Don’t get me wrong, a spring break on the beach with a group of people I know does sound fun but what if I tried something else? That’s exactly what I did when I applied to lead my first Bear Break trip this year.
Pre-Trip
Going in I knew nothing about the program but was excited to dive in and learn all there was to it. Starting out meeting one on one with Alex in preparation for the trip I was able to create reflection activities for each night of the trip, pick the participants of the trip, email the final group, and plan and lead pre-trip meetings. The pre-trip meetings allowed me to get to meet the students I would be spending a week with over 350 miles away from campus. We started off our meetings getting to know each other and then moved right into packing lists, itineraries, our mission statement, and questions. Two pre-trip meetings were held and while I had met all of the students going on the trip I was still anxious going into the trip with people I had only met twice to a city I had never been to before.
Sunday Morning
We left Springfield and headed to Dallas Texas to start our first Bear Break trip together. The first night we decided to roast hot dogs and smores because of the perfect weather. The dinners throughout the week quickly became one of my favorite times because of the conversations and stories shared.
Monday
Was our first day and we went to Wesley Rankin Community Center (WRCC) to meet the staff, start the service projects, and plan our week. Once we got to explore the classrooms we would be in for the remainder of the week we were told that we had complete freedom to use whatever we needed in the classroom, create our own schedule, create a seating chart, and design lesson plans. As an education major I loved this opportunity because I had never been given that privilege. We then were assigned the task of cleaning a large closet so that it was functional for the staff to use. After leaving WRCC we cooked dinner and ate as a whole group. We then moved upstairs for a movie night and we created our welcome posters for the student’s arrival the next day.
Tuesday
Was our first day with the students in the classroom. As a group, we wanted to get to know the students and allow them to do the same. We made name tags so that for the first day we could all rely on their convenience of them to grab a student’s attention or start a conversation. Activities and outside time occupied the rest of our time with the students that day. After our lunch break, we started back on the closet and didn’t finish until after five but the results were amazing. As soon as we got back to the house we started making personal pizzas for dinner and had some good laughs after realizing all the different ways we each make pizza or our favorite toppings. I then had the idea of using our last pre-made crust to make a s’mores pizza with the leftover the s’mores supplies from the first night. We gave it a try and it wasn’t too bad and it helped clear out the kitchen without putting things to waste. For the reflection activity, we went around sharing similarities and differences we had all taken notice of at WRCC in comparison to the various places we had worked in Missouri. The list included the lack of phones in the WRCC classroom, the welcoming environment, and the low enrollment and staff at WRCC. Different conversations stemmed from this and we sat around the dinner table for quite some time talking about how amazing the kids we worked with were and what we wanted to bring back with us to Missouri.
Wednesday
We started out the day with another get-to-know-you activity so that students who weren’t there the day before could meet everyone and so that we get to know the others on a deer level. We led several craft activities that the students loved and played outside for quite some time. As a group, we ate lunch and shared stories from the day and what went well and what didn’t. We were then given a new project because we had already finished the closet. We worked on all the different craft closets for the classrooms and we got this knocked out in one day because of the urgency of the students being in the classroom the next day. When we got home we started to make spaghetti and once again enjoyed a good conversation. After reflection, a group of us spent the night in the yurt in the backyard. I think we got a total of three hours of sleep because we couldn’t stop talking and laughing with one another.
Thursday
Morning was the hardest morning because of the lack of sleep the night before. It was a rainy day so we didn’t go outside as much as we had the two previous days but got to do fun things indoors instead. Next, we wanted to read the book “The True Story of The 3 Little Pigs” but we could only find Spanish copies. The students read it and translated it for us and then we took a try as teachers. This was one of my favorite memories from the trip because I had never experienced anything like it and it allowed the students to teach us something. After we finished reading we split up into two groups to build our own houses out of toothpicks, mini marshmallows, spaghetti sticks, and jumbo marshmallows (typically I would just use mini marshmallows and toothpicks but we had leftover spaghetti sticks and jumbo marshmallows so we incorporated them for additional supplies). Both groups were creative in the ways that they made their houses and both passed all three tests like the story discussed on if their house would blow over. This was a good team bonding activity and we enjoyed watching the kids get creative and laugh together. Because it was our last day with the kids it was hard to see them go and we all got emotional saying goodbye because we had really bonded with the WRCC kids. Our last project was to do a deep clean of the classrooms so we worked as a team to finish the task quickly to get everything done because we wouldn’t be returning the next day. Our last final task was to go offsite to clean the buses which didn’t take long.
Friday
Was our last full day in Dallas and it was our day to explore. The JFK museum was our first activity it took us two hours to get through and I highly recommend others to visit it if they get the chance. We then ate at a food truck park and enjoyed a trolly ride afterward. Following we went to a local farmers market and then the Bishop Art District. I had asked a few shop owners for food recommendations in the area and we continuously got the same recommendation of a restaurant right on the strip where we were. While waiting for our reservation we stumbled across a street writer who writes a poem of whatever you ask her to and you tip as much as you think it’s worth. We told her what we were doing in Texas and where we were from and she wrote a really sweet poem that I hope to have forever. After she finished we were told that our table was already ready so we went back and had some delicious authentic Mexican food.
Saturday
We were on the road back to Springfield and I think we were all sad to leave. The car ride back was much different than the car ride at the start of the trip because we had created a bond as a group and we played games, laughed, and talked the whole way home. I hope to never forget this trip and all that I experienced because this was a trip of a lifetime and I learned a lot about myself, others, and the education system because of it. Bear Breaks is one of the biggest highlights of my college career thus far.