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Meet Barnabas Lee

Rising Star Student Success Coach

Hello! My name is Barnabas Lee and this is my first year serving with �鶹��Ƶ Seattle as a Student Success Coach. I am based in Rising Star Elementary (K-5) in South Seattle. I serve with other first year coaches Catie, Lux, Ally and Elyse – led by our team leader Annie!

A Day in My Life – Barnabas Lee

Our day begins at 7:30 when we go outside for morning greetings to welcome in the students for the day. We do this every day with music in the background offering fist bumps, high-fives, waves and an enthusiastic “Good morning!’ for every student passing by.

School starts promptly and from then on, I am in the classroom with my 3rd grade students for the majority of the day. My partner teacher starts the morning with a classroom meeting going over the schedule for the day, before diving into a short SEL exercise with the students.

Afterwards, it’s straight into small groups with a few of my 3rd graders for some reading and math practice. This is a time for me to work more closely with my students to afford them more opportunities to learn, engage with and practice lesson materials.

The rest of the morning goes by with a math lesson and independent reading time for the students. During this time, I provide whole classroom support for my partner teacher and teacher resident as they teach lessons. During independent time I take the opportunity to read the room and check in with students that might need help, or otherwise be present as an adult in the room for students to go to.

It’s time for lunch and recess for the students. During lunch, our team takes the time to chill in our city year room before heading out for recess. As AmeriCorps members, our role during recess is to just play! Play the game of the week, play basketball, soccer, tag, whatever it may be, we’re just there to have fun with the kids.

Coming in from recess my 3rd graders go into enrichment time which depending on the week may either be art or P.E. I use this period of time to either finish my lunch, check-in with my partner teacher and teacher resident, or prep for the rest of the day.

After art or P.E. students come back into the classroom ready to engage in a reading/writing lesson before getting ready to pack up for the day.

Before I know it, the day is over for some of the kids. Here at Rising Star we run an after-school program consisting of an academic small group and enrichment clubs. Each AmeriCorps member has the opportunity to run their own club based on interest. For me, I have the chance to run a language club where I teach my students Korean.

Once clubs are over and the last students are picked up from school, it’s time to go home for the day and relax.

What I Have Learned from Service

Having gone through my first 2 months as a Student Success Coach at �鶹��Ƶ and Rising Star, I’ve learned to become more patient with myself. Patient in the way that I can be comfortable with not having everything figured out. Learning in this job will almost always come on the spot, so it’s ok to come in feeling unsure of what’s to come.