February

Northridge Elementary

So this month I started volunteering at Northridge Elementary School. My dear friend, Mrs. Harstad, teaches 3rd grade and invited me to join her class every Tuesday for the month of February to tutor a few of her kids in reading. Thank God she picked something that I’m good in. I would have had to turn her down if she said she needed a math tutor as I fear that my math skills have possibly deteriorated past the 3rd grade level.

Even though my mother has worked in elementary schools forever, it seems, I haven’t actually been in a classroom in ages. The first thing you notice when walking into any elementary school is the smell. The smell of sweaty little kids and lunch. Northridge Elementary is no different. Have you ever noticed that little kids have a very distinct smell of sweat, fresh air, possibly laundry detergent, and some mystery scent? It’s almost as if there is a special perfume…au d’elementary.

Lunch is a whole other story. No matter what they are having, whether it’s mac and cheese and chicken nuggets or pizza…all school cafeterias smell the same. And that smell doesn’t change. I swear Northridge smelled exactly like Hall Halsell in Vinita, OK did when I was there 28 years ago.

My escort was an adorable little girl with a brown bob and glasses. She was quite the responsible little hostess and was very good at walking and conversing. I learned that she loved Mrs. Harstad and really liked math the most.

As I entered the classroom several little bodies shot out of their seats. Do you even remember the last time you got excited enough about something to “shoot out of your seat”? Neither do I. One little guy was so excited that he started to immediately peel off his jacket. Mrs. Harstad explained to me that she had told the children that we went to OSU together and that I now worked for the university and asked people for money. After I assured the children I wouldn’t be asking them for money the little guy in the back who took his jacket off informed me that he was a HUGE OSU fan. And indeed he was, as he was orange from head to toe. I’m not sure that kid could have found anymore orange clothing to wear.

I got my marching orders from Mrs. Harstad and headed to the library with my four students in tow. We spent the next 15 minutes planning a reading comprehension game. Right up my alley! After those 15 minutes we headed back to class where I picked up my next student. We returned to the library where she proceeded to read me a story about a dog who goes to obedience school. I was so engrossed in the story that we almost missed our time limit. There is something so incredibly relaxing about being read to in the middle of the day. I decided I’d be a horrible teacher as my class would simply read out loud all day long and probably never do any math.

Elementary schools across the nation are always looking for responsible adults to volunteer and help in the classrooms. You don’t have to be a certified teacher to help. You just need to be a caring, responsible adult with an interest in supplementing the education kids are getting in the classroom.

There are lots of other opportunities to help with after school mentoring or tutoring programs as well. I hope you would consider taking one hour a week to volunteer in a local school. It’s just your lunch hour. In the time that you would spend surfing the net, online shopping, or running to a fast food restaurant…you could be impacting a child’s education in the most positive way.