It's About More Than Just Reading Books

By: Ashley Larson


There was something in the air on Wednesday at the ILC. It seemed like we were sending kids to reroute about every five minutes and all of us as staff were getting pretty tired after chasing a few of the more rebellious kids around the church! Even after open rec the trend continued and at one point I looked around and realized that only 6 of the 11 students were present (the rest were in reroute!) I sent a few for arguing and saying hurtful things to each other, one for not following directions after several reminders, one for refusing to work in their binders, and one for rolling her eyes each time she was asked to do something. Finally, I just stopped our lesson and asked all the kids to just put their books away. We weren’t getting too much done anyway with all the distractions and I felt it was time for the class to look back at the promise we all wrote each other during our first week. Our promise stated that we would be kind, respectful, friendly, and we promised to make every person feel safe and accepted. After a brief review I just asked the simple question,” Someone raise your hand and tell me what is preventing you from upholding our promise today?” The answers I got were unexpected. I guess I really didn’t know how they would answer, but I opened up the discussion for honesty, and that is what I got. Right away one little girl’s hand went up in the air and when I called on her she quietly told me that she can’t concentrate because her mom is in the hospital, another relative was recently beat up by her boyfriend and then put in jail for drugs, and now she is living with her grandma. She then began to sob. Then another little girl raised her hand and told me that two weeks ago her mom was put in jail for seven years and that she also is living with her grandma. Then she began to cry. One boy hadn’t seen his dad in months, another girl’s mom was recently put in jail, and the stories kept coming. Wow. What a sad but beautiful moment it was. These kids in that moment created a safe place and opened up to one another. For the next twenty minutes I sat on the rug with them and hugged as many as I could and we prayed. The best part was watching them comfort each other by giving hugs, getting Kleenex, patting shoulders, it was a great picture. It was an eye opening moment for me, when I was honestly starting to get frustrated with all the poor behavior of the kids that day. I was able to remember the grace I need to give each of the kids at the same time I uphold high expectations for them. I was also so thankful that I work at a place like City Impact where Christ can come in and freely take over like he did on Wednesday.

Fall in Love with Reading

By Ashley Larson

In September, when we started the Impact Learning Center back up, Savannah was behind in reading. This was obviously a daily frustration for her, and it was a challenge for me as her classroom leader to encourage her and get her excited about reading each day. I kept telling the kids that our classroom goal was to "fall in love with reading." Savannah was skeptical, to say the least. I remember one week I had to send Savannah to our reroute room (a place kids go if they need to work on behavior changes) for 4 days in a row, before she could sit through one entire class. As the quarter progressed, she went to reroute less and less, and her interest and skills in reading peaked. While Savannah was reading out loud to me one day an observer came through our classroom and listened to Savannah. Though she struggled with a few words and the story wasn't necessarily read smoothly, Savannah put a lot of heart into it. She couldn't make it through a sentence without using her hands, and she had so much expression in her voice. Before she sat back down, the observer told Savannah that she was a great reader, and that very few people read with such enthusiasm. That day, Savannah was sold out on reading. Since then, she has started bringing beginner chapter books to class from her school library and she is constantly recommending new books to me. Just yesterday I filled Savannah's binder with stories at the 7th grade reading level. I honestly believe Savannah will succeed in school and be a reader for life.

Meet Ashley Larson-Read room grades 4-5

By Ashley Larson

My name is Ashley Larson. Although I was born and raised in Lincoln, NE my eyes have been opened to a different side of our city over the past three years. Recently, I graduated from Nebraska Wesleyan University with a bachelors degree in social work. Throughout my life I have had the opportunity to be exposed to numerous urban communities through short-term missions with Jr. high and high school students. In college I did a three month internship with Urban Impact in New Orleans and my heart for urban youth and families was transformed. It took an experience one thousand miles away for me to really question what I was doing in my own community. Therefore, I decided to do my final internship with City Impact, right here in my hometown. God blessed me to serve at City Impact this summer with the Teen Job Club and the Summer Program and I was able to get to know many of the youth, of all ages, quickly.

