Wednesday, December 7, 2016

Event #2: Staff Meeting at Henry Barnard School

For one of my events I attended a staff meeting at my work study job, Henry Barnard School, on September .  In the after school program Explorations there are about 100 students that attend on various, if not multiple days, a week from the school.  Each year we have about 1-3 meetings depending on how hectic the year begins, progresses or is setting to end.  At this meeting the director of the program discussed some interesting focal points for as to think about.  Majority of my co-workers at this job are teaching majors, some nursing and others are Youth Development which can sometimes be hard when working with the children.  As youth workers you sometimes depending on the situation can have a different opinion or outlook on a situation compared to a teacher our a nurse.  Over the past five years that I have worked here I definitely have encountered many students over time and have been given the opportunity to get to know them as well.  In this meeting we discussed how it its important for us to stay interacted with the students at all times which means no distractions such as cell phones.  Another topic that was brought to our attention was the discussion of the few students who we should be more aware of.  All of these students come to this program to have fun in a safe and learning environment besides school.  As a youth worker or someone who works with youth, the concept of being mindful is absolutely key.  We discussed as a group how we as workers can make being mindful dominant in certain situations.
The blog post that I feel relates to this event is when learning about The Center for Resilience and how they are incorporated into settings with youth.  Being able to cater to these students and his or her needs is something that is absolutely crucial.  With having the same 100 students attending the program everyday or a few days a week, you get to have the opportunity to spend time and watching them grow creatively as well as academically.  With The Center for Resilience they not only want to gather the students together with the youth workers but also involving the parents.  Community is needed especially when these children have been in the program since prekindergarten. 

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