BROKEN ARROW, Okla. — Broken Arrow Public Schools holds a summer care program for students in Kindergarten through 5th grade. The district also hires high school students as summer program leaders, giving them hands-on experience working with younger kids, and potentially planting the seed for a future teaching career.
The B&A Connections program, the district's before- and after-school care program, runs through the summer, serving kindergarten through 5th-grade students. More than 200 kids are split between two locations, including Country Lane Primary, where students participate in daily activities such as swimming, games, and enjoying ice cream.
Leading some of those activities is Israel Wilson, a recent Broken Arrow High School graduate who goes by "Mr. Izzy" with the kids.
"I love to be around kids because I love to bring out the inner kid in me and try to be the fun person that they love to see," Wilson said.
Program Director David Sutton said the teen leaders bring more to the program than just extra staffing.
"It's a great first-time job for them, and they get the feeling of being a hero," Sutton said.
For Wilson, now in his second year with the program, the experience has shaped how he thinks about the children he works with.
"I like to remember that kids also have feelings, so like that, like really impacted me to like know because some kids, some parents, and stuff they like don't think that kids have feelings like that," Wilson said.
District teachers and staff also work alongside the high schoolers, mentoring them and helping them build on-the-job experience they can carry into college, and possibly back into Broken Arrow classrooms one day.
Wilson said the kids have had just as much of an impact on him as he has had on them.
"But when I come here, I'm able to have fun. I can be myself. I can run around and do kid things like that, so I feel like they really impact me as well," Wilson said.
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