walk a mile in your own shoes

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Time for some reader participation!

Recently our volunteer team spent a day with Katie Edwards, who has coordinated the volunteer team at Saddleback Church in Southern California. She started the morning by having us complete the following exercise, then share our responses. Critical to our ability to relate to students’ world is our appreciation for our own journey through those years.

So, I invite you to copy and paste with your own answers in the comments section. If you work with middle school students, respond for your middle school years. Same goes for high school volunteers. If you are a teacher or parent of students, complete it for whatever age fits best. My answers appear below the blank version.

My MIDDLE SCHOOL/ HIGH SCHOOL profile:

I went to ____________________________ middle school/ junior high/ high school
My favorite band(s):
What were the popular clothing items?
My favorite TV show(s):
My biggest fear was:
Who were my closest friends?
What were the big world events going on?
What were the popular hang out spots?
I was involved in…
The thing that rocked my world the most in junior high/ high school was…

Andrew’s MIDDLE SCHOOL profile:

I went to: Manhattan (KS) Middle School
My favorite band(s): Michael Jackson, Janet Jackson, Whitney Houston, Atlantic Starr
What were the popular clothing items? boat shoes with laces coiled, sweats, Izod shirts, parachute pants (which I wore the first day of 7th grade).
My favorite TV show(s): Perfect Strangers, Cheers, Cosby, Growing Pains, Silver Spoons
My biggest fear was: social rejection, nuclear war (think The Day After).
Who were my closest friends? David McCranie, Scott Parmley, Jay Schottler
What were the big world events going on? Challenger explosion, invention of the personal computer
What were the popular hang out spots? Burger King (THE place to be after school dances), skating rink
I was involved in choir, plays, my paper route
The thing that rocked my world the most in junior high/ high school was throwing a Halloween party that not one person showed up to, surgeries to repair cleft that kept me from contact sports two summers in a row.

OK, your turn!

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About andrew burden

andrew blogs about being a volunteer youth leader, teacher, video editor, husband, friend, child of God

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http://www.volunteeryouthministry.com/2010/03/02/guest-post-helping-students-who-are-different-than-most/ VolunteerYouthMinistry.com » Guest Post: Helping Students Who Are Different Than Most

[...] to affirm about each one as often as possible. When Katie Edwards came to train our volunteers a few weeks ago, she was armed with a great resource book called Make Their Day. I’m excited to use some of [...]