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I have been volunteering at The Lab for over a year now, working with kids that are thought of as being difficult but who, in reality, are just like all other kids, full of dreams, playfulness and enthusiasm. When I started at The Lab, I volunteered with the Morning Enrichment groups, working mostly with the visual arts group. In this group, the youth learn how to create neat projects like mosaics, self-portraits, journal/book-making and more, while opening up to each other and to the volunteers and interns.

I love the change that takes place from when these youth first walk into the Lab to the moment they leave to go back to school. When they get in, they have heavy feet and are low on energy. During the groups, they lighten up and turn into total kids, exploring their creative and artistic sides, even if at first they thought they could not do it! By the time they leave the classroom to go back to school, they are carrying with them their final projects, whether this is in their hands or in their minds! I love that transformation, because they stop being “EBD kids” for a minute, and turn into just kids…

Every time I am at The Lab sitting in the auditorium while one of the artists is performing, I look at the group of youth around me and I always wonder what is going on in their lives and why they ended up in the EBD program.  I look at them and I think about the way our society works, about the inequities that exist in the world, and about those who are most affected by these injustices.  At The Lab, all of these inequalities disappear and the youth are able to explore themselves and fulfill their potential, along with the tools and guidance they might need.

I love volunteering at The Lab because they are at least given a chance to do this! At The Lab, it doesn’t matter what your label is, where you come from, what your race is, or what other people think about you. At The Lab youth can be themselves and explore different ways of expressing themselves in happy and healthy ways. Hopefully these morning enrichments will have a lasting effect on all of them… I know they do on me!

Paola Brigneti

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