February

Greetings,

In the month of February, I spent time volunteering with Edible School Yard.  After attending orientation, I was placed at Arthur Ashe elementary school.  During my visit, I was able to get a feel of what my future duties would be in the kitchen class.  When I first came in, the class was very busy.  The fifth grade class were putting salads together and receiving fresh lemonade.  One of the chefs instructed me to jump in with assisting the students.  As I walked around, they excitedly greeted me as their “new volunteer.”   After getting acquainted with a few of the students, their class was beginning to end.  My next job was prepping the room for the next class that would be entering in about fifteen minutes.   Another volunteer and I, got to work at cleaning services, moving dishes to the washing sink, and putting away the ingredients. 

My last job was the most time consuming.  At this point in the class, a third volunteer joined us.  All three of us began working on a very large pile of dishes.  With the three of us working together we were able to finish just as the last class was ending.  We then received a quick tour of the kitchen and were given avocados.  Overall it was nice first experience working with the program.  I am excited to be back work with the Arthur Ashe kitchen class every Thursday.

Best,

Arielle Johnson

Monthly Hrs: 3

Cumulative Hrs: 3

January

1/30/18

Greetings,

The semester has started and I am excited to get back to volunteering.  I have spent this month mapping out what volunteer activities I am going to continue.   Last semester, I spent the majority of my time volunteering at KIPP Leadership academy.  It was a very rewarding experience, and I think that I will continue to spend some time there.   Another volunteer activity I am excited about is Edible School Yard.  Edible School Yard is a program that allows families to get hands on experience with gardening fresh vegetables and cooking healthy meals.  Their purpose is to create a community that takes care of our natural resources and develops a love of fresh ingredients.  I have an orientation to begin volunteering with the organization on Saturday, and I am excited to learn about their different methods for cultivating and sustaining a healthy lifestyle.

An additional volunteer opportunity I am excited about is working with NORD for a few of their upcoming special events.  Some of these events include their Black History Month program, Easter Celebration, and Youth Fit Fest.  As a native, it is exciting to be able to volunteer with a program that I participated in as a child.  I cannot wait to share all of my experiences in my blogs this semester. 

November

Greetings,

In the month of November, I visited KIPP Charter School twice.  During my first visit, we were assigned to help the art teacher with assembling costumes for a school program.   On my second visit, we assisted with some organizational tasks and received a school tour.   The school tour was very interesting, because it gave the group an opportunity to see the larger impact of the projects we have been doing throughout the semester.  We were told many touching stories of the students and how the school truly functions as a safe haven for many of them. 

We met most of the faculty and the staff, and they each shared with us their multiple roles in the school.  Something I found very interesting is that each staff member wears multiple hats and pitches in whenever they are needed for a different job.  It was a testament of their true passion and love for the students.  One of the most touching stories we heard as a group was from the school’s social worker.  Due to there only being one social worker, some kids unfortunately cannot receive the help that they need.   The highest risk students receive assistance from the social worker, but some will still fall through the cracks.  It is one thing to read about these stories in articles or hear about it on the news, but to see it with your own eyes is incredibly distressing.  It made me realize that the small tasks that we do on Fridays are one less thing that these educators have to worry about, giving them more time to devote to the students’ needs.  As a volunteer, most people would like to make the largest impact possible, but sometimes it can be the most minor services that can be the most meaningful.

Best,

Arielle Johnson

November Hours: 5

Cumulative: 30

October

10/30/17

            In the month of October, I participated in two different volunteer activities.  The first is a continuation of my volunteer activities discussed in my September blog, which take place at KIPP Leadership Academy.   For this month, the KIPP volunteer group’s main activity was imputing data from registration packets into an online school database.   The group also cut “Obama Dollars” for a school wide competition for a trip to Atlanta.  Our last activity was assisting with the middle school’s pep rally and community meeting.  We participated in decorating before the rally, and cleaning up after the rally had taken place.   During the rally the students played games, put on short performances, and received updates about their academic performances.  Special students were also recognized for their leadership and exceptional behavior during the month of October.  It was great to see the students enjoying themselves and being rewarded for their hard work. 

            My second activity was volunteering at the UNCF walk for education.  The UNCF is an organization that raises money for scholarships, HBCU funding, and minority education.   At the event, our first task was setting up tables and chairs for different vendors and organizations that were participating.  Next, we assisted the event’s social media committee with taking pictures and publicizing the event’s hashtag.  After completing the walk, our last task was disassembly. It was a rewarding experience, and I am happy that our group was able to help in so many different ways.

Best, 

Arielle Johnson
Hrs Completed for October: 13
Cumulative Hours: 25

September

9/29/17

Greetings,

            In the time between my first blog entry and now, I have begun volunteering at KIPP Leadership Academy.  Our group of volunteers has been tasked with supporting the administrative team by performing multiple clerical tasks.  Our first tasks were organization based, and required rearranging a room to make it more accessible to staff.  This was a great team building exercise, as it required multiple hands and heads to efficiently execute the reorganization of the room.  Pictures of this activity can be seen below.  Our next task was creating labels, and matching these labels with the correct registration packets.  We have sorted t-shirts for extracurricular activities, and secured the shirts to matching receipts.  Most recently; we have been transferring data from the registration packets into an online database.   

            My experiences at the KIPP Leadership Academy were not initially what I expected.  However, it has revealed to me the many little parts that are required to successfully run a school.  Removing stress from the administrators, allows the administrators to remove stress from the instructors.  This ultimately allows the students to get the most out of their education, which was my ultimate goal.  I am committed to KIPP Leadership Academy, but I believe in the coming months I will be exploring other volunteer opportunities as well. 

Best,

Arielle Johnson

12 Hrs Completed
Cumulative Hours: 12