20 Feb HU J-Term: Among Arizona’s Poverty-Stricken

Katie Jo Brown sits in the middle of the dull white classroom reading out loud. All around her is a mob of 36 children, 7-9 year-olds, all scrambling on top of her to point out the misplaced silly objects in the book. Their eyes are wide with wonder as they glance at the colorful pages trying to be the first one to find the hidden pieces.

Brown, a junior elementary education major from Eaton Rapids, Mich., was among seven Huntington University students who spent their two-and-a-half week January Term in Arizona. They were led by Kathy Turner, instructor in education.

The trip was offered to junior students who were required to have a practicum in a minority setting. Students that didn’t participate in the multi-cultural trip will be placed in a school in Fort Wayne, Ind.

For the practicum, students read A Framework for Understanding Poverty, wrote in their journal daily, taught in the classroom, turned in a lesson plan, served as breakfast monitors, helped in the after-school program, helped teachers perform their daily activities, and were evaluated by the teacher in the classroom.

“I taught a lesson about sacrifice and valuable possessions, and I asked the group that I was teaching what their most valuable possession was,” said Brown. “A couple of them said my cat, or my Bratz dolls, but one of them said food.”

Brown continued the lesson, and as she was closing, asked the group if they could give up their most valuable possession. “I asked the one who said Bratz dolls, and she said, ‘I don’t think so.’ When I asked the girl that said food, she immediately said ‘yes.’ Some of them have a sacrificial heart. Even though they have been in hard situations their entire life, they want to help people.”

The Thomas J. Pappas-Tempe School is a public, government-funded school for homeless or poverty-stricken children. The government pays teacher salaries, gives each child school supplies, and provides a free breakfast and lunch. A donation center provides clothes and food for the kids to take home to their families, and a doctor and dentist office on the school grounds offers free family check-ups.

“We weren’t there very long, but we realized that they are just kids and they can’t help the fact that they are homeless or that their parents’ life is in disarray,” said Turner. “They are put into that circumstance. That school is a very, very accepting place.”

The teachers have to deal with the language barrier. Although the majority of the students speak Spanish as their primary language, only English can be spoken in the classroom.

“Most of the students started the year not knowing any English at all. The fact that they come from homes where Spanish is the only language spoken makes teaching them English a long process,” said Jennifer Weber, junior elementary and special education major from Edgerton, Ohio. “Even those who are catching onto the English language still struggle with things such as saying ‘triangle red’ rather than ‘red triangle.’ Learning new vocabulary daily is very important, as is just talking in conversational English.”

The Thomas J. Pappas-Tempe School is one of the few public schools in Arizona that caters to impoverished families.

“The children need someone to accept them for who they are, and that school does a really good job of doing that,” said Turner. “They are crying out for someone to give them instruction because I’m sure when they go home, it’s just chaos. There are discipline problems, but they just need someone to show them structure.”