Reaching Off Campus: Office Of Community Affairs

Web site: http://community.duke.edu/index.html
Education Partnership Coordinator: David Stein

(The following article originally appeared in The GRIND, Spring 2004 Issue)

Looking for a change of pace from the library, the computer screen, or a lab? Enjoy being around the enthusiasm and curiosity of kids? Want to make a difference in Durham?

The Duke-Durham Neighborhood Partnership focuses on improving the quality of life in twelve neighborhoods near campus. Within three miles from campus are seven partnership schools with a wealth of opportunities for graduate students to take an engaging break. Most require little or no preparation, and some offer the chance to share your studies with a younger generation. There are five elementary schools, one year-round middle school, and the Durham School of the Arts, a combination middle and high school.

Here are some sample ways that you can easily become involved. If you see something of interest, drop me an e-mail message. If this triggers an idea for another possible project, please let me know, and we can try to make it happen. One good example of this was an idea by two biology graduate students to do a fungus project with kids. I introduced them to the science coordinator at E.K. Powe Elementary School and together they’ve been implementing an outstanding project to get these students exploring microsystems around the schoolyard.

  • Help Lakewood Elementary School start up an in-school TV station with morning programs broadcast within the school.
  • Come play outside with kids during recess.
  • Guest lecture at the Durham School of the Arts. (Go to http://www.dsa.dpsnc.net/ to see the range of courses offered.)
  • Collaborate with the Duke Writing Program at George Watts Montessori Magnet Elementary to create student-authored books.
  • Become a lunch buddy at one of several schools. (The interaction with the kids will keep you pumped for the rest of the day.)
  • Assist the garden coordinator at Lakewood Elementary School.
    Offer a one-hour Friday afternoon club of your choosing at Rogers Herr Middle School. (Anything from Rock and Roll to Origami to Chess is fair game.)
  • Partner with teachers to develop new curriculum materials.
  • Become involved in the Cooking Club at Forest View Elementary School with former chef and current fifth-grade teacher Kent Lewis.
  • Do occasional science demos. Kids at E.K. Powe Elementary and Morehead Montessori still talk about the “bug lady” (former GPSC president Tomalei Vess), who got them interested in those creepy crawly things.
  • Create a science project with a sixth-grade underrepresented minority student through the Building Opportunities and Overtures in Science and Technology [BOOST] Project.
  • Translate documents and school programs for the significant number of Hispanic families in these partnership schools.
  • Host a group of ten eighth-grade students for an hour or two on February 20th as part of School Days. On that day we bring 330 promising students with no family college experience to Duke to encourage them to sign up for a college-bound course of study in high school. We always need people to help show them around campus, take them into labs, and have lunch with them during this annual event.

The seven partnership schools have some of the highest poverty rates in the district. Two of them are designated as High Priority Schools because of historically low performance and high poverty. They have also come a long way in the last few years. Five years ago the average performance on the End-of-Grade tests was 60.2% of the students reading and doing math on grade level. This last year, the number on grade level climbed to 82.2% thanks to a strong focus and commitment by the students, teachers, administrators, and members of the Duke community. While the growth has been encouraging, one in five students is still below grade level and can use your support.

Please consider what you can do in the community. The experience will enrich you at least as much as what you give to the students. For more information, contact me at 919-668-6271 or david.stein@duke.edu.

Last updated: 08/04/2005