It has been fun getting back into the groove of the Afterschool Program here at Tyler Square after the long holiday break! We are back to meeting during our scheduled times, 4:00 to 6:00 Monday through Friday. This past Friday from 4:00 to 6:00, we had our weekly Young Chefs event held at the Family Shelter on 15th and Tacoma Ave. We had so many kids attend, and we had a lot of chaotic and messy fun making some Asian foods. We made eggrolls and chocolate rice, the recipes of which we were able to get from one of the mothers of some of the children who are in our program. She is a GREAT cook, and the recipes she offered us were Guamanian, inspired by her own ethnic background. The kids had a blast cooking all of the food, and I think they feel good to be trusted with cutting and cooking and mixing--but there is always good supervision. :) A lot of the kids wanted to wear aprons and chefs jackets, and they got excited even to just pour ingredients into a bowl or to wait for water to boil. They really do enjoy learning these life lessons that empower them to know how to lead healthy lives. The knowledge they receive and these helpful know-how skills build their confidence and shows them just how capable they really are! And we were lucky to have some of the kids who belong to the mother who donated the recipes. They knew from firsthand experience how to cook these foods, and so they knew so much more than I did because I had never cooked these types of foods before. It reminded me about how much of my role as a leader is to be a learner. I often can get caught up in being the teacher, but I was thankful to be reminded about how much I can learn, especially from children. They have so much to offer, and my relationships with the children work as a two-way street: we both learn and grow from one another and we both have those things that we can teach. I hope our volunteers feel the same way. They give us such a great gift in offering their time and their dedication, but I think (I hope) they get something out of it too. I think volunteering with the children here can teach you a lot. The children get much out of it, but the volunteers do too. We all have a lot to learn from one another!