Experiential Learners of the Year Named
At Keuka College, experiential learning is a core focus and the 140-hour annual Field Period internship is one of the primary arenas where hands-on learning comes into play.
Each year, one freshman and one upperclassman earns Experiential Learner of the Year honors for demonstrating initiative, development of a broad and varied portfolio of work, and personal reflection on the skills learned during the Field Period experience.
Marquart, seated, and Torres.
The six nominees for 2012 were nominated by academic advisers, created a portfolio of work in essays, photographs and other media, and were honored at a luncheon April 27. During the May 5 Honors Convocation ceremony, the winners were named: freshman Lelia Torres of Stockton and sophomore Sarah Marquart of Auburn.
Torres’s first-time Field Period experience was quite a coup, as she was the first freshman from any college or university to land a Field Period internship with the Chautauqua County Office of Probation (CCOP). (more…)
Field Period Sets Drumm on Capitol Hill Path
Drumm and Sen. Charles Schumer
By Amanda Harrison ’12
Freshman Thomas Drumm wants to follow in the footsteps of U.S. Sen. Charles Schumer (D-N.Y).
He’s already taken an important first step, thanks to Field Period.
The political science and history/organizational communication major from Oswego conducted his first Field Period at Schumer’s Central New York regional office in Syracuse during January. The senior senator from New York’s office was a logical choice for Drumm because he “shares Schumer’s Democratic platform” and they “relate on a lot of things.” (more…)
Thinking Globally, Working Locally
Hien Pham may be a Vietnamese student studying for a degree at an American college, but she’s taking advantage of every opportunity afforded her to pave the way to a future job. At Keuka College one of those opportunities is Field Period, the 140-hour internship in real-world workplaces that each Keuka undergraduate conducts each year.
Pham hails from Hue City, Vietnam, and studied at Vietnam National University (ISVNU) in Hanoi, a partner school to Keuka, before transferring to the home campus in Keuka Park last year. With a business management major and a communications minor, the senior put multiple skills to use in January for Action for Boston Community Development Inc. (ABCD), a non-profit agency that provides a range of services to low-income families, including minorities and internationals.
During her four weeks at the Dorchester City neighborhood branch, Pham used her graphic design skills to create a four-page branch newsletter, which showcases numerous programs and offerings for the many Asian and African-American families served by ABCD. She also drew and painted a large banner of Rosa Parks’ bus to hang on a center wall for children to add names of famous Black Americans during Black History Month in February.
Pham's front-page design.
Child Care Credential Offering Expands Job Options
Thanks to its long-running Field Period internship program, and five courses already offered each year, Keuka College will have a near-seamless transition for students – both degree-seeking and non-matriculated –to earn a state credential in early childhood education.
The New York State affiliate of the National Association for the Education of Young Children has offered a credential known as the ITCCC (Infant/Toddler Child Care Credential). In formal documents from the state’s affiliate in Albany, the credential is described as giving “formal recognition of those who display a specialized knowledge of infant and toddler development, the partnership of caregivers with the families of the children in their care and professional practice based on respect for the individuals, the system and themselves.”
Approximately 12 hours of coursework is required by the state in four areas: infant/toddler development (birth to 36 months), family and culture, environment and curriculum, and assessment and evaluation. The state requires applicants to have obtained at least three of those credit hours within the last five years. Additional on-site work experience, known as “field work” and a professional portfolio are also required before an applicant can be awarded the credential, but it could be possible to complete requirements within one year.
Deb Dyer
According to Deb Dyer, assistant professor of education, the credentialing body has already looked at five Keuka courses and confirmed they fulfill the state’s educational component. This means undergraduates may add the credential and the process to obtain it within a degree program they are already pursuing. In addition, those in the work force seeking to add the credential to their resume can also look to Keuka for help, because the College offers courses to non-matriculated students, or those who are not seeking a specific degree.
According to Dyer, the state requires either one year of direct experience caring for infants and toddlers in a licensed setting, or two semesters of supervised “field work” plus six months work experience in a licensed setting. All total, 480 hours of documented work must be completed.
Keuka’s long-running Field Period program, requires each student to complete a 140-hour internship each year at a real-world work site, and would provide nearly half the hours required for the field work component, Dyer said. That means a Keuka student who conducts a Field Period at a child care facility or service site could count that time toward the credential requirement, she said.
A professional portfolio that includes extensive documentation of an applicant’s competency across the four areas of study and across the stages of birth to 36 months is also required. According to Dyer, the portfolio must include documentation across each of the four areas, and the types of documentation must vary at least twice within that, including a photo or video journal, work samples such as communication with families or record-keeping systems, written observation from another person on the candidate’s interaction with infants or toddlers, or an essay discussing an ethical dilemma. Keuka professors would work with applicants and mentor them through submission of the portfolio, Dyer said.
“If they want our help, we can help them with the field work or maybe they have some of the hours already,” she suggested.
According to Dyer, the latest state day care regulations call for one year of specific training for infants and toddlers for those seeking “lead teacher” roles in a day care center, and advises obtaining the new credential. Day care centers in the state are moving towards a “star rating” system, she said, and centers that employ more staff with the credential are more likely to receive higher ratings.
“I think the marketability [of this] is another advantage in a tough market that may put you ahead of the pack,” Dyer said.
For more information on the new credential, go to: www.earlychildhood.org
First Field Period a “Natural” for Lucia Castellani
Like many Keuka College students, freshman Lucia Castellani chose to complete her first Field Period close to home.
It was a good choice.
Freshman Lucia Castellani sits at the front desk at Beaver Lake Nature Center in Baldwinsville.
Castellani, an exploratory major from Liverpool, spent January as a naturalist intern at Beaver Lake Nature Center in Baldwinsville.
“I interviewed the naturalists who worked at the center, and one of the questions I asked was ‘how would you rate your job from one to 10?’” said Castellani. “The answers I got ranged from 9.9 to 13. That made me feel good about where I chose to work. I would love to complete another Field Period here if I could.”
Castellani “grew up going to the nature center, and one of my favorite things to attend each year was the Harvest Festival.”
The Harvest Festival is just one of Beaver Lake Nature Center’s 400 annual programs. The center also offers nine miles of trails and a rich mix of habitats, which create the possibility of seeing more than 200 species of birds and 800 varieties of plants.
During her Field Period, Castellani saw several of the flora and fauna the Center has to offer.
“I was able to go on nature walks, observe wildlife, and report back what I had seen, where I had seen it, and how long ago it was that I saw it,” Castellani explained. “That way, people coming to the center could go on the same trails and hopefully see the same things I did. The more common things I saw were eagles, geese, and woodpeckers.”
Castellani said the nature center is also home to “a lot” of owls, including Saw-whet owls, something she had never seen. Another owl species she had never seen, until this Field Period, were snowy owls. She and another nature center intern heard a report about a snowy owl sighting near the Syracuse-Hancock International Airport, about 20 miles from the nature center, and “I saw three of them. They were exciting to see.”
Castellani also learned how to identify birds based on their call.
“I can now identify blue jays, dark-eyed juncos, mourning doves, chickadees, cardinals, and white-breasted nuthatches,” she said. “I also saw a lot of crows on my walks, and learned that birds such as blue jays, cardinals, and mourning doves mate for life and travel in pairs. So if you see one, you are likely to see its mate.”
Castellani garnered a good overview of the center by performing a variety of duties, from working the front desk to leading snowshoe hikes.
“I also cleaned turtle cages, rearranged exhibits, refilled bird feeders, and organized bookshelves,” she explained. “I also fed the hawk, which only had one wing.”
The people with whom Castellani worked “had the same views about the environment that I do, and the nature center wants people to understand that the environment is fragile, and needs to be protected.”
Though Castellani is an exploratory major, she plans to pursue a career in which the environment is a focus.
“I would like to take an environmental class next semester because if things keep going the way they are, more environmental work will be needed,” she said. “I hope my career will allow me to make a difference and change the world.”
Down Under with the Animals
Not just any old zoo will do. Nope. Janelle Davidson headed halfway ‘round the world to get an up-close-and-personal look at the kangaroos, wallabies, and other exotic animals at Sydney Wildlife World in Australia this month.
The Cortland resident was set to endure 20 hours of travel time before arriving in Australia just after the New Year’s holiday for a short-term tour of the country and its exotic wildlife. A senior biology major, Davidson was eager to get started on this, her first trip outside the continental U.S. She also planned to visit the University of Melbourne’s veterinary school to compare and contrast what those Down Under learn about animal diseases and care-taking.
“My hope with this Field Period is to see what it’s like working with those exotic, almost-extinct animals, and decide [a focus on small or large animals] by the time I go off to vet school in the fall,” said Davidson, who is interested in a veterinary career. “Right now, I have the most experience with small animals, but I’m really interested in zoo animals, such as tigers, lions, koalas, kangaroos – not ones that everybody gets to work with.”
(more…)
Day of Service Honors Dr. King
For some, Martin Luther King Day was a day off.
However, for others—including some 60 members of the Keuka College and Penn Yan communities—their day off turned out to be a day on. The volunteers turned out to participate in various community service projects to mark the birthday of the slain civil rights leader.
The event was organized by Keuka College criminal justice majors Danielle Gravel and Cortney Chamberlain to celebrate the Jan. 16 federal holiday.
Teaching Sign Language in Senegal
Nicole Caparulo makes the sign for "Africa," an arc of the hand from left to right.
Editor’s Note: This is the fifth in a series of features on recipients of the Judith Oliver Brown Memorial Award.
Keuka junior Nicole Caparulo of Corning is combining her interests in special education and sign language this month by conducting a Field Period internship at a residential school for deaf children in Senegal, West Africa.
Caparulo is a unified childhood/special education major with a concentration in American Sign Language (ASL), and discovered the West African school through Martha French, associate professor of education. A friend of French’s, Dr. Angela Bednarczyk, worked 20 years at Galludet University’s Laurent Clerc National Deaf Education Center, and now works as assistant to the educational director at the Renaissance School for the Deaf (L’Ecole Renaissance des Sourds) in Dakar, the capital city of Senegal.
According to Bednarczyk, the Renaissance School for the Deaf was founded in 2007 and follows the Senegalese national curriculum with instruction based on the use of the Francophone West African sign language. The school serves 35 students and has five classrooms, five teachers, and a deaf teacher in training. Each year, students attend whose ages range from 4 to 16.
Caparulo said she expects some elements of ASL will carry over to the sign language used in Senegal, but compared it more to a dialect.
“I am very interested in deaf education, special education, diversity and being open and accepting differences and ways to do things. That plays a major part in education, because you need to be able to do things and experience them,” said Caparulo.
“Special education teaching just stands out for me, along with sign language,” she added. “It’s such a beautiful language, how could I not be drawn to it? It’s always been a passion and now I have an opportunity to learn about it. I’m taking advantage of that. (more…)
On Fashion, Foreign Travel and Fine Arts
Editor’s Note: This is the first in a series of features on recipients of the Judith Oliver Brown Memorial Award.
Mia Barnello is eager to follow in her mother’s footsteps. In January, that path will take the junior organizational communication major to the Florence University of the Arts in Italy.
During her spring semester of study, Barnello, a Syracuse resident, will also travel throughout the country to explore the culture in cities such as Sicily, Rome and Venice. She received a $2,200 Judith Oliver Brown Memorial Award to help with expenses. The scholarship assists students pursuing culturally oriented Field Periods and is named for the late Brown, a member of the Class of 1963 who spent her junior year as a Norton Scholar in Switzerland.
“I’m definitely interested in finding the little, not-so-touristy attractions, hidden treasures, the food, the boutiques, and so on,” Barnello said of the tucked-away spots she hopes to discover.
According to Barnello, her mother spent almost a full year in Italy as a college student herself “and almost didn’t come back.
“She studied art in a small town called Urbino. She’s talked about it for my entire life,” Barnello said. “I’m definitely hoping to bring back experiences and memories we can kind of bond over, things we both [experienced] while in Italy.”
The trip will be Barnello’s first trip overseas, indeed, her first time traveling outside the U.S. She is eager to see the work of different artists and architects that she studied in an online art history class taught by Assistant Professor of Art Melissa Newcomb last summer. After visiting museums and churches, seeing sculptures and other famous works, Barnello said she plans to e-mail Newcomb about the experience.
“I want to bring back pictures and things that are exciting to share and encourage more people to [study abroad],” she said.
While Barnello’s mother studied fine arts, Barnello is hoping to focus more on design and the fashion industry, which is a special interest of hers. Last year, Barnello and fellow Keuka communication major Ashley Larimore teamed up on a special class project to create a draft of a fashion magazine for Assistant Professor of Organizational Communication and English Bob Berkman’s media writing class. At Keuka, she is completing classes for a minor in art.
Barnello said she plans to spend at least one day of her overseas trip visiting the headquarters of the Italian edition of Vogue magazine. Ideally, she’d like to get in touch with photographers or writers to get a flavor for the working environment, and see what a “day in the life” is like there.
“In the future, I really want to be involved in fashion. Being in Italy and learning the background, I think will help me decide if I want to focus on fashion through design and publications [or another way],” Barnello said. “Since my hope was to do graphic design and that’s not really offered [in Florence], I’m kind of designing my own [course of study.]’
While in Florence, Barnello will take classes in jewelry design and Italian fashion, as well as a beginner’s course in the Italian language.
“As of right now, I don’t know anything of the language, which is terrifying, but hopefully, that [course] will help. My mom actually didn’t take any language courses when she was there – she just picked it up. I’m a little scared, but … We’ll see what happens. “
Polishing Student Teachers ‘Til They Shine
College President Jorge L. Díaz-Herrera and Mary Ellen Morgan
The Keuka College Adjunct Professor of the Year makes no bones about her strict supervising style. If a student teacher appears to be slacking off and she knows they can do better, Mary Ellen Morgan won’t let up for a minute.
Indeed, when the Penn Yan resident was called to the stage Dec. 11 during Keuka’s mid-year conferral of degrees, a portion of her introduction included comments from a student whose respect Morgan had earned.
“I absolutely hated Mrs. Morgan … Even as I say this, I love her and everything was for my own good. I grew so much with her help and I always knew where I stood. Her criticisms never stopped, but that was a great thing,” the student wrote.
Morgan said she smiled hearing it, because she knew exactly who wrote it, and knew he was capable of more.
“I know that I am hard on the kids,” she said, using her favorite word for the student teachers under her care, “especially the first couple weeks. I wanted him to achieve and I stayed right on him. [Student teaching] is such a short time frame, I want them to get the best of it, so I come down on them because I want to make sure they get their feet in the doors.”
Since 2001, the Penn Yan resident has been supervising student teachers in Keuka’s education division, meeting weekly with them and their mentor teachers on location at schools across Western New York. Student teachers may work in districts from Waterloo to Watkins Glen to Wayland, perhaps as far as 60 miles from the Keuka Park campus. Morgan first “filled” a spot in the supervisor ranks by a friend who moved to Germany and has been involved ever since. Morgan’s daughter graduated from Keuka in 1988, and Morgan’s family moved to the Keuka Lake area full time in 1996. She has also worked with the College Rotoract Club, affiliated with the Rotary Club of America, and took a group of students to Gettysburg last year for a Rotary conference.
Morgan brings a total of 32 years at Elmira City Schools to her work, having taught seven years at the elementary level and 26 years in secondary level classrooms. During many of those years, Morgan served as a sponsor teacher for a semester for young college seniors completing their student teaching rotations. That’s an edge she believes she brings to her supervisory role.
(more…)
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