was having issues learning addition, she used several different methods to help explain the concept until the student finally understood. This is the part of her work that has an instant effect on the students and their well being. One could label this as the charity aspect of her job. However, that is not the only task her job consists of.
Through my service I have come to realize there is much more to being a special needs teacher than simply teaching. When it comes to teaching students with disabilities, there are many assumptions and profiling that a teacher must work to redefine in the eyes of their students teachers and cohorts. One of the other important tasks my supervisor handles is making sure she is up to date on the most recent methods of teaching that there is and making sure that others are properly educated on how her students disabilities affects their thoughts and actions. For instance, while doing some housekeeping tasks around the classroom, I got into a discussion with my supervisor on how she manages being a teacher for students with special needs. She described how she often goes to seminars where other teachers of children with special needs meet and collaborate on teaching methods that have and have not been successful. She told me how these seminars commonly involve the discussion of the injustices that unfortunately come with teaching children with special needs, and ways justice can be obtained. This is the aspect of my supervisor's job that works for justice, as she makes a conscious effort to seek solutions to current issues to ensure a better future for her students.
Overall, being a special needs teacher involves commitment both in and outside of the classroom, making it a career consisting of both acts of charity and justice. In truth, within the work of every good teacher you find these qualities. Possessing both of these qualities is what takes being a teacher from a job to a career, a paycheck to a passion, and one thing I know I will be forever grateful for is that teachers like my supervisor exist. To them we owe everything.
Katie Bochnak '15 currently volunteers in Perry Elementary School's Cross Categorical Learning Unit in Perry, OH.
As my supervisor works directly with her students, she tends to their current needs, finding solutions to problems almost as soon as they arise. This is the charity aspect of my supervisors work. For example, when one of her students was having issues learning addition, she used several different methods to help explain the concept until the student finally understood. This is the part of her work that has an instant effect on the students and their well being. One could label this as the charity aspect of her job. However, that is not the only task her job consists of.
Through my service I have come to realize there is much more to being a special needs teacher than simply teaching. When it comes to teaching students with disabilities, there are many assumptions and profiling that a teacher must work to redefine in the eyes of their students teachers and cohorts. One of the other important tasks my supervisor handles is making sure she is up to date on the most recent methods of teaching that there is and making sure that others are properly educated on how her students disabilities affects their thoughts and actions. For instance, while doing some housekeeping tasks around the classroom, I got into a discussion with my supervisor on how she manages being a teacher for students with special needs. She described how she often goes to seminars where other teachers of children with special needs meet and collaborate on teaching methods that have and have not been successful. She told me how these seminars commonly involve the discussion of the injustices that unfortunately come with teaching children with special needs, and ways justice can be obtained. This is the aspect of my supervisor's job that works for justice, as she makes a conscious effort to seek solutions to current issues to ensure a better future for her students.
Overall, being a special needs teacher involves commitment both in and outside of the classroom, making it a career consisting of both acts of charity and justice. In truth, within the work of every good teacher you find these qualities. Possessing both of these qualities is what takes being a teacher from a job to a career, a paycheck to a passion, and one thing I know I will be forever grateful for is that teachers like my supervisor exist. To them we owe everything.
Katie Bochnak '15 currently volunteers in Perry Elementary School's Cross Categorical Learning Unit in Perry, OH.
Alysia Klinger '14 volunteered with Seniors Helping Seniors, a Perry Service Learning Program that connects high school volunteers with senior citizens in Perry, OH.
My service experience has without a doubt contributed to my sense of civic responsibility and social understanding. While volunteering at Emeritus of Mentor, an assisted living facility, I have learned so much about the elderly and what it is like to live there. I paint the ladies’ nails on Sundays and I help them with their grocery shopping at various stores on Tuesdays. These activities give me a chance to learn about these people and build relationships with them, which are just now starting to form.
While painting nails one Sunday, a little old lady told me about her life. She wanted her nails to look pretty because her family was coming to visit her. Her family lives in California and comes up to visit her once a month. While once a month seems like very often to us, and it is for California, for this particular lady it was forever. She spends all of her time sitting around the facility counting down the days, hours and minutes until they come back. She isn't interested in doing the activities that are planned for the residents; she doesn't feel as if she fits in with them. Due to medical issues she has a hard time speaking; all the other residents have a hard time hearing. Instead of bonding with them, she spends her time waiting. There is nothing to do but wait. She loves living at Emeritus, it is a wonderful place to live and she wouldn't pick anywhere else, but it is a lonely life for her.
My heart broke as she told me about herself and her life. I felt guilty because I never even realized this, no one does! Most of us have family in assisted living, or will one day and we have no idea what goes through their minds. We assume they will go there and make relationships with their neighbors and play bingo and eat food! This lady’s family thought the same thing when they placed her at Emeritus. She explained that they force her to participate in every activity while they are there. Is that to ease their conscience? She has contributed to my social understanding of assisted living facilities in general.
