By Lauren Klose
Staff Writer
Professor of English Marcie Newton and a few students from her ENG 114 class waved as 26 second grade students from New Scotland Elementary School pulled up to The College of Saint Rose campus on Friday.
Newton and her students have been participating in a service learning arts project with Mrs. Sheila Morrissey and Mrs. Erin Reeve’s second grade classrooms. The second graders visited Saint Rose to take a tour of the campus as well as perform the poems they had created during their time so far with Saint Rose students at the elementary school.
Morrissey and Reeve are really pleased with how this service learning project is coming along. “We have been so fortunate to forge this partnership with the college over the past 2 years and look forward to what we can accomplish together in the years to come,” said Reeve “It is never too early for children to learn that they are a part of a greater community, that they have a responsibility to care for and respect others and that learning is a lifelong journey.”
For the past few weeks, the second grade students at New Scotland Elementary School have been participating in a collaborative service learning arts project that began with a poetry workshop and will conclude with a trip to the Ronald McDonald House. Newton and her ENG 114 students prepared the second grade students to consider the many different ways writing poetry can be an effective tool for creative self-expression. In the poetry workshop, students wrote poems that explored their emotions using their five senses and writing poems about friendship. Each day, Newton would have a literary device as a word of the day.
“Poetry is a way for these young students to express their feelings and to connect with other people’s feelings,” said Newton. “Building a sense of community and reaching out to those less fortunate than ourselves can only happen with a caring and respectful attitude towards others; this begins with an exploration into our own values, which we are doing through poetry.”
This service learning project was initiated by Dr. Aviva Bower, Educational Psychology Professor, who had a second grade student at New Scotland Elementary School last year. With Newton and Dr. G. E. Washington, Professor of Art, Bower helped to orchestrate a service learning project that included a trip to the Ronald McDonald House and the City Mission. Newton has taken the reins to further continue service learning opportunities like these for Saint Rose students.
“Service learning enriches our lives on academic, social, and personal levels,” said Newton. “It enables our students to make connections between active and meaningful work in the community, pedagogy, and reflection.”
Although funding has been greatly reduced, with support from Boehrer, this service learning project was able to go ahead.
“Professor Marcie Newton has fostered a wonderful friendship between The College of Saint Rose and New Scotland Elementary School (NSES). Saint Rose students were able to share their love of poetry, music and athletics,” said Boehrer. “‘This is the best day of my life,’ I overheard one NSES student exclaim. Saint Rose students were able to deepen their appreciation of poetry thorough this creative service-learning project.”
The second grade students started their tour at the Curriculum Library where Marissa Gitto, the director of the Patricia Standish Curriculum Library, read “All the World” by Liz Carton Stanlen.
Their next stop was the quad and gym for some quality time spent with student-athletes from the soccer, baseball, and basketball teams.
“I liked playing soccer because I got three goals,” said Alex Drake. “The players were really nice and fun.”
Newton’s ENG 114 students were moved by their experiences in the second grade classroom.
“I have truly enjoyed my experience with the second graders of NSES. They have taught me so much within the short amount of time I have worked with them.” said Brianne Doty a student at Saint Rose. “I cannot wait to become a teacher.”
Hungry from all of the activities, the second graders headed up to the Standish Rooms of the EAC for a couple of slices of pizza. There they had the opportunity to “discuss the arts over lunch,” said Dr. Fred Boehrer, Coordinator of Academic Service Learning. After the energetic bunch finished their pizza party, they walked to the campus theatre where Kenneth Krauss, Associate Professor of Drama, waited to greet them.
While getting settled before performing their poems, Gabriel Pellino, a music student at Saint Rose, played a piece on his cello, gaining some oohs and aahs from the young students.
On April 26th, the last day of their poetry workshop, the students had created “My Seed’s Perfect World” and learned all about the word of the day, personification. After this the students had planted seeds and watered them to help them grow before each writing their own poems describing their seeds’ perfect world.
“Writing the poems about our seeds’ perfect world was really about out world,’ said Lucia Hornsby. “It’s important to care for our world and the people in it because we can’t recycle them.”
So before the students took to the stage, Newton, a.k.a. Miss Marcie, put on her cowgirl hat and got into character herself. Speaking with a western drawl, she read the students’ poem, which caused the children to burst into fits of giggles.
Once the laughter died down, students dressed up in their favorite costumes and climbed up to the stage to read their favorite poems.
The performances were followed by a special guest appearance by Dr. Margaret McLane, Dean of Education, who read a couple of her favorite poems.
“It was a pleasure to hear the students for New Scotland share their poems and to be able to share some of my favorite poems with them,” said McLane. “Service Learning projects such as this one facilitated by Marcie Newton provides a wonderful opportunity for students at The College of Saint Rose to connect with the larger community and to learn from working with others. Service learning is an effective pedagogy that engages students of all ages in active learning.”
As the fun-filled and meaningful trip drew to a close, the second grade students gathered on the quad to discuss their favorite parts of their day spent at Saint Rose. Soon after they boarded their bus, tired and happy, but not before giving a big “thank you” to Newton.
