All these smiling faces are students who participated in New City Afterschool this past week! And these are just a couple student pictures; stop by and check out our selfie wall to see more!
After lots of planning, preparation, as well as reading and hearing names of students, it was so great to finally meet these guys. Our first week went well, thanks to the support of our volunteers, families, the staff at Kent Hills Elementary, and so many that have been praying for us. Of course, we had a couple rocky first week moments. Many of the students who have been involved with New City Neighbors for years prior are adjusting to a new type of program, as well as a new person leading the program. But we are all learning together!
One of my favorite stories from the past week comes from our tutoring time. Each day students come in and get right to work on their homework. One of our middle school students was helping to tutor one of our second grade students with his reading homework. I walked by to see how things were going and the middle school student said, “I just taught him how to read!” in somewhat of an amazed voice. They both shared with me how the second grader had some trouble reading a paragraph, but after reading it out loud a couple of times he had really grasped it. They were both pumped. So was I, because this is exactly what we want to see happening. We want our students who struggle in an area to get the help that they need to learn and grow. And we want our middle school and high school students to provide leadership and encouragement, as well as be great role models. This past week we already had six high school students who have volunteered to tutor, serve as assistants with activities, and more. They have already stepped up to the task of leadership and service and I am looking forward to seeing this grow in the coming weeks.
Keep us in your prayers as we get ready for week 2! We also are still in need of tutors on Tuesdays, Wednesdays, and Thursdays from 3:30 to 4:30pm. The closer we can get to each student having a tutor one on one the better we can serve them! Email me, Alaina, at alainad@newcityneigbors.org if you are interested.
