Final Project

Film 150 Final Project


Research
About the Organization:
Our Next Generation is detected to helping children who live in poverty beat the odds of academic failure. Children who live in poverty have increased chances of academic failure and school drop outs.’

With the important mission statement:
◦ Our Next Generation (ONG) serves the children or our neighborhoods with programs focused on improving educational outcomes and life skills.
◦ In addition, ONG endeavors to build an effective, collaborative team or parents, families, teachers, volunteers and staff through one-on-one relationships.
◦ Our programs serve all races and creeds and are rooted in spiritual and moral beliefs.
All above information found at www.ongkids.org

For my research portion I decided to go to Our Next Generation and tutor once a week for a about a month and a half. I meet with the director, who helped me with this project as well as helping me connect with the child I was tutoring. At our next generation it isn’t only about helping the children succeed mentally but also socially. The director sat me aside before I started tutoring and let me know who I was going to be tutoring, but not just the little girl’s name. But also the things she liked to do, her hobbies, her favorite shows, and miscellaneous things like that. I found that it helped me tutor the young girl a lot better, because I was able to focus on her and the things she liked. I have a feeling that she was more open to learning because she knew that someone was taking and interest in her and not just looking to get volunteer hours.

Another important aspect of ONG is that they provide the children with dinner, and time to socialize before they begin meeting with their tutors. The center also seems very ‘religious’: Stated in the organization’s mission statement: Their programs are rooted in spiritual and moral beliefs. In their study center there is a cross and many small religious figures around the room. So again ONG isn’t only dedicated to children’s education but also their morals, and religion. They are going above and beyond what is asked of a tutor center.

Reflection:
During the week of October 12th, I decided to go down to Our Next Generation and see if I could interview a tutor about their experience with ONG. When I got to the organization I walked in to the children eating dinner and socializing, before they began their tutor sessions. I was able to met with a young tutor who is currently enrolled as a freshman at Marquette University, who is also tutoring for a school project. It was hard to interview this person because they had just started tutoring with ONG about a week prior. But he was able to tell me a lot about the kids and his experience the previous week. He told me the kids were very open and extremely willing to learn. I thought that it might be a good idea to sit down and tutor one of the children to get a little be more information. As I was waiting in the hall to be assigned to a child a little girl ran up to me and polity asked if I was going to be her tutor with the cutest grin on her face. I simply looked back and smiled "I will see what I can do!" I ended up being this girls tutor. The experience I had tutoring this girl was like nothing I had ever experience before. She was kind, welcoming and extremely smart for her age. Going to ONG was an eye opener for me, I have decided to become a tutor every Wednesday tutoring the same girl. I hope to be able to impact her life, the way she has impacted mine. Being able to open up to new challenges and take on any obstacle that is thrown my way. I am looking forward to the weeks ahead, and would encourage many people to do the same. Take an hour out of your week and make a difference in someone's life, more importantly a child's life.