After being greeted with a high-five, I sit in the corner as kids get ready for Centers to start. Holmes elementary is surprisingly nice,surprisingly because on the drive over my mom pointed out an adjoining high school that resembled a prison—the polar opposite of the bright green football fields of my school. The school is huge, with several long hallways and multiple floors, and the third grade classroom we are in is about the same size as my English classroom. The back wall is lined with desktop computers, where students can sit and play educational games as a center. Rows of individual desks fill the center of the room, with each student’s name plastered in large laminated letters. Finally, it is time for Centers to start. Flipping the light switch, a boy croons, “Turn off the lights in here babyyy… .” I laugh, noting the reference to the song “All of the Lights.” Their teacher – my mom instructs me to call him Ryan – easily gets silence from the children and makes sure each has his or her Centers journal and a pencil. Ryan, who probably attended a top college and had many other available opportunities, is in the eleven percent of applicants accepted to be a Teach for America teacher. He demands the class’ attention and good behavior, but doubles as an older brother figure on some levels. Each of the five groups has three to five kids, and Ryan assigns my mom and me to running the reading and vocabulary center. The class is released, and four children sit down at our table. My mom goes through the vocabulary words; the day’s theme was words that have two meanings. Although they have a vast knowledge of pop culture, I notice that she is having a hard time giving the kids reference points for some of the everyday objects, like a plum. Soon the timer goes off, and another set of children sit down in the miniature blue chairs. This group still needed help with reading, so instead of the homographs, they were handed small, makeshift books focusing on double vowel sounds; the books were printed from the internet and stapled by a volunteer like me. They sound out each word phonetically, and their reading is not fluid. “Stop trying to read each word, “ Ryan offers, “and read it like you would read to your baby sister.” With almost enough pages in the book for each kid to go twice, they fight about the fair distribution of Maud’s adventure.

After my visit to Holmes, Teach for America’s mission of “bridging the gap” became less abstract and more concrete. Less than one third of low-income tenth graders are reading at grade level and only 56 percent of high school students will graduate. At the school I visited, 70 percent of fifth graders in classes taught by each for America teachers passed the fifth grade reading exam, versus the 26 percent of fifth graders without a Teach for America teacher. The support system behind Teach for America teachers allow excellent education opportunities to be available to everyone, not just those fortunate enough to pay for their children to attend prestigious private schools. This gap is why I am beginning a partnership between Teach for America and Pine Crest School through a community service initiative project called Kids Corp. Three branches: Backpack Brigade, Teacher’s Helpers, and Computer Tutoring, give additional volunteer support to Teach for America classrooms. Backpack Brigade, the first level of the program, consists of school supplies and backpack collections throughout the school year. These crucial supplies that most students take for granted could allow a teacher to invest in better teaching materials instead of spending their own money on pencils and printer paper. The second level, Teacher’s Helpers, asks volunteers to donate an hour or so of time to stapling books or filing, like I did for Ryan’s classroom. Lastly, the Computer Tutoring club will be akin to the Beta Tutors, but instead of tutoring another Pine Crest student, one gets to help a group of kids at an elementary after care. Using computers donated by Pine Crest Junior Chad Resnik, third graders at Edison Elementary School in Miami will be able to connect with students at Pine Crest via Skype. When staying late after school, Pine Crest students will give them the extra help they may need to excel in a subject. In a classroom without Teach for America support, teachers don’t have the means to offer engaging lessons, and the lack of motivation of both student and teacher gradually leads to disinterest in school and dropouts. By supporting teachers in schools like Holmes and Edison, Pine Crest students can give back to the community while truly making a difference in another’s life.

If you are interested in joining the Pine Crest Kids Corp., please email me at a[email protected]

Options range from donating your time to donating school supplies!