The moment has finally arrived! On February 24th, we went into Orchard Gardens School for the first time. Getting there was a little chaotic, but the excitement of finally being able to go made it all worth while. We were able to meet all the kids who we will be spending the next ten Tuesdays with, and the energy that they bring to the project is wonderful to see.
Once we got back, we went over the curriculum and did a fair amount of reorganizing to fit the needs of the group.
We realized we needed to restructure a bit. It seemed like everyone teaching both the design and technical aspects of the project would be too much, so we recruited Bonnie and Emily to run a design station. This way, we will not only have less to worry about while there, but also the kids who prefer the design aspect will be able to concentrate solely on that. Bonnie and Emily took all their new responsibilities into stride, and a great design program is being built.
The following Tuesday, we went on our second trip to Orchard Gardens School. We got there smoothly, and immediately started teaching the kids how to solder and strip wire. “Teaching the kids how to strip wire and solder was really fun. Some of them were scared at first, but after they saw how fun it was, they wanted to continue. It is fun to see them so enthusiastic about what we’re teaching them,” says Victoria. After the students learned the new techniques, we began constructing the pedestrian alert system. Liran mentions, “It is really awesome to see their faces light up when you say something or have them do something. Its just a really good feeling.”
-IJS & LR
