First Day of Institute.

Today was the first day of institute and it was long to say the least. I feel like I woke up before the sun rose and  our bus arrived back at ASU around six. I was so eager to arrive at my new school, Cesar Chavez Elementary and meet my collaborative team who will be teaching the first grade classroom together. There are 4 of us: one from the Hawaii corps, one from the Colorado corps, and one from the Indianapolis corps, and me. It was so exciting to walk into our school for the first time. The staff was holding a huge sign that said Chavez and there was music playing. The side of the building is a huge mural that is dedicated to social justice and I was immediately drawn to it. We learned a little about the school and demographics to give us a taste of our future students. The school is 99% Hispanic and 99% free/reduced lunch. There are around 500 students in the school, with 500 enrolled for summer school. However, they estimate that 20% won't show up. The students that will be coming to Chavez summer school will not all be Chavez students and some will be bused in from other districts. The principal spoke so highly of the families in this community and it was so amazing to hear about them. Another corps member raised her hand and asked to hear more about what the families are like. I loved the principal's answer when she said "A family is a family and no one's is the same."

After this, we went out in the community and met the families of our students. We knocked on their doors and introduced ourselves as the summer school teachers, which was so new for me to be a teacher in the present tense. I felt so humbled to meet one student and his mother. We spoke to them through a fence and their smiles radiated for miles. The student was registered for summer school and seemed so excited. His mom came outside and we spoke with her through the student's translation. His ability to translate so quickly was extremely impressive and inspiring. His mother was wonderful and genuinely wanted to talk with us. You could tell how much they loved Chavez and wanted to do anything they could to get involved. Even if he could only be there for one day, they both wanted him there for summer school. This made me so excited to work with such passionate people. While the mother and I may not be able to fully communicate, we have one thing in common, and that is educating her child.

All my love from Phoenix,

Jacey xxo