Each semester, AmeriCorps’ Project MARS collects “Great Stories” from its members in which they reflect on their experiences mentoring in the classroom and the progress they see students making. This month’s story comes from Camille Hoffman, written during the school year. The headline is the title she gave to her story.
School is officially back in session at Francine Delany New School for Children! On this blessed day, our staff was graced with 90 beautiful faces that we have only seen through a computer screen for the entire duration of our 2020-2021 school year. Up to this point in our school year, I have interacted with ceiling fans, bedroom walls, children’s foreheads, and blank Google Meet screens.
Today, I saw faces, heard laughs, witnessed masked smiles, and an overall warmth throughout our school’s campus. The best part about this story is how excited our students were to see their fellow peers. Throughout our virtual school year, a disconnect seemed to form amongst our students. They were afraid to talk to one another, to show their faces, and to interact as a class. Today, it was as if they had never left one another, and they giggled their way through the day. My heart has never felt so full!
