HAPPY SUMMER!
Thank you for such a successful 2021-2022 year as part of the Brayton/Greylock Elementary School Partnership! It was incredibly exciting to be able to return to in-person programs. The partnership and programs successes were a tribute to the flexibility of our community partners and our college students as well as a willingness to take on new challenges and opportunities!
The students, administrators, teachers, and communities that we work with through the North Adams Elementary Outreach Program are supportive and enthusiastic about continuing growing collaboration and partnership in the future.
We will be looking to fill positions for Recess Buddies, Science Fellows, and 5th/6th Grade Classroom Helpers (including interest in participating in 6th Grade Journal Club) as paid/volunteer opportunities for fall 2022. The common application for NAPS positions will be open some time in early August. You can continue to check this site for updates or feel free to email me, Amy Sosne, as well and I will put you on the list of students who I will make sure to notify when the application is up.
History of the North Adams (Brayton and Greylock Elementary Schools)/Williams College Partnership
In partnership with the North Adams Public Schools (NAPS), Williams Elementary Outreach supports collaborations between Williams College students, staff, faculty and NAPS students and teachers that enrich the lives and learning of all who participate.
Williams students engage in a diverse range of programs at Brayton and Greylock Schools (K-6) through paid positions, volunteer opportunities, and projects related to academic coursework. Many students have participated through the years in Williams run Center for Learning in Action (CLiA) programs in the North Adams School District such as the Science Fellows program (probably our most robust and longest-standing program) and other programs that have piloted or evolved depending on the needs and interests of the schools and college students.
In addition to these past programs run through CLiA, students have developed and led their own volunteer programs with both Greylock Elementary School and Brayton Elementary School. There have been, at times, 20+ students in the past in each of these student led programs, the Brayton Afterschool Tutoring Program and The Assist Program. Currently, the Assist Program, the student run organization run by Caitlin Murphy is up and running in classrooms in Greylock Elementary School. A goal would be to reorganize and start up a Brayton Afterschool Tutoring Program; we will be looking for a volunteer leader for this position.
Five Student Leaders work with Williams students across NAPS programs as well as in collaboration with other district programs in the region in order to build community and deepen their learning together through trainings, special projects, and intentional reflection. In the Spring 2021, the NAPS student leaders were awarded the TIDE grant by Williams College in order to build on their previous work on developing awareness in the Williams Community and surrounding school districts on unconscious bias, diversity, equity, and inclusion. These students built a TIDE grant website that provides multiple resources related to these issues and topics for students of all ages as well as teachers and families.
The student leaders together with high school students from Mount Greylock Regional High School have developed and will sustain a joint book club between the college and the high school with the goal of reading, discussing, and bringing awareness to issues about diversity, equity, and inclusion. There have been several successful in-person meetings. The goal of this book club was to create a foundational manual for how to develop high school book clubs related to diversity, equity, and inclusion across multiple school districts including North Adams and across multiple grade levels, including upper elementary grades. Through all of our programs, the NAPS leaders, fellows, volunteers, and advisors are dedicated to promoting awareness and discussion on diversity, equity, and inclusion.
We at CLiA welcome your involvement in our NAPS partnership and look forward to hearing from you! For now ENJOY YOUR SUMMER AND WE WILL SEE YOU NEXT SEMESTER!
Amy Sosne, North Adams coordinator for Williams Elementary Outreach
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