Week 3: Field Day

Last week, we were given the chance to take a day out of the office and go “on the field” to a few Detroit early education schools! As someone who has no younger siblings, never baby-sat, and has only tutored kids 4th grade and up, I walked in the room feeling awkward and out of place. But when I sat next to the tiny chair with two girls finger painting, there were no introductions needed. The two girls asked me right away “do you like pink? Because I’m going to mix red and white together!” I was so relieved that the kids welcomed me with open arms. I played and helped kids in three classrooms ranging from ages 1-6. It was a blast. One group of kids made me a birthday cake made of woodchips! I played pretend with them, read a story, played Mr. Fox, and so much more.

But beyond all the fun with the kids, I was hyper-aware of how busy and overwhelmed the teachers were. In both the recess and classroom setting, each teacher was making conscious decisions on how to talk and act around these children – decisions that will build the numerous skills that young children need to develop as quickly as possible. I talked for a long time with one of my supervisors about this and learned so much about early education’s inner workings. I was humbled by how much conscious and deliberate thought went into recess or drawing activities – things that I thought were just simple “play”.

The field day and my talk with my supervisor made me realize how intricate my community organization was. They’re working long days to research and provide teacher training to help Detroit teachers manage the overwhelming and stressful job of managing classrooms sizes in all types of settings. After that day, my passion in education research and policy was re-energized from seeing the kids who we were helping and seeing the stress of the teachers. It was a day that I hope to remember for the rest of my education career.

Someone in my office brought a box of doughnuts and fudge and joked that it was “diabetes in a box”. What I didn’t know was that some people in my office also indulged in some dank may-mays. I love the people in my office.