Community Outreach

Coral Reef Ed-Ventures, Summer 2003

Now in its fifth year, Coral Reef Ed-Ventures is sponsored by the Smith College Environmental Science Program and is funded by Northeast Educational Services, Inc. In the summer, Smith students and faculty travel to Belize to work in the classroom with Belizian children and conduct teacher training workshops focusing on the protection of coral reefs. The project unites three Smith departments—Geology, Education and Child Study, and Biological and Marine Studies—and is an opportunity for Smith students to gain hands-on teaching experience in a curriculum devoted to experiential learning. Four years ago, five Belizian children attended the summer program. Last summer, 55 7-11-year-olds participated.

Women and Financial Independence (WFI) Reaches Out to the Community with POP

With the support of Citigroup, WFI’s Peer Outreach Program (POP) launched financial planning workshops at neighboring Northampton High School and Holyoke Community College. Four POP interns received rave reviews from students for their budgeting and credit card workshops. Interns prepared their own curriculum and teaching materials with assistance from Smith professors Al Rudnitsky (Education), and Mahnaz Mahdavi and Randy Bartlett (Economics). A grant from the Starr Foundation will allow WFI to expand POP into more area high schools this year. Visit the WFI website

The Arthur Vining Davis Foundation Boosts High School Teacher Tech-nique and Curriculum Development

Teacher Tech-nique and Curriculum Development is a 3-year project to enhance the technological skills and teaching methodology of teachers at Northampton High School (NHS). With the assistance of Smith interns and the support of the Arthur Vining Davis Foundation, 18 NHS teachers have created presentations, on-line learning experiences, web pages to showcase student work, and other innovative curriculum initiatives. Two of these teachers have been invited to share their new expertise at the Massachusetts premier computer conference for teachers.