New York Cares Day Fall is a day, in the fall, when people from New York show that they care. RTW NYC had the opportunity to volunteer at PS 335/MS 584 Granville T. Woods School. The volunteers were split up into a bunch of teams, working on painting murals, painting fences, and cleaning out storage closets. The mural team created beautiful pictures and wrote inspiring quotes in the bathrooms. My team cleaned out a closet that was so full of books and furniture, that when we started, we could not open the door all of the way.
Reflecting on the day there were two amazing things that I wanted to note:
It is SO HARD to volunteer in schools! There is a lot of red tape, and for good reason. It is important for children to both feel safe and be safe in schools. In New York State, any volunteer who comes in contact with a student must have a criminal background check. It is great to have a partner like NYCares, that has the capacity to coordinate this day to happen in an accessible way for both seasoned and rookie volunteers.
We were actually helping. This might sound a little absurd, but I have seen too many volunteer projects that are not grounded in the needs of the community, as determined by the community. Several of the teachers from PS 335/MS 584 joined us in the day of service. As we cleared out closets full of unsorted books, the principal and vice principal helped us sort the books into which ones could still be used, and which were out of date. One teacher found extra copies of the science textbook that she uses with her students. We carried them up to her classroom together.
I also got to learn about a new type of school that I had never heard of before (probably because I am a Food Justice Fellow). PS 335/MS 584 is a Community School, which means that they look to “implement policies and programs that recognize and support the social, emotional, physical and academic needs of students.” Here are a some of the signs of a healthy community school:
Mental health, medical, and social services are available to students who need them.
Community members are engaged in activities that help build a stronger school community.
Family members have access to educational opportunities and programs that strengthen families.
I can’t speak to how effective the program model is, but it sounds like they are trying to take care of the whole student in a way that most schools profess to do, but need to work on.
Thanks so much to the teachers and administrators of PS 335/MS 584 for welcoming us into their school with such enthusiasm. From the Repair The World fellows, we wish the best to your students for the rest of the year and beyond!
For more photos, check out https://www.facebook.com/RepairTheWorldNYC/posts/779846692143307
~Sam Sittenfield, food justice fellow