SERVICE LEARNING PORTFOLIO

By: Courtney FisherService Learning period 4

• William Booth embarked upon his ministerial career in 1852, desiring to win the lost multitudes of England to Christ.

• He walked the streets of London to preach the gospel of Jesus Christ to the poor, the homeless, the hungry, and the destitute.

• Booth abandoned the conventional concept of a church and a pulpit, instead taking his message to the people.

• His fervor led to disagreement with church leaders in London, who preferred traditional methods.

• Booth was reading a printer's proof of the 1878 annual report when he noticed the statement "The Christian Mission is a volunteer army." Crossing out the words "volunteer army," he penned in "Salvation Army."

HISTORY OF THE SALVATION ARMY

• They launched an offensive throughout the British Isles, in some cases facing real battles as organized gangs mocked and attacked them.

• In spite of violence and persecution, some 250,000 people were converted under the ministry of The Salvation Army between 1881 and 1885.

• The Salvation Army movement expanded rapidly to Canada, Australia, France, Switzerland, India, South Africa, Iceland, and local neighborhood units.

• The Salvation Army is active in virtually every corner of the world.

HISTORY CONTINUED

• This past semester, I was lucky enough to volunteer at two wonderful sites: The Salvation Army and Cooper Elementary School.

• A few years ago, my thought of the Salvation Army was that it was an organization that helped out people by collecting money during the holiday season through bell ringers and donating that money to people in need.

• Despite that thought being only partially correct, my mind was yet to experience the multiple and helpful ways to those in need.

• When I had heard of my local YMCA building being turned into a Salvation Army Kroc Center, I went to go check it out under the request of my grandma in helping my search of a site.

• I thought it would provide a wonderful opportunity to the people and the children during the holidays that are suffering because of a lack jobs, money, and to see the joy on their faces after giving them great help.

WHY DID I CHOSE MY SITE?

• My reason for volunteering at Cooper Elementary School was so I could help out children, and the teacher teaching that class.

• I have always been great with kids and loved helping them, like helping out my niece and nephew with their homework, so I thought it would be fun to help out a classroom full of kids who need help on improving their education.

• Another reason I decided to volunteer there was because I went to a lot different places trying to volunteer but had no success, and since during that time my niece and nephew were going to Cooper, I decided I would ask if I could be able to help out in a classroom.

• Remembering that I had helped out little kids when I was in middle school and how much I enjoyed it, made me want to experience it again and see the joy in the children’s face when I’m working with them in the classroom.

WHY DID I CHOSE MY SITE? CONT.

• At Cooper Elementary School, I was a teacher’s assistant for 2 hours and twenty minutes every Friday.

• I had ten children with difficulty reading, my job was to have me read the story to the child, then the child read the story back to me, and then send them to a computer to take a reading comprehension quiz on that story to improve their reading comprehension and to make sure they understood what they read.

• I also helped them with their math. • Another part of my duty was to grade their papers and

file them into their Friday folders. • I also got to enjoy going outside and playing with them

during recess and read a story during “story time” to them.

EXPERIENCE AT MY SITES: COOPER

• At the Salvation Army my first job I got to do was to sort, fold, and separate lost clothing items left behind at the Kroc Center.

• I sorted the clothes into different sections between men, woman, and children.

• I then folded them and once finished, stacked them neatly on a shelf where they could be identified to those who are looking for their lost item.

• My second job was to help mail 1,200+ brochures requesting donations from different families and organizations.

• I had to insert the brochures into the envelopes, seal the envelopes, stamp, and attach the address.

EXPERIENCE AT MY SITES: SALVATION ARMY

• My third job for the Salvation Army was volunteering at the Fairfield Salvation Army Center to help hand out turkeys and food boxes just before Thanksgiving came.

• In order for people to get their box of food and turkey, they first had to have signed up under the Salvation Army as a family who would be picking up a turkey and food and had to have their ID and paper to prove they were on the list. Our job was to distribute a turkey and a box of food depending on how many families was named on a piece of paper put under their windshield wiper.

• For example, if there was a number 1 we would put one turkey, one bread, one pie crust, and one box of food into the vehicle, and if there was a number 2 we would put 2 turkeys, 2 breads, 2 pie crusts and two boxes of food into the vehicle.

• It felt incredible helping those families out and made me feel awesome on the inside knowing that a family would be able to have a good Thanksgiving dinner, we finished within 7 hours.

