Summer of Service: Workman Grants and Cost Awards

By Elizabeth Doe '08, Front Page Editor

As students return to campus and classes begin once again, Albany Road hums with the question, "How was your summer?" For three students, Martha Xiang '08, Angie Han '09, and Charmaine Charmant '10, summer provided the opportunity to serve their communities with the funds they were awarded last spring as recipients of the Workman and Cost Community Service Grants.

Xiang, who received the Cost Award and was granted $2500, spent her three months of summer designing and implementing a curriculum to teach at Sherig Norbu Girl's School in Tibet. "At Deerfield, we are all students on par with excellence," Xiang explained. "However, bearing the responsibility of creating, mastering, and teaching a self-designed curriculum has hitherto proven to be the biggest challenge of my student career: when the student becomes the teacher." Though initially intimidated by the fifty to sixty young girls in the classroom before her, Xiang took advantage of the curiosity she discovered in her students and challenged them to achieve greatness with enthusiasm and liveliness. As she learned about the values of the Tibetan community, Xiang also came to understand the immense, passionate love of learning in the culture. "Sherig Norbu girls are pioneers as a generation of educated women and mothers. These daughters of impoverished nomads are the most happy-go-lucky kids I've ever met. Honestly, I was more of a student than ever."

Han, a citizen of Korea, received the Workman Grant for her proposal to work with disabled children at a center called "Gi-Bbum Tuh," or "joy place" in Korean. The youths, eight boys aged 15-17, mostly suffered from autism and were unable to express themselves with ease. Han explained her role with the young men as "spending time with them to help them see what's out there in the world." After arriving at the center in the morning, Han would participate in and lead the boys through outdoor activities. The routine of her day, however, was not without its struggles. When Han first arrived as a volunteer, she was afraid of the way the boys would physically harm themselves or others to express frustration. She grew to understand the support they needed in order to avoid injuring themselves. By the end of the summer Han explained, "[The boys] are the kindest people you will meet in your life; they are so genuine because they are unable to lie." All the money Han was awarded went directly to the program. "I think I learned a lot," Han concluded. "I am so grateful that I had this chance to be with the children and watch them express themselves in a healthy way."

Charmant, who was also awarded funds from the Workman Grant, used her money to buy art supplies and plan an art program at the Brooklyn Public Library. Three days a week, from nine o'clock in the morning until three o'clock in the afternoon, Charmant worked with kids aged 3-12 who came from different neighborhoods and daycare programs. Though at first she was afraid children would not attend, Charmant was pleasantly surprised that her afternoon activities and story time themes became popular and described her summer service overall as a "rewarding experience." She expects to return to Deerfield with the patience and understanding she attained while working with children.

Though we can anticipate a school meeting in February that outlines each program in greater depth, Charmant summed up her experience succinctly: "Every time the kids would leave I felt so good just to know I made someone else happy for the day. It felt great to make a difference. Even if it was a tiny difference, I made a difference."

As published in the September 14, 2007 issue of the Deerfield Scroll, the monthly newspaper of Deerfield Academy.