When I started my community based learning project, I was
extremely nervous. I knew that I would be teaching an ESL class every week and
that I could create my own lesson plans. It was nice having that much freedom
but I didn’t know the first thing about teaching a class or creating a lesson
plan. However I made sure to use my previous experience as a volunteer with
children in Africa as a resource for teaching and creating said plans.
The students I met at IRCO taught me so many wonderful
things. During my classes with them they would always ask me about my life and
then also share things about themselves. I learned about their families they
left back home, their past careers and their hopes and dreams. It was so
refreshing and powerful to meet with them every week and see their progress.
They were so excited about learning English and being taught new concepts and
subjects every week. Some students
would travel for two hours to get to the IRCO location and even would come
early and stay late to attend morning and afternoon classes. It showed me that
they really wanted to make a difference and wanted to make all the goals they
had set for themselves come true. I consider myself to be very fortunate for
being able to volunteer with such a wonderful and positive organization such as
IRCO. I learned many lessons from my students that I wouldn’t have otherwise
been able to learn. I think that when people come together and are able to help
others make their dreams come true, well that is a really beautiful thing. I
plan on spending more time at IRCO in the future and I can’t wait to see what
that holds.
~ Frankie Smith
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