Nazareth hosts Rochester children for summer education success program
School buses lined the curb near the Golisano Academic Center on campus each weekday for six weeks this summer, as Rochester schoolchildren (grades K-7) excitedly hopped off ready for more learning and fun.
It's all part of the EnCompass program, an initiative of the Educational Success Foundation based in Rochester. Nazareth partners with EnCompass to provide the "EnCompass 3D" summer learning program on campus, providing around 75 students with a full-day of programming infused with inquiry, language and literacy support, as well as science, technology, engineering and math (STEM). Students are engaged with exciting themes and learning experiences, building knowledge and skills essential for their future academic success.
Nazareth faculty and graduate students in education and in speech-language pathology worked with the young students throughout the summer, said Maria Hopkins, director of Nazareth's graduate literacy program. Graduate speech pathology students pushed into classrooms twice per week providing language and literacy support, and graduate literacy students held a one-week literacy camp for children in grades K-4.
Director of Nazareth's graduate literacy program Maria Hopkins (left) and graduate literacy student Maggie Easton (right) working with young children at the literacy camp on campus.
"It was a really wonderful experience to both work with the students who are so eager to learn and to work as team teachers with my peers," said Nazareth graduate literacy student Maggie Easton.
Fellow literacy student Delaney Martin pointed out the rigor: "This experience was really unique because we had to create our own curriculum, align it to New York state standards, create lesson plans for each day, and have an overarching theme. Our main theme that my peers and I created was Me and my Community. Each day we chose a read-aloud book that went along with this theme."
Nazareth graduate literacy student Delaney Martin
The Nazareth grad students focused each day on a particular part of this theme. For example, one day was self-identity with the young campers thinking about "What makes me unique? Who am I?" while other days focused on the community as a whole: "What communities do I belong to?" and "What do I bring to my community?"
Nazareth graduate literacy students: (L to R) Destany Aldrich, Maggie (Margaret) Easton, Lexi (Alexis) Ziobro, Becca (Rebecca) Beldner, Delaney Martin, and Sam (Samantha) Jansen.
The young students made a square for a quilt each day representing the topic of community they studied. At the end of the four days, they put all the students' quilt squares together to make a huge paper quilt that hangs in Golisano Academic Center's second floor hallway.
This cohort of Nazareth literacy students are thankful for this experience to work with and develop meaningful relationships with students from the Rochester area.
"The Nazareth Literacy Program has really helped me strengthen and develop my own teaching skills," said Martin, "while expanding my understanding of diversity and equity in the classroom, along with the books we choose for our classrooms."
Sara Coykendall raved about her final experience as a literacy graduate student.
"This was our last practicum experience as grad students," said graduate student Sara Coykendall, "and I think we would all agree that it was an amazing way to end our program."