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Are kids not the most beautiful things you have ever seen?

I can't get enough of them but maybe its just me. For a class I am taking this semester, Empowering Families and Communities, we are required to participate in an internship once a week for two hours. 3 of my classmates and I are interning at the Detroit section of the Head Start program which is funded by the government to improve the safety, nutrition, and early education of preschool aged kids and their families. There are several sites in the Detroit area but I have been  working at one called Bibleway II. Bibleway II has three classrooms of preschoolers who are equally beautiful and full of energy!

In each of the rooms there are at least two facilitators or supervisors, in my room there is Mrs. Williams and Mrs. Hooper both are some of the most dedicated women I have ever seen or met. 

This was the third time I have been to Bibleway II but only my second interaction with the kids there. I brought my camera into the classroom to take some photographs of the kids playing but I knew that having it would be a little distracting. Knowing this going into the classroom I didn't use it until the kids had free time and would be able to try it for them selves.

For me there is nothing more beautiful than seeing the spark in a kids eye when they accomplish something or see something accomplished. Before I let the kids play with my camera  have to explain in their terms what the camera means to me. I start off by asking the kids if they have a favorite toy and how they would feel if that toy was broken or lost. After they respond I tell them this is my favorite toy and I would be very upset if it was broken or lost. After they kind of understand that I show them how to wear it and hold it after that I just make sure they are strong enough to hold it up to take the picture. From there I have to make sure they are sharing and taking turns with one another. 

The most important and amazing aspect of the kids using my camera are their faces when they have taken a photo or see their picture on the screen of the camera. They smile bigger and brighter than I have ever seen. Those smiles and those moments are what keep me inspired. It is a reason to wake up every morning and it is a reason to be happy you are alive. Kids are very intelligent, try not saying no to them but rather teach them something new, maybe something you didn't think they were capable of. The reaction you get from the kid could be very unexpected but powerful for both of you!

-Megan