“Chaorder” is the buzzword around the Vineyard Community Center’s Summer Zone Program, and three weeks into my fellowship, I can certainly vouch for its appropriateness. Running a summer program 40 hours a week for nearly 500 children in kindergarten through eighth grade is no small feat and necessitates no small amount of time, effort, and energy. Fortunately, however, for those in the midst of this ordered chaos, or “chaorder” for those too busy too waste time using two words, the work is incredibly rewarding.

In my first few weeks, I have, to put it quite simply, seen everything. I spent two days in a fourth grade classroom developing relationships with the students and learning to appreciate the hard work of the teachers, and I assist daily with our food program to ensure we are serving each child a lunch and snack in accordance with state requirements.

I have learned what it is like to attempt to single-handedly manage 250 children on a rollerskating field trip and I have helped children to discover the process of printmaking and other crafts. I have read books to second graders and gone to the park with first graders. I have diagnosed invisible injuries and scary-looking head wounds. I have taken a Strength-Finder test to identify my own abilities and administered a pre-test to students to measure their experiences. I have played more silly games than I care to admit and I have been the unsuspecting victim of a fifth grader with a hose on Splash Day. But finally and most importantly, I have been absolutely awed and inspired by the people I interact with every day.

I am in the unique position of being an observer of many classrooms, and of the program as a whole, and I have seen repeatedly compassion and love juxtaposed with diligence and hard work in a manner I have never seen before. Despite the fact that each of the fourteen classrooms is overflowing with children, the Lead and Assistant teacher in each room fill every day with meaningful activities. Beginning next week, I am going to begin delving deeper into the “bigger picture” in that I will work on planning activities for the next few weeks and continue to research a potential literacy program.

Katie Stucko–Vineyard Community Center