As soon as I entered Edgehill I noticed the game room on the left, filled with a single ping pong table and a few games. In the open area just beyond it there were two empty tables with metal chairs surrounding them, and then through the next door there were three more tables surrounded by more metal chairs and an office desk with what seemed to be the only comfortable chair in the building. One woman, whom I later had some wonderful conversation with, inquired why I was there. As soon as I mentioned that I was with Belmont, she replied, "Oh, yes, baby! You need to sign in? I got it right here for ya." I love the South. I waited for several minutes, sitting in one of the chairs in the open area, for the children to arrive. When they finally did arrive they came like a storm, running and yelling, trying to get to their most desired room as quickly as possible. I got up from my chair and walked into the homework room-- the one with the desk-- and settled down at a table with a couple of little girls. I asked their names, grades, and ages, then explained who I was and that I was there to help them with their homework. They seemed a little unsure of me at first, but after the first little girl asked me a homework question and I helped her figure out the answer, they both started to relax.
4:06 PM
With all the kids done with their homework, the woman who had provided me with the sign-in sheet began asking all of the children, especially the ones that hadn't even come near the room, if they were sure they didn't have any homework. They all replied, "No," and with that she explained to me that normally their homework wouldn't get done so quickly, but some days there just wasn't much to do.
4:15 PM
About half of the kids and I lined up to go outside to play on the jungle gym, walk the track, and just enjoy the beautiful afternoon. Many of them looked at me, probably wondering who the older outsider was, but once they saw the other children play with me they loosened up and started tugging on my arm to carry them on my back, play tag, and watch them climb the monkey bars. After just half an hour of playing with them I was exhausted, and they started to play with each other more, so I sat down next to the same woman I had been spending the majority of my time with there and got to know her a little bit. We talked about school, jobs, childhood development, life decisions, and just about anything else that came to our minds. There was a small argument amongst the children, but she quickly solved it by merely asking them, "What are the rules here?" until they responded with the correct answer, which they all knew but were avoiding providing because they knew they had disobeyed it-- you could see it all over their faces.
5:00 PM
It was time for me to leave, so I got up to go inside and sign out, when the two little girls I had tutored ran over and asked if I was leaving. Once I said that I was, they asked when I was going to come again. I told them probably not until November, but I had classmates that were coming to help them every day. Extremely disappointed, they replied with a solemn, "Oh," and returned to their playmates. I called out to all the kids that I would see them in a few weeks, and they all waved and screamed goodbye at me as loud as they could, even the two little girls. It was an excellent two hours spent.
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