My team's impact on our school

I’m a proud corps member serving at Benjamin Franklin middle school, located in the Northeast section of Philadelphia. When I first arrived at this school I was kind of nervous of how the students were going to react to my team and me. I was not really sure of how to approach them or knew what to say to them, but as the year was moving I started feeling more relaxed around them. By the time we reached March, the school climate became free and the atmosphere was calmer. Everybody in the school knows my name, asks about if I’m around all the times, and the school Administration is nice and generous to me.

One of my classes that I work in is 217. Ms. Daniels is a 4th grade teacher with the most kind-hearted and polite group of kids. I do in-class support with her helping out with literature and math, and mainly take out a couple kids a week to do small group tutoring. Also, she has invited me on two school trips, one was to the aquarium, and the other was to the Franklin Institute. I had a fabulous time at both places because the students left with smiles on their faces like they just came back from Disney World.

Ms. Mackey’s 8th grade class is one of my favorites out of all. This class has the hilarious group of kids, and I work with at least 8 students from this classroom. The students work on their reading comprehension skills, and touch base on what’s going on in their lives like a mentor session. I created a performance chart to keep track on their progress in class. I threw a pizza party for these students because they achieved what I had set for them in the month of February.

The way this year went, I feel like my team and I had a great impact on Benjamin Franklin middle school. All the progress this school is making through the time we was appointed to this school with the Pep Rally, City Hall trips, Penny Wars etc…

Russ, 22, corps member, the Graham Company team at Franklin school