My Summer Experience

      I finished my Turner Fellowship last Friday, and could not have been more pleased with the way my summer turned out.  I will admit that I was a little unsure when I heard I had been placed with PTM in April.  Personally, I did not think I was fit to teach younger kids math, science, and reading; however, I quickly learned that the work I would be doing at PTM was much more than that. I remember being nervous about my first day at Summer Salt because I was afraid the kids would not be as quickly accepting of me as the ones I had previously met since I would be someone new to them—missed the first week of programming due to a mission trip to Honduras.  I was dead wrong, and by the end of the day felt dumb for having those fears.   Yes, I do have to teach math, science, and reading, but if you can find a way to make it fun and seem less like school than it is, then the kids enjoy it.

     PTM has exposed me to a whole new world.  It has been eye opening to drive through the neighborhood and to even watch the way some of the kids interact with each other.  I love playing games with the kids, in particular capture the flag, and simply just hanging out with them. Some of the kids I play morning games with, whose names I cannot even remember will often times come and say hi to me.  I know that I have made a difference at PTM when kids I played quarterback for one morning are filled with joy upon seeing me if only for one minute each day. I have formed memorable relationships with both the kids and the staff, and because of this I hope to find time to come to after school programming and form new relationships.
     I have taken field trips to Cumberland Park, a dairy farm, a recycling center, and the law offices of Waller Lansden to name a few.  I have hiked in Edwin Warner Park.  I have watched Like Mike and ate ten bags of popcorn between the ten of us.  I have participated in a slip n’ slide and a water balloon fight in the pouring rain—my favorite day.  It is easy to say that I had a great summer.