Posts Tagged ‘intern spotlight’

Name: Margo Pedersen
Hometown: New Haven, CT
College and Major: Amherst College, Education Studies and Sociology
Tutoring Site: Bristol Street
Clubs: Finance 101 and Arts and Crafts
Favorite Childhood Book(s): Absolutely Normal Chaos by Sharon Creech

Growing up in New Haven, New Haven Reads was something of a household name. I’ve had friends who were students here, friends who volunteered here, even friends who interned here. As an intern this summer, it’s finally my turn to join the New Haven Reads community, and I’m grateful to be able to play a small part in the organization’s dedicated service to the city.

I have loved my internship experience so far. At the beginning of every tutoring hour, a new group of students floods into the back room at Bristol Street, bringing excitement, nerves, and a healthy dose of chaotic energy into the space. With the support of dedicated staff and volunteers, everyone settles into their tutoring session or club, and the hour of learning begins. Each student has their own personality, interests, strengths, and a way of seeing the world that is entirely unique. I’m excited to be able to work with so many different students, and I feel I am learning as much from them as they are from me.

Though I’ve only been here for three short weeks, my highlight has been leading the Finance 101 club. When I was given this assignment at the beginning of the summer, I was a little nervous. I’m still learning finance myself–how could I possibly teach it to middle schoolers? But with plenty of support from my site staff and fellow intern, and a great group of kids, I soon learned that personal finance could actually be pretty fun. We’re working together on a real-world personal finance simulation, where students earn “paychecks,” pay bills, make purchases, and learn how to save their money to meet group and individual savings goals. The students have plenty of their own experiences and insights about money to share, and I love hearing what they have to say. For example, this week, we had a very spirited discussion about budgeting, where students debated whether certain purchases were needs, wants, or items for savings. “If you have a pet hamster, is hamster food a need or a want?” I asked them. “A need!” most responded, except for one student: “A want!” he said. “Because why did you need to buy a hamster in the first place?”

Whether I’m cashing checks with middle schoolers, helping students in Arts and Crafts club make their own beaded bracelets, or reading Elephant and Piggie in the silliest voice I can muster during the tutoring hour, it is always an honor to watch students’ confidence and skills blossom in such a warm, welcoming environment. I’m grateful to the New Haven Reads staff for their support and to the KeyBank Foundation for this incredible internship opportunity. I’m really looking forward to the rest of the summer!

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Name: Sara Penn

Hometown: New Haven, CT

College and Major: Albertus Magnus College, Class of 2023; Sociology

Tutor Site: Science Park Clubs: Math, Arts & Crafts, Performing Arts

Favorite Children’s