Community Service

On February 22 I volunteered at Congregation Beth Shalom to help organize and run a calendar program for 3rd to 7th graders. On this particular Tuesday night I was helping Anne run a program with kids at the religious school that would help them learn about the Hebrew Calendar. During the 4 hours that I was there, I ran a station that taught the kids all about the month of Iyar and the holidays in that month. The children moved in groups from one station (month) to the next during the two hours of their class (there are two classes, one early and one after).
While looking back on the experience I realized that I was not feeling a profound impact on my life from the service I was doing, rather I was the influence on others' experience. The point of the program was to help educate young children about the Hebrew Calendar, a lunar cycle, and help them learn about their heritage. Additionally, the program was spread out around the synagogue to help the kids become comfortable in the congregation. The entire point of the activity was to help these kids feel safe and at home within their community. The work I was doing was helping form a comfortable and close knit community for a bunch of younger kids. Also, the experience of working with kids was special for me since I want to be a teacher one day.