What's New
Eight Bentley Service-Learning Student Leaders Receive Service Awards
At the 2008 Service-Learning Recognition Luncheon held on the Bentley campus, five Bentley students were honored for their leadership in service-learning with the Adamian Award. The Award, given in memory of Sandy M. and Harry Adamian, recognizes students for their exemplary commitment to service in the community. The Adamians were known for their outstanding record of community service to organizations that included Boston’s Pine Street Inn, the Belmont Public Schools, and Mount Auburn Hospital in Cambridge.
Graham Gottlieb, Edison Rua, Dally Reyes, Denise Adamian Oldham, President Emeritus Gregory Adamian, Will Quinn, Jessica Johanson, Prof. Salimbene
The five Adamian honorees include:
Graham Gottlieb for his service to Project Eye-to-Eye, a program of assistance and mentoring to the disabled community;
Jessica Johanson for her work and commitment to the English Language Learners Program at Sandra’s Lodge;
Will Quinn for his unequaled leadership as Senior Student Coordinator in the Bentley Service-Learning Center;
Dally Reyes for her assistance as a marketing intern at the Edinburg Center in Waltham, a community resource center for individuals with emotional and mental disorders; and
Edison Rua for his service at Habitat for Humanity during “alternative spring break” and also in Bentley’s “2+2=5” program, a leadership and team building program for fifth graders in the Waltham elementary schools.
In addition, three students received the 2008 Director’s Award. This award honors students, staff, faculty, and administrators for their commitment to enhancing one or another aspects of the program of the Bentley Service-Learning Center.
Prof. Atlas, Tom Schofield, Steve Nestico, Prof. Salimbene. Not pictured is Enas Alnajjar.
The 2008 Director’s Award honorees include seniors Enas Alnajjar, Steven Nestico, and Tom Schofield. These students undertook the task of managing Bentley’s service program at Chesterbrook Gardens. The Chesterbrook program serves children and adults at one of Waltham’s publicly supported low income residential developments. In addition to managing more than 20 Bentley service students at Chesterbrook, Enas, Steve, and Tom developed program, led activities, and worked with the residents’ steering committee.
May 2008-- Diane Tetreault and Joan Atlas Receive Service-Learning Faculty Awards
In May 2008, the Bentley Service-Learning Center announced that Prof. Diane Tetreault received the Bentley Curricular Service-Learning Faculty Award and that Prof. Joan Atlas received the Bentley Community Service Faculty Award. Both are members of Bentley’s English Department.
The Bentley Curricular Service-Learning Faculty Award is given for a exemplary Service-Learning pedagogy incorporated into course curricula. A curricular Service-Learning project offered for consideration may include either a 4th-credit Service-Learning project or an embedded Service-Learning course project. The Awards subcommittee particularly welcomes projects which demonstrate faculty initiative in designing the service project, finding the appropriate community partner, overseeing project interaction between the students and the community partner and/or incorporating valuable, critical thinking exercises into the course curriculum.
The Bentley Community Service Faculty Award is given to a faculty member who contributes his or her professional expertise in service to the wider community. Such service includes service to non-profit, philanthropic, public service or communitarian entities. The Award Subcommittee particularly welcomes applications that provide evidence that the applicant has created and utilized a mechanism whereby his or her professional service is modeled to Bentley students either through courses taught by the applicant or in some other campus forum.
Prof. Tetreault incorporated a Service-Learning component into her Expository Writing class. Her concept was for simple enough. “There are many non-profit organizations that serve constituencies in need of everyday items from shampoo to bed sheets to books.” So in fall 2007, Diane identified five organizations that fit this category. Among them were three Waltham organizations.
- - Waltham House, a safe house for gay and lesbian teens;
- Mary’s House, a temporary shelter for homeless families; and
- Teen Leap, a relatively new endeavor which sponsors a book shop in Waltham Center called, More Than Words, which is run by troubled youth.
Prof. Tetreault theorized that finding ways to help these organizations meet their commitments to clients required the same organizational inquiry and problem-solving skills that go into writing a coherent essay. So she tasked her students in Expository 201 with the responsibility of finding ways to meet the needs of these partner non-profits and to write about it.
To take one example, for Team Leap, which runs the book shop More Than Words, Prof. Tetreault’s students set a goal of delivering 1,000 books to the book shop during the semester. The academic component of the project required students to write three different articles in local newspapers about the More Than Words project and to submit the tear sheets from published articles for course credit.
