When kids walk into our program, which is always as fast as possible, they almost always have the same question: “What are we doing today, Mr. Rafa?” It’s a question I rarely answer. I’ve found that even though kids say they don’t like surprises, the truth is that they really do.
When kids ask that perennial question, they are asking about our enrichment time. The kids know that we give them a time where they can tackle their homework and get academic help. That part is never a surprise. But after that time, we always have a special activity. This can be any number of things, always different, and it’s about this activity that the kids are always the most excited.
Soon enough they get their answer. The activity can be anything, from sports to cooking to building, but each activity has one thing in common: they teach life-long lessons. These lessons perhaps will not make sense in the moment, and the value may take time and age to fully sink in. But I know for sure that these lessons will affect their life, because I’ve seen it over and over again.
Do fun and lifelong lessons go together? That is the challenging question the CASE staff must answer, not just during the preparation before a semester, but even in real time. This is what really defines CASE. During the 45 minute enhancement time the staff works hard to deliver these hard-to-mix components – fun and important life lessons.
We teach lessons such as patience, care for others, hospitality, generosity, respect; and we teach practical skills such as planning, using tools, and working as a team. Lessons like these can be taught through something simple as a paper-airplane competition. It’s all in the planning. In helping them make their airplanes, we taught the lessons on how to be patient, how to be conscious of others around you, how to follow written instructions, how to troubleshoot, and even how to have a good attitude about winning or losing. And, kids had a lot of fun doing it! I was shocked to find that almost all of them had never made a paper airplane or flown one! They had a blast making their airplane and competing against their friends in the class.
In my time participating in CASE, I have had the opportunity to see and experience how these lessons affect the lives of kids. At points during the program, we will remind our students of the activities that we have done. Most of the kids will be able to recall the lessons behind the activities. Sometimes it’s necessary to repeat a lesson with a different project to make sure they get it - but most of them will.
I have seen kids moving from constant sadness to being able to smile, from lacking self-confidence to becoming emcees of an event, from being afraid to even speak to finding out that their voice can be heard, from being rowdy to being a gentle and caring, from being a loner to being able to enjoy the company of others, from being defiant and even disrespectful to being a kid that understands the value of respect. These are a few examples. These changes are the result of an investment of patience, love, and care. And it all begins with a simple question: “What are we doing today?”
C.A.S.E. is a program of the Nashville After Zone Alliance. The Nashville After Zone Alliance is a network of coordinated after school programming for Metro’s middle-school students. NAZA is a partnership among the Nashville Public Library, MNPS, and other existing youth-serving groups. It is modeled on successful efforts in other cities and is organized around geographically-defined zones.
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