the Boys and Girls Club

Currently, I am waiting for the kids at the Boys and Girls club to arrive. The director at the Boys and Girls club offered me a part time job as the art teacher. Because I do not have the full 30 hrs/week available to take the job, I have taken the flexible and rewarding volunteer rout via Mondays and Fridays. The coin of experiences at The Boys and Girls club has landed on both sides of crisis and victory.

A crisis I now know is developing art projects suited to the age of the artist. I’ve learned that the younger a child is the more satisfaction they receive from making something look exactly like the original and the more discouraged they become if it does not. The simpler the task is, the more they enjoy it. For example, gluing pre-cut shapes of construction paper together. I was not expecting this attraction to predictability and limits because I assumed that everyone, regardless of age, would prefer having a free-range creative project where they get to choose what the end product looks like. I also found that the older a child gets, the more capacity she has for expression, yet, in general, she requires much more coaxing to even try the project. Because of the social pressures that arise in later age, teen expression through art can be a stressful situation if the atmosphere is not completely accepting. In general, teens are shy about making mistakes for fear of ridicule, especially in front of their friends. The teens become excited with thoughts of creating movies, dance routines, raps and murals, but when the time comes to try something new their excitement seems to evaporate into avoidance or complete apathy. Because the art class is nothing they are required to come to, I’ve found keeping the teens motivated to stay committed to a long-term project a challenge. The same underlying fear is the reason that younger children like clear cut projects and teens are afraid to expose themselves. The victory comes when the atmosphere becomes one of encouragement where friends convince each other to try something new and grow as a result.

One friday the group voted to have a movie day. The popcorn was popped, the straws were bent, and Over the Hedge was rented. The movie seemed to have an ominous haze of crisis surrounding it as it was inserted into the DVD player, yet I decided to ignore my apprehensive feelings as my unease turned into curiosity. My curiosity was stilled as the story unfolded about a raccoon who steals stolen junk food from a bear (packaged chips, cookies, etc.), and because of his greed the bear catches him telling the raccoon that if he does not get all of the food back in one month he will eat him. In his search, the raccoon stumbles upon a group of animals who’s forest has been developed into a suburb. He manipulates the animals to steal food from the suburb for him. As if the story couldn’t be any more lost, The character who stands up for morals, the turtle, is constantly being humiliated, made fun of, ignored, and abused throughout the film while the raccoon is adored and glorified. About half an hour in, I could not watch anymore for I felt my very soul was wrenching. This movie mirrored the disintegrating morality of society with no sign of a fulfilling victory at the end. The only victory that remotely relates to movie watching is the movie we watched to following week: Cars.
Because of my experience the previous week, I was not happy about watching another movie, but I couldn’t refuse the pleads of those cute kids. This movie was about how a race car, Lightning Mcqueen, learns that friends are more important than personal glory. I was impressed with how the movie demonstrated responsibility and justice. During one part, Lightning drags a statue wrapped in barbed wire through the streets of a town causing a considerable about of damage, and lightning is required to fix the damages before he can leave. I was so proud because it is a common occurrence in cartoons that characters go on extreme damage escapades while severely injuring themselves with no consequences for the cultural comedic effect. I was also impressed with how the film illustrated the value in humility and service as lightning learned to help his friends instead of himself (countering what Over the Hedge had taught the kids). I am thankful for both the crisis’s and the victories for both are needed to learn and grow.

All in all, serving at the Boys and Girls club has been a positive experience It has proven to be a great place to have fun getting to know kids and teens while at the same time learning job skills and teaching skills.