The coolest pinwheels in town

I was amazed at how much I learned at today's activity, it was really surprisingly amazing. The first child I helped was brilliant with math for his age. It made me jealous, because I remembered how at his age there was no way I was whipping out the numbers like he was. Then he and I encountered the point of long division. I think the last time I did long division was 3rd grade. :) It took me a trial run to remember all the steps. It was really awesome though to help him.

It was almost time to leave about 1:30 when two small families came to see what it was we were doing. I think it was from these two that I learned the most. These families showed me that it was all about opportunities. One of the families was a mother and her son. She said they did not come to this library much but she was excited to learn about the Riverbend Math Activity. She had a lot of questions for me, and my impression was that she came from a background with little opportunities. She kept telling me that her son was really good with his hands and very smart. Sure enough, what took me two times to see to learn how to do it, he mastered it in one. I could tell this was something that she would bring her son to again.

It made me think of a story I had heard on the news the other day. I heard that a lot of libraries were going to be and are closed due to lack of funding. The president of the American Library Association said she could not imagine what lives would be like without libraries. I think its amazing how much of our life is based upon opportunities. It is because of public transportation that the mother and son were able to come to the public library. Luckily, because there are amazing organizations like Riverbend Math that this mother and son were able to participate for free in a family math activity and learn of a lot of other helpful activities that she promised her son they would go to.

Our Bag fest is also an opportunity, I think. It will be able to provide information and experiences for people with a lot and little opportunities in their lives. I think it is events like this that everyone can look forward to, no matter what their background is, and that is what makes it so awesome. I think everyone who attends will leave with an experience and knowledge from opportunities, and that is what it is all about. We are giving an opportunity, and I hope everyone who wants to and can takes advantage of it.