Pearland Branch Volunteered At SMILE Program on July 14th, 2023

     On July 14, members of the Pearland AYLUS volunteered at the SMILE program held by the Light and Salt Association. In the first half of the morning, William Sun taught the students how to make an origami lotus. He also decided to implement a new idea in which he paired students up with each other rather than volunteers to have them collaborate and help each other instead of being helped by volunteers. The idea behind this was to allow the students to practice their social skills and become more independent by relying on volunteers less. This proved incredibly successful as the students were able to assist each other in finishing the origami project. In the end, he challenged the students to recreate the origami lotus from memory by working together without help from volunteers. The students were able to collaborate and some of them successfully made it.

     Next, Emma Lu taught art. She taught the students to paint flowers using Qtips and acrylic paint. Although the painting proved difficult for many of the students, the volunteers were able to guide the students through the project.

     Finally, AYLUS Pearland also donated $1,000 to the SMILE program to help the students continue to learn and grow. This donation came from various fundraising activities of AYLUS Pearland like tennis lessons, plant fundraisers, and swim lessons.