senior corps

I'm officially terrified. Senior corps applications came out on Friday.  All weekend I was feeling pretty good. I was feeling qualified and confident as I was reading the application.  And then I went to tonight's info session.  There are 18 spots right now for Senior Corps members in Boston. They are hoping to have up to 35 by the end of April, but that all depends on funding. So, right now, there are 18 spots. 18 spots means that if half of the current Corps Members decide to apply, I have a 20% chance of getting in, which is what it's looking to be about.

Anyways, on a lighter note, today at school was great!!  It was pretty much a normal day, but it was filled with joys.

1. During lunch buddies, my two guys, KC and KO were so cute. These two boys are about as opposite as you can get, in almost every aspect of life.  KC is talkative, has a hard time sitting still, paying attention and, yet, is the smartest kid in the class and probably one of the smartest first graders I've ever met.  He has a hard time socially because he gets upset pretty easily and has a hard time just talking about things. KO is the complete opposite.  He's super shy, so quiet, always following directions and wants to please everyone, especially the teachers. I work with KO a lot because he struggles academically, partially because he had leukemia in K1.  Needless to say, these two boys are complete opposites.  Anyways, somehow, we ended up on the subject of best friends. I asked both boys who their best friends were.  When KC went to answer, he responds by naming a two kids in the other class and then he goes "and, KO, you're one of my best friends."  KO smiles and all I could think was "We're having a lunch buddies moment!"  It was cute.
2. Today during our scrapbooking enrichment, I said that I wanted to do an urban legends enrichment for the next cycle.  Pat immediately agreed and the kids started asking about urban legends. Pat told one about a girl at a gas station and a man in the backseat (which I swear is a true story).  JA, my little problem child, was there listening and was really into it.  When we got to Course Coaching, I was writing their homework down and JA was talking.  She was like "You and Mr. Underhill (Pat) should do that thing.  I'm thinking "What thing? We do a million things every day."  She kept on going, "You know those stories."  That's when it clicked, she wanted to do the Urban Legends enrichment. It was so awesome to find something that she enjoyed and I could connect with her. 
3. JA was the source of another joy of the day.  I spent a lot of time during Course Coaching helping her and JR with their math test revisions. She was not doing well and I think was pretty embarrassed about not knowing how to do stuff. Unlike JR, she usually gets the stuff, she just doesn't do her work.  So anyways, I spent a lot of time helping them with stuff math related.  As we were meeting as a team at the end of the day, JA comes strolling into the room and was like "Ms. Russo, she did a good job today." and then proceeded to say that all of the other CMs did a good job.  I know that I was one of like five or six CMs she named, but she started with me and I could just tell that she meant it when she was talking about me.  JA and I have struggled and I don't ever think that we'll always get along, but I think she's starting to realize how much I'm rooting for her and that I'm on her team, even when she herself is not.  

That was my day.  I'm officially terrified of the whole senior corps application process, but I think about JA, KO and KC and know that they are the reason I want a second year, or better yet, a second chance to make a difference in their lives.  They deserve it.

“Faith isn't believing without proof – it's trusting without reservation.” William Sloane Coffin