Each quarter, Project MARS/AmeriCorps 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 Tasha Lequire.
At my service site, all the kids have grown to love me just as much as I love them, but this kid really just stood out to me when thinking about this “great story.”
When I first met this child, he was very very timid. Super-smart kid, quiet, and never caused any trouble. I also noticed that he wasn’t very socialized with his classmates. He was lacking some confidence and the relationships with the other students.
I always make a point to make sure I interact with each child, even if it’s just a simple “hey, buddy” or “how’s your day.” It means the world to the kids to know that someone is interacting with them.
This child, over time, starting becoming a lot more sociable. The first thing that I saw changing in him was that he started giving me a hug every day, along with some of the others. It made my day when a new kid would start greeting me at the door. This way I knew that I had a relationship with them.
I always watch this little boy to see how he interacts with other, and my first couple weeks at my site I noticed he didn’t really have a close friend, he always kept to himself. Now he is playing around and dancing with the other children (they just had a little Halloween party). He was chatting my ear off and running around with a bunch of the other kids.
It made me very happy to see him really light up and have fun with all his other classmates. Maybe I can help some others come out of their shell just by building that personal relationship with them day by day.
