Trust

Author: Amanda Goodwin

I am in my third year of serving at Quality Education Institute and by now, I feel that I've definitely gained the trust of the staff and have become part of the fabric of the school. My first year, I was warmly welcomed by the principal, who is also the site coordinator. I didn't have a lot of opportunities to interact with the classroom teacher since she would usually just prepare for the lesson by getting the students to the carpet and stepping aside for us to handle the music lesson. She wouldn't really interrupt unless she thought she needed to help with classroom management. However, I think she definitely appreciated that we were there. When I was serving at the school over the summer during my first year, we greeted each other in the parking lot and asked each other how things were going. A few weeks later, one of the kids I taught saw her in the classroom across the hall and waved to her, pointing me out and saying 'look who's here!' She gave the kid a smile and we waved to each other.

Jumping to this year, I have felt even more welcomed by the teachers and staff than I ever thought I would. When I came in for my first day this year, the receptionist was so excited and asked me how my summer had been. One of the preschool teachers told us how much she appreciated us coming in to teach music and to 'please, don't take this away from us.' Of course, I don't believe that would ever happen unless, god forbid, ArtistCorps loses funding, but it is nice to know how much we mean to them.

A few weeks ago, something else happened that I was not expecting. I was leaving for the day and one of the staff sees me and says 'Oh my gosh, hello! Come over here and give me some love!' as she proceeded to hold out her arms for a hug. I went over and gave her a hug, and when I returned to walking with my team member who was new to QEI, she asked if that person was a teacher I had worked with in the past. I responded that she wasn't. She was just a familiar face in the hallway and, in fact, I'm not even sure if she's a teacher or administrator. But the interaction emphasized that, apparently, I have gained more trust and recognition at the school than I realized.