Prof. Tetreault described the overall concept this way, “The basic premise is to use inquiry process to solve an important unmet need of a community partner. Students are introduced to the project on the first day of class and work throughout the entire semester in an effort to meet the need. We discuss progress, problems, smart strategies and observations in every class. We emphasize smart business strategies and critical thinking skills in order to help service our partners. Students learn how to use their brains in conjunction with community service and not only their hearts. The process they go through in order to find solutions to Service-Learning problems is the same process needed to write a coherent essay or make meaning out of challenging reading. Student feedback confirms that they make the correlation between skills used in meeting needs of the community partner and the skills needed to be an effective reader, writer and problem solver.”
Prof. Atlas received her award for her service to the Chesterbrook Learning Center. As a teacher of English, the faculty adviser to Circle K, and a lawyer, Prof. Atlas has been instrumental in rallying support for the Chesterbrook Center, which is located at Chesterbrook Gardens, a low-income housing development in Waltham, Massachusetts. The Chesterbrook Center provides a safe place where children who live at Chesterbrook can go to receive after school homework help, computer instruction, and mentoring by Bentley students.
In 2007, however, the Chesterbrook Center found itself running out of money and threatened with closure as was reported in the October 29, 2007, issue of The Daily News Tribune. Having already forged a relationship with Chesterbrook through previous Service-Learning projects, Prof. Atlas developed a three-pronged plan to help solve Chesterbrook’s financial problem. Working with her Expository 201 Honors class in fall 2007, her students researched grant opportunities and prepared grant proposals to keep Chesterbrook open. Working as adviser to Circle K, she spearheaded a student effort that raised more than $6,000 for the Center through both a car wash and by collaborating with the “Breakfast by Moonlight” fundraiser.
In addition, as a lawyer, Prof. Atlas has donated scores of pro-bono hours in researching and preparing filings for the Chesterbrook Learning Center’s non-profit corporate and 501(c)(3) status. In the process and with the aid of the Waltham City Councilman, Gary Marchesi, she organized a Board of Directors for the Center, which is composed of residents, city officials, and Bentley students.
A request for comment on Prof. Atlas’s efforts for the Chesterbrook Center elicited this note from the Waltham Police Department. “Through her dedicated fundraising efforts with her grant-writing students and Circle K, Professor Atlas raised more than $6,000 for our program. In addition, she worked with the Waltham Housing Authority, the Waltham Police Department, and the Chesterbrook Tenants Association to set up a new Board of Directors for the Learning Center. The Board has met three times already and is now taking the necessary steps to allow it to apply for tax-exempt status.’
The Bentley Service-Learning Center is pleased to recognize the exemplary service in behalf the wider community demonstrated by both Prof. Tetreault and Prof. Atlas.
Administrative Assistant Lynne Johanson, Assistant Director Shawn Hauserman, Prof Diane Tetreault, Prof. Joan Atlas, Director Franklyn Salimbene
First Week Leadership Program: Chesterbrook Clean-up Project
On Saturday, September 1, 2007, the Bentley Service-Learning Center (BSLC) organized 70 entering freshmen to participate in a clean-up effort at the Chesterbrook housing development in Waltham. The service project was part of the First Week Leadership Program. Sixteen BSLC project managers facilitated the students’ efforts on five large projects to rejuvenate the communal areas in the development. By the end of the four-hour day, the basketball court was weeded, swept, and had freshly painted lines. The playground was also weeded, the equipment cleaned, and a fresh layer of mulch was laid down. The community building was repainted on the outside and lawn ornaments were removed and later replaced with mulch. The computer room, used afterschool by the children who live at Chesterbrook, was repainted and cleaned. The fifth project involved painting the metal fence that separates the housing development from Lexington Street. The day was a big success and even involved the children who live at Chesterbrook, providing them an opportunity to give back to their community. Through these efforts, Bentley students were able to begin getting acquainted with the Waltham community and the children were able to take pride in the place where they live. During the academic year, Bentley students in sociology, psychology, government, and information technology courses engage in service-learning projects at the Chesterbrook community. These projects relate to after-school and computer programs.
Bentley Student Trains Faculty at Casper College
Maura Brady, Project Manager for 2+2=5: The Power of Teamwork, traveled to Casper College in Wyoming in October. There she co-facilitated a training session for service-learning faculty on implementing the 2+2=5 program. Her co-facilitator was Scott Morency, a Bentley service-learning graduate and the developer of 2+2=5. The Casper College Learning through Service Center, which sponsored the workshop, is hoping to implement the program in the spring. During the training Maura and Scott also discussed many aspects of the Bentley service-learning program.
