Walking into the activity room filled with boisterous middle- and high-schoolers at East Regional Library in Fayetteville, North Carolina, I hear a greeting from across the room. “Hey, it’s Dr. B, and you’re here today!” The lively young person delivering this greeting rushes over and wraps her arms around me in a big bear hug, which catches me by surprise. More kids shout out their welcomes, and then I hear, “Did you bring snacks?” I love these kids; their priorities are in the right place. Give them food and they will be your friends for life!
Belinda Wilkerson
Four years ago, I became a volunteer at Chillax (Chill + Relax), an afterschool program for students in grades 6-12. Luckily, the middle school and high school are across the street, so kids usually fill the room. They play video games, do homework (the library provides 6-8 laptops), challenge each other to board game showdowns, or just chill. Tuesday afternoons from 3:30-5:30, I hang out, interacting informally with the students.
On this day, I am bursting to get started because Corsava Cards are online, and it gives me the opportunity to work with students individually or in small groups, depending on their preference. I sit strategically with my back to the far wall so I can observe their comings and goings. After catching up with Melissa (Missy to the kids) Lang, the Young Adult Librarian whom I do not see during summer vacation, I walk around and introduce or reintroduce myself to the kids. You know how kids are – some look at me like I have an extra head (the boys), and the girls patiently wait to get back to their phone screens. To introduce them to Corsava Cards online, I created a business card-size instruction guide and handed them out to about 25 students, letting them know they could earn two snacks with a completed report.
My veteran students got the ball rolling and immediately went to work, one on her phone and two on laptops. The middle school students on the laptops talked throughout their sort, asking each other about their answers. They called me over once to ask if they had to print out the results, and I said, “No, I’ll print out the reports and bring them next week.” My goal is to go over the results individually and/or in small groups and plan future activities around their responses to make this process student-centered.
My veteran student, who informed me she plans to join the Army after graduation, finished first. We talked briefly about her plans before she dived into the snack bag, looking for her favorite items, Danish pastry or anything chocolate. What the students did not know is that the first five to participate receive an extra snack – a chocolate bar “worth” $1 million, to save towards their college fund. Ha, the chocolate bars did not last five minutes! When other students became aware of the snacks, they asked, “Hey, where did you get those cupcakes?” or “I want some Danish.” My veterans told them, “Oh, you know you have to do the college activity to get snacks, so go see Dr. B.” Yes, I trained them well, or they trained me well because their snacks are a part of my grocery list now! Even my husband brings something home every now and then for the Chillax kids.
One hilarious situation happened when a young man approached me for a snack, pretending he didn’t know the rules. Kids forget educators have eyes in the back of their heads and hear everything, and I heard him asking other kids about their snacks. I gave him an instruction card, and he said, “Aw, man, this is too much work for some food.” I said OK and took my card back. Twenty minutes later, guess who came over announcing he did the card sort? Ironically, he was number five, so he got the extra snack. Maybe he didn’t take it as seriously as I would have liked, but with his report in hand, he’s mine now.
During most of this session, one young person, new to me, is looking on skeptically. I invited her to join in, and she replied, “I’m too stressed about college already, and I’m only a junior.” As it turns out, well-meaning family members questioned her about her future major and choice of college. She mentioned she has no idea what she wants to do or where to start. Ta-da, Corsava Cards to the rescue! After explaining to her that being undecided is okay and demonstrating how the sort worked, she agreed to try it at home. I’m keeping my fingers crossed that her results will be online by our next meeting.
Before I left for the day, Missy and I rehashed the kids’ reactions to the activity, and we both noticed the same thing. Half the kids used their phones, and the other half used the laptops. Next week, we’ll see what other preferences we notice.