Little
League team inspires education class
Photo by Monica Schneider
Students
from Monica Schneider's educational psychology
class work on a poster to present during
their fundraisers Wednesday and Thursday.
By
Jeanette Prather
On-line Forty-Niner
A
Cal State Long Beach education class found
inspiration in one of the most unlikely
places. The Santiago Little League team
in Santa Ana was the motivation for a project
focusing on the community.
In
response to an article in the LA Times about
a Little League team facing financial hardships,
Monica Schneider, professor of an educational
psychology class, decided to have her class
sponsor a fundraising project for the team,
in order to incorporate a real-life community
dilemma into her otherwise routine class
project.
"What
originally began as a normal EDP class assignment
has evolved into something so much more,"
Schneider said. "These students are
doing something so wonderful; they are taking
an active approach to an event in the community
and showing how that can impact students
in the classroom. The teacher gets a wider
view of the community as well as a result
of the students' research."
According
to the class syllabus, the course focuses
on various family, school and community
partnership models and approaches while
acquiring knowledge and skills to foster
a two-way partnership between families and
communities of diverse backgrounds.
This
class is aiding the community by raising
money for the Santiago Little Leaguers.
The actual fundraising will take place during
a poster session Wednesday, April 14 at
noon, and Thursday, April 15 at 8 a.m. Both
of the poster sessions will be held at Anatol
Center in Library East and will provide
the students with an opportunity to share
their various researches and experiences
volunteering in the field at different schools.
All proceeds received during these poster
sessions will go directly to the Santiago
Little Leaguers.
Not
only did Schneider not predict the mass
of this project, but some students agreed
that the vastness of the project has come
as a surprise to them as well.
"It was overwhelming," junior
Angela Joslin said. "But we did it,"
her group chimed in. This group of four,
consisting of Johnna Prado, Richie To, Jennifer
Sunbury and Joslin, is working on their
poster, getting ready for their presentation.
"If
worst comes to worst, at least we learned
from it," Prado said.
"[And] we got to grasp the concepts,
which makes more sense than just reading
stuff from a book," Sunbury added.
Another
group from the same class supplemented their
optimism and explained the point of the
project in regards to the community.
"This
was a good project because we got a chance
to be active in the community and go into
the classroom to get the experience,"
freshman Nicole Faltermayer said. "We
got to observe and talk to the teachers
to see how they interacted and worked in
the community."
This
is a vital point for these students because
they are all liberal studies majors involved
with a teaching profession in one way or
another, Schneider said. She also added
the significance of incorporating community
issues into class assignments and projects
as "appreciating how much we can affect
the community."
According
to Schneider, if more classes were willing
to include community issues into their curriculum,
then a duel purpose would be fought. Not
only could potential projects and assignment
raise awareness of certain community problems
and issues, but also unite the community
in general.
|
