Newsletter - August 2024

Welcome to our first Collaboration Education newsletter, where we will share updates about our activities, plans and opportunities for involvement. It has been a busy, but very rewarding first semester working with some delightful students at The Inn in Hempstead.

In February, we held an Enrichment Activity Day with Arts and Math/Science components.  The children rotated through a selection of fun activities set up and hosted by our volunteers, and everyone had fun while engaging in the educational games. It was a few hours of fun for all, and the students still ask about some of the one-time volunteers who were there that day! It was a perfect opportunity for some of our people who are not yet able to commit to a weekly time slot to share their wealth of knowledge during this all-hands-on deck afternoon. 

Our second Enrichment Activity Day was held during the spring break, with an emphasis on creative arts, and then students once again had a wonderful time – this time working on a project that combined several strands of the arts.  

On the last day of tutoring at The Inn, we treated the students (and some parents!) to an ice cream party. If there were awards for ice cream consumption, these kids would have won hands-down.  It was a happy afternoon and it ended our first semester on a decidedly high note.

In June we met with the Collaboration Education volunteers who offered to work with our students during the summer break.  It was a great meeting and we were able to match up each student with a team of volunteers who will provide individualized help during the summer. We consulted with The Inn and the school districts to determine the areas of most need for each student and so that we can use the summer break to help our kids catch up a bit in those areas.

We plan to continue this model into the fall semester – matching individual students with volunteers according to their academic needs and the tutor’s expertise. As with the summer work, each student will have a small team of volunteers who can work together to create a tutoring schedule that best fits their own availability.  With this individualized model, volunteers will be able to choose the day(s) of the week that work best for them.  It also ensures that each volunteer has fellow team members, knowledgeable about the child being served, who can take over when volunteers are not available due to travel plans, etc.

If you have any colleagues or friends who might be interested in participating, please do share our info.  We have other sites who are anxious for our help, and our ability to expand our work is only dependent on the number of volunteers we can offer. 

Please contact us at info@collaborationeducation.org at any time if you have questions, or feel free to contact any one of us individually!

Elaine Kanas, Board Chair - elaine.kanas@collaborationeducation.org

Deirdre Hayes, Secretary - deirdre.hayes@collaborationeducation.org

Tasneem Meghji, Treasurer - treasurer@collaborationeducation.org

Joanne Lufrano, Board Member - joanne.lufrano@collaborationeducation.org