The Rewards of Volunteering for Boys & Girls Clubs of the Peninsula
By David Jacobson

Nothing is more rewarding for a volunteer classroom teacher than a group of attentive students. That’s exactly what I experienced while leading a one-hour-plus journalism class for middle schoolers in the summer program at The Bayshore School location of Boys & Girls Clubs of the Peninsula (BGCP).

Site Director Cynthia Valente graciously led me on a tour of the school, tucked in a corner of Daly City, practically in the shadow of the Cow Palace. From the playground to the gym to the hallways, youthful energy abounded.

It was no different in the classroom until Coach Arnold quieted down the dozen or so club kids in attendance. Then their energy focused on the work we were there to do together.

One of the beauties of BGCP is that the kids want to be where they are. Another is the variety of activities and enrichment opportunities offered, so that students can participate in what interests them. That combination makes life easy for a classroom volunteer!

We started with an icebreaker exercise meant to identify the students’ passions so that their excitement would rise, and I could have in mind some common ground to use in subsequent give-and-take in the classroom. My tapping into their own stated passions showed them I was listening, and that I cared about what they cared about, which showed that I cared about them.

The students listened closely to the stories I shared from my four-plus decades as a journalist, again emphasizing passion as a key to success in any endeavor. At appropriate times, they asked questions that showed a great level of engagement. Beyond making life easy for the volunteer, they made it delightful.

After getting to know the students and letting them get to know me, it was time for an exercise in getting them to know each other better while also sharpening their journalism skills. In groups of two or three, they were assigned to interview each other for three minutes, take handwritten notes, and then take 10 minutes to write an article about the passions of the classmate they had interviewed. That assignment offered students another chance to consider their passions and provided a practical experience to complement the abstract principles of journalism that I’d shared in the more lecture-y part of the class.

Roaming the room, I heard students ask open-ended questions, as a journalist should, to move the interview subject toward opening up. Some students intuitively asked follow-up questions of their interviewees.

When it came time to write their articles, the room quieted and stayed that way for the full 10 minutes. At deadline (sounded not by a phone alarm but by my vocal imitation of one of my 1980s newsroom bosses), the most skilled students submitted articles with writing of a quality that matched the sophistication of their interview techniques.

Some showed great potential for a career in journalism. Whether or not any of them take that path, I like to think the students benefited from exposure to the possibility. I like to think they benefited from time with a caring adult. And, I know I benefited from the experience, as will you when you volunteer with BGCP.

For more information on volunteer opportunities with BGCP, please email Sisley Brewer.