Raspas and Rewards

Fridays at Branches are always fun. And quite a bit stressful. Most of the teachers give the kids a break with the homework since they are headed into a weekend, so there's very little tutoring that actually takes place. My schedule is worked out so that on Fridays, since there is no middle or high school tutoring, I get to help out with the forth graders. This has to be one of my favorite grades of all time. I have nine forth graders that I get to hang out with on Fridays and they are nine of the most amazing kids I know. They were the first group to learn my name once I got down here and even on all the other days of the week when I don't work with them, they run up to me and give me the biggest hugs.

Besides getting a break from my argumentative, punky middle school boys, Fridays are fun because after the elementary students are picked up from school (meaning all the kids up to fifth grade), the staff takes them to go get "Raspas." A raspa is the equivalent, in my mind, of a snow cone. There is a little old man, who looks like he has leather for skin and only speaks Cuban, who sits on the corner down the street from Branches every day, all day, out in the hot sun, selling raspas out of a cooler attached to a bicycle. I like to think that Fridays are his favorite days too. We drive up with a fifteen passenger van full of screaming elementary kids and buy thirty or forty raspas from this man. I have never seen him work harder. Or smile more. He knows on Fridays to make sure he has extra "pink" flavor. The first Friday I was working at Branches, I got a phone call asking what flavor of raspa I wanted. Since I had no clue what was going on or what a raspa was, I told them to surprise me. (My favorite answer to a lot of questions.) I received a bubble pink, milky-looking snow-cone-like icy drink and was pleasantly surprised. Fredy, my coworker, told me he got me the "pink" flavored raspa, a local favorite. I later found out the flavor is called "fresas con leche," or strawberry milk flavored. Regardless, they are good! Probably not sanitary, but GOOD!

Fridays are also fun for the elementary students because of the Branches Rewards Club. This is something that I watch every week with fascination. Everyday, the kids get tickets based on their behavior. If they are bad they get tickets taken away, if they are good, they receive extra tickets. If they do something without having to be asked, like say something nice to someone or pick up trash from outside, they can earn even more tickets. They are taught the difference between spending and saving and the importance of saving, since some big items require that they receive a lot of tickets. I feel that this system is just genius. Not only do the kids really love getting rewarded, but it is a fantastic discipline tool to be able to "take tickets away," rather than having to yell or discipline kids in other ways. What fascinates me about rewards club is the prizes. There are your average "kid prizes" like candy and junk food (spicy hot Cheetos being a popular choice...GROSS.) But, the big ticket items, the items the kids are always trying to save up for and coveting from one another when one child finally gets enough tickets, are school supplies. Of all the things a child could want in this world: stuffed animals, action figures, candy, toys, electronics, etc. The things these kids want most are trapper keepers and spiral notebooks.

Why? The only reason I can think of is the fact that school supplies are expensive. It's something I have never had to think of in my life. If it was on the list needed for school, my parents bought it. Down to the hundred dollar calculator needed for calculus. (Thank you Mom and Dad for helping me pass my math and science classes...) School supplies were not ever something I had to worry about not having. Of course, there were limits. I may not have been able to get the Lisa Frank binder or expensive (and quite unnecessary) locker shelf that all my friends had, but I had everything I ever needed for school. These kids don't have that privilege. They have the basics. If even. Branches gave these kids their backpacks and school supplies at the beginning of the year. If that runs out, we will provide them with more. But, if Branches did not do that, they would not have these supplies and they would not be adequately prepared for school. Getting to "purchase" school supplies from the Branches Bucks Rewards Club is like Christmas for these kids. It is an incredibly humbling experience to see these kid's faces light up as they carry their new notebooks around.

Fridays are also extremely stressful because after a full afternoon of tutoring elementary kids, I want to go home. However, that is just the start of my day. From 7-10, the middle school and high school students come for youth group. It's a very high energy, fun, exciting night. And it requires a lot of stress and energy from the staff. But it is beyond worth it to see these kids, about 60-70 youth on a given night, crossing boundaries of race, culture, and class which they would never ever do anywhere else. The youth that come to Branches range from Latino to Cuban to Haitian to Jamaican and everything in between. Never in a million years would these different cultures mix as smoothly as they do at Branches. That is just one of the many cool things to witness on a Friday night. And just one of the many cool things that happen on a daily basis down in Florida City.