Two Brighton High School students take a Nazareth University education course alongside future teachers and get award-winning experience
What is the best way for future teachers to learn how a teen's mind works, including the identity and social issues affecting teens in our community? The Adolescent Development and Youth Leadership course in Nazareth University's School of Education goes to the source: Education Professor Meg Callahan, Ph.D., invites area high school students from urban, rural, and suburban areas around Rochester to take the class alongside Nazareth adolescence education seniors.
The Nazareth students who are becoming teachers get to work in small groups with the high school students to understand how amplifying the youth voice is crucial to our communities and democracy.
The teens serve as experts "from the field" in the class, and they work in a research team with a mix of high school and college students to research and present on a community social justice issue they believe needs attention.
Brighton High School students Ellie Cilino and Ioana Jamanis audited the class in the spring 2025 semester. They gained experience in a college environment without the pressure of grading, an important experience to add to their college applications.
"I've always wanted to learn about adolescent development," said Jamanis, "and this was a good way to learn more about it, while sharing some of my high school experiences to give the teacher candidates a better understanding of the experiences of adolescent students in high schools."
Working on a team of both college-level and high school students taught Cilino an important lesson. Her group researched how creating a more specialized curriculum for teens could enhance their high school experience.
"The class taught me about how to participate and interact with peers," said Cilino. "It taught me patience in waiting my turn to share my different experience or opinion. It also taught me responsibility to come to class with my part of the project done each week, and even just to go to a class that wasn't mandatory."
Jamanis and her team explored adolescent criminal prevention. "We researched adolescent criminal cases and how those situations impacted them throughout their lives." The group then explored ways to prevent adolescent criminality.
Each research team presented its findings at an academic-style conference at the end of the semester, inviting leaders from area school districts and communities to hear the voices of youth.
Brighton High School Principal Thomas Hall and Assistant Principal Mark Lincoln attended and were so impressed with the presentations that they nominated Jamanis and Cilino for Brighton Believers Awards for demonstrating the five character traits highlighted in the district motto "Brighton Believes" (integrity, respect, responsibility, kindness, and self-control). The two received their awards in early December at a Brighton board of education meeting.
Callahan is recruiting high school juniors and seniors to join her adolescent development and youth leadership course for spring 2026. Students must have their own transportation to campus and be committed to attending class each Wednesday at 4 p.m. during the semester. Questions? Contact Meg Callahan at mcallah5@naz.edu.
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Nazareth University is an inclusive community of inspired learners, educators, and changemakers who for 100 years have been driven by a bold commitment to action, empathy, equity, and leading innovation for the common good. Impact experiences are at the heart of a Nazareth education, preparing each student to discover within themselves the potential to cultivate positive change in their life's work, in any career field, and in a world that is constantly evolving and infinitely interconnected.
Our broad academic offerings present a range of study options typical of larger universities, yet achieved in our supportive campus culture. Nearly 2,100 undergrad and 600 graduate students enroll in degree and certificate programs and engage in collaborative, transformative learning experiences, preparing for the professions and society of today and tomorrow. In a learning community that purposefully integrates liberal arts and professional programs, Nazareth University graduates are able to launch a lifetime of impactful leadership in communities and workplaces near and far.
Ioana Jamanis (pictured left), Professor Meg Callahan (center), and Ellie Cilino (right) at the Brighton board meeting where the students received Brighton Belivers award for their presentations in Callahan's Nazareth education class.