Team "New to Seattle" Takes on Cooper Elementary
On my way to Cooper
Elementary School I wasn't quite sure what to expect. I thought maybe I'd
be doing monotonous manual labor in an empty school, but it ended up
being so much more. We worked directly with the teachers, helping them
with small tasks and large jobs alike. The whole day ended up being a
trip down memory lane. Elementary school all came rushing back to me as I
walked into the first classroom and the smell of Crayons hit my nose.
The first job of the day was emptying a supply closet which was to be converted
into a changing room/rain gear closet for the kids before and after
recess. While emptying the closet I saw a book that looked
familiar. It was the same math book that I used in fourth grade! I
don't remember much of the math, but I recognized the green cover with pictures
of kids on a jungle gym.....pretty random. After the closet was emptied
we cut out hearts for Valentine's Day and stapled cloud shaped pockets of paper
together for the kids to stuff and hang. The four hours whizzed by and I
had a blast. The idea that something I had fun doing could improve the
students quality of life is wonderful. The entire staff was appreciative of
our efforts and thanked us profusely. I left with a sense of
accomplishment and I'm definitely looking forward to our next event.
- Kris McKelvey
I want to thank Seattle Works
for the experience I had on Saturday, February 9th. My fellow “New
To Seattle” teammates and I descended upon Cooper Elementary school in a frenzy
of good intentions. We committed random acts of taping (children’s book boxes),
ruthlessly shoveled mounds of soil (planting), and organized one class room
library with no conscience what’s so ever. One squad of our do-gooder legion
covered a wall with joyful propaganda while another viciously smothered out
dated furniture with brightly jubilant contact paper. We left ground zero
(a.k.a. Cooper Elementary) carrying a heavy burden of pride and
community. Yet we know in our hearts, that in four weeks, we have no
choice but to once more let go our altruistic inhibitions and give in to the
good deeds of Seattle Works.
Thanks,
Rob Schreiber
P.S…New to Seattle rocks!!
I had always heard teachers
had it tough, but I realized the full importance of that in our Team Works
project at Cooper Elementary.
At the outset, we were
greeted by the Vice Principal and other staff and soon found ourselves engulfed
in projects. There was just so much to
do – yard work to make the ground more usable for the kids, putting together
excel schedules for teaching staff, laying out display boards, taping up boxes
so that they would not fall apart (I did this), the list was endless. The moment we finished one task, we found ourselves
embroiled in another. Some of us got
involved in cleaning out the storage while others were involved with putting
together games/ folders for children’s educational games. I even managed to fit in photocopying a book
for a teacher. It was all behind the scenes work that must happen for a school
to keep functioning effectively, work that teachers stay on to do after hours
or that parents volunteer to complete.
Time flew, as it does when
one is busy and having fun, and before we knew it was time to bid adieu. We had accomplished a lot and all the staff
was extremely appreciative of our efforts/ help. Famished, we headed over to Cactus on Alki
Beach, where amidst a lot of banter I polished off a Green Chimichanga. I headed home that day with a warm feeling in
my heart knowing that my efforts made some teacher’s life a little easier and
some child’s learning experience a lot more enjoyable.
Thanks.
Akshat
New to Seattle team member
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