Anna Shoch After Six Visits

After Sixth Visit:

After my sixth time with the Taft kids it had gotten a lot easier to work with them. I have been able to really get to individually know each of the kids and their strengths and weaknesses. Having the ability to really have a connection with each of the kids makes the experience overall much more enjoyable. They are more accommodating with us because they know that if they misbehave we won't be happy and get angry and if they are good they know they will get to play games and have fun with us. They now are much less timid around us and get excited when they come to Menlo because they are more comfortable.

I have really loved getting to see them grow. For example there is one girl named Jennifer that was very timid at first. She kept to herself and it was very hard to get her to talk to me. Over the past few weeks I have been able to get her to open up to me. I joke around with her and try to talk to her about things she likes to make her more comfortable with me. It feels great to know how far she has come from the beginning when she would slowly walk into class without any enthusiasm, trying to not look at me to where we are now where she runs up and gives me a hug whenever she sees me. I can now really get her to open up about what she doesn't understand in class and with her homework to help her get better. I’m excited to keep working with them and see how much more they will grow.

Anna Shoch Three Visits

For my PACT project I am helping at the Taft Tutoring Program at Menlo. Fourth and fifth grade kids from Taft school come to Menlo once a week. It is a little bit intimidating at first when they show up because the kids are all either running around uncontrollably or look very unhappy to be there. Ever since the beginning of the program, it has gotten easier to control or related to the kids. The reason the kids are mostly in this program is because they are falling behind in their math classes. This is either because they are timid and quiet about not understanding and really don't have much confidence in the subject or because they don't pay attention in class and are not able to understand the material for the homework. When they come to Menlo I get to interact with them and see where they are. Some of the kids actually are great at all the math and just need a little push of confidence, but some kids really struggle. This is a challenge because a lot of the time the kids that are confused convince themselves that they are terrible at math and completely unable to do it, and the fact that the kids that were able to finish their homework are running around and getting to have fun doesn't help very much.

There was one boy named Aiden that especially was having trouble. We could barely get him to sit still and even try one problem. All he wanted to do was play games and hangout with his friends. He was very unmotivated to even try to do his math and kept saying that this was because there was no point and he was terrible at it. I tried many times to get him to work on his homework, but he just wouldn't cooperate. Finally I found a way to get him focused and engaged by making a math tic tac toe game. Since he liked playing games so much he really enjoyed this. Playing interesting math games that I made up for him really made him become so much more confident in himself.

It can be hard to balance the spectrum of the ability of all the kids, but the more we see them and the more I get to make one on one relationships with them, the easier it gets to understand what they are going through and how I can help them improve. I love getting to know them and see their understanding, and enthusiasm grow each visit.

Allison Liddle PACT Sixth Visit

Allison Liddle
21 August 2016 11:00 A.M. - 8:30 P.M.
Pawsitive Connections
Penny Pumphrey
(559)-977-5125

By my sixth visit, I definitely felt apart of the Pawsitive Connections family. I was fortunate enough to become a senior volunteer. This means that I was given more responsibilities. For instance, I am now the admin for one of our social media pages. I also work with some of our junior volunteers. One of the main goals of Pawsitive Connections is to use the healing power of animals to help differently abled individuals. One of the junior volunteers that I am in charge of has autism and needs help focusing. He has as many responsibilities as the other volunteers, he just tends to wander off. One of my jobs is to make sure that he doesn’t lose focus and wander off (his mom told us this could potentially be a problem.) I found that after a few hours working with the dogs, he was focusing a little bit better and was noticeably more attentive to the needs of the dogs than his mom had said he might be. He continues to return every weekend feeling excited and helpful.  Through Pawsitive Connections, I have seen several instances, such as this, that demonstrate how animals can help people. This is why it is so important that they find loving homes and are taken care of well. We receive too many dogs that were a product of maltreatment, abandonment, or failure to neuter or spay the parent dogs. I look forward to continuing to educate others about the importance of spaying and neutering as well as the impact that animals can have on one's’ life. I am looking forward to “super adoption weekend” where several different adoption agencies come together to find loving homes for deserving animals . Also, I am nervous (but mostly excited) to run an entire adoption event without any other supervision in two weeks.

Allison Liddle PACT Third Visit

Allison Liddle
24 July 2016 9:00 A.M. - 5:00 P.M.
Pawsitive Connections
Penny Pumphrey
(559)-977-5125

I had many preconceptions about adoption agencies before becoming a volunteer with Pawsitive Connections.  The biggest of all being that I felt most places wanted good homes for the animals they care for, as one would expect, but were too strict about who can adopt. For example, when I was two my mom wanted to adopt a dog, but since my sister and I were so young, adoption agencies did not want us to adopt because our age made us a liability. I felt, and still feel, that this was extremely unfair because we would provide an amazing home for any animal we decided to rescue, but these agencies were far too strict. So going into my first day, I made adopting out the animals my main priority. However, after my first three visits as a volunteer, I quickly realized why rescue agencies are so skeptical of the people wanting to adopt. As a volunteer, I spent a lot of time with the dogs and formed bonds with them. I knew just how great these dogs were and how happy they would make their future owners. This made adoptions even more difficult because I now felt responsible for the quality of life these dogs would have after being adopted. The volunteers' main job, other than taking care of the dogs, was to talk with potential owners about the dogs. This meant that I had to learn everything about 20 to 30 different dogs at each adoption event. I also had to analyze the people looking to adopt to make sure these dogs go to good homes, which is sad because you would think you shouldn’t be so picky. However, a huge issue today is the mistreatment of animals. In fact, they are making animal abuse a federal crime that can result in prison time. Essentially, my job is to make sure the dog is the right fit for the family and also make sure the family is able to treat the dog well. I now understand why shelters are so picky about who adopts.