EXPERIENCE CONTINUE

• Another job I got to do was the Angel Tree Program at the Fairfield Mall.

• I explained the process of what to do for the Angel Tree Program to people who were interested in it. I would tell them, “Hello ma’am/sir, would you like me to explain the process to you? *wait for answer* As you can see here, the Angel tag gives a child’s name, age, sex, shirt and pants size, and a preferred gift item they would like. All you have to do is take as many tags as you like that appeal to you and buy a shirt, pants, or that preferred gift that the child wants and bring the tag and the gift back here unwrapped. You don’t have to do it today though, the deadline is December 19 at 8 pm and our hours are Monday through Saturday from 10 am to 8 pm and Sunday afternoons.”

• Once someone brought a gift I would tape the tag to the gift, put it in a plastic and place it behind black curtains that were behind me.

EXPERIENCE CONTINUE

• As for my last job, I spent the day at Walmart in Fairfield for Fill Up the Truck Event.

• What I did was hand out fliers containing information about different gift ideas people could buy for children.

• The main point was for people to go and buy toys and bring to the “truck” aka a cardboard box in a shape of a truck and fill it up to give to children in need.

• Luckily by midafternoon, the truck was filled completely with toys and was then loaded up into a vehicle truck and sent off to be ready to be given to children.

EXPERIENCE CONTINUE

• After reading my evaluation, I was very proud and honored to have received such outstanding reviews and compliments.

• When I went into work for the Salvation Army, I knew that the organization took great pride in the work they do for the community.

• I tried to reflect that pride in the work that I did as a volunteer. I learned about the importance to be at a job a few minutes before starting and I also learned the importance of being there when they were counting on me to help the community.

• It was a wonderful pleasure getting to work with Mrs. Eaton and other volunteers. I learned a lot from her by watching and learning how easily she displayed the love for the people in need.

• It did not matter if the person was young or old, all that mattered was that they were in need of help and we were there to give them that help.

EVALUATION

• Observations about my personality is that I am mainly a kind-hearted, reserved, and helpful person and with getting experience and interacting with other people it made me more sociable and able to express myself with greater feelings.

• With my personality being involved with my volunteer work, I was able to reflect my joy in giving and making people respond to me with the same joyous expression as I had approached them with.

• With being able to achieve valuable skills, I learned the importance of commitment, doing a job well done, earning the trust of my superiors, showing up on time, the importance of interaction with new people, and treating everyone that you work around with respect.

• I feel that I have learned a tremendous amount of job skills that I feel will be a great asset to me in my future when I go to work

PERSONAL GROWTH

• After looking at different options in volunteering, I chose Cooper Elementary School because of my love for children.

• I enjoy working with them and knowing I was helping a very kind teacher with thirty-five children in her classroom and I really enjoyed the environment.

• My first thought right before I volunteered there was that there would be nothing to it, I would grade papers and help out at least one kid and that would be it.

• Never did I think it was much harder to teach a bunch of kids in a classroom that don’t want to listen or pay attention.

• Now I realize how hard it is, especially when there is only one teacher to a classroom. I don’t think there is anything that I would change about my performance, I did what I was told and did everything to the best of my ability.

• I think Cooper Elementary School is one of the best elementary school in Vacaville and is highly rated and I suggest it to those who love to help out kids and others in general

REFLECTION/PERSONAL THOUGHTS

• At first I was skeptical when my grandma suggested volunteering with the Salvation Army.

• I never thought that volunteering for them would be such a great experience for me.

• I soon learned to love the work that I was doing and enjoyed every minute of it.

• The people were loving and caring, and I soon felt as if I was a great part of their organization.

• They have only a handful of paid employees, while the rest of the work is done by volunteers, which amazes me because of all the good that this organization does throughout the world.

REFLECTION/PERSONAL THOUGHTS CONTINUE

• For my performance during these events, I would not have changed anything about it since I followed orders and did what I was told to do to the best of my ability.

• As far as the site and the organization, I would not change anything and I am fortunate to have chosen the Salvation Army as part of my volunteer work for I feel that I earned a wonderful experience from the people in the organization.

• Overall, my time volunteering at these different sites was one of the greatest decisions I’ve ever made for myself.

• They all gave me new and exciting experiences and knowledge that I won’t ever forget that I will hopefully get to use in helping myself in the future.

REFLECTION/PERSONAL THOUGHTS CONT.

END.

THANK YOU.