This year, your holiday wishlist might include any number of the following: iPad 2, XBOX Kinect, Mad Men DVD set, Kindle Fire or a Special Edition Keurig with a variety pack of seasonal K-cups. But what’s probably not on your list is education, opportunity, and cultural enrichment, which is exactly what thousands of children across the country need the most.
That’s why we chose to spend yesterday morning volunteering at Mi Escuelita Preschool, a non-profit organization that provides early childhood education to low-income and at-risk children in the Dallas area. The staff and volunteers at Mi Escuelita not only teach English to Hispanic children but they also help to instill the social skills needed to succeed in and out of the classroom. We owe a huge thanks to the Entrepreneurs for North Texas (ENFT) for organizing the event.
We didn’t know what to expect before we got there, but we came armed with goodie bags, craft supplies and more juice boxes and fruit snacks than we knew what to do with. What we didn’t expect was to be greeted with hugs and “I love you”s from 3-, 4- and 5-years-olds smiling so big their ears must have hurt. That’s exactly what happened and it was the perfect start to our morning.
We spent the morning helping the kids make Christmas ornaments out of tree- and stocking-shaped foam cut outs, glitter and foam stickers of candy canes, presents, reindeer and gingerbread men. While crafting, the kids told us what they wanted for Christmas (Dora the Explorer toys) and asked us if we’d read to them later (of course!). Some of them hummed the tune to Feliz Navidad while they put the finishing touches on their ornaments.
While the glitter dried, we read holiday-themed books about a mouse who dressed like Santa and a family of snowmen, among others. The kids practically sat in our laps to get close enough to the books to point out their favorite pictures on each page. Their eyes were full of wonder and amazement and the magic that the holiday season brings.
Little did we know, their musical humming was in preparation for a holiday-themed concert they’d planned just for us. We all gathered into a large room and the kids came in, single-file, wearing Santa hats and jingling bell bracelets. In unison, they sang Feliz Navidad, Jingle Bells and S-A-N-T-A in the tune of B-I-N-G-O while they rattled their bell bracelets to the beat.
We gave them a much-deserved standing ovation while they bowed and curtsied. We may have volunteered our morning to help with arts and crafts, but the kids volunteered theirs to put smiles on our faces and remind us what the holidays are all about: ear-to-ear smiles and wide-eyed wonderment.
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[...] Standing Dog volunteered at Mi Escuelita, a non-profit organization that provides education to low-income and at-risk children. Here’s [...]
[...] Dog volunteered at Mi Escuelita, a non-profit organization that provides education to low-income and at-risk children. Here’s [...]
[...] Dog volunteered at Mi Escuelita, a non-profit organization that provides education to low-income and at-risk children. Here’s [...]
[...] Dog volunteered at Mi Escuelita, a non-profit organization that offers education to low-income and at-risk children. Here’s [...]
[...] Dog volunteered at Mi Escuelita, a non-profit organization that provides schooling to low-income and at-risk children. Here’s [...]
[...] Dog volunteered at Mi Escuelita, a non-profit organization that provides schooling to low-income and at-risk children. Here’s [...]
Awesome, guys! Merry Christmas!
Where’s Mike?
Well, somebody had to work while we played! He was holding down the fort!
I much prefer infroatmvie articles like this to that high brow literature.