Making a Connection

Author: Madeline Milligan

Currently, I am a fourth-year drama student, and this is my first year as an ArtistCorps member.  I am serving at Easton Elementary, where my team, led by Ann Louise Wolf, is working on exposing pre-k children to phonetic sounds as to better help their reading comprehension later on. 

This experience thus far has been incredible.  I get to go in three mornings a week and work with the students in small groups and privately on their comprehension and ability to make different phonetic sounds.  Over the past month, we have seen these kids grow out of their shell a bit more and become comfortable with us.  Now that they understand the structure of what we are doing, they are excited to see us and play games in the morning and enjoy learning in such a tactile way.

One student in particular has grown immensely in her social skills over the past month.  Being one of the youngest in her class, at the beginning of our instruction, she tended to shy away from being assertive and answering questions, instead letting others take the lead.  But as the school year has progressed, seeing her excitement for challenges, commitment to the work, and ability to put herself out there has been amazing to witness. 

These kids are taking in so much new information at such a fast pace and growing each day.  I am so grateful to be able to help them learn in this way and get to see their progress.