March 9th

Day Two
by Kurt Hagemann '11

Today, the Urban Education group went to Midtown Academy, a small community-based Baltimore charter school that focuses on righting the wrongs of traditional Urban Schools. There we observed the children grades 3rd through 8th as they went about their morning. Middletown Academy, whose population consists of students both high and low on the socioeconomic index, is a very high-functioning school that is very organized and efficient in comparison to the traditional urban schools we've learned about in our course material. The academy gave me a very good feeling as I observed and - later on - taught a group of its middle school students about the importance of college and its accessibility. An impressive one hundred percent of its graduates go on to high school. Tomorrow, the group is going to do morning observations at two of Baltimore's inner-city public schools. I am looking forward to tomorrow. We've spent all of the class so far talking about the plights and issues facing urban schools, but we have yet to experience them for ourselves. We've watched several video clips in class that stereotype the urban school experience. I know these are not wholly accurate, and I am excited to see for myself what the basis of this class is really like. I can't imagine that it is as bad as it is portrayed in the media, but I also know that there is some truth to the stereotype. There's only one way to find out.

Day Two
by Kaitlin Molloy '12

As we circled up after lunch Professor Rinke slowly scanned our faces and then commented that we all looked completely burned out. We are not looking forward to going back to campus, where professors will expect us to be rested and rejuvenated. We've all been working so hard that we need a second week of Spring Break just to sleep and recuperate. We got up early this morning, think 6:30 (no sleeping in on this Spring Break!), so that we could be at Midtown Academy by 8. The getting up was an adventure in itself since we are sharing rooms with people who are not in our group and we did not want to wake them up some people set phone alarms on vibrate and everyone checked on each other to make sure that everyone got up in time. We are all wearing professional dress to the schools so the girls are wearing skirts and dress pants with sneakers and then putting on heals at the schools and the guys are all trying to tie ties in the dark (we didn't want to put on lights and wake up the other people in the rooms).

We then made the long walk to Midtown Academy, it actually isn't that bad, but after going back and forth twice today it feels long. Midtown Academy is a small charter school, drawing students from Bolton Hill and Reservoir Hill. Each grade is only one class of 20 students. The students are focused, motivated, and very intelligent. They definitely know stuff that I didn't know when I was their age. The nice thing about Midtown is that there are no application requirements, students are entered in a lottery and randomly selected. This year they had 230 students apply for 23 openings. The classrooms were bright and decorated with colorful and engaging posters. It was clear that people really care about this school and put a lot of time and effort into it. After we observed a few classes we went back to the hostel for lunch and some last minute preparation before the first day of teaching our College and Career Institute.

I was definitely nervous about the prospect of teaching the College and Career Institute. I was worried that kids might act out or I would have classroom management problems. I worried that the kids would be shy and unwilling to share or participate. Thankfully, I worried needlessly. The kids were so excited to be there. They were initially shy, as one normally is when meeting strangers, but they quickly grew more comfortable with us and got into the activities. Together we did some get-to-know-you and teambuilding activities so that we could all learn more about each other. We actually ran out of time and were unable to do everything that we wanted to, which is a rather wonderful problem to have as a teacher. At the end of the day, when we asked the kids what they liked and didn't like and what they wanted to do the rest of the week they said that they really liked everything we did and wanted every day to be like today, which was awesome to hear. I can't wait to go back tomorrow afternoon.

Tomorrow we are getting up very early and taking public transportation across town to visit the regular, public schools, also known as zone schools, where we will be spending the morning trailing one student. It will definitely be a very different and eye-opening experience. I am a little nervous because I know that I will be very outside my comfort zone. Hopefully I'll be able to get a good night's sleep and that will help.

Midtown Academy
byAllison Rudolph '09

Today the group got a taste of elementary school again. We spent the morning sitting in on CREW - teacher, student meeting advisory time for the middle school students – where the students discussed bullying and how to handle it. Afterwards, we learned the history of the Midtown Academy, most noticeably the importance of community involvement in the school. A break for lunch was followed by our first day of the College and Career Institute, which should go down in the books as a success. All the students were actively participating in our planned activities and while reflecting on the day said that they had a ton of fun and would not change anything. I hope the rest of the week goes as well as today went!

