high school kiddos

All of you know that within a few short months I will be standing in front of a room full of high schoolers, all of them smiling gleefully at me with their hands folded on top of their ready-to-go school supplies, ready to learn. waiiiiiiiiiiiit. Reality check. Half of them will probably be asleep, and the other half will likely be mildly entertaining my attempts to teach them history. Maybe somewhere in the middle?!

Anyways, this morning I had my first crack at my future. I am a volunteer "youth coach" with the Minnesota Immigrant Freedom Network, a non-profit that is fighting for Immigration Reform and educational equality regardless of immigration status. I will be at Edison High School in Minneapolis once a week for 7 weeks, facilitating 2 classes. The classes are about immigration, getting their voices heard, etc.- and the students are all ESL. 

I'm happy to report that I loved it!! I was a little worried at first that the kids wouldn't be into it (one piece of the curriculum has them act out their favorite animal, for goodness sake. these are high school students!!) They really had fun with it though, and I enjoyed myself. I found their humor refreshing, and I felt more in my element than in front of the elementary kids in my Spanish classes. YAY! Not to say that one day with high-schoolers equals a blissful next two years, but I'd say it's a good sign that I didn't want to run away screaming- right?!