Melania, Community Partner (USchool)
Melania is the U School Program Lead at U School, an organization that invites students in grades 4-9 to campus for a week and encourages them to pursue post-secondary education.
U School has been operating for about eleven years, and the idea came from Sandra Woitas, a U of A senator and former principal for inner-city schools. She had witnessed a lack of equal opportunity for marginalized or low-income students in her schools. Many of these students didn’t even realize that university was an option for them- they hadn’t been to other parts of the city, they hadn’t heard much about university, and it wasn’t something that mom and dad were talking about at the dinner table. She came up with the idea of bringing these kids to the university, and ten years later that has grown into a week-long program that serves over 800 kids each year. We bring students from marginalized or socially vulnerable communities to spend a week at the U of A, engaging in hands-on programming on a variety of topics.
U School tries to bridge the gap, by providing access and exposure to post-secondary. Our students might come from low-income areas of the city, single-parent homes, newcomer families, or rural Indigenous communities and many of them might be the first person in their family to attend post-secondary. Research shows that by the time students from low-income families reach high school, half of them have already written off university, so U School tries to teach these students that university can be a place for them too. We try to get students thinking about post-secondary when they’re young, and get them excited about their education.
We work with a lot of volunteers on campus, many of whom are CSL students. We want U School students to be able to connect with university students and build relationships with them. Volunteer mentors will do a variety of activities with our students, such as journaling or photography, and get to know them throughout the week. The more people that our U School students meet, the better chance that they will find someone they can relate to or have shared experiences with. It also gives U School students the chance to see all the different things that students are doing on campus, what they’re studying, or what extracurriculars they are involved in. We want our U School students to meet as many people as possible so that they can build connections and be inspired. Volunteers make the experience more personable; they can connect with our students on a different level than a professor who they may only get to spend an hour or two with.
The biggest group we work with is EDU 100/300 students, and this experience really opens their eyes to how diverse Edmonton students are. Even for me, I came from a middle-class background where my parents were post-secondary educated, so the schools I went to as a child were not necessarily like the schools we work with. If I would have had the chance to participate in CSL I would have seen how diverse students are, and what their needs are. CSL students learn that not all schools and classes are just like their own lived experiences.
The other thing that is really beneficial for EDU 100/300 CSL students is that they learn how important relationship building is in the teaching profession, and they get to see different teachers in action. Learning through observation is really powerful when it comes to watching how teachers manage their classrooms, or coordinate field trips. CSL students are exposed to so many different teachers, and classes, and they might not get that same level of diverse exposure in their education classes. Outside of EDU classes, I think it’s really beneficial for university students to be able to talk about what they’re studying and take academia beyond its little bubble on campus. Bringing knowledge and learning out into the public is really important.
One of the big things I have learned by bringing in CSL students is that here is this big desire for Education students to step outside of their classroom and connect with kids. Our CSL students bring fresh perspectives and creative ideas to our U School lessons. It’s been great for me to pick up on some of the teaching techniques, or games and activities they run with our students. It’s also been a great learning experience for me to work with CSL students and help them develop lesson plans for U School students.
In our first year, U School hosted about ninety students. This year we are projected to have over a thousand students, which would be a lot for just three staff members to handle every day. It’s great to have regular volunteers that we can rely on. Taking 35 grade fours across campus can be challenging, so it’s great to have volunteers who can help keep the kids in order. Having so many volunteers also allows us to interact with U School students in small groups and support them individually. When I first started here there was often a shortage of volunteers, so having all of our regular volunteers through CSL has made a big difference.
We have definitely had quite a few students who have continued on beyond their time with CSL and come in as weekly or bi-weekly volunteers, and who come back to U School convocation at the end of the year. Our kids are so excited- even in June they remember the CSL students who they connected with. We had one CSL student who made such a big impact on a group of grade six girls, that when she had to leave at the end of the week, one of the girls burst into tears. We’ve also had U School students who write about their CSL mentors in their journals when we ask them to reflect on their favourite person that they met all week. Sometimes we really do see deep connections between the volunteers and the kids. We’ve also put CSL students in contact with the classes who visit us so that they can continue that relationship throughout the year.
A lot of good things come from having a diverse group of CSL students and a diverse group of U School students- they have the opportunity to build relationships, and meet their perfect match.
