Newsletter
July 2010
teaching initiatives
service-learning initiative
by Tami Blumenfield
In Fall 2010, students in the Anthropology of Education class (BIS 493C / BEDUC 491D) taught by Tami Blumenfield completed service-learning placements with community organizations to see how learning takes place in a variety of formal and informal educational settings. Students groomed horses and helped riders at the Little Bit therapeutic riding center, did art projects with children at the Northshore Family Center, tutored children in Study Zone programs at the King County Library, and worked with children in the Homework Factory at the Ballinger Homes. One student helped actors rehearse at the Whidbey Children's Theater. Other students preparing for teaching careers were placed directly in English Language Learning programs, kindergarten, Head Start, Read Naturally reading programs, and fourth grade classrooms in the Northshore School District.
Several students found their experiences so rewarding that they decided to continue volunteering at their service learning sites after the quarter ended. The class offered them valuable opportunities to become involved in settings they would not have otherwise entered and draw connections between theories of education and learning as organized in their own communities.
The student placements were made possible through the hard work and coordination by Karen Ericson and Kara Casey from the Community-Based Learning and Scholarship Project.
climate change policies in our communities
by Nives Dolšak
In Fall 2009, wtudents in the first core course in the Master of Arts in Policy Studies (MAPS) program, taught by Associate Professor Nives Dolšak, engaged in five projects assisting our communities in mitigating and adapting to global climate change. They developed policy proposals that ranged from building coalitions to accomplish environmental goals and local agricultural land preservation; developing a voluntary program for labeling climate friendly products and services; review of the impact of newly adopted UW Bothell options to reduce the use of single-occupancy vehicles; balancing mitigation and adaptation policies when they are in conflict; to developing a producer recycling system for energy efficient, but hazardous waste-causing products.
We are grateful to the following partners from our communities for mentoring our students in these projects: Bryan Guy, Managing Director, Cypress Venture Group, LLC; Charlie Cunniff, Director, Seattle Climate Partnership, Office of Sustainability and Environment, City of Seattle; Claudia Frere, Manager, Environmental Stewardship & Sustainability, University of Washington; Dan Siemann, Senior Environmental Policy Specialist, National Wildlife Federation, Pacific Region; Ruth Honour, UW Bothell Transportation Program; Sego Jackson, Principal Planner, Snohomish County, Solid Waste Division; Spencer Reeder, Lead Policy Strategist, Climate Change, Washington State Department of Ecology.
the dream project
by Jane Van Galen
The Dream Project is a student-initiated high school outreach program that operates as a University of Washington Bothell course (BEDUC 325), partnering UW Bothell students with first-generation and low-income high school students to help them achieve the dream of attending college. The program's dual-focus approach strives not only to support these high school students, but also to teach UW Bothell students about important social issues through a unique, hands-on experience.
In Autumn of 2009, the Dream Project significantly expanded to include over 40 UW Bothell students as mentors. These mentors work with high school students throughout their junior and senior years, supporting them with the college application process, as well as overall academic achievement. UW Bothell students meet with their student partners two to three times a week.
In February, the Dream Project received a $36,000 grant from the State Farm Foundation's Youth Advisory Board, which seeks to foster service-learning initiatives. This generous grant supports mentoring work in local high schools. Students are involved with other fundraisng initiatives as well, including a box lunch in February and a dinner at downtown Bothell's Kozy Korner Cafe in May.
On May 11, the UW Bothell Dream Project students presented on "Twelve Months of Dreaming," their report to the campus of their first year of mentoring first-generation/low-income high school students in four partner high schools through the college selection and application process.
Jane Van Galen, Education Professor, is the faculty advisor for the project, which was created at UW Seattle five years ago.
For more information, please visit the Dream Project website (http://www.uwb.edu/dreamproject).