This fall I came on staff as the Impact Learning Center’s 4th-5th grade R.E.A.L Room and Reading with Meaning Coordinator, in addition to leading the Jr. High Girls Teen Bible Club Classroom. I feel very humbled and fortunate to be working under such a great staff and for all that I have learned since coming on board at CI. My amazing husband, Mark, is a reading teacher and basketball coach at Lincoln High School and together we have loved seeing how God has intertwined our ministries over the past six months. I look forward to watching God transform more kids and families here in Lincoln as CI continues to reach out and strengthen our community.

Reflections

By Ashley Larson

As we near the end of our first quarter of the Impact Learning Center it is quite obvious God has been working here. I have spent the last 8 weeks in the 4th and 5th grade classroom, and I’m excited to announce that almost all of my students have advanced at least one grade level in their reading packets! Even now as I write this blog I’m sitting in class watching the students quietly reading books of their choice, completely immersed in whatever adventure their book is taking them on. Anyone who has worked with this age knows how tough it can be to get them focused and quiet for long periods of time, especially on books. It has been our class goal though to make reading a fun experience, and these last few weeks these youth have been begging for extra long independent reading time! Each kid is unique in the books they like to read and it has been fun for me as their teacher to have book discussions with them. Quincy and Garett, two boys in my class, both love non-fiction books about volcanoes, snakes, sharks, and other animal and weather topics. They have been teaching our class a lot of interesting information in those areas during our weekly book discussions. Jocelyn is one of my favorite readers because she uses so much expression and does a great job acting out different character parts. Tabitha raises her hand many times during quiet reading to share all the connections she has with the books she reads. These are just a few of the students who have really started to take a personal interest in reading.

Besides reading, I feel as though these kids have really grown in other areas too. For instance, we have really pushed putting others first in our classroom and it is amazing to see them respect one another by listening, complementing, and encouraging each other during program time. There have been much fewer conflicts these last couple weeks. Instead I’ve actually had more issues of kids wanting to talk and laugh with one another during class time! That is a problem I have taken some joy in dealing with. Overall, the first quarter of ILC has been very rewarding and I look forward to meeting with a new set of kids next session.

We promise

By Ashley Larson

Each afternoon I look around my classroom and I see eight intelligent looking 4th and 5th graders. Each are either snuggled into a comfy chair, spread out on our fuzzy rug, rocking gently on the cushy rockers, or sinking into a giant purple bean bag, completely consumed in their favorite book. Some like to read about great storms and exotic animals, while others laugh along with the adventures of Skippy Jon Jones or Wodney the Wat.

On our wall hangs a very important promise that each child takes very seriously, as they should since they wrote it and committed to follow it. Their promise reads:

We promise to make our read room a place where we are all kind, respectful, helpful, polite, and good listeners. We vow to have good attitudes and to treat everyone fairly. We will also participate in all activities and we will not hurt others or get mad.

Last but not least, each child is wearing the most intellectual looking glasses we could find, yes black plastic glasses. Now they really feel like true readers as they get lost in each of their unique stories. It has been a blessing for me to watch these students progress in just three short weeks towards our mutual goal of making reading a fun experience. They truly are smart kids, and some of them are just now discovering that reading can actually be a good experience no matter what level you are at. It is exciting for me to imagine the next six weeks as we dive into the adventures of reading even further!

CI Youth Wins Award at KAA Camp

by Ashley Larson

KAA camp was an incredible blessing for the youth and adults alike! My husband and I were in KAA 1 with the youngest group and we loved watching CI's youth interact with others their age from all across the nation. One of the most rewarding memories I bring home is watching Addison receive the "I'm third" (Jesus First, Others Second, I’m third) award. This award is only given to one boy and one girl in each camp who really understands and exemplifies putting God first, others second, and themselves third. This means that out of hundreds of youth, Addison got the attention of many leaders by being a servant of God. Addison was an example not only to the other youth but also to us. On the last day she came running up to me in tears and said, "I've been reading the bible for a long time, but I have finally learned how to hear God speaking to me while I'm in the word." Her excitement and emotion was beautiful. My time at camp was blessed by just watching her grow and also encourage others around her!