After graduation plans can be challenging for many students, while others have known of their plans since freshman year. 2015 Auburn graduate in early childhood education Jenna Burgess, stepped off of the graduation stage and into a Guatemalan orphanage.
“She always gives more of herself than she gets in return,” said Barclay Crane, a 2015 graduate in early childhood education and a close friend of Burgess. “She spent her graduate summer going and helping other people.”
Burgess knew all of senior year she wanted to volunteer at an orphanage to help underprivileged children receive an education.
“When I was in high school, I traveled to El Salvador and fell in love, [with the country], so I knew I wanted to go somewhere similar,” Burgess said. “I found the application for the orphanage online, so I applied and was accepted.”
Burgess spent six weeks at Casa Shalom, teaching basic reading and language skills to children ages 4-18. At an orphanage with 110 children, Burgess was the only one who could speak English.
“I didn’t know Spanish, but I picked it up very quickly while I was there,” Burgess said. “Most of the children were on a kindergarten reading level, so I was teaching them basic alphabetical skills and spelling.”
While at Auburn University, one of Burgess’s favorite classes was music and related arts taught by Kathy King, clinical lecturer in education.
“Music in itself is valuable in what students experience in education,” King said. “Music and arts can absolutely enhance other curricular subjects and can engage students in learning.”
The ukulele, an instrument that accompanied Burgess on her trip to Guatemala, is one of the primary instruments that King teaches and students particularly love, according to King.
“My favorite part of every day was when I got to sit on the porch with the kids and we just played and sang songs on my ukulele,” Burgess said. “They would teach me Spanish songs, and I would teach them songs I knew.”
Burgess lived in the nursery while volunteering in Guatemala. Each morning and night she would help prepare food for all of the children in the orphanage.
“I ate with the kids, took bucket showers and helped prepare the food,” Burgess said. “It was definitely a culture shock.”
King said for a teacher of teachers one of the most rewarding feelings is knowing her students love what they do.
“I love to hear they are in a classroom where they love their students and are making a huge difference in their students’ lives,” King said. “It’s rewarding because it goes beyond teaching and shows character. A teacher can make a huge difference in a child’s life.”
After volunteering in Guatemala, Burgess returned to the U.S. and now happily teaches kindergarteners at Rolling Hills Elementary School. She said her time in Guatemala taught her how to appreciate each day and be “present in every moment.”
“I love getting kids from poor homes and big families and helping them to feel wanted and needed and loved,” Burgess said. “It’s OK to have an end goal in mind, but to also realize that what you are doing now affects the end goal, so be present in whatever you are teaching.”
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