CBL by the Numbers

Community-Based Learning A N N U A L R E P O R T / S P R I N G 2 0 0 9

2008-09 CBL Program Highlights

The Harriet L. and Paul M. Weissman

Center for Leadership and the Liberal Arts

♦ 2008-09 Community-Based Learning Courses at Mount Holyoke College: 17 ♦ Departments and Programs Offering CBL Courses: 10 ♦ Students Enrolling in 2008-09 CBL Courses: 345 ♦ CBL Student Staff Serving as Fellows, Mentors and Corps Members: 33 ♦ CBL Community Fellows Learning/Service Hours to Area Community Organizations: 1,350 ♦ Holyoke Corps Service Hours Supporting Educational Achievement and College Awareness: 4,523 ♦ CBL Mentors Service Hours to Mount Holyoke CBL Courses and Partners: 593 ♦ Community-Based Organization (CBO) Partners Supporting Courses and Fellows: 27 ♦ Community Panel Speakers Participating in the “Engaging The Pioneer Valley” Series: 26 ♦ Students enrolled in new CBL program course offerings 2009: 32 ♦ MHC Students attending Fall and Spring “Holyoke Bound” Community Orientations: 42

♦ CBL received $40,200 as one of the first grants from Massachusetts Governor Deval Patrick to lead a “Commonwealth Corps” partnership with UMass Am-herst, Holyoke Community College, Engaging Latino Communities for Educa-tion (ENLACE) and the Holyoke Public Schools. 12 “Holyoke Corps” members provided over 4,000 hours of tutoring, mentoring and college awareness programming among Holy-oke middle-school youth, and attracted a visit from Governor Patrick in February, 2009.

♦ The CBL Program facilitated the launch of four new courses to enhance the preparation, orientation and leadership development of Mount Holyoke community-based learners. Most prominent among these was the new “Engaging the Pioneer Valley” course and panel series, which combined academic study of the roles and functions of nonprofit organizations, examination of the theory and practice of CBL and campus-community engagement via case studies and research, and 6 lively panel discussions with 26 of the region’s top non-profit executives. 15 students completed the course and will be excep-tionally prepared for CBL fellowship and leadership positions next year: more than three dozen mem-bers of the MHC community attended public panel sessions and dinners.

♦ An end-of-year/Cinco de Mayo celebration sponsored by the CBL Program attracted over 100 students and faculty on May 5, 2009 in Pratt Hall. Two dozen CBL course students and fellows displayed post-ers and multi-media presentations describing their community-based course, independent study/research, and volunteer projects and partnerships.

♦ CBL collaborated with CAUSE, the CDC, the SAW program, the “Nexus” in Sustainable Develop-ment, the Department of Spanish, The Center for the Environment, The Department of Psychology and Education to create collaborative campus-community projects that enhanced the college’s commu-nity relations.

♦ CBL expanded collaborations with the Holyoke Public Schools and has begun to build synergy among youth-serving programming in school-based and after-school/community-based programming, while continuing CBL’s longstanding commitment to improving mutuality and reciprocity with CBOs in Holyoke, South Hadley, Springfield, Northampton, and Amherst.

Dedicated to supporting community engagement

through collaborative

learning, research, and

service.

Alan Bloomgarden CBL Coordinator

abloomga@mtholyoke.edu 119 Porter Hall

538-3072

Jennifer Roberts Administrative Assistant jlrobert@mtholyoke.edu

122 Porter Hall 538-3428

CBL Community Fellows/Projects

From the CBL Coordinator At the close of my first year as CBL program coordinator, I remain filled with excitement and awe regarding the health and vitality of the program. Opportunities for productive community engagement and partnership that will enhance and broaden CBL’s impact on and off cam-pus appear at every turn, thanks in no small part to enthu-siasm among Mount Holyoke faculty, staff and students, and to CBL’s warm reception among friends new and old throughout Pioneer Valley communities and nonprofits. The CBL Program takes as its starting point the belief that community-based learning depends on campus-community partnerships that are strong and founded upon sustainable, mutually-beneficial relations between college and community members. I hope that this annual report reflects the energetic contributions made to build-ing and nourishing such relationships by students, staff, and faculty from Mount Holyoke. Many community

members and organizations generously give time and expertise to facilitate the learning of our students, and it is my sincere hope they and their organizations gain valuable capacity through such partnerships. In an economic climate such as the one we currently face, this is vital. Every student who takes a CBL course, every fellow who works for and with the CBL program, every faculty and staff member who initiates and supports a CBL partnership carries with her or him a responsibility to this mutuality. It is no coincidence that in this responsibility lies a critical lesson about citizenship. After but one year here, I am convinced that a commitment to that responsibility runs deep in our campus community. I look for-ward to pursuing learning, research and service partnerships that uphold these values and advance the aims of purposeful engage-ment for social change in the year to come.