"You guys are from Burgundy!"
by Melissa Arsenie '10

Or Gettysburg. Close enough. It was with this unabandoned and slightly confused enthusiasm that I was greeted in the fifth grade classroom I was observing in at Midtown Academy, a charter school where we are teaching our College and Career Institute. Taking part in the activities and classes of a typical day at Midtown was a little overwhelming but incredibly illuminating. It was also quite the flashback to my middle school days, which was admittedly a pleasant trip back down memory lane. I began my morning VERY early as we departed the hostel at 7:30 in order to walk the 1.1 miles to Midtown Academy. When we arrived we were given a brief introduction to the school and then we took part in different "crew" periods. Crew is a special time of the morning set aside for students to meet together with an advisor to discuss the day and week ahead as well as work on special projects. I was assigned to take part in the 8th Grade Boys crew and was subsequently smushed into a small meeting room with about 8 or so preteen boys. It was fascinating to see the group dynamic as well as watch the way that their advisor handled some of the boys. I suppose I must have forgotten what it was like to be that age and to face some of the simple challenges that being a young person entails, such as remembering to have important papers signed, speaking in turn, etc.

After a history of Midtown Academy, I went to observe the fifth grade students at Midtown. It was here in 5th Grade Art that we met many excited faces of Midtown students who knew we were coming and were excited for our arrival. It was here that a little boy asked if we were from Burgundy - which was close enough to Gettysburg for me! After helping out in art class and then taking part in a group meditation circle and trying to understand the reading comprehension exercise being done by the group (much more challenging than anticipated!), we all walked back to the hostel for some reflection and lunch.

After a brief panic attack upon the realization that our art supplies had temporarily gone missing, we were ready to go back to Midtown and meet our 6th, 7th, and 8th grade students in our group. We have a group of eight, 6 girls and 2 boys (although one girl was absent today) and they are an interesting group of young students with varied interests. What they all have in common, however, is their high level of intellect and comprehension of both the importance of education and maintaining one's self identity. In this way, my group is very lucky: we have much less that we have to create and more that we can build upon. Today we talked about identity, interests, and personal goals and how college may play into these elements. While we had a few moments of tension between some students, the lesson went well overall and I look forward to meeting with the students again tomorrow afternoon!

College & Career Institute
by Deonte Austin '11

So today was the earliest that I have waked in my life. Well not really, but it was pretty early. We had to be out of the hostel at 7:30 a.m. Walking to Midtown Academy from downtown was not the most exciting task in the world, but I probably lost about 2 pounds. We learned a brief history about Midtown, went to a crew session (advisory period), and then travelled to different classes. As we walked into a 5th grade class at Midtown Academy Elementary/Middle, we were received with much enthusiasm and excitement from the 5th grade students. When we stepped in the door, all eyes were on us and their eyes brightened.  They asked many questions like "are you a freshman?" and "what high school did you go to?" One of the girl students even asked "is that a clip on tie that you have on?" I was highly embarrassed, but it was rather funny. I did not have on a clip on by the way. The students were very welcoming even though we were outsiders to them. After about 5 minutes, the class went back to doing their work. Melissa and I both decided to walk around the classroom asking the students different questions and commenting their artwork. They continued to ask us questions because they wanted to know more about us and college.
I was hoping to receive this same energy from the middle school students that would be attending our College & Career Institute after school program. As time passed, my nervousness overwhelmed me. Of course, I would be the first college student in my group to have to speak to the middle school students. My nervousness soon went away after I said my first few words and we were on our way. During the after school program the 6th-8th graders were very engaged and enjoyed every activity that we did for the day. They were excited to see us and during the reflection at the end, they were anticipating and enthused about the next day. Hopefully tomorrow goes as well as today.