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Adarine Rayfield
Mrs. Henry
Service Learning, Period 4
December 1, 2015
Helping With Essays and Making Toes
At the beginning of the semester, I first chose tutoring underclassmen during Coachs
Corner in English as my service learning project. The tutoring was held after school in somewhat
of a study hall put on by the coaches at our school to provide help to students who needed it or
needed to simply make up work. Both Coach Curry and Mrs. Threets are extremely pleasant to
work for, and their positive attitude and genuine care for the students that are there for help are
very apparent. Both Curry and Threets are very empathetic, understanding, and ready to do
anything to help the students that are there, I find that traits definitely are helpful and account for
special traits. The second project I decided to do in order to make sure I acquired all of my
hours by the deadline was to become the prop director for Buckinghams current musical, Into
The Woods. The performance is being put on by Drama Club, and of course the Theatre Arts
Teacher and resident director Ms. Wright. Since I already knew Ms. Wright, I found that taking
up the offer of this job wasnt hard at all, as I knew her to be easy to work with and very
communicable if any issues were to come up . The site itself has been both at my home, such as
when Im actually creating the props, and also in the Performing Arts when I organize the props
already there and pick out props we already have for the musical going on right now.
I had chosen my first project as an English for two main reasons. The first being that it
was simply very convenient. I didnt have to commute far to get to it, as I just to walk to the
other side of campus, and I had friends that I knew that were doing it as well. The second, and

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more important for me choosing it as my service learning project was that becoming a teacher
had always been one of the careers that I had possibly wanted to pursue. Further along the
semester I found that I may be in need for a few more hours, and that three hours a week tutoring
when I had missed a few days wasnt going to allow me to get the required forty hours. The
second project I decided to start, was being the prop director for Buckinghams current
performance Into The Woods. Since I was already in the performance, and new the musical
pretty well, this was definitely an easy choice for me as well. I knew that becoming prop director
would also help me become more organized and crafty, and it has.
When it came to my work as a tutor, there were multiple things that I would do to help
the Coachs. Although tutoring was an important part of it, it was not my only task during the
three hours that I would put in weekly. When I first came into the room, I would be given the
keys to the teachers lounge and athletics office. There I would get snacks and drinks for the
students and other tutors there. After this, I would make sure that everyone had signed in and get
anyone who hadnt to done so. Then, I would hand out the papers that the students would write
out what assignments the students were going to get done that day. The beginning of my time
there was always simple, and always started in the same exact way, it would only get more
complicated after everyone settled and began to get started on their work. When I first showed
up, I was under the impression that I would only be an English tutor, there to help freshmen with
their essays and such. I quickly learned that I would also be helping students with history, some
math, technology, art, and other languages as well. Typically, I would just walk around the
classroom and either attempt to help kids that seemed like they were struggling or wait for them
to ask me for help. The only issue Id typically have is understanding the math, but if I had an
issue I could always call on my friend Pete for help, since he was the resident math tutor. One of

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the most recent occasions of me helping a student (the last time I tutored actually) I basically just
helped a student word an assignment and read over it. After most of my time was spent helping
students or going and getting things from the front office for Mrs. Threets, I would help clean up
the classroom and turn off all of computers left on after the students filed out. Acting as prop
director for the current performance did not have a set agenda since I would be doing things for it
both at home and at school. A few of my hours were gained by me and a few friends organizing
all of the props that were already in the Performing Arts room, doing this actually allowed us to
find some of the props and costumes that were needed which was nice as well. While doing this I
also separated the props and costumes being used in the performance from the ones that could be
used in class. Another few hours were gained by be working at home and actually creating props.
Some of these that I handmade include body parts, a golden harp, and a silver goblet. All were
relatively easy to put together materials for, but still were time consuming to create. Lastly, I
would also go prop shopping. Although there were very few props that I actually bought
complete, a lot of the prop shopping was for materials to create the props themselves. Fun fact
for whoever is reading this: Little golden chocolate coins that seem to be everywhere are actually
very difficult to come by when youre actually going out of your way to look for them. Basically
what I mean is that it literally took me two hours to find little golden chocolate coins. Needless
to say, I spent a lot of time at Michaels and Joanns. I also at one point helped paint and sketch
out set pieces themselves, but this was a one time event before I actually became prop director.
When Mrs. Threets spoke about me in the peer evaluation form, she was very brief and
didnt really bring up any problems that were going on. I can understand why she wouldnt have
much to say, because the job was pretty simple when it came to me just helping set up the class
and helping the students get settled in and whatnot. The only issue she really brought up was that