Aside from covering logistics regarding how 2+2=5 runs, they guided the faculty through the process of addressing and meeting the need in the community as well as training project managers and students. Further training was given to emphasize the significance of evaluation, the value of reflection within 2+2=5, and successful methods that are currently used at Bentley.
There were many positive features to this trip, but the most beneficial was the partnership that was established between Bentley and Casper College. Maura and Scott are currently assisting the Casper Learning through Service Center with getting the program up and running and are looking forward to working closely with Casper in the future. The relationship will help enhance the overall 2+2=5 program as well as the experiences of those who participate. They are excited to share cross-experience discussions, journal pals, simultaneous reflection sessions, and ideas for further program development. The ultimate goal is to spread the 2+2=5 program as well as to create partnerships at Casper and elsewhere for other Bentley service-learning programs.
Five Bentley Students Receive the 2007 Sandy M. Adamian Service-Learning Award
At the 2007 Recognition Luncheon sponsored by the
The Adamian Award was created in 1993 in honor of the late
Sandy M. Adamian, mother of President Emeritus Gregory Adamian and Professor Harry Adamian. As a resident of
The award is designed to recognize Bentley students who are committed to service. Recipients of the Adamian Award, through the vigor, breadth and sincerity of their work in service-learning, have distinguished themselves as caring and dedicated individuals.
The 2007 award recipients are Adam Nason, Ashley Stevens, Danielle Boczar, Justin Hagert and Michelle Paparazzo. The awards were presented on May 2 at the sixth annual Bentley Service-Learning Recognition Luncheon by Harry Adamian and Franklyn Salimbene, Director of the
Northeast
The
For more than five years, the
Bentley programs sponsored at Northeast include “America Clicks!,”
a computer training program for advanced elementary students; “America Reads”; “2+2=5,” a leadership and team-building program for fourth and fifth graders; “English Language Learners” for students whose native language is not English; and the “First Step to College” program for kindergarten students. Northeast has also
sponsored community service projects for Bentley’s Freshman Day
of Service program.
These programs have provided multiple service-learning opportunities for Bentley students in a range of business and liberal arts courses. These include computer information systems, management, modern languages, sociology, psychology and government.
In addition to these links, Bentley and Northeast have collaborated in other ways. In 2006, Bentley joined in support of Northeast’s grant application to fund an expansion of the leadership program. Also in 2006, Northeast named Danielle Boczar, a Bentley service-learning student leader, to the Northeast School Council. In addition, Bentley computer information system students have provided advanced computer training in a variety of computer and educational support software products for Northeast faculty and staff.
The relationship between Bentley and Northeast is mutually beneficial and ongoing. Northeast exemplifies the best qualities for maintaining and sustaining a strong and viable community partnership.
top of page
Donald McNemar and Gregory Hall Receive Service-Learning Faculty Awards
In May 2007, the
Faculty who receive the award have demonstrated initiative in designing the service project, establishing a relationship with the appropriate community partner, overseeing project interaction between students and the community partner, and incorporating valuable critical thinking exercises into their teaching.
McNemar — a member of the International Studies Department —received the award for his service-learning course GO 403 “Model U.N. Seminar.” The learning goals for Bentley students in the course are to develop their understanding of the objectives and functions of the United Nations, to study in depth a current significant issue confronting the U.N., and to enhance their research, public speaking, and negotiation capabilities.
To assist in accomplishing these learning goals for his Bentley students, McNemar created a 4th-credit option project — the Bentley Middle School Model U.N. Conference. In developing the conference, he established a partnership with Stephen Goodwin, Social Science Director for the
The Bentley Middle School Model U.N. Conference operated as an after-school program based at the
Hall of the Natural and Applied Sciences Department received the award for his course PS 325 “Cyber Psychology.” The course examines the influences of information technology on human behavior. Course learning objectives include engaging students in primary research on a contemporary topic, enhancing their ability to analyze and synthesize data, and improving their presentational skills.
To accomplish course objectives, Hall worked with Mary Gormley, Assistant Superintendent of the
To prepare for the program, Hall’s class was divided into eight teams of two students. The student teams conducted independent research on all aspects of children and their use of the internet. The Bentley students also developed interactive activities and prepared their presentations. As a whole the class created four presentational modules on topics that included internet safety, social networking, and curriculum resources.
On October 27, 2006, 300
Many
Service-Learning Award Photos:
Adam Nason
Ashley Stevens
Danielle Boczar
Justin Hagert
Michelle Paparazzo
