I teach, therefore I learn

 The following was written by Heather Heineman,a senior Criminal Justice major at Miami University Hamilton about her experience with the Boys & Girls Program at the Booker T. Washington Community Center!

“I teach, therefore I learn.” –Unknown

           When I began my time at Booker T. Washington, I had heard this quote a million times but never really understood what it meant. It has always been a dream of mine to work with children and to try to make a difference in someone’s life but this was my first opportunity to actually be able to work directly with a group of children. My time at Booker T. Washington not only showed me the importance of helping children but also showed me how much children can teach us. My very first day, I had the opportunity to work with a very smart young girl that blew me away with how creative she was. I was helping her with her homework. She was given an orange circle cut out of construction paper and was instructed to make a pizza for art class. As she was drawing the pizza, she asked my what my favorite pizza was. I said pepperoni so she said she would draw a pepperoni pizza since it was my favorite. As she was drawing the crust, she got excited and asked me if I had ever had the pizza from Little Caesars with the pretzel crust. This must have sparked her memory because she then got really excited and said she was going to make crazy bread to go with her pizza. I assumed, which is something I learned you should never do with children, that she was just going to draw it on a piece of paper. She went and got extra paper and began to roll it up. I thought she was then going to make breadsticks. I, again, was wrong. First, she made the paper bag the breadsticks come in. Then, she made little breadsticks and taped them coming out of the top. She then drew the same decoration on the front of the bag that is actually on crazy bread. She made 3-D breadsticks to add to her pizza! I was so impressed! She stapled it to her pizza and was so excited to take it to class the next day. When I saw her again, I asked her how her teacher liked it. She said, “Oh, she just ripped it off…” This story is something that I will forever remember. She had worked so hard to create something that she was so proud of just for her teacher to act like it was no big deal. It reminded me that, in life, just because we may not think something is a big deal, does not mean that it doesn't mean a lot to someone else. 

          My whole experience at Booker T. Washington was one that I will never forget. I loved being able to work with the children and get to see all their different personalities and how they learn. I loved getting hugs and being greeted at the door and taking my hand and leading me back to the classroom. I loved watching their reactions to stories and seeing the look of accomplishment on their face when they got to get candy and put a sticker up when they passed the quiz for each book they read. It would be impossible to ever list everything that these kids taught me in my short time with them. Children have a way of keeping you grounded and showing you the important things in life. They remind you to pay attention to the little things again. They become a loyal friend for something so little as just taking the time to check their homework for them or read a book with them. I am very grateful for the opportunity I was given to be able to help out at Booker T. Washington and hope to be able to pass along in my life even a quarter of the knowledge I obtained when working with these wonderful children.