The school year started today. I'm so blessed to work with City Year. I have only good things to say about City Year as an organization, and today I saw why organizations like City Year are important: Bronx middle schools are tough places. Today felt like I was working in a prison. Police officers included. The first day by nature typically can be chaotic and boring, regardless of the school. You just need to make it through all the kinks and get acquainted with everything again. Before the students could even walk through the doors they had to go through a metal detector and have their backpack scanned. The line to do so was very long. Students are required to wear camouflage pants and polo shirts, but only half the students wore the uniforms. The students move from classroom to classroom with a 2 minute passing period. Lunch is a zoo. The students are called up table-by-table while a teacher yells through a mega-phone. If the students don't respond to the megaphone, he uses a whistle. A police officer patrols the lunch-room as well. The students get about a 9 minute recess period, and then they're back to class.
Today, our main role was to function as "extra bodies" to help patrol things and help things move smoothly. We did super fun power-greetings and chants this morning to welcome the students to school. Some kids really got into it. I got into it! When the principal makes an announcement over the loud speaker, she plays a clip of a Jay-Z song before she talks-- it's super funny. There are definitely some unique and cool things about MS.424x. I'm excited to learn and grow from being in this community. I know there are going to be challenges, and it's already a culture shock for me. But it will be worth it. While I was talking to a 7th grade girl at lunch about the coming school year, she said she was most excited to spend time with City Year. How sweet!
Disclaimer: This post does not reflect the views of City Year or Americorps.
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