Barnard LGR @ Goddard Riverside Community Center

We are working at the Goddard Riverside Community Center this year which offers a very new dynamic as we have students from high schools all over New York City instead of working at just one school where most of the kids know each other. The students were incredibly quite at first, but that is definitely not the case now! I love that they are all meeting kids from different schools and getting along so well! I was a little concerned at first.

Working at the center is a very exciting and sometimes frustrating experience. As is always the case in New York, space can be a real problem. We were very successful in both student and coach recruitment, more successful than anyone expected of us, and have 41 students and 16 coaches. The only problem is that we have 5 or 6 classrooms as they did not expect so many students, but we are learning to be very flexible as the classrooms available to us change every night as does whether or not we have heat in the rooms. The Center has been very supportive and has been incredibly tolerant of our mound of boxes that takes over a part of their office.

The students and coaches are all really excited to be part of the program, so it makes my job easier as far as keeping up the morale. We really have an amazing group of students who take full advantage of every minute of the program. This is reflected in our really great attendance which is usually around 90% (that means that usually just 4 or 5 students are absent), and we are only looking at losing 1 or 2 students as a result of their continual absence. Other than that, the students come well prepared and ready to learn which is matched by the enthusiasm of the coaches. I really think the dynamic created by having students from all different schools has contributed to the success of the program.

One thing that came to my attention recently is that one of my students has epilepsy. He had a seizure yesterday before coming to LGR, but he has not had a seizure while at LGR. It made me realize that I need to know what to do in that situation and be prepared to deal with it if he has a seizure while in class. Just something to keep in mind!

The only real frustration of the program is keeping up with receipts and money. I’ve learned that the minute I get back from LGR or from shopping that I need to glue all my tiny cab receipts to a piece of paper so I don’t lose them and enter them in my excel spreadsheet. We are really fortunate to have Barnard alum sponsoring the program, but it also comes along with a lot of upkeep of the finances. Organization of money and receipts has become crucial, but I think I have finally figured out a system.

Overall, everything is going really well, and I couldn’t ask for a better group of students and coaches. Every night is an adventure!

Good luck with your programs!!!!!

Take care,
Megan Choate