While I usually spend most of my time with the middle school students at the ILC, over the last week or two there have been a couple days when they weren’t there for some or all of the afternoon. This has allowed me the opportunity to get to know many of the elementary school-aged students better. And they are an amazingly intelligent, funny and energetic group of kids.
There was one activity in particular that I observed happening on multiple occasions amongst the elementary students. I thought this activity was very illuminating as to the effectiveness of the ILC. What I saw were students mimicking what they have seen their teachers doing over the past few months: sitting in front of a group of students and reading a story to them. This is remarkable for several reasons. For one, many of the students came to the ILC with a below-grade-level reading level and they now have the confidence to sit in front of their peers and read out loud to them. This indicates to me that significant progress has been made in improving both reading levels and attitudes toward reading. Secondly, this shows how much these kids look up to their teachers at the ILC. They see that the way their teachers act is a desirable way for them to act too.
As one of those teachers, it is encouraging to know that we are indeed having an impact on the lives of these students. There have been moments when doubts have surfaced and it has seemed like our efforts go unnoticed by them. But watching these kids model their teachers shows that it is indeed true that as we impact them, so they learn to impact others in their world.