As this lady poured her heart out to me and told me her about her life at Emeritus, I realized how much it means to her to have someone come every Sunday and be there for her to talk to and interact with. I was a sure thing for her, she knows that she can come in any Sunday and I can sit down and have a conversation and she can tell me about her day and I will listen and I can tell her about mine. Her face lights up when I tell her about my twirling and school. I came to the realization that I loved talking to her as much as she enjoys talking to me; I am building a relationship with this woman. She has singlehandedly increased my sense of civic responsibility. It is my responsibility to be there for these residents and talk to them when they need it. It is my responsibility to show them that I care what is going on and I will always be there painting their nails, and I will be there for more if they need it. 10/11/2013.
Lexi Holland '14 volunteered at Emeritus Assisted Living in Mentor, OH.
While painting nails one Sunday, a little old lady told me about her life. She wanted her nails to look pretty because her family was coming to visit her. Her family lives in California and comes up to visit her once a month. While once a month seems like very often to us, and it is for California, for this particular lady it was forever. She spends all of her time sitting around the facility counting down the days, hours and minutes until they come back. She isn't interested in doing the activities that are planned for the residents; she doesn't feel as if she fits in with them. Due to medical issues she has a hard time speaking; all the other residents have a hard time hearing. Instead of bonding with them, she spends her time waiting. There is nothing to do but wait. She loves living at Emeritus, it is a wonderful place to live and she wouldn't pick anywhere else, but it is a lonely life for her.
My heart broke as she told me about herself and her life. I felt guilty because I never even realized this, no one does! Most of us have family in assisted living, or will one day and we have no idea what goes through their minds. We assume they will go there and make relationships with their neighbors and play bingo and eat food! This lady’s family thought the same thing when they placed her at Emeritus. She explained that they force her to participate in every activity while they are there. Is that to ease their conscience? She has contributed to my social understanding of assisted living facilities in general.
As this lady poured her heart out to me and told me her about her life at Emeritus, I realized how much it means to her to have someone come every Sunday and be there for her to talk to and interact with. I was a sure thing for her, she knows that she can come in any Sunday and I can sit down and have a conversation and she can tell me about her day and I will listen and I can tell her about mine. Her face lights up when I tell her about my twirling and school. I came to the realization that I loved talking to her as much as she enjoys talking to me; I am building a relationship with this woman. She has singlehandedly increased my sense of civic responsibility. It is my responsibility to be there for these residents and talk to them when they need it. It is my responsibility to show them that I care what is going on and I will always be there painting their nails, and I will be there for more if they need it. 10/11/2013.
Lexi Holland '14 volunteered at Emeritus Assisted Living in Mentor, OH.
The most amazing part about my volunteer experience is that it is completely related to what I would like to do for a career. I have been actively volunteering with the Perry Middle School band for about 3 weeks so far this year. My daily job is to work one-on-one with one of the students who need some help catching up. The difficult thing about middle school band, or band in general, is that one teacher is in charge of making sure that all of the students are performing at about the same level. With about sixty kids in the sixth grade band, it is nearly impossible for the director to pay individual attention to each student.
Lately I have been working with a sweet little girl twice a week. This is her second year of playing saxophone. She struggles with reading notes on the staff, knowing which buttons to push when it’s time to change to a new note, and how to properly position her mouth on the instrument. Although we certainly have our work cut out for us, I absolutely love working with her. I have already noticed improvement with my student after just a handful of lessons with her. She has a positive attitude, is focused on the task at hand, and has even been bringing her instrument home to practice over the weekends. I love seeing the way her eyes light up when she plays a rhythm correctly after struggling with it for so long. I love being able to watch her celebrate all the little victories, and know that I was able to positively contribute to her learning experience. I love knowing that I am a positive example for her to follow.
Although I haven’t been doing this for very long, I am completely confident that it is what I want to do for the rest of my life. Every day, I want to know that I have made a positive contribution to someone’s life, and helped them to reach within themselves and discover what they are capable of. I love teaching because it is equally as rewarding for me as it is for the student. I know that my life may not always be easy, but I know that if I can continue with what I am doing now, and one day become a teacher, I will be happy. I will have peace of mind knowing that I have the ability to change someone’s life for the better. 10/10/2013
Emma Mills '14 volunteered with Perry Middle School's Instrumental Music Department in Perry, OH.
Lately I have been working with a sweet little girl twice a week. This is her second year of playing saxophone. She struggles with reading notes on the staff, knowing which buttons to push when it’s time to change to a new note, and how to properly position her mouth on the instrument. Although we certainly have our work cut out for us, I absolutely love working with her. I have already noticed improvement with my student after just a handful of lessons with her. She has a positive attitude, is focused on the task at hand, and has even been bringing her instrument home to practice over the weekends. I love seeing the way her eyes light up when she plays a rhythm correctly after struggling with it for so long. I love being able to watch her celebrate all the little victories, and know that I was able to positively contribute to her learning experience. I love knowing that I am a positive example for her to follow.
Although I haven’t been doing this for very long, I am completely confident that it is what I want to do for the rest of my life. Every day, I want to know that I have made a positive contribution to someone’s life, and helped them to reach within themselves and discover what they are capable of. I love teaching because it is equally as rewarding for me as it is for the student. I know that my life may not always be easy, but I know that if I can continue with what I am doing now, and one day become a teacher, I will be happy. I will have peace of mind knowing that I have the ability to change someone’s life for the better. 10/10/2013
Emma Mills '14 volunteered with Perry Middle School's Instrumental Music Department in Perry, OH.