On October 15, Thatcher Sophomore Emily Deemervolunteered for Operation Exodus, a tutoring and mentoring program in Washington Heights. She describes her experience below:
This past Saturday, I spent the morning (9:15-12:30) mentoring kids in Washington Heights. Although the program reaches from K-12, I was working with the 3rd-4th grade girls (they were a handful, but definitely a lot of fun when they listened). As a mentor for Operation Exodus, my duties include preparing the week's Bible lesson and activities during the week with co-mentors and coming prepared on Saturday with patience, grace, and understanding for the kids that I'm working with. From what I've heard, consistency and authenticity is big with these kids (show, don't tell), so I'm really hoping to grow in that respect and build some stronger relationships within the next couple of weeks. A lot of times these kids are coming from situations in which there is no positive role model in their lives, so I'm totally excited for this chance to be a factor in kid's lives and hopefully represent Christ to them on a regular basis.
As far as the other mentors go, the group is tight-knit and really welcoming. Every week, they go out to the delicious Caribbean restaurant as a group, and this past week I was able to go a hike with them across the GW Bridge. I'm really hoping to form some solid relationships with a lot of these people over the next couple of weeks.
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