Volunteering for Walt Whitman

I found myself getting up today at 6:30 am and out the door by 7 am. This hasn’t happened for quite some time. I really hate getting up early and indulge myself by staying in bed until 9 or 10 each day. But today I did some volunteer work that required me to be at a high school by 8 am to set up for a Volunteer Fair. Driving there felt like deja vu since this high school is about 10 minutes away from where I taught until three years ago.

The Walt Whitman Association, which I have written about on this site, has been a part of my life since I left teaching. I did a big project with them last fall, in cooperation with a local high school, so they called me to ask if I could help out with another event. They needed someone to represent the WWA at a high school Volunteer Fair. Of course I said yes.

(This is not me in the photo.)

This is an organization that depends on volunteers for its survival. And I knew that the director would not have called me unless she thought I’d be the right person for the job. She knows I’ve taught in schools and am familiar with working with students.

I haven’t had much contact with students since I retired, so this was an opportunity for me to interact with some high school kids. The first thing I noticed is that this district, which was in the 60’s an almost completely Caucasian district, is now about 75-80% minority students. Demographics in some communities on Long Island are changing rapidly.

The students were tentative about approaching a poetry institution for volunteer work, but I managed to engage them in a way that brought them closer to the table. I explained who Walt Whitman is (since many were immigrants) and how he is translated into many languages around the world because he is considered by many to be America’s finest poet. I described the WW Birthplace to them, telling them what a special place it is: “You’ll feel like you’ve stepped back in time. The grounds are lovely with beautiful plantings. The tiny museum is very welcoming and interesting. The people who work there are really nice.”

I enjoyed giving my little speech over and over because I really do feel that way about the WW Birthplace and museum. I explained the various volunteer opportunities to the students and told them it would be so nice to have more diversity amongst the volunteers; most of the students were southeast Asian or Hispanic. I knew Walt Whitman would agree with me.

The fair ended after 90 minutes. I packed up my things, and headed for home with four pages of names and emails to reach out to. My next volunteer task is to contact them and invite them to a gathering to be held in the near future for those who are really interested. I offered to arrange the gathering for the WW Association.

At about 5 pm today I was overcome with fatigue. A dose of reality.  I am, after all, retired. I enjoyed my volunteer “moment,” but this is not something I can do on a regular basis any longer. I did a good job today, but it will be a while before I next agree to get up at 6:30 am!