Service Learning and Community Analysis Reflection

My first day at University Prep Middle School was a day like no other that I experienced
in my thirteen years of elementary and secondary education. I walked in and was one of only a
few white people in the entire building--something I have absolutely no problem with, but
something I am not used to. The hallway before class was rambunctious. Students were
chattering and laughing with friends while teachers were yelling and herding students into
classrooms. Despite being five years older than the students, I was taken back to my first day of
middle school when I walked through the eighth grade hallway and felt like a little bug trying to
trek through a jungle. I finally made it to the safety of my mentor teachers classroom where she
had planning first hour before teaching eighth grade math throughout the rest of the day.
Together we went to the eighth grade staff meeting that is held every Thursday morning, which is
where I was able to get my first real glimpse into the life of a teacher at UPrep Middle School.
In the staff meeting you see a different side of teachers--its a place where the professional
barrier is down and the reality of being a teacher is portrayed. I was able to observe their
frustrations as they had to narrow down their list of qualified students for the special education
program from more than ten to a mere three due to minimal resources. I listened to the absurd
fights they had witnessed and broken up in the hallway and the various discipline issues they
have to deal with on a daily basis. But I also shared their joy in the accomplishments their
students made such as getting accepted to a certain high school or winning a writing contest.
Though I was in a very different school setting than what I am accustomed to, I could see myself
in their seats within a few years.
Because UPrep is so different than what I am familiar with, I had to learn more about the
culture and community of the school. One thing I immediately noticed is the rapport between

the teachers and the students. Teachers acted more like friends, or parents when discipline was
in store. The staff connected with the students on a level that I was never on with my teachers.
For instance, one teacher jumped around with another student and they pushed each other as if
they were playing basketball. Though it was completely playful, I questioned their actions at
first, but then I realized that the students walked away with a large smile on their face. Though
unprofessional, this was more of an act of affection and showed the students that the teachers
cared about them by engaging them in such a way. An even more surprising difference was the
conduct of the students, both with each other and with teachers. With each other, the amount of
fights that break out on school grounds in a day is more than the number of fights I ever heard of
happening in my middle school during the three years I was there. One morning, before I even
arrived at 8:15, there were three fights. One of which a girl proclaimed to the other, your mama
is going to be missing a child. I was appalled at the way they treated each other and their lack
of self control and respect. The minimal respect was also apparent in some conversations with
teachers. The way they would continually whine, talk back to, and defy the staff was something
that would have never been tolerated in my school, nor will be when I am a teacher. Even within
the first few hours of my service learning experience, I realized the different culture that I was
now immersing myself into.
I greatly admired how the teachers were able to connect with their students. Above all, it
made me realize that I would have to put forth more effort to form such relationships with
students that have come from a very different background that me. I would have to completely
immerse myself into their culture in order to understand how they live and develop a common
ground with them. Currently, the students and I share some commonalities because of our
proximity in age, but a few years from now when I am a teacher, I will be much older than my

students and it will be harder to connect through that. One thing I did talk to them about was
college. Because University Prep is so close to Wayne State University and there are several
student teachers in their classrooms, they often asked me if I go there and what year I am in. I
was very pleased to hear about their interest in higher education and I think UPrep does a very
good job of emphasizing and exposing the students to education beyond high school. College
pennants line the walls of the main entrance, each crew class, or homeroom, has a designated
school, and the eighth grade is even went on a trip to tour the Grand Valley State University
campus. In an area where not many students continue on to college after high school, it is very
important to expose students to it early on and get them in the mind set that high school is not the
end of their educational career.
University Prep is in an advantageous location because of its proximity to Wayne State
University and the museum district of Midtown. The students go on field trips to the DIA as
well as the Science Center. All of these amenities that surround the school serve as a way to
engage the students in the community and vise versa. There are several Detroit schools that are
in the middle of vacant neighborhoods, thus it is very important that University Prep utilizes
these assets. In addition to furthering education, they can be used to create community partners
which may lead to gaining access to additional funding and resources. Though UPrep is an
example of a charter school that is more well off than many others in the city, there are still areas
within the school that lack proper support. Creating these engagements and partnerships can
benefit both the students and the community.
Overall, my experience of working at University Prep Middle School has been beneficial
for my path to becoming a teacher. I was able to gain exposure to a different style of school
which helped me better understand a different population of students that I could be teaching in

the future. It also deepened my considerations of diversity. Despite the community in which I
was raised, I have always been a big proponent of diversity. Having a collection of people from
different backgrounds enhances the learning environment by providing different perspectives and
forcing everyone to broaden their outlooks on different aspects of life. This experience
reinforced that idea, but from a different angle. I thought my school lacked diversity because it
was approximately 90 percent caucasian. Then I realized, University Prep lacks diversity even
more because it is 97 percent African American. This made me realize that diversity is not found
in a school of a different culture, rather, it is found in a school with many cultures, which is the
environment I want to teach in. Attending Wayne State where a large collection of ethnicities
can be found in a single classroom, has made me want to be in that type of environment for years
to come. It is an environment that I think all students should experience because of the education
and personal benefits it provides. Even if I end up in a classroom with a predominant culture, I
will expose my students to different aspects of the world to further their knowledge, broaden
their perspectives, and enhance the learning environment. And if that predominant culture is
different from my own, we will at least be able to connect over our shared experiences of
learning in a diversity-oriented way.