My first night at Bible Club I had the opportunity to sit in the re route room. When I first thought of re-route I thought it sounded like a place for all the “bad” kids to go, but to my sweet surprise I was wrong. I found that the re-route room is a place for students to take a breather, re group, set some goals and then have the opportunity to head back to class. Please don’t think that it is just a place to lounge around, reroute is very structured and Mr. John does a great job of keeping all of the kids in their proper places. When kids first arrive they are directed to sit in a chair and cool down for about 5-10 minutes; by cool down I mean sit quietly with hands folded and facing forward. After the 5-10 minutes, the kids do something called “processing” which is a time to talk about why they were sent to reroute and discuss some goals that can be reached.
Now I was not the only one in reroute that evening, sitting behind me in chairs doing their time of “cool down” sat Randa and Javaen. If my memory serves me well, I remember Randa and Javaen having a good ole time joking around and teasing each other while they were supposed to be “cooling down”. Like I said before, cooling down does not consist of talking to one another. They eventually, sat quietly and appeared ready to process. After a bit Javaen was called to the table to process with Mr. John. Trying to get Javaen to set goals for herself was like pulling teeth. Finally, with the help of Mr. John some goals were set and Javaen walked back to class, with a good attitude in fact! It was Randa’s turn to come to the table and to my surprise it was like Javaen was still sitting there! Randa and Mr. John decided on some goals and she returned to class. Both girls had been sent to reroute for disrespecting classmates/volunteers and not participating, and both girls set a goal of not being back in reroute anytime soon!
The following week, I popped into the 5 grade room to chat with the volunteers and classroom leader Mrs. Wanda about Randa & Javaen’s behavior. I spoke with Miss Joy, I asked her if there had been anything that had stuck out to her during their time together? She said, that they had a very good night and no one went to reroute! Next I decided to talk to Mrs. Wanda, she shared that over the past few weeks some of her 5th grader girls had been in reroute every Bible Club meeting! She was so pleased that no one had gone to reroute, and went on to tell me that she has noticed that they have been coming into class time with good attitudes and have been paying more attention to what they are saying! Something really exciting that happened was that Javaen took her goals very seriously, and complimented a girl in class that she formerly didn’t get along with. Javaen genuinely told this girl that she always looked very pretty in pictures. Then the two girls decided to be friends, after months of arguing! This was so encouraging for me to hear! Miss Wanda really feels like the girls are being impacted in a positive way by reroute.
After speaking with Mrs. Wanda I decided to follow up with Mr. John to gather his point of view. Mr. John was excited in telling me that the girls (Randa and Javaen) have been doing really well! They have been starting each Bible Club in reroute for about 15 minutes, not because they are in trouble but for the purpose of writing goals for the night. Mr. John reaffirmed my statement about how hard it was in the beginning to get the girls to set goals for themselves, and now they are doing it all on their own! Their goals have consisted of things like no crossing of the arms, no rolling of the eyes, and no talking back. Mr. John also made it a point to tell me that a goal they have set each time is choosing one classmate to compliment. He feels this has benefited some of the relationships between the 5th grade girls. I could hear the excitement in Mr. John’s voice as he told me about the girls, and everything he said was in line with what Mrs. Wanda had noticed. I am noticing true transformation in children and it is beautiful.
Now I was not the only one in reroute that evening, sitting behind me in chairs doing their time of “cool down” sat Randa and Javaen. If my memory serves me well, I remember Randa and Javaen having a good ole time joking around and teasing each other while they were supposed to be “cooling down”. Like I said before, cooling down does not consist of talking to one another. They eventually, sat quietly and appeared ready to process. After a bit Javaen was called to the table to process with Mr. John. Trying to get Javaen to set goals for herself was like pulling teeth. Finally, with the help of Mr. John some goals were set and Javaen walked back to class, with a good attitude in fact! It was Randa’s turn to come to the table and to my surprise it was like Javaen was still sitting there! Randa and Mr. John decided on some goals and she returned to class. Both girls had been sent to reroute for disrespecting classmates/volunteers and not participating, and both girls set a goal of not being back in reroute anytime soon!
The following week, I popped into the 5 grade room to chat with the volunteers and classroom leader Mrs. Wanda about Randa & Javaen’s behavior. I spoke with Miss Joy, I asked her if there had been anything that had stuck out to her during their time together? She said, that they had a very good night and no one went to reroute! Next I decided to talk to Mrs. Wanda, she shared that over the past few weeks some of her 5th grader girls had been in reroute every Bible Club meeting! She was so pleased that no one had gone to reroute, and went on to tell me that she has noticed that they have been coming into class time with good attitudes and have been paying more attention to what they are saying! Something really exciting that happened was that Javaen took her goals very seriously, and complimented a girl in class that she formerly didn’t get along with. Javaen genuinely told this girl that she always looked very pretty in pictures. Then the two girls decided to be friends, after months of arguing! This was so encouraging for me to hear! Miss Wanda really feels like the girls are being impacted in a positive way by reroute.
After speaking with Mrs. Wanda I decided to follow up with Mr. John to gather his point of view. Mr. John was excited in telling me that the girls (Randa and Javaen) have been doing really well! They have been starting each Bible Club in reroute for about 15 minutes, not because they are in trouble but for the purpose of writing goals for the night. Mr. John reaffirmed my statement about how hard it was in the beginning to get the girls to set goals for themselves, and now they are doing it all on their own! Their goals have consisted of things like no crossing of the arms, no rolling of the eyes, and no talking back. Mr. John also made it a point to tell me that a goal they have set each time is choosing one classmate to compliment. He feels this has benefited some of the relationships between the 5th grade girls. I could hear the excitement in Mr. John’s voice as he told me about the girls, and everything he said was in line with what Mrs. Wanda had noticed. I am noticing true transformation in children and it is beautiful.
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