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Southampton
College and Inner-City School Announce Partnership
SOUTHAMPTON,
NY -- Fifty faculty members, administrators and counselors from
Beach Channel High School in Queens visited Southampton Graduate Campus
of Long Island University November 2 as part of a partnership effort
that is being forged between the two institutions. Both schools
hope that the collaboration will help smooth the path of inner city
high school students toward higher education.
"We are willing
and able partners," said Beach Channel Principal Bernard Gassaway
during a lunch presentation in Chancellors Hall. The group attended
workshops, toured the campus, heard presentations from the College's
faculty on marine science, SEAmester, psychobiology and writing,
visited the College's new Technology Center, and met public television
commentator Roger Rosenblatt who teaches in the College's MFA in
Writing program.
Nikole Schiavone,
a 1998 graduate of Beach Channel who is now a sophomore at Southampton
College, spoke about her transition from high school to college.
"The teachers
at Beach Channel and at Southampton Graduate Campus are supportive and helpful.
It was easy for me to move from Beach Channel to Southampton Graduate Campus,
although the outer environment is a lot different...It was culture
shock for me at first to see grass and trees." Nikole is a Psychology/Biology
major.
Although both
schools are on the water, the College is located in a rural/suburban
environment in the midst of the world-famous Hamptons beach resort,
while Beach Channel is in urban Far Rockaway, with 65 per cent of
its students coming from poverty.
The College
has a nationally acclaimed program in Marine and Environmental Science.
Beach Channel has a developed a program in Oceanography that recruits
students from all over New York City.
Margaret Madden,
Academic Dean for the College, said that both institutions stand
to benefit from the partnership. Dr. Madden's research is in the
area of integrating diversity, ethnicity and gender issues into
the curriculum. The partnership gives the College a valuable opportunity
to connect with a high school with a diverse, urban population and
gives the high school an avenue for talented students to learn more
about pursuing a college education. Small, private colleges like
Southampton "cultivate an academic experience that brings out the
best in students," Dr. Madden said.
Many areas for
collaboration are under discussion, according to Associate Provost
Michael Brophy including staff development, internships for Southampton
students, and establishing the Accelerated College Entry Program
(ACE) at Beach Channel in which high school students can take courses
for college credit. Over the summer 15 Beach Channel students attended
the College's workshops for high school students in writing, marine
science and computer web design. One student, Kristoffer Irving,
is using the skills he learned to overhaul the high school's web
site. Another link between the two schools is Southampton alumnus
Thomas Dugan who teaches at Beach Channel. The goal is for each
institution to learn more about the other. "Our college will better
understand the learning styles and needs of urban students...while
Beach Channel will learn more about preparing their students for
college-level work," Brophy said.
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