By volunteer student Carver blogger, Julia Berg

The sketchbooks are spread out on the desk behind Waid Ramsubhag, the Program Manager for our Carver After School Program for Education and Recreation (CASPER) at the Carver Community Center, as he discusses the benefits of drawing with our 3rd to 5th-grade students.

He asks for their input and calls on a couple who describe the joy of having their own space designated for drawing freely as a benefit.

They struggle to identify another advantage of using a sketchbook, so Waid guides them toward one of the item's notable strengths by miming an action. He pretends to draw in one of the sketchbooks before he acts as if he needs to go somewhere, walks a few steps with it still in his hand, and resumes his drawing.

Waid calls on one of the students whose hands shoot up: “You can take it with you anywhere.”

Waid commends them before specifying that the Carver invested in sketchbooks this year to give the students the rewarding experience of owning one that they can use without pressure.

He explains that the group will spend a brief period at the end of the program each day peacefully drawing and easily take them to other activities in case they have free time or are inspired.

As the students had already used the sketchbooks before but did not write their names yet, they retrieved their books from the pile one at a time and wrote their initials inside before thinking about what to sketch.

One of the students decided to draw a miniature train car that they had brought, placing it in front of them to use as a reference. A student sitting next to them likes the idea and asks if they can draw their other miniature train car on the table.

The rest of the students return to their seats and begin to sketch whatever is on their minds.

Volunteer Julia Berg tells us lively stories about our summer and after-school students at the Carver Community Center. See more of her stories here.