Working with Children in the Bronx: City Squash!

If you love to volunteer and are looking to do so regularly, or even once in awhile during your college experience, Fordham is a great school for just that. The Bronx community has so many opportunities and options to give back and volunteer. Whether with the elderly, your peers, or with young children, there are a lot of different options, all in a very diverse and interesting neighborhood.

One of these options, which I personally feel very strongly about, is City Squash. City Squash is only a few blocks away from campus, making it a very easy walk after class. What is City Squash you ask? This program is a non-for profit after school enrichment program that local kids in the area can attend after their daily classes. The program is held both at Fordham and in the Bronx as well. The kids are taught how to play the game Squash, which teaches them a new and interesting sport and gives them good exercise, and then afterwards, they are tutored (by Fordham kids!) and work on their homework together. It is a great program to help kids stay on track.

Where do the Fordham kids come in you ask? Whether here on campus or at their office in the Bronx, you tutor the children in the program, which is so rewarding and has been such a great experience for me and my friends that have participated. When you get started, you fill out a sheet telling them which grade you would like to tutor, and then you get placed with kids.  I tutored 4^th graders, and formed close personal relationships with many of the kids. They looked forward to our meetings, and after working on homework we would chat and do extra worksheets for fun, which they really enjoyed. If you are looking to be a teacher this is a great program to look into! Even if not, giving back is so important, and it is so stressed here at Fordham. City Squash is a great way to do so.

The program is so flexible and the hours aren’t long. Whether tutoring in English, Math, or History, the kids really appreciate your help and get really excited for the sessions.

Fordham is the perfect school for those looking for multiple volunteer opportunities, one of those being City Squash. I highly recommend it; you’ll get so much out of it and help kids too!