This month I continued my volunteer work with Anna’s Place:
Arts and Medical Mission – the after school care component of St. Anna’s
overall community mission. Most of the participants in the program just
recently returned to school from summer break, so in order to allow them to
slowly get back into the swing of things, I will formally begin my teaching
assignment next week! This month, I had the chance to rotate throughout the
program as a volunteer in order to gain a more broad understanding of the program
and its mission. One of my favorite activities was volunteering as the
supervisor to the dance class component of the program. Each semester, our
student participants are invited to perform for different events and festivals
around the city, as well as private events hosted by some of our corporate
sponsors. So every week, our student performers rehearse for some of these
penultimate performances at the end of the semester. While I intended to only
supervise these classes, the instructor invited me to participate with the
students. We danced to both contemporary and traditional West African music in
interpretative form. One of the most important things that I learned during
this dance class, and something that’s constantly reinforced in my experiences
here at the university and New Orleans, is that there are many non-conventional
methods of learning and education that we often take for granted. The students
range in age from 5-15 – they all have different levels of focus and different
interests. But the art of dancing and music can be just as effective a teaching
tool as traditional methods. When a student felt constrained by their peers’
opinions on their dancing ability, the dance instructor would explain that in
life, allowing others to define your own personal potential can drastically
hinder you from realizing your potential. When a student would goof off and not
pay attention, he would explain to the other students who might be tempted to
mimic that behavior that in life, taking your eyes off of your own personal
goals in favor of giving focus to those goofing off will never help you realize
the goals that you’ve set for yourself. Those were pertinent lessons for anyone,
but especially students being molded and shaped by their experiences, including
me. I’m so grateful that I was allowed to participate in contribute in these
sessions and can’t wait until next week’s class!
Community Service Totals
September: 5.5 hours
