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Published on May 22, 2019

Each spring, the Harward Center for Community Partnerships preps and deploys a聽working group of students who spend the five weeks of Short Term tackling specific projects with local partners.

Whether helping a local land trust improve its signage or surveying pediatricians about how they discuss home gun safety with parents, “these students are mobilizing some pretty sophisticated skills and capacities for their off-campus projects and partners,鈥� says Harward Center director Darby Ray.

Meet a few members of this year鈥檚聽Short Term Action/Research Team and hear about the challenges and rewards of their projects:

Genesis Paulino ’21

Genesis Paulino '21 of Lawrence, Mass., partners with St. Mary's Nutrition Center in a project titled "Developing Garden activity Bins for Local Teachers." Photographed in the Wood Street Garden adjacent to the Harward Center for Community Partnerships.Also in the pictures are : Eliza Huber-Weiss, st marys nutrition center youth programs coordinator, in white t-shirt and bronze pants; Olivia Sandford 鈥�20 in 乐播传媒 athletics sweatshirt; Kristen Farney, St. Mary's Nutrition Center Fellow with carpenter's hat; and St. Mary's Nutrition Center Fellow Victor Bing with hat and spade. Not showing up in selects is St. Mary's nutrition center volunteer Randy Hard. STA/RT, that is 鈥� the Short Term Action/Research Team, a working group comprising 10 students who head downtown every year for five-week projects with local partners. With support from the Harward Center for Community Partnerships, the students bring skills, stick-to-itiveness, and, it turns out, a good dose of self-awareness to their work.

Phyllis Graber Jensen/乐播传媒 College

Hometown: Lawrence, Mass.

Major: Sociology

Partner:聽 St. Mary’s Nutrition Center

Project: Developing resources for educational garden activity bins. Each bin will focus on a specific garden unit, such as seeds and pollination, and include lesson plans, related books, and worksheets.

Genesis says: 鈥淒uring this project, I learned about urban gardening and how to make classroom activities accessible.

鈥淩esearching activities for kids to learn about gardening 鈥� and actually gardening myself聽鈥� was something that I wouldn’t have imagined myself doing a few years ago. I had some experience coming into this project, but certainly not to the extent the project involved.

鈥淚t’s important to move out of our comfort zones.聽Life is always a learning experience, and we should take the time to challenge ourselves聽鈥� taking opportunities to learn even more about ourselves and the world around us.鈥�

Genesis Paulino '21 of Lawrence, Mass., partners with St. Mary's Nutrition Center in a project titled "Developing Garden activity Bins for Local Teachers." Photographed in the Wood Street Garden adjacent to the Harward Center for Community Partnerships. Also in the pictures are : Eliza Huber-Weiss, st marys nutrition center youth programs coordinator, in white t-shirt and bronze pants; Olivia Sandford 鈥�20 in 乐播传媒 athletics sweatshirt; Kristen Farney, St. Mary's Nutrition Center Fellow with carpenter's hat; and St. Mary's Nutrition Center Fellow Victor Bing with hat and spade. Not showing up in selects is St. Mary's nutrition center volunteer Randy Hard. STA/RT, that is 鈥� the Short Term Action/Research Team, a working group comprising 10 students who head downtown every year for five-week projects with local partners. With support from the Harward Center for Community Partnerships, the students bring skills, stick-to-itiveness, and, it turns out, a good dose of self-awareness to their work.

Phyllis Graber Jensen/乐播传媒 College

Clio Barr ’19

Clio Barr '19 of Hallowell, Maine, is a STA/RT (SHORT TERM ACTION/RESEARCH TEAM) partner with the Center for Wisdom's Women Herban Works. Her project title is Creating Marketing Materials and a Business Plan for Sophia's House.On the first spring day of the 2019 Lewiston Farmer's Market, Barr sells products on Sunday, May 12, with Judy Maloney garden and production coordinator and volunteer Mary Hopkins, who also helps with harvesting and planting.

Phyllis Graber Jensen/乐播传媒 College

Hometown: Hallowell, Maine

Major: Politics

Partner:聽The Center for Wisdom’s Women

Project: Supporting sales, marketing, and business development efforts of Herban Works, a social enterprise run by women at the Center for Wisdom’s Women who make and sell healing products.

Clio says: 鈥淓ffective marketing tells a story. Through working with women at the center, I had the privilege of getting to know them and learning about their stories and the incredible story of Herban Works. I hope this project is a small step toward continuing to share those stories with the rest of the community and the world.鈥�

Clio Barr '19 of Hallowell, Maine, is a STA/RT (SHORT TERM ACTION/RESEARCH TEAM) partner with the Center for Wisdom's Women Herban Works. Her project title is Creating Marketing Materials and a Business Plan for Sophia's House.On the first spring day of the 2019 Lewiston Farmer's Market, Barr sells products on Sunday, May 12, with Judy Maloneygarden and production coordinator and volunteer Mary Hopkins, who also helps with harvesting and planting.

Phyllis Graber Jensen/乐播传媒 College

Zachary Anderson ’19

Zachary Anderson '19 of Rochester, N.Y., partnering with the Lewiston Public Schools, has a STA/RT project title of "ELL Department." He's researching best practices for creating an accessible website for Lewiston's ELL program. He is working with ELL program director to determine what materials should be included in a website and hopes to create a website prototype. Photographed with Said Shaleh, community relations coordinator for the Lewiston Public Schools, and the ELL Instructional Coach Christina, whose last name can't be used for personal security reasons. They were photographed in Christina's office in the Dingley Building at 36 Oak Street in Lewiston, outside of which Zach is posing.

Phyllis Graber Jensen/乐播传媒 College

Hometown: Rochester, N.Y.

Major: Sociology

Partner: Lewiston Public Schools鈥� English Language Learning Office

Project: Researching best practices for creating an accessible website聽for Lewiston’s ELL program and working with the program director to determine appropriate materials for the website.聽

Zach says: 鈥淢y experience affirmed the challenges that exist in trying to compile a comprehensive website to serve the needs of the English language learners community.

鈥淲hile finding translated materials or having them translated is a slow and cumbersome process, it is extremely valuable because it provides equitable information to all parents about the ELL program here in Lewiston.

鈥淚n doing this work, I was inspired by the commitment of my partners. As Lewiston continues to grow and change, it is comforting to know that my partners in the ELL Office will continue to work on providing a quality education to all students and families.鈥�

Zachary Anderson '19 of Rochester, N.Y., partnering with the Lewiston Public Schools, has a STA/RT project title of "ELL Department." He's researching best practices for creating an accessible website for Lewiston's ELL program. He is working with ELL program director to determine what materials should be included in a website and hopes to create a website prototype. Photographed with Said Shaleh, community relations coordinator for the Lewiston Public Schools, and the ELL Instructional Coach Christina, whose last name can't be used for personal security reasons.They were photographed in Christina's office in the Dingley Building at 36 Oak Street in Lewiston, outside of which Zach is posing.

Phyllis Graber Jensen/乐播传媒 College

Katherine Ennis ’19

Katherine "Katie" Ennis of Morristown, N.J. '20 is partnering with the Androscoggin Land Trust to advance trail signage and mapping improvements. She's helping them assess trail conditions and supporting their efforts to develop a comprehensive trail improvement plan. Helping to create maps and signage templates, researching practices for trail management among other trail managing organizations, developing a plan for how the work on the trails can be completed.Katie, in red, white, and blue jacket, is shown at the entrance and just inside of the Androscoggin Land Trust David Rancourt Preserve on Two Tall Pines Road, with her friend Julie Vallario, Mark Johnson, Androscoggin Land Trust David Rancourt Preserve Steward, and Shelley Kruszewski, executive director of the Androscoggin Land Trust. She brought Julie, a lifelong friend, to help her post temporary trail signs with a ladder. The permanent ones will be posted next week. STA/RT, that is 鈥� the Short Term Action/Research Team, a working group comprising 10 students who head downtown every year for five-week projects with local partners. With support from the Harward Center for Community Partnerships, the students bring skills, stick-to-itiveness, and, it turns out, a good dose of self-awareness to their work.

Phyllis Graber Jensen/乐播传媒 College

Hometown: Morristown, N.J.

Major: Economics

Partner:聽 Androscoggin Land Trust

Project: Working with the land trust to develop new trail signage and lead an after-school nature walk at Sherwood Heights Elementary School.聽聽

Katie says: 鈥淢y project required considerable communication skills to ensure that everyone was on the same page. The work included renaming some of the land trust’s walking trails, and I learned that people can have a strong emotional attachment to place names; some did not want to see anything change.

鈥淭his was a difficult issue to navigate, since we want to respect the community members and the frequent trail users while keeping in mind the needs of future trail users and new members of the community.鈥�

Phyllis Graber Jensen/乐播传媒 College

Maya Seshan ’20

Phyllis Graber Jensen/乐播传媒 College

Hometown: Wilton, Conn.

Major: Politics

Partner:聽Maine Gun Safety Coalition

Project: Conducting a study of Maine pediatrics offices to assess how frequently pediatricians speak with parents about home firearm safety and to learn what pediatricians need to have effective conversations with parents. The goal is to create a brochure that pediatricians can provide to parents on the topic.聽

Maya says: 鈥淢y experience made me see physicians as actors that can drive public policy. The physicians that I spoke with serve the needs of their community and provide healthcare that is, in fact, tailored specifically for the people they serve.

鈥淢aine is, of course, is a state with a gun culture, and this fact presents an interesting case for why it is so critical that pediatricians continue to speak with their patients about gun safety in the home.

鈥淚 see this as a chance to change the way that society thinks about gun safety 鈥� not as a politically salient issue, but rather as a public health issue.鈥�

Maya Seshan '20 poses in front of and in waiting room of Pediatric Associates in Lewiston.STA/RT program with Harvard Center for Short Term 2019 Hometown: Wilton, CT Politics Maine Gun Safety Coalition This project involved conducting a study of Maine pediatrics offices about how frequently pediatricians speak with parents about firearm safety in the home, firearm storage, and methods of keeping children away from firearms; an exploration of best practices, and greatest needs for pediatricians around these conversations. The final goal was to develop a brochure that pediatricians can provide to parents on the topic.

Phyllis Graber Jensen/乐播传媒 College

Teagan Ladner ’21

Phyllis Graber Jensen/乐播传媒 College

Hometown:聽聽Shrewsbury, Mass.

Major:听搁丑别迟辞谤颈肠

Partner: YWCA Central Maine

Project: Developing a video to promote the racial justice work the YWCA does through its Stand Against Racism event.

Teagan says: 鈥淒uring my STA/RT project, I learned the importance of being involved in community-engaged work beyond the role given or task at hand. As a videographer, it can be easy to distance yourself from the people you are filming and the event taking place, but I found it useful to allow myself to get involved in the event without using the lens as a barrier.

鈥淚n my case, that meant putting down the camera and participating in dialogue groups after the film screening during the Stand Against Racism weekend. By engaging in deep conversations about race and immigration, I became inspired by the vocal youth in the Lewiston-Auburn community leading these discussions. I was then able to look for clips in my footage that I felt most accurately represented the themes brought up by youth voices in the discussions I had.

鈥淚n general, I would encourage others to try to understand the people and mission of their community partner by participating in new ways that may not be in your written job description.鈥�

Phyllis Graber Jensen/乐播传媒 College

Categories Academic Life Civic engagement Collaboration Lewiston-Auburn Slideshow
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