The following was written by Amanda Villarreal , a junior Social Work major, from Miami Hamilton about her experience working with Sojourner Recovery Services at the Buckeye Adolescent center.
This week we were met with an
apology letter from the boys of Buckeye. The week prior, they weren’t as
willing to participate as they usually are and used a lot of foul language. It was a gentle
reminder that they are not as grown up as they think! Our plan for the day was
to engage all of the kids in a game of kickball. We figured we’d use this as a
mood lifter and then take it from there after it was over. However, despite
their letters, we were not met with approval of the game! Although we (as in the
Miami group, Ike, and Rachael) all wanted to play something active, we allowed
them to take the lead and direct us to what they wanted to do. We moved the
picnic tables together and broke off into two groups. Half played UNO and the
other half played Jenga. Jamie brought a book of questions that made it feel
like we were still apart of both sides even though we were doing different
things.
There were
still moments where we had to redirect them to use better language and times
where they started to annoy each other but it comes with the territory. We can
tell teenagers to not tease their peers, especially ones they live with, until
we’re blue in the face and it will still happen. The questions Jamie asked
helped us learn more about them and we realized, at least I did, that we
actually have a lot in common. There is one girl who is the newest that seemed
to be the most quiet. I noticed after our second (or third) week with her, she
has started to warm up and be more engaged. The questions helped her relax a little
bit too! We have decided to go out with a bang and host a cookout our last day
at Buckeye. I think the kids will like this and it will give them something to
look forward too.
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| Amanda & Jamie outside Buckeye's Mission house! |
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| Jamie playing an intense game of jenga! |
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