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math wasnt my strongest subject, and it most definitely isnt. But since Pete was in the class as
well, it wasnt that much of a problem. Personally I think pretty well since the job wasnt very
difficult to do and the material I tutored in I knew. I also tried my best to keep up a smile and be
patient with the students who needed help as well, and ultimately I think I succeeded in this. As
for the evaluation form that Ms. Wright filled out, she spoke about how we always communicatewhether it's about something negative or positive. I definitely agree, and really enjoy this aspect
of doing work for her since even when weve had issues in the past, weve always been able to
talk it out. She also wrote that I am reliable, and I feel very complemented and proud because of
that statement. Overall, I think I did pretty well with prop collecting, organizing, directing,
creating, and shopping and was able to show my organization and artistic skills with this job.
When I originally took the personality color quiz, I was defined as a yellow. I think that
this is accurate through and through. Both projects I had allowed me to work with others, and I
think during them I kept a general cheery disposition. Also in my academic life and social life I
have become more of a positive and friendly person when it comes to both getting work done
and also even just doing things out in public. I feel that keeping up this friendly persona has also
helped me in ways such as getting a job at a sandwich restaurant earlier this month. I definitely
saw my color show through during the prop making since it required me to be creative and
work in a team when I had to organize or even create some of the props. I also saw it when I
worked with underclassmen as a tutor and had to stay patient and positive to help them reach
them their own goals. As for the career profiler, it mainly gave me results that would require me
to work and help others, which I generally enjoy. One of the main careers that it thought I was
cut out for was teaching, since I am greatly considering this, I believe that tutoring has helped me
prepare significantly for this possible career path. Being head of props has also helped me if I

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decide on teaching for the rest of my life as well because it forced me to become organized and
communicate with many others if I needed anything, or if I needed to help them find something
that they needed for the performance. All in all, both of the service projects that I have chosen
could help me in the long run if I decide to teach. or really choose a career path where I work
with people at all. They have also prepared me to think creatively and be able organize large
scale messes with a team. Generally, if I choose a career that I help people in (which is the type
that I want), I feel that these last couple months have at least helped me prepare for it a little bit.
My experience during my service learning projects has been a positive one overall. My
only regret is that I feel that I didnt help the kids I was tutoring as much as I could. Even though
I felt like I did help them in general, I feel like if we were able to communicate a bit better I
couldve helped them more. It was a very positive experience through and through though, and if
I had the time Id continue to do it next semester as well. I also enjoyed the little things I would
do as well, such as getting snacks and cleaning up- but thats probably just because I spend my
life enjoying the little details such as those types of things. I feel that tutoring has also helped me
as someone who helps others develop better communicative skills, and become more patient with
people who dont understand things the first time through. As for me becoming the prop director
for Into The Woods- I find that this job was easy to get into since I knew the show pretty well
already and the director of course (Ms. Wright). I especially enjoyed creating props for this
project because I enjoy work with clay and other artistic mediums, which, since I had to make
toes and a heel, I was able to use to make said props. I feel that this job also helped me develop
my communicative skills as well because of the classes where I had to organize the props already
there with Traci, Laura, and Lainey. When youre working with that small of a group and you
have to organize over a hundred props, it can get a bit stressful, and being able to communicate

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with them was key to getting the job done well. This also came into play when I was buying
materials to create the props as well. When prop-shopping, Pete and I were able to find
everything we needed relatively quickly (excluding chocolate coins of course) because we were
able to both look and talk about what exactly we wanted for the prop itself. I would definitely do
this project again, and I am next semester for the second performance. In general, both projects
helped me develop skills, and will leave long lasting effects on how I can better myself when
working for and with others.