CCHAT CIT Summer Program 2019

Anna-Marie:

Hi, my name's Anna, I am 14. I attended Mitchell middle school, and I'll be entering ninth grade at Rosemont High. I really wanted to come here to practice my leadership skills. I was always okay at jumping in and leading when I needed to before, but CIT really helped me with working under pressure and being able to jump in and sort problems on my own. I was put under a lot of pressure at times and it was nice to be able to jump in and handle it like an adult. And there was always Charlotte, my teacher that I'm working with, there behind me to redirect me or you know, improve on my skills. And she was always really welcoming and nice about it, and I just love that.

Charlotte:

Anna has been amazing to have in class with us. She has brought such a lightness to our classroom. She's fun. She's energetic. She has gotten to know the children and what their interests are. She engages with them so naturally. She's watched me to teach lessons and then has had the confidence to ask if she can teach a lesson, and what she does is amazing. She speaks to the children on their level and makes sure that they're engaged in lessons. She's just wonderful to have in class.

Anna-Marie:

My teacher, I was always really close with her and she, one day pulled me aside from class and showed me a pamphlet about the summer program and I ended up applying. My favorite experience would probably have to be meeting all the kids for the first time. They were really energetic and all of the teachers are so welcoming and it was just a really great time overall. I was really skeptical about this at first. But after some talking to Charlotte, she really encouraged me to follow what I wanted to do. So I hope to be attending the university of anesthesiology in San Francisco.

Charlotte:

Anna-Marie has amazing leadership skills already. She came to us already knowing that she needed to be here on time, already knowing that she needed to be focused in her daily activities. She has grown so much as a leader this summer as well. She has a confidence about her that I just don't see with the young people very much. She is willing to talk to anybody about anything. She has asked me if she can teach lessons without me asking her. She really takes the initiative to be involved in Chat. She has a planner that she brings with her daily where she writes down different activities. She's written down the children's names so that she can have them memorized the very first week of school. She really just takes the initiative to know her job and know what she's doing and to do it well.

Anna-Marie:

The kids here are amazing. They're always really sweet and make me laugh. And they can be rowdy at times, but they're always have some bright side. I mean, they always look on the better side of thing. It's really nice to be around.