Service Learning in Retrospect

Over the past several months I have done a few things for the first time in life; such as interview strangers, walk around unknown neighborhoods snapping pictures of strangers homes, and volunteer work with children. Although I was hesitant to do these things in the beginning, in the end I am glad I was able to follow through.

I have never been the most outgoing person so, out of the new the new things on my list, interviewing a stranger was by far the most nerve racking part of this project. Luckily I found a nice library with a kind staff that was more than happy to participate. From this I learned a little bit about the neighborhood and about people’s feelings toward the direction that the city needs to take. While I feel that I accomplished my goal it could have been more successful had I been better more at ease. I was relieved to get out and take a walk.

It is amazing how much more you notice when you aren’t whizzing around in a car. I was surprised by how many abandoned homes were in such a close proximity of each other while at the same time the remaining houses looked to be very well maintained. This wasn’t an area of slums and bums like the thought of boarded up windows and doors congers up but instead a neighborhood showing the signs of hard times; although other factors could play in.

While Volunteering with Our Next Generation (ONG) I learned more about the community then from any previous outings, and mainly unintentionally. During one of my visits to the center I partook in a group meeting between the children and the staff. At this meeting the children expressed their wants and needs for the program, Homework Club, but also concerns and events happening in their own lives. One child was looking forward to his father getting out of jail so that they could move away to a new home in the South. Another child shared her feelings about their father having recently passed away. Both of these cases of losing a parent must have had an enormous impact on the family; perhaps one of the boarded up houses were theirs, being forced to find cheaper rent due to sudden loss of income. However, the majority of the time at ONG wasn’t this depressing.

Working with elementary children was a lot of fun and the staff of ONG are very strong, dedicated, people who do their job very well. The kids obviously had their good and bad days but in general were well maintained; especially once they got started on something that interested them. Besides it being fun it was also very rewarding helping them do their homework.

When I signed up for Multicultural Diversity I was a bit nervous, knowing it would require some volunteering, but after my experience I’m glad it did. I haven’t been around a group of kids since I was one of them myself and it was a nice refresher in how open and blatantly honest they really are (a kindergartner told me my hair makes me look like a girl! I just laughed while they giggled and ran away). Sure, it wasn’t all fun, but it was all a great learning experience.

(Our Next Generation is committed to helping children succeed)

Our Next Generation is a has multiple student oriented programs that focus in strengthening children’s interest school, learning, friendship, and extracurricular activities such as sports and musical instruments. The High School Connection, The Community Learning Center, and The Homework Club are three major projects that Our Next Generation currently runs.

(the main hall for mentors to help children with their homework)

High School Connection is focused on children who are planning on advancing on to school after high school. They meet twice a week to do homework and get help preparing for higher education and possible career objectives.

(a mentor helps a student with his work)

(a student practices her math with a mentor)

The Community Learning Center leans more towards student’s interests such as reading, poetry, sports, and much more.

(a group studies in a quieter setting)

Homework Club is the program I was able to participate in. It is held every Monday and Wednesday and lasts three and a half hours. The program is focused on giving children in grades 1 through 6^th a safe place to hang out after school, do homework, and eat dinner. The first two hours are spent engaging the children in interactive games and activities that help develop focus and friendships. The games can rang from the silly “pretend you’re a monster” to the seriousness of learning how to play the drums. The children then have a half an hour to eat dinner, which is provided to them as part of the program. Finally, the children each spend one hour with a mentor who helps them on their homework. If they finish their homework early they are welcome to play a variety of games

(a child reads to his mentor after his homework is through)


(a mentor ponders his next move)

In general, Our Next Generation is about providing intercity with a safe and positive environment to work, play, and grow. By offering programs for children from grade one through high school they see positive results in the children’s academics and even have a 100% graduate rate for their high school seniors. The staff is strict but caring and willing to adapt to the children’s needs in order to keep them interested. The Children are encouraged to speak about problems or concerns they are having and tell the instructors what is working and what is not, in order to make better use of their facility.

(as the evening comes to a close the children pack their things and go home)

Essay in Pictures

Photo essay in retrospect

Going into the neighborhood of Lisbon and 35th street I had no idea what I would see. I assumed there would be some fast food restaurants, drug stores, and businesses like any other place in Milwaukee and was correct. However, as I wondered around the area I started to question which one of these businesses would know the community best? Would an employee at the Dollar Store have more exposure than someone at the Subway? Or vise versa. Then I happened across the solution; a place that everyone from all walks of life visits, rich or poor, young or old, eventually we all end up in a library at some point in our lives.

Seeing the Washington Park Library was no accident, the building stands out like a bit of a sore thumb because of its modern architecture. Once inside I sat down at one of their tables and thought up some appropriate questions as I observed the other visitors. I then headed up to the librarian’s counter and asked for a brief interview; Enid was more than willing to help out.

I started by asking about her experience with the neighborhood. While it turned out she did not live in the area she had been working with the Washington Park Library for several years and had good knowledge of the area. She felt the area was unique in that it was very socially economic. Also, being near the city and next to the Washington Heights Park drew in lots of diversity. I learned that the current library has been there for six years and was built to accommodate the growing needs of the community. The majority of visitors to the library are children; once school lets out the place filled with kids.

Enid went on to say that the kids use the library as a place to hang out and get help on homework. It was about 3:30pm when I was there and there indeed was a large amount of children, mainly on the computers. She jokingly added that they need more computers; the 30+ they had always filled and the children were given time limits on how long they could use them. When asked if she thought the community could be improved in anyway she felt the children needed more after school activities.

After the interview I decided to walk around the surrounding suburb on foot and discovered some things I missed while driving around. While the blocks of houses were neatly kept, nice looking homes with nice looking lawns, tucked into nearly every block was an abandoned building. These homes didn’t appear to have anything wrong with them physically so one can only assume the occupants had to move out due to financial difficulties. The need to board up the windows eluded to another possible problem in the neighborhood; that of homeless people breaking in for a place to stay, or the abandoned buildings being used for illegal activities.

In the end the experience was a lot of fun. It was interesting to explore a part of the Milwaukee community that I had never been to before, and meet someone new. I look forward to working with Our Next Generation and learning more about the community.