Jose Figueres Elementary School

Having spent four to five hours a week at the school, I felt as if I was prepared for the experience we would have volunteering. While some needs of the school and students are immediately obvious to me, others have come to my attention only because of the time I have spent there interacting with the children. I was excited to be able to work with the children outside the classroom and get to know some of them on a more intimate level by doing something that would add life to the somewhat barren school. While I am happy we spent the time planting the flowers and painting rocks, I feel that with better organization and more effort from all of us, we could have done more to give back to the community that has given so much to us.

While I was very happy and excited to complete this work to beautify a section of a local elementary school it made me realize how much more is needed and all the things that could have been done in addition to the work we did. I think that working with students gave us a new perspective on the needs of the people who live among us and hopefully opened the eyes of some of those that may have thought otherwise. Every little thing done makes a difference and is noticed, and this is something we cannot underestimate as volunteers. My time spent at the school has taught me so much and although it was overwhelming at times I could not have asked for a more interesting experience getting to help students with my native language and getting help in return.

- Cullen Pitler