— Alan H. Bloomgarden, June 2009

Community Fellows Caroline Bauer and Elizabeth Budd- Nuestras Raices Worked on research, outreach and community education concerning environmental health in Holyoke..

Corina Leu - Neighbor to Neighbor and Holyoke Reels Worked on door-to-door organizing with N2N and sup-ported youth multi-media/documentary development.

Ye Li and Allison Soto - Enlace de Familias Provided translations for family service information and referral documents to become available in Spanish.

Nika Meyers - Connections Program Supported a high-school community/environmental ac-tion club and brought them to MHC for a campus visit.

Relebohile Phoofolo - Land is Life Provided English-Spanish translation services for this Northampton-based international partnership.

Dawnell Powell - Let’s Get Ready! Co-organized a partnership with Amherst, Hampshire, and UMass students to provide an SAT-prep program.

Carol Still - Peck School/MHC Student Athletes Organized weekly athletics clinics with Mount Holyoke athletes at the CHOICES afterschool program at Peck.

Ariel Sykes - Peck School Planning Provided research support for development phase of the Peck School’s Full Service Community School Initiative.

Jun Zhang - National Priorities Project Conducted research and quantitative analysis regarding the demographics of US military recruiting practices.

Vanessa Martinez & Cecilia Mercado - Holyoke District Court Provided interpretation and translation support for families in the court system and for court officers in Holyoke Administrative Fellows: Stefanie Argus and Clara Kim - Administrative Fellows Provided administrative support for the CBL Program and for the Commonwealth Corps/Holyoke Corps partnership

Kate Crowther - CBL Marketing and Public Relations Fellow Developed and implemented CBL Facebook outreach

Elisa Loeser - Engaging the Pioneer Valley and Commonwealth Center for Change (C3) Supported C3 outreach to regional non-profit organizations and organization of the Engaging the Pioneer Valley Panel Series The “Holyoke Corps”

Mylorde Cherenfant, University of Massachusetts Amherst Maria Diaz, Mount Holyoke College Jayme Dillon, University of Massachusetts Amherst Danielle Forsythe, Mount Holyoke College Abigail Harper, University of Massachusetts Amherst Christy Martinez, Holyoke Community College Jennifer Martinez, University of Massachusetts Amherst Emma Mesa-Melendez, Mount Holyoke College Michelle Rodriguez, Holyoke Community College Tiara Rodriguez, Holyoke Community College/MHC Miriam Stevens, Mount Holyoke College Sarah Vazquez, Mount Holyoke College

C O M M U N I T Y - B A S E D L E A R N I N G

ANTHR 275S J. Roth Research Methods in Cultural Anthropology Partners: Holyoke Se Une/Holyoke Unites, Connections/Holyoke Public Schools ANTHR 346F D. Battaglia Identities/Differences: Anthropological Perspectives EDUC 205S S. Lawrence Whiteness, Racism, and Inequality in Schools and Society EDUC 220F S. Marx Foundations of Multicultural Education ENGL 348S S. Davis Inside-Out at Hampden County: Crisis and Transcendence Mentors: Anni Amberg and Shannon Ferguson/Partners: Hampden County Sheriff’s Office ENVST 200F J. Bubier Environmental Science ENVST 321S B. Hooker Sustainable Agriculture and Agroecosystems Partner: Gardening the Community ENVST 390F B. Hooker Senior Seminar in Environmental Studies GNDST 390S A. Croegaert Field Placement Mentor: Aiyana Potts/Partners: Safe Passage, The Eric Carle Museum, Girls, Inc., HIST 214F H. Hanson History of Global Inequality Mentor: Johanna Harris/Partner: The Springfield Renaissance School PHIL 280F T. Wartenberg Philosophy for Children Mentor: Ariel Sykes/Partners: Pioneer Valley Chinese Immersion and MLK Charter Schools POLIT 348S P. Smith Colloquium in Politics: Community Development Partner: Nueva Esperanza PSYCH 233F+S M. Babineau Educational Psychology PSYCH 337F B. Packard Seminar in Educational Psychology Motivation PSYCH 340F K. Binder Laboratory in Perception and Cognition: Cognition and Literacy Partners: Massachusetts Career Development Institute and Read Write Now New this year, the CBL program offered three courses and co-facilitated a fourth to enhance preparation, reflection, and leadership development among students seeking to engage in community-based learning: ♦ Engaging the Pioneer Valley: CUSP 100 - 2-credit introduction to nonprofit organizations, to the demographics and

socio-economic conditions of area communities, and to community-based learning theory and practice. ♦ Networking, Reflection, and Meaning: CUSP 102 - piloted in spring 2009 as a non-credit opportunity, this course

enables students in CBL capacities across the college to reflect, network, and contextualize experiential learning. ♦ Design and Ethics in Community Research: CUSP 103 - 2-credit January course combining community research de-

sign and implementation strategies with introduction to community-based research methods, ethics and strategies. ♦ Ready for the World: COLL 210 - CBL collaborated in planning and teaching a 2-credit spring preparatory course for

experiential learning, including exercises on community entry, difference and power dynamics, and self-identity.

CBL Courses/Mentors

Campus-Community Partnerships

2 0 0 8 - 0 9 A N N U A L R E P O R T

♦ CBL maintained longstanding participation in community organizing and coalition initiatives in Holy-oke. This presence is a vital expression of college commitment to purposeful engagement, and enables productive community-based learning partnerships where exceptional opportunities exist. Staff and stu-dents were active in Holyoke Unites/Holyoke Se Une and Campus Community Partnership Project coali-tions, advancing Latino/a educational achievement and ethical, reciprocal and sustainable relationships, and were well-represented at fall and spring “Holyoke Bound” day-long community orientations.

♦ Beyond a strong presence in Holyoke, ongoing conversations with nonprofit organization staff and com-munity leaders in South Hadley, Amherst, Springfield and Northampton (enhanced by this spring’s En-gaging the Pioneer Valley series) are fostering additional course, independent study and fellowship projects.

♦ CBL advanced multifaceted engagement with Holyoke Public Schools. Initiatives begun this year in-cluded: physical education and health clinics with MHC sports teams; research support for the “Full Ser-vice Community School” initiative; “College Partners” collaboration in Holyoke (facilitated by CBL); the launch of “Let’s Get Ready” SAT-prep and college search/application programming for high school juniors and seniors at Holyoke High School.

Dawnell Powell, Let’s Get Ready Coordinator

Look for several CBL projects in development for 2009-10: ♦ CUSP 102: Networking, Reflections, Meaning is slated for Fall

2009 with 13 students currently pre-registered.

♦ MHC/Five College VISTA - CBL successfully applied for fund-ing to support a 2009-10 VISTA volunteer to be based at Mount Holyoke to support coordination among tutor-ing/mentoring placement and training in Holyoke.

♦ CBL awaits news of a pending grant application to the Corporation for National and Community Service in partner-ship with Amherst College’s Center for Community Engagement. The proposed program will enhance collaboration concerning tutor-mentor placement, training, community-based learning and leadership development. Stay tuned!

♦ The William R. Peck Full Service Community School Initiative will move from development into implementation next year, with CBL playing a key role coordinating area programs to support college awareness and tutoring/mentoring.

♦ A “Youth Media Project” now in development will bring together college students and youth working on multimedia projects in Holyoke, Amherst and Springfield for joint training, leadership development, and a media event.

♦ Collaborations with the Department of Spanish and Program on Latino American Studies, begun this year with the placement of student language specialists in the Holyoke District Court, will expand to create additional opportunities for CBL courses and community fellowship placements that advance language and cultural learning.

♦ In partnership with C.A.U.S.E., CBL will help sustain a fall “Let’s Get Ready” college preparation/application program at Holyoke High School, launch a new Big Brothers Big Sisters program with the Michael E. Smith middle school in South Hadley, and revitalize a tutor-mentor program partnership with Girls, Inc. in Holyoke.

CBL in Action

Clockwise from upper left: Gender Studies

390 students with Ana Croegaert; Nika Meyers with Connections students visiting campus;

Springfield Renaissance School Students visiting MHC; Gov. Patrick with the Holyoke Corps; Corps Member Christy Martinez with a student; Sally Mont-gomery with 2009 award-winner Caroline Bauer; Poli-tics 348 students with Preston Smith.

On the Horizon...

Multimedia on the web!

♦ MHC Swimming and Diving Team at Peck: http://mhcswimdive.blogspot.com/2009/05/volunteering-at-peck-school.html

♦ Governor Patrick with the Holyoke Corps: http://www.flickr.com/photos/mhc/sets/72157614070203530/

♦ Teaching Philosophy to Children: http://www.teachingchildrenphilosophy.org/wiki/Main_Page

♦ More at http://www.mtholyoke.edu/go/cbl