This past Friday, January 28, the McConnell Scholars visited Dawson Orman Elementary School. During our visit, we taught nine classes including the Head Start program about Going Green, Healthy Eating Habits, and we also shared our love for reading. Dawson Orman Elementary has children from over 20 different countries, and many of the children are from families with incomes below the poverty line.
"When I was younger one of the biggest things that had an impact on my education was that my parents would take the time to sit down and read with me, which imparted a life long love of reading. This service event gave us the opportunity to sit down with children in the same situation, read to them, and to engage with them in their learning process." -- Sarah Stovall
"It was rewarding to interact with children who may not get the kind of interaction or attention that they need to receive at home." -- Meghan Waters
"In an age where government programs are sometimes seen as wasteful, it seemed that Head Start was making an impact on our community by giving underprivileged children a chance to succeed." -- Justin Brandt
"One of my favorite parts of the visit was reading The Adventures of Frog and Toad to one of the classes. It was amazing to see how entranced they were by our enthusiastic reading. I remember the excitement I felt when I read The Adventures of Frog and Toad as a child. To think I could share that same joy with another generation made my time at the school extremely worthwhile. We dealt with a variety of age groups, and it was interesting to see how they interacted differently. One of the McConnell Center's main goals is service, and I feel that we accomplished a lot for a school only minutes away from our campus. To a child, taking time to read to them is like saying, 'Hey, you're important.' That's something that every child deserves to hear. Anytime that confirmation of significance can be combined with educating a child -- that's a day more than well spent." -- Chelsey Hall