Natalie Kaharick - Teaching Yes for Schools

Natalie's Experience teaching YES! for Schools

Before coming to Chicago in September, it had been almost a year since I had last taught youth programs for IAHV. My last course involved working with inner city kids in South America where everything had to be translated and so I was looking forward to being able to communicate and interact directly with the kids without translation. The night before the class began, as we were preparing our syllabus, I sat there hoping that I still had my YES! skill set. It's such a different experience to move from working with college students to middle school kids, but everyone assured me that the Disney school was amazing..

Upon arrival, I was astounded by how many kids we had to work with: amongst the 7 teams of teachers, we had 250 kids. There was an process for everything: how to line up, where to sit, how to move your chair. It made me grateful to be a grown up! As we began the YES! course, it was a very apparent that we would all be learning a lot and having a ton of fun. The kids were hilarious and cute, even when they attempted to "push our buttons". What was really interesting for me was to remember what it was like to be a pre-teen, trying so hard to be cool and act like you don't care. However, in reality, they are listening to every word you say.

During one session we were discussing "social problems and service: how can we make a difference?" Halfway into the point, I was beginning to wonder if anyone was with me. So I asked the class if they knew a recipe for depression and for not making any change in society. All kinds of answers came, and then I told them a recipe for depression is to go on thinking "what about me? what about me?" because when we're focused just on ourselves we forget about others. And so I asked the class how can we combat this attitude? What is a recipe for that? And out of the back of the room from a 11 year sitting in the corner with his arm slumped over his face came the most precious answer that I least expected, "what about you? we can ask ourselves, what about you? what do you need?" It blew me away.

And that's how I got hooked back into teaching and fundraising for YES!. I ended up staying in Chicago for the next month, being a part of the team that would teach 800 kids at the Disney school and the Jahn school. It was so gratifying and each week I felt myself getting stronger, being more skillful, having more fun and enjoying this program. I see that it really really does make an impact on the kids. They are sleeping better, having less fights and doing better in school. And they openly share that with you. It's amazing. If you haven't seen YES! in action, please come sit in on a session. You will be amazed by the power of it.

- Natalie