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SHINE on, volunteers
Aletha Asay '05, Hamilton's Project SHINE coordinator, is hoping to put
herself out of a job. If she has her way, SHINE, the two-year-old
service learning project offered through the Levitt Center, will become
a student leadership program that will continue when grant funding ends.
Project SHINE (Students Helping In the Naturalization of Elders) is a
national service-learning initiative at 19 colleges and universities,
in which students work with older immigrants and refugees. Students
tutor elders in English and teach the U.S. history and civics needed to
pass the citizenship exam. The adult learners are from Russia, Bosnia,
Burma, Somalia, Vietnam and Cambodia.
Project SHINE in Central New York began with a partnership between
Hamilton and Utica College and is supported by a three-year grant from
Temple University's Center for Intergenerational Learning and Learn and
Serve America.
"I want it to become so much a part of the fabric of Hamilton that it doesn't go away when the grant ends," Asay said.
It appears her wish might come true. This fall, 55 Hamilton students
are volunteers at the Mohawk Valley Resource Center for Refugees, the
Oneida-Herkimer BOCES Utica Action site and at Matt Apartments. Not
only is participation among students increasing, seven professors are
encouraging a service-learning experience as part of their classes this
semester.
Assistant Professor of Government Sharon Werning Rivera, who
included
the SHINE program as an option in her Politics of Russia class, thought
it was a natural fit for those who wanted to help immigrants assimilate
into the community. One of her students, Guillermo "Willie" Artiles
'08, participates because he is the son of Cuban-Italian immigrants who
came to this country looking for greater opportunities.
"These immigrants serve as inspiration for me and also give me a minor
insight into what my parents and grandparents had to go through to
become valid and true citizens. My dull Monday and Wednesday afternoons
are now exciting adventures helping these brave souls," Artiles said.
SHINE volunteers take a four-hour training class and spend two hours a
week tutoring. Some, such as Asay, complete the English for Speakers of
Other Languages 12-hour intensive course and six-hour practicum.
Asay sees Project SHINE as a huge benefit to Hamilton students. "Doing
this, students see the application of what they're learning in a
concrete way." Adds Rivera, "I think the experience stretches them in
valuable ways that extend beyond simply the acquisition of
knowledge."
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