This week, my job became very different when I traded in the chaos of 500 children for the peace and serenity of a tidy little cubicle on the other side of the building. Although at first I thought I might not know what to do with myself without a million tasks on my plate, I have discovered that having the opportunity to think through and process what I experienced is very useful.

We have begun the process of evaluating exactly what we accomplished, who we affected, and where we have room for improvement in relation to the Summer Zone program. I developed a program evaluation for the staff based on my observations several weeks ago, and it was put into use during the last week of the program when it was passed out to the Lead teachers. I was quite impressed with the amount of thought and detail the staff put into completing their evaluations, and I have begun recording their responses in order to divide the relevant information into reports for those organizations which provided grants for the summer program as well as the director of the Community Center and the program directors themselves. This helps us to concretely identify areas of need from the perspectives of those individuals responsible for the success of the program, but also to obtain valuable suggestions for improvement to be implemented next year.

In addition, I have been tabulating the results of the Developmental Assets Survey which served as a pre-test and post-test for the students who attended the program. It asks questions about various facets of students’ lives from their schools to their families to their neighborhoods, and also allows us to measure which demographics of the population we served based on their reporting of their race, gender, and age. Although when children are involved the reliability of the statistics becomes rather low, it does allow us to collect some relevant information and, again, pass it along to granting organizations. For example, one question asks whether or not the student reads for enjoyment. The large number of students reporting that they do not read willingly will help substantiate the need for a literacy program.

Overall, although it was sad to say goodbye to all of the kids at the end of the program, this week has been a welcome change of pace.

Katie – Vineyard Community Center