{"id":3019,"date":"2019-07-23T16:02:09","date_gmt":"2019-07-23T20:02:09","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/pages.vassar.edu\/fordscholars\/?p=3019"},"modified":"2019-07-23T17:36:14","modified_gmt":"2019-07-23T21:36:14","slug":"exploring-community-engaged-scholarship-through-an-after-school-youth-enrichment-program","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/pages.vassar.edu\/fordscholars\/2019\/07\/23\/exploring-community-engaged-scholarship-through-an-after-school-youth-enrichment-program\/","title":{"rendered":"Exploring Community-Engaged Scholarship Through a Youth Enrichment Program"},"content":{"rendered":"

Leah Cates, Women’s Studies Major, Creative Writing Minor, Class of 2020
\n<\/em>Tom Ellman,\u00a0Associate Professor of Computer Science<\/em><\/p>\n

As a Caucasian student at a prestigious college entrusted to work with six children of color from an under-resourced part of Poughkeepsie, I approached this project wary of my potential to inadvertently cause harm. Although I genuinely enjoyed working with the bright children and dedicated staff, my research and reflection on community-engaged learning (CEL) deepened my understanding of its dangers.
\n<\/span><\/p>\n

The project included three components:<\/span><\/p>\n

–<\/span>Barrett Kids Program (BKP) Volunteering: <\/b>BKP<\/span><\/a> is an art and homework club for 6-10-year-olds, held at the <\/span>Barrett Art Center (BAC)<\/span><\/a>. At BKP, I built close relation<\/span>ships with the children, particularly six-year-old Emma, with whom I read, completed homework and played. I kept a journal of my time with Emma, and wrote analyses of Emma and her sister, Mia’s, behavior and development for their mother.*\u00a0\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

\"\"<\/a>

Reading a book with Emma at Adriance\u00a0Library<\/em><\/p><\/div>\n

–<\/span>Video-Game: <\/b>We used <\/span>Scratch<\/span><\/a> to create two original video games for the kids, whose artwork and collaboration were instrumental in game development. The project encouraged the kids to consider their lives and art in a unique light. On day 1, the kids first played The Barrett Kids Art Supply Quest<\/em>, which features the kids\u2019 houses, self-portraits and photos of BK staff. Next, they generated ideas and artwork for game 2. I wrote dialogue for and coded game 2, titled Anna & Frida Shop<\/em> (Anna is the BKP director; Frida is her daughter), which the kids played the following week. The game showcases a narrative developed by the kids, with six levels, each featuring a different child\u2019s work.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

\"\"<\/a>

Generating ideas for “Anna & Frida Shop” at BAC<\/em><\/p><\/div>\n

\"\"<\/a>

Playing “The Barrett Kids Art Supply Quest” with Mia<\/p><\/div>\n

–<\/span>Research & Writing: <\/b>Throughout the summer, I explored the inherently problematic nature of CEL. My research and reflection culminated in a 15-page essay combining literature with lived experience, as well as a 15-page annotated bibliography. The former discusses CEL\u2019s flaws, including its inability to address structural oppression and tendency to promote the \u201csavior-industrial complex.\u201d Despite my attempts to contribute value to the community, my experience was fraught with CEL pitfalls, including exploitation (e.g., photographs for this write-up), and emotional harm, as Emma became upset when we separated at the program\u2019s end.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

In the essay, I ask whether resources spent on non-profits can be put to greater use. Do programs like BK provide cover for government inaction? Do privileged learners\/workers alienate populations \u201cserved\u201d? Perhaps. Nevertheless, students cannot hide behind intellectual arguments. Of course we didn\u2019t achieve structural change. But the Barrett kids\u2019 creativity and confidence blossomed.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

*Emma and Mia are aliases to protect the children’s identities.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Leah Cates, Women’s Studies Major, Creative Writing Minor, Class of 2020 Tom Ellman,\u00a0Associate Professor of Computer Science As a Caucasian student at a prestigious college entrusted to work with six children of color from an under-resourced part of Poughkeepsie, I approached this project wary of my potential to inadvertently cause harm. Although I genuinely enjoyed […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":6889,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[77493],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-3019","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-ford-2019"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/pages.vassar.edu\/fordscholars\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3019","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/pages.vassar.edu\/fordscholars\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/pages.vassar.edu\/fordscholars\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/pages.vassar.edu\/fordscholars\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/6889"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/pages.vassar.edu\/fordscholars\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=3019"}],"version-history":[{"count":9,"href":"https:\/\/pages.vassar.edu\/fordscholars\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3019\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":3131,"href":"https:\/\/pages.vassar.edu\/fordscholars\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3019\/revisions\/3131"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/pages.vassar.edu\/fordscholars\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=3019"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/pages.vassar.edu\/fordscholars\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=3019"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/pages.vassar.edu\/fordscholars\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=3019"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}