10/13/2026

 

Reed - Today was a rough morning, most of us had trouble waking up, but we got up and had breakfast. We left on time today, and made no wrong turns this time. We arrived to the Tennyson center, and was greeted by Ms. Hope, then, we began our day with the kids. Reed and Mr. Ortiz started out the day by watching some Steven Universe with the kids(it’s the classes favorite show) and then around 8:45 we started our math section. Reed, Chase, and Melissa began to play trash. Trash is a math based card game that we have been playing for the past 2 days. This is one of the games that the kids can play and not get distracted. Mr. Ortiz was helping a studnet with his English work on the computer while Reed and Chase continued played cards. Reed and Chase seemed to be connecting really well today and Chase didn’t even fall asleep once. Reed saw change today and did well with hanging out with the kids and making them feel important. Reed and Chase went out for a walk after lunch, they played football, walked around a little bit, and had a deep conversation about life. Reed felt accomplished with his day and was happy he got to connect on a deeper lever with Chase than he has been. We got back to the house and realized that we had no more snacks, and made a group decision to make a run to the grocery store.  Noah, EJ, and Connel had dinner duties today and made some amazing tacos. After dinner Reed, Brady, and EJ baked some banana bread, it isn’t ready yet but I bet its really good.

Declan - At the end of the night, we all sat down and started a thoughtful discussion, were we answered the question, “Where do we belong in Tennyson.” After writing down a few responses in our own notebooks, we shared out loud. Many of us said that we felt like we could provide a good example and positive influence in the classroom. Knowing that many of these kids come from backgrounds where they lack role models, we talked about the importance of doing the little things. This includes the simple stuff: holding the door open, greetings, and saying “please” and “thank you”. We also said that we can be positive and happy. Trying to focus on the small stuff and little wins is important for the kids, as their progress is smaller but important. To add on, having a smile on your face and being happy is contagious. It’s really important when other kids are rough days because a lot of times that negative energy wears off on the others and it’s harder for them to learn.

Brady – Just after one day, it was cool to see some of the progress that the kids had made. One thing that stuck with me was when we were talking with the teacher that had been working here for 11 years and in this line of service for 15 years, he said “even if a kid left the class 5 times and only 4 today, we see that as progress and the kids working hard”. This stuck with me because of how compassionate you see the teachers being. They dedicate all their time to a profession that not many would take and show these kids a love some of them might have never felt. These teachers inspire me to bring this into my own life and recognize that you may never know what has happened in someone else’s life, and you should always just treat people with empathy and compassion and that may be all someone needs to change and try to grow.