Berks Rockstars had planned on painting rocks with the children at Glenside. This was a great idea to allow children to take some time out of their day and relax a little while painting a rock that shows their creativity as well as uniqueness. Berks Rockstars had spent three hours one afternoon priming the rocks so the children could paint right over them. After the rocks were primed, it was unclear and a little confusing as to where our group was supposed to take our rocks. We had thought we were working on the painting during Earth Day, not a separate time. Due to the confusion my group was unable to actually paint rocks directly at Glenside. We did however, get to paint rocks with them at Earth Day that is held at Penn State Berks. The children who came to Earth Day were respectful, kind, and VERY creative. The one girl that was in my teams group was an artist and did a great job of painting the rock that she was given. Working with the students not only opened us to learning to adapt due to certain circumstances, but to enjoy the time that we have with them because it is short, and their time is just as valuable as ours. We sometimes get caught up in a bunch of different things in life and forget to take a few minutes to step back and be a “big sibling” to those younger than us. We asked some of the children who attended Earth Day what their favorite part about it was, and some of them said it was getting to spend time with the “big kids.” One boy stated that he enjoys spending time with kids who are older than him because he learns a lot from them, (hopefully all good things!). The teams that worked together on this project didn’t get to finish the project completely as we have not made the river of rocks at the school, but we got all the rocks prepared and painted, and that is a big start. My group also really enjoyed sharing our project at the community day during class. We thought it was a great refresher on public speaking, and also got us talking to other professors and local people within the area that enjoy the topics we were researching about. I personally enjoy talking with others as well as telling them about my experiences, so I really enjoyed spending the class down at Gaige.
