The third week of GovsPLUS went off with an air of success! Week three marks the full integration of all students into the GovsPLUS family. Just about everyone is in high gear doing what they are supposed to and it seems like it will just get better from here on out.
On Tuesday, in Dawyn and Miguel’s “Fiction Shorts” class, students free wrote or wrote based on a prompt and proceeded to share their work with the class in order to get positive comments and constructive criticism. Due to the student’s constant remarks harassing the SIs to share their work, Miguel and Dawyn started off the sharing piece of the class. Meanwhile, in “Social Equity: Then vs. Now,” Bioribel and Ashley taught a class on gender equality. They organized skits where the students examined gender roles and double standards in society. This jarred the students awake on social issues having to do with gender more broadly. In Thursday’s “Fiction Shorts,” students were all riled up and excited to build a character of their very own based on one of their own peers. Using this character, the students prepared to write a story in the following class, prompting them to make this one as wacky and funny as they possibly could. Meanwhile, across the hall in “Social Equity” the students took on a more serious subject and watched a film on poverty. Rumor has it that the film was so powerful that a small number of students actually shed some tears.
On Wednesday the GovsPLUS crew put on their signature black tees to go to Lynn for some community service work with the REAL Literacy Program. There, the students interacted with young kids at a park overlooking the beach. It was a movie moment as GovsPLUS students played an informal game of soccer and games of “duck, duck, goose” with children that had smiles from ear to ear. One can say that that day was not only great but that left everyone, even our bus driver Moe who got a workout walking around the park, happy. We also took home some “free little libraries” to paint and fill up with books. For more on the REAL Program, see: http://www.therealprogram.org
GovsPLUS scholars with one of Lynn REAL’s littlest guys enjoying a game of soccer.
SI Miguel enjoying a game of “Duck, Duck, Goose!” with GovsPLUS and REAL students.
A great day for a GovsPLUS – REAL art project!
Jeremy G. made a little buddy.
After the morning of service learning in Lynn, GovsPLUS headed to the Pingree School to join Prep@Pingree students for a busy afternoon! Rising 8th graders attended a high school fair learning about local independent schools and admissions, while rising 9th graders met in small groups to discuss tips to prepare for the transition to high school. GovsPLUS scholars were thrilled to hang out with some of their P@P friends from Lawrence and make some new ones from Lynn.
Some of the GovsPLUS – Prep@Pingree rising 9th graders after a discussion on the transition to high school.
GovsPLUS and Prep@Pingree scholars.
On Friday, the students finished up three weeks of hard work that culminated in their research papers on the civil rights movement for Ms. Cruz’s Humanities class. We were so proud of their final papers! After hours putting the final revisions in, students took a much needed break from the high caliber academics and went down to the field where Paola organized a massive game of kickball. It wasn’t even a close game where points are concerned because Miguel’s team blew Bioribel’s team out of the water.
After a long hard week of academics, what is more fun that a good old-fashioned game of kickball?
It was a fitting end to the day as the students mounted the bus, hot and sweaty after an emotional roller coaster of a week and ready for a weekend of rest.
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