Service Learning
Themes of discussion: Translation, tutoring, instruction, and mentoring
During the course, Spanish 301s: Service Learning in the Chicano/Latino Community, thirty hours of community service were required to complete the California State University, Monterey Bay MLO 5 requirement. For my service learning project, I had the opportunity to complete these hours of service in my hometown community of Salinas, California, working at the Boys & Girls Clubs of Monterey County. By completing thirty hours of service, I have learned several things. With the experiences of the service and taking this course I have grown a lot as a person. During my time at the club, I had the opportunity to work in two areas: the activity area and the gym. In the activity area, the students are allowed to finish up school work or any homework they want to complete there. After completing their work, students are allowed to play with they activities that they have there like pool table, foosball, ping-pong, board games or any school appropriate games on their school laptop. The Boys & Girls Clubs of Monterey County's mission is to inspire and empower the youth of Monterey County to realize their full potential to become responsible, healthy, productive and successful citizens (BGCMC 2023).
At the Boys & Girls Clubs, I was a volunteer but more important, I was a mentor to the club members (the students). My duties at the club was to look over the children, behaving well, but also helping them feel included at the club, and depending of the area I was in, to make sure they were having fun and during their daily exercises. In some cases, in the activity area, I helped them complete their homework that varied from math, English, science, etc., but also helped improve their Spanish since most of them are children of Spanish-speaking immigrant parents. Lastly I was available during pre-rotation time for any questions they had about directions or help. Since I was a university student, many elementary students asked me questions about universities, sparking an interest within them.
I have drastically improved my Spanish speaking skills working with students who only speak Spanish or use more Spanglish. I am now able to have a full conversation in Spanish without having to code switch and speak in Spanglish. What I most enjoyed while completing my service learning was the bond formed with students and staff from both the activity department and the gym, the students have great support from staff and are more like a family. It was amazing noticing the social skills of these students improve with my support and I personally felt rewarded when students would ask me for help, call me teacher and gift me drawings the personally made for me. Overall it was a great opportunity and experience working at the Boys & Girls Clubs of Monterey County with elementary students in a community I grew up in and helping the younger generation.
During the course, Spanish 301s: Service Learning in the Chicano/Latino Community, thirty hours of community service were required to complete the California State University, Monterey Bay MLO 5 requirement. For my service learning project, I had the opportunity to complete these hours of service in my hometown community of Salinas, California, working at the Boys & Girls Clubs of Monterey County. By completing thirty hours of service, I have learned several things. With the experiences of the service and taking this course I have grown a lot as a person. During my time at the club, I had the opportunity to work in two areas: the activity area and the gym. In the activity area, the students are allowed to finish up school work or any homework they want to complete there. After completing their work, students are allowed to play with they activities that they have there like pool table, foosball, ping-pong, board games or any school appropriate games on their school laptop. The Boys & Girls Clubs of Monterey County's mission is to inspire and empower the youth of Monterey County to realize their full potential to become responsible, healthy, productive and successful citizens (BGCMC 2023).
At the Boys & Girls Clubs, I was a volunteer but more important, I was a mentor to the club members (the students). My duties at the club was to look over the children, behaving well, but also helping them feel included at the club, and depending of the area I was in, to make sure they were having fun and during their daily exercises. In some cases, in the activity area, I helped them complete their homework that varied from math, English, science, etc., but also helped improve their Spanish since most of them are children of Spanish-speaking immigrant parents. Lastly I was available during pre-rotation time for any questions they had about directions or help. Since I was a university student, many elementary students asked me questions about universities, sparking an interest within them.
I have drastically improved my Spanish speaking skills working with students who only speak Spanish or use more Spanglish. I am now able to have a full conversation in Spanish without having to code switch and speak in Spanglish. What I most enjoyed while completing my service learning was the bond formed with students and staff from both the activity department and the gym, the students have great support from staff and are more like a family. It was amazing noticing the social skills of these students improve with my support and I personally felt rewarded when students would ask me for help, call me teacher and gift me drawings the personally made for me. Overall it was a great opportunity and experience working at the Boys & Girls Clubs of Monterey County with elementary students in a community I grew up in and helping the younger generation.