Week 2 of the Job Swap
The second week of my Job swap concentrated on exposing me to new things. Most valuable to me, I have gotten the chance to work in a Homework Help Center. My home branch does not have a HHC yet so this was an entirely new world to me. The kids were really appreciative of our help. For the most part, the older kids are pretty self-sufficient and do most of their work on the computers. The younger mostly work on handouts. You have to sit on the younger kids a little to keep them on task and to keep them from distracting each other.
I have also gotten the chance to work in the Job Help Center. My home branch has a JHC but its a much more ad hoc affair. This is my first chance to work with a more settled situation and I have to say that I’m jealous. By using their Homework Help Center for the JHC during the school day, you can offer more hours and more computers, making the whole service more useful for customers.
I haven’t yet had any security incidents worth mentioning. When I arrived thursday the remements of a “fight circle” were breaking up across the street from the building. While it makes for a tense situation, basically all one need to do is make sure that the confrontation stays outside the building and call the police. I don’t want to minimize the danger, as it was a dangerous situation. Nevertheless, it was manageable and the folks at the branch are pros, so all was well.
Overall, I’m learning a lot. I might not be learning exactly the way I expected, but I’m learning nonetheless. I can’t help but think that what I’m learning is all the more valuable because of that fact.
