Service and social justice reflection
Section I: (Service)
Where to begin? I’m not going to lie, but when I was first told I would be a tutor at an elementary school, I got really worried because I feel like I’m not even good at school, so how could I ever help little kids do English and Math homework?? I’ve come to realize that Completely Kids is a lot more than just tutoring younger students with a different educational background, but also a mentor program. I spent a lot of my time at completely kids not tutoring, but rather hanging out with a group of kids playing activities like soccer, kickball, and tag. I learned that one of the reasons why I am there is to uplift the spirits of the kids and for them to have a college role model to look up to. The Completely Kids that I attended was at Highland Elementary School, which is located in a poorer neighborhood in South Omaha. I learned that South Omaha Is a largely populated by people with Hispanic backgrounds, which is represented at the school. Some moments that I’ve recognized these differences was by what type of snacks the children eat with Spanish labels on them and when they don’t want me to understand something, they will say it in Spanish because I only know German! Those little rascals! I also recognized the cultural difference to my own or what I’m used to when the kids would get excited or upset they would comment in Spanish, such as when we played soccer and it was a handball, I would hear “monos!” Now cycling back to the part about having college role models. I believe one of the reasons why Completely Kids likes us to attend and wear our Creighton shirts is to be representatives of college students and have the elementary students strive to excel in school so that one day they can attend college as well. A role model, specifically in our location in South Omaha, is crucial because some of these families have never had a kid go to college before or sometimes graduate high school. It’s extremely tough in modern times to not have a college degree, especially when trying to get a first job because the job market is shrinking as machines are taking over and the applicant pool is growing. Something that I have noticed about the area that I served in was the education level and how education is one of the most important things that I believe we need to address as a nation. Looking back to how fortunate I was in receiving the education I had, I become more and more grateful every day. As I am at Completely Kids, I have recognized that the literacy rate of students is much lower than the literacy I, along with classmates, were at their age. I think that one of the reasons why literacy levels may be lower is because as I touched up on that the area is largely Hispanic and sometimes the kids at Highland Elementary are the first generation in their family to learn English, this can place them behind children that have been hearing and learning English from the minute that they were born. Another reason why literacy rates may be lower compared to the area where I received education is the difference that government funds to schools. I will be discussing this topic in my next portion that explains what sort of justice I would like to see in the future relating to education.
Section II: (Service and Social Justice Reflection)
I’m not going to lie, but I am extremely excited to talk about this section because of I discussed and reflected on this topic while I was in Cleveland, OH on my CCSJ spring break service trip. After reflecting on the difference between service and social justice reform in reference to homelessness, I believe I can apply it to the service that I have performed at Completely Kids. To begin with, there is a large difference between service and social justice reform. Service acts as a mere Band-Aid to heal a problem at the current moment. On the other hand, social justice reform acts as the rubbing alcohol that helps clean out the wound and the proper medications needed to uplift the entire wound completely, and allow it to grow back stronger than it originally was before the accident. Service is needed to help assist those facing social injustice for the short term, while social justice reform is being worked on during the service to uplift the injustice as a whole. A way I can apply my knowledge of social justice reform through completely kids is to talk to a local political representative and try to get a bill pass that will fund schools with lower literacy rates, in order to give them the adequate supplies to catch up or surpass other schools that receive larger sums of funding from the government. Another way that I can help uplift the injustice in society, specifically in Completely Kid’s case, would be to create a petition that students would sign to send to the Nebraska senator to increase the school funding for schools exemplifying lower literacy rates.
Where to begin? I’m not going to lie, but when I was first told I would be a tutor at an elementary school, I got really worried because I feel like I’m not even good at school, so how could I ever help little kids do English and Math homework?? I’ve come to realize that Completely Kids is a lot more than just tutoring younger students with a different educational background, but also a mentor program. I spent a lot of my time at completely kids not tutoring, but rather hanging out with a group of kids playing activities like soccer, kickball, and tag. I learned that one of the reasons why I am there is to uplift the spirits of the kids and for them to have a college role model to look up to. The Completely Kids that I attended was at Highland Elementary School, which is located in a poorer neighborhood in South Omaha. I learned that South Omaha Is a largely populated by people with Hispanic backgrounds, which is represented at the school. Some moments that I’ve recognized these differences was by what type of snacks the children eat with Spanish labels on them and when they don’t want me to understand something, they will say it in Spanish because I only know German! Those little rascals! I also recognized the cultural difference to my own or what I’m used to when the kids would get excited or upset they would comment in Spanish, such as when we played soccer and it was a handball, I would hear “monos!” Now cycling back to the part about having college role models. I believe one of the reasons why Completely Kids likes us to attend and wear our Creighton shirts is to be representatives of college students and have the elementary students strive to excel in school so that one day they can attend college as well. A role model, specifically in our location in South Omaha, is crucial because some of these families have never had a kid go to college before or sometimes graduate high school. It’s extremely tough in modern times to not have a college degree, especially when trying to get a first job because the job market is shrinking as machines are taking over and the applicant pool is growing. Something that I have noticed about the area that I served in was the education level and how education is one of the most important things that I believe we need to address as a nation. Looking back to how fortunate I was in receiving the education I had, I become more and more grateful every day. As I am at Completely Kids, I have recognized that the literacy rate of students is much lower than the literacy I, along with classmates, were at their age. I think that one of the reasons why literacy levels may be lower is because as I touched up on that the area is largely Hispanic and sometimes the kids at Highland Elementary are the first generation in their family to learn English, this can place them behind children that have been hearing and learning English from the minute that they were born. Another reason why literacy rates may be lower compared to the area where I received education is the difference that government funds to schools. I will be discussing this topic in my next portion that explains what sort of justice I would like to see in the future relating to education.
Section II: (Service and Social Justice Reflection)
I’m not going to lie, but I am extremely excited to talk about this section because of I discussed and reflected on this topic while I was in Cleveland, OH on my CCSJ spring break service trip. After reflecting on the difference between service and social justice reform in reference to homelessness, I believe I can apply it to the service that I have performed at Completely Kids. To begin with, there is a large difference between service and social justice reform. Service acts as a mere Band-Aid to heal a problem at the current moment. On the other hand, social justice reform acts as the rubbing alcohol that helps clean out the wound and the proper medications needed to uplift the entire wound completely, and allow it to grow back stronger than it originally was before the accident. Service is needed to help assist those facing social injustice for the short term, while social justice reform is being worked on during the service to uplift the injustice as a whole. A way I can apply my knowledge of social justice reform through completely kids is to talk to a local political representative and try to get a bill pass that will fund schools with lower literacy rates, in order to give them the adequate supplies to catch up or surpass other schools that receive larger sums of funding from the government. Another way that I can help uplift the injustice in society, specifically in Completely Kid’s case, would be to create a petition that students would sign to send to the Nebraska senator to increase the school funding for schools exemplifying lower literacy rates.