From organizing youth talent shows to helping local immigrants prepare for naturalization tests, Brandeis University students have taken on a variety of community outreach projects.
Students and university officials gathered yesterday at the Usdan Student Center for an annual forum to review the semester's efforts.
Much of the discussion centered on the Community Engaged Learning program at the South Street college. In this program students handle a variety of outreach projects within the community as part of homework assignments.
Although different in their objectives, each event shared a similar goal, to remain sustainable when Brandeis students have moved on.
Jane Schlapkohl helped run one of the Mall Mania programs at the Kennedy Middle School. Mall Mania is a weekly series of educational programs offered at Kennedy and McDevitt middle schools.
Twenty-three Kennedy Middle School students are paired with 23 Brandeis students in Schlapkohl's group.
"We are a program that brings students from the Kennedy (Middle) School to Brandeis once a week to practice language and cultural skills," she said. "We meet right after school which is a key time ... working during that time, we hope to give them a safe and educational space to be in."
Lila Starbuck spent the semester concentrating on immigration issues in Waltham. She and a group of students created a three-day film and discussion panel focusing on immigration, which ends tonight at 6 at the Heller School on campus.
Part of her project was to go out into the community and interview immigrants living in Waltham.
"Based on their needs you'd also tutor English to them ... it was really different to see a different view of Waltham from a local immigrant," she said. "It was a really valuable experience. We all had an opportunity to establish a connection you'd not normally be able to do."
Catherine McConnell worked as a group volunteer for the Sandra's Lodge girls group. Sandra's Lodge is an emergency shelter in Waltham for homeless women and their children.
"Myself as well as six other students started a girls empowerment group," she said. "It was really amazing to see the impact we had ... it's learning by doing and that's really why I came to Brandeis and the heart of what it really is (about)."
Gabriella Wertman took part in a student tenant advocacy clinic, meeting twice a week in two different locations with tenants and others seeking housing information in Waltham. Students advise tenants of their legal rights, help them apply for housing assistance and search for new homes.
"We recognized a need for information for low income tenants on housing rights," she said. "Students develop a leadership position outside the university in the community."
Much of the review's focus revolved around efforts at the Prospect Hill Terrace public housing development.
Brandeis students and officials have helped form a new tenants' association and create the Prospect Hill Terrace Community Learning Center. The center was recently set up in a vacant apartment, with computers and furniture donated by the university.
Lauren Ehrlich spoke about her involvement in the after school program at the learning center.
"I first got involved in this through (Professor) Ellen Schattschneider's anthropology of gender class. ... It was really exciting seeing people coming together (for the initiative)," she said. "We had 20 kids give or take, coming every day. We do tutoring in the beginning and we'd do educational activities later on."
Stefan Nikolic recently began teaching computer courses to the children of Prospect Hill.
"I go over there twice a week and I bring some other (Brandeis) students from our computer science course," he said. "The best part is to see how beneficial it is for both the Brandeis students and the Prospect Hill (tenants). ... This is a relatively young project so I look forward to seeing where it goes."
Lindsay Markel helped to create a teen organization among the youth of Prospect Hill. The group, Prospect Hill Alliance of Teens, includes students in grades six to eight.
"Our big project we just accomplished this weekend, which was the Prospect Hill's Got Talent show ... it was adorable to say the least," she said. "The youth themselves really started to take ownership of the project near the end."
Jenna Kon and a group of other students have been working with adults struggling to learn English at the learning center every Wednesday night for the last few months.
"We've had a consistent showing of three adults," she said. "We have seen such advances in how they speak English and a general confidence in presenting themselves to people."
Jeff Gilbride can be reached at 781-398-8005 or at jgilbrid@cnc.com.
