In the News

Lehman, CLiA launch remote support program for local businesses

Over the extended winter break, many students may have felt restless and disconnected from the Berkshire community, but some remedied that by putting their technological skills to use through remote volunteer work for local Berkshire nonprofits and businesses. These students participated in the Remote Support Program, an entirely online community… Continue reading »

Learning in action: Community engagement during a pandemic

Even in the best of circumstances, it would be hard to keep up with all the community work and engaged learning Williams students do. In these times of small face-to-face social circles and carefully choreographed digital ones, staying in touch with the world beyond Williams has grown even more challenging. Continue reading »

Elementary School Science Camp Held at Williams College

It was storytime this past week at Williams College. But the rising fifth- and sixth-graders at the college’s Summer Science Lab were not being told stories. They were challenged to make up stories. As part of the weeklong day camp, campers were assigned each night to think about a phenomenon… Continue reading »

Positive Pathways

A partnership between the Williams College Center for Learning in Action (CLiA) and the Berkshire County House of Corrections offers tutoring in writing, reading and math to inmates planning to take the HiSET, a high school equivalency exam, in preparation for their upcoming release. Full Article… Continue reading »

Take and Eat Brings Meals to Williamstown Elderly

Since September of 2015, Take and Eat has been an effort from the Williams College Chaplain’s Office and Williams College InterFaith with one simple goal: to provide meals to those in need. Take and Eat, Inc. is a faith-based nonprofit in North Adams, MA dedicated to providing meals for the… Continue reading »

Sammi Stone ’17 Explains Give it Up!

How would you describe Give it Up! to someone who’s never heard of it before? Give it Up! is a program run by the Center for Learning in Action (CLiA) at Williams College with some support from the Zilkha Center. It’s a service for students to make it accessible and convenient… Continue reading »

Meaningful Mystic Report by Jessica Munoz ’19

Over spring break, eight students and OSL’s Assistant Director for Student Organizations and Involvement Benjamin Lamb went on the Meaningful Mystic Spring Break Out Trip. The students engaged in meaningful work that revolved around environmental sustainability and climate change through a historical lens in Mystic, Connecticut. Full Article… Continue reading »

Art, Food, and Sustainability? An Interview with Eleanor Lustig ’18

“The Ghana ThinkTank is totally separate from everything else I’ve done at Williams,” Eleanor Lustig ’18 told me, one weekday morning in early March. “I got involved because it’s a different angle than I’ve ever taken on sustainability work at Williams.” Lustig has significant experience in activism and sustainability work: She’s… Continue reading »

Williams Science Camp Serves Youngsters, Collegians

Learning went both ways at Williams College’s Summer Science Lab this month.  “One of my interns said this morning, ‘The kids were my teachers this week as well,’ ” lab director Stephen Bechtel said last week.  Bechtel spoke as week one came to an end at the day camp for… Continue reading »

Grant Helps College Students Bring Science to Kids

The college students are teaching the kids, but in the end, the kids end up teaching their teachers, too.  Entering the third year of a four-year grant, undergraduates from MCLA and Williams College have worked with both elementary teachers and college science professors to develop inquiry-based units of instruction based… Continue reading »

Envirothon 2016

On May 12, a group of local high school students will compete in a statewide environmental science competition called Envirothon. The event—which takes place at Hopkinton State Park in eastern Massachusetts—brings teams from across the state to an outdoor, hands-on competition. Winning teams from each state will compete in Ontario… Continue reading »

CS Majors Volunteer with Local Elementary Students

Matthew McNaughton ’16, Emily Roach ’16, and Leslie Chae ’16, participated in the Williams Elementary Outreach iTeam, a pilot program of CLiA. They worked with students at Brayton Elementary in North Adams for “The Hour of Code,” to introduce young students to what coding is and get them excited. The students… Continue reading »

Williamstown School Committee Hears About College’s Involvement

Williams College may be known as a premiere liberal arts college, but it’s contribution to the sciences at Williamstown Elementary School are significant.  Representatives from the college’s Center for Learning in Action addressed the School Committee at its February meeting to talk about the relationship between Williams and the elementary… Continue reading »

MathBlast draws 166 High School Students

This morning, 166 high school students from Mt. Greylock Regional High School, BArT, and Deerfield Academy experienced the joy of learning math at Williams College.  Started by Professor of Mathematics Olga R. Beaver, MathBlast is meant to expose high school students to exciting topics in math that are… Continue reading »

SWAG starts Buxton workshops

During Winter Study, Sexual Wellness Advocacy Group (SWAG), an organization composed of students at the College, will hold workshops to educate all students who attend the Buxton School, located in Williamstown, on consent and healthy relationships. Full Article… Continue reading »

Brayton School Receives $35,000 in Donations Toward iPad Program

Brayton Elementary School has received a $35,000 boost in technology thanks to donations from BJ’s Wholesale and a former resident connected to the school system. Stephen Drotter, son of late Drury High School Principal Stephen J. Drotter, donated $25,000 as memorial to his wife, Lynn Whitney Dion Drotter. The two donations will… Continue reading »

Curtin speaks on fighting food insecurity and poverty

Michael Curtin ’86 spoke last Friday in Paresky Auditorium, giving a talk entitled, “Fighting Food Insecurity and Poverty in America,” which addressed the history and mission of D.C. Central Kitchen (DCCK), a community kitchen founded by former nightclub owner Robert Egger. Full Article… Continue reading »

ScienceBlast 2015

Early on a recent spring morning, physics professor Tiku Majumder asked more than 70 Mount Greylock Regional High School students gathered in Wege Auditorium to consider a different view of science. Full Article Video… Continue reading »

North Adams Teachers Show Off iPad Classroom Creativity

Learning the geography of New England. Creating illustrated books. Studying how to draw koi fish using Japanese techniques. These are just a few of the innovate ways teachers at Greylock and Brayton elementary schools are using iPads in their classrooms — iPads given to the schools through their relationship with… Continue reading »

Great Day of Service 2013

Ten dozen donuts and bagels, 100 granola bars, 5 boxes of coffee, 150 bag lunches, and 150 T-shirts. That’s what it took to fuel 150 Williams students who fanned out across 14 nearby schools, churches, and nonprofit organizations for this year’s Great Day of Service in April. Full… Continue reading »

Spring Break: Broadening Horizons

During spring break, Williams students scatter to the four winds. Some train with their teams or tour with performance groups. Others pursue academic research. But for a large number of students, spring break is a time to learn about and serve in communities as diverse as New Orleans, Nicaragua, and… Continue reading »

Williams Students Help Develop, Teach Fourth-Grade Science Curriculum

Fourth-grade students and teachers at Williamstown, Brayton, and Greylock Elementary Schools have engaged this fall in a newly developed science curriculum created in collaboration with Williams College. The curriculum focuses on the subject of “Energy” and was written last summer by Sarah Gottesman ’14 and Mpaza Kapembwa ’15 under the… Continue reading »

Stop. Go. Listen.

The warm-up game for 93 8th graders is simple.  Pick one of three words: “stop,” “go,” or “listen.”  When it’s your turn, stand up and face your peers, then speak your word loudly and clearly.  Sit down, and it’s on to the next student.  The game’s coach and referee is… Continue reading »

A Muslim for All Williams Seasons

Bilal Ansari wastes no time. Williams’ first Muslim chaplain and associate coordinator of community engagement arrived on campus on August 28, 2011. By August 31 he was hosting a feast for Muslim students to celebrate the end of Ramadan and helping lead Williamstown efforts to support residents flooded out of… Continue reading »