Day 4

Day 4

Sam Vasquez and Pat O’Connor

            The day started off at 6:00 AM, although we left the house at 8:00. With fourteen people in the house needing to all use the single shower, you can imagine how hectic it is in the morning and how we actually need two hours to get ready. Once we were finally ready, we made our way to Chahta-Ima Elementary School, which has the highest poverty rate in its county, along with a great number of native New Orleanians. Upon arrival, the group split up into different tasks. We (Sam and Pat) along with two other students (James and Chris) decided to help paint one of the classrooms that needed a paint job. While we were doing this, the others were split up into different classrooms throughout the school, helping the teachers out whenever need be. Upon finishing our task, very thoroughly, we joined the others in the classrooms.

            In the classrooms we got to see what the people in New Orleans are truly like. We spent time with the pre-K class through the third grade class. All of us enjoyed spending time with the kids whom had an open attitude and were really fun to be around. By the end we all became good friends and it was tough to say good-bye to them. Once the regular school day was over, we then stayed for the after school program, called the 21^st Century, helping kids do their homework. After a nine hour school day, we finished off the day with a delicious meal given to us by our generous hosts.