Si, Se Puede! kids volunteer on MLK Day
Students from the Si, Se Puede! Learning Center spent the
afternoon on Martin Luther King, Jr. Day volunteering at the Mabie
Northside Nursing Facilty.
”
Everybody got the day off,
”
said Leonard Espinoza, a resident activity leader with Si, Se
Puede.
”
We are taking a day ‘on.’
”
Si, Se Puede! kids volunteer on MLK Day
Students from the Si, Se Puede! Learning Center spent the afternoon on Martin Luther King, Jr. Day volunteering at the Mabie Northside Nursing Facilty.
“Everybody got the day off,” said Leonard Espinoza, a resident activity leader with Si, Se Puede. “We are taking a day ‘on.'”
The students were divided into groups and partnered with senior residents staying at the facility. They rotated through four different activities, including reading with their senior partners, an arts and craft project, writing letters to soldiers and recording a line for a video project.
“The main thing was getting the youths’ voice in there,” said Charles Miller, the resident service coordinator, of coming up with the activities for the day of service. “The other was to make sure we were doing something with MLK, which was our arts and crafts project. And then literacy – we are always trying to focus on that everyday.”
In the past, the students have stayed on site at the learning center but have collected items or made things to donate to Emmaus House, a domestic violence shelter.
“This year we wanted to try to see some collaboration where the kids got to work with people of a different generation,” Miller said. “It is difficult to bring the high energy, messy arts and crafts to a place that has a very different pace. But I was amazed by how mature and respectful the students can be in what can sometimes be an uncomfortable situation.”
Miller said he and the other staff members talked with the students about the seniors, explaining that some of them may not be able to make eye contact or talk.
“I noticed when we walked in the kids were a little nervous about the older people and people in wheelchairs,” Espinoza said. “But they open their minds. It’s good for them to spend time with older people and for older people to spend time with them.”
The students arrived at 2 p.m. and gathered in an outdoor area to talk briefly about the importance of Martin Luther King, Jr. Miller asked the students why King is remembered. One student said it was because he fought for equality. Another said he fought for rights.
“That’s why we came here,” Miller said. “We don’t have school, but instead of relaxing we are doing some work.”
With the help of 10 volunteers, including parents and high school teens who are involved in the SHYNE (Students Helping Youths Nurture Education) program, the kids moved into their different groups for the first rotation.
“I think it’s really cool because my grandma used to live here,” said Zoa Lopez, a volunteer. “I know they don’t get a lot of visitors. I know how great the kids make me feel. I know I would be ecstatic to see a huge group of kids (visit.)”
She supervised the group writing letters to soldiers. She explained to the kids what they were doing and prompted them to interact with their senior partners.
For the arts and crafts activity, the students made a collage made up of a cutout of each of their hands. They decorated the hand and wrote what their dream is on the palm of each cutout. The hands were put on a piece of paper in the shape of a rainbow.
Some of the dreams the kids wrote included “Everybody lives in peace and harmony,” “I grow up and do good for myself,” and “To be a Si, Se Puede helper,” among others.
At the video station, the kids recited what their Si, Se Puede! “attitude” is, an exercise meant to highlight many of the core principles that the program teaches the students.
Espinoza said some of those principles include the idea of community, diversity and acceptance. Miller added that it is the idea of “Yes, we can,” that the students learn to incorporate when they face a challenge.
“People who are older or younger are still the same,” Espinoza said, of how King’s own tenets fit in with Si, Se Puede’s goals. “Even though they are younger, they should still treat everyone equal.”
At the end of the afternoon, before the kids left to return to the center at the Villa Luna apartments, they all gathered in a community room to sing a song to the residents.
“They’ve been practicing this song for about two weeks, everyday for a few hours,” Miller said. “Some have instruments. Some just have really good voices. We had a really good day and we hope you had some fun, too.”
The kids sang “Stand By Me,” swaying side to side as they sang.
“Thanks to everyone here at the nursing facility and all the residents for letting us come out,” Miller said.
Miller said the students talked about visiting the facility again and he is coordinating with the staff there for another one.
“I was really surprised and proud of the way they interacted and handled themselves,” he said.
