I have been wanting to volunteer for a while, but it wasn’t until recently that I realized I could use my skills as a photographer to help my community. I browsed google and found volunteermatch.org. After searching under photography, Harlem Link Charter School really stood out. The school was in need of some professional photographs to keep on hand for newsletters, an upcoming website, and other promotional efforts. Harlem Link is an independent public charter school founded by husband and wife duo Steven Evangelista and Megan Ryan. Both were teachers in Harlem and the South Bronx for over 10 years, and in seeing the demand for access to higher standards in academics, they decided to open a charter school.
Open for 5 years now, Harlem Link has a unique hands-on learning system that really seems to keep the kids’ interests peaked, though me being there with two cameras snapping photos must have certainly been distracting! It worked to my advantage though, because I got tons of great shots. Steven had told me that when I met the kids I’d fall in love…and now I see why. They were so welcoming, and full of curiosity about what I was doing. I had a wonderful time at Harlem Link and meeting all of the students and faculty.
At the end of the session I had 162 photographs. Steven later told me this was a lucky number because it is not only the number of students that enrolled in the school’s second year of opening but it is also the number of games in a baseball season. I thought that was pretty cool – two things I never would have known! I hope you enjoy the photographs as much as I enjoyed taking them, and please let me know what you think!
To learn more about Harlem Link Charter School you can visit their facebook page by clicking here or by visiting their website http://www.harlemlink.org/
