First Day Jitters at JEHO

By: Shanequa Dasher

Last night I felt like it was the night before the first day of school. I laid out my uniform, prepared my materials, and tossed and turned, daydreaming of the lessons, reactions, and personalities that I would encounter with the upcoming day. As I arose, well rested and excited for my day, I still couldn’t help but be a little nervous. How will the children receive this new face? Will they think I’m a little too kooky for their liking? Will they be just as nervous as I imagined I was?

These thoughts were soon put to rest as we were greeted by a friendly unfamiliar (yet familiar in a past life) face. His name was Pastor Joseph. He was the paternal figure of the Jeho Orphanage that we would be visiting. He greeted each and every one of us with an enormous warm hug (even me, the new face on the block). His embrace made me forget the nervous energy, forget the what ifs, how will, and will they. His embrace made me feel welcomed, appreciated, loved, and like family. I knew then, that if in fact these children that I would meet were in the leadership of this very individual, my worries and apprehensions had permission to subside. He guided us through the muddy waters of the dirt roads that had a fresh coat of rain from the earlier in the day. We rode through the bumpy terrain until we arrived at the doorstep of the very place, I will now affectionately refer to as, home.

We were greeted by little smiling faces who embraced us each with a handshake and hug. What was I ever nervous about? The children were genuinely excited to meet me, and see the other two familiar faces with whom they had worked with before. Our day began and now that the wonders and worries were over, it was time to have fun. Attentively and eagerly each child gathered around in a circle. They listened to Ms. Suzzi, The Necessary Arts Coordinator, as they were re-oriented and made privy to what the day had in store. They interactively responded to her questions, provided feedback, and were enthusiastic about the day ahead.

Alright….I’m up. It’s time for a getting to know you activity with Mrs. Dasher. I started with something light, but I still wanted to push them a little beyond their comfort zone. Of course they thought I was some silly new lady, but guess what? It worked out just fine. We did a simple introduction activity where each child(and adult) introduced themselves while taking on(and vocalizing) the persona of an animal of their choosing. I was a kitty cat, and of course everyone wanted to be a cat, but we escaped that animal with a little guidance, and the kids came up with some creative animals and sounds of their own. A few that I’m sure I may need to look up soon. I was pleased with how the introduction activity went, and was super happy the EVERY child participated. We continued with Mrs. LA and one of my favorite acting warm ups: Zip, Zap, Zop. The fierce spirit of competitiveness was on! They had the opportunity to play this game with Mrs. LA on a previous visit and were excited to hop back into it.

Ms. Suzzi and I collaboratively introduced a lesson on theater stage directions, and took and interactive approach in getting the students to learn them. After a run through of what each stage direction was, we allowed a few volunteers to approach the stage one at a time and go on a treasure hunt, blindfolded. The students in the audience were responsible for directing the blindfolded student using only the terms, “Stage left, stage right, center stage” etc. This was undoubtedly a fun and interactive way to teach and learn something that could otherwise be pretty ordinary. They thrived for the competitive edge of finding the “treasure” the fastest. Ultimately the teaching and learning process was a success.

We took a quick lunch, and immediately broke into small groups by age. I had the opportunity to work with my favorite age group, the youngsters which ranged from 3-11, while LA and Suzzi worked with two older groups. We began with the theatrical yet simplistic art of, storytelling. It was an opportunity to broaden their schema, introduce some new vocabulary, and listen to Mrs. Shanequa make silly character noises. They loved every minute, and to my surprise read along with me without being prompted to do so. In my short hour and a half block of time we did A LOT. We read, we reenacted using puppets, we reenacted using our own physicality, and we reflected on what we learned and were excited to do for the other two days that I visit them. They shared that they loved to sing and dance, and we all collaborated on the song that we would create to tell the story that we just read. It was a collaborative, heartwarming, and fulfilling experience I will never forget. The laughter, the smiles, the warm hugs, and high fives resonate vividly in the memories of my day. I look forward to days 2 and 3 and most importantly the other visits to Jeho Orphanage that are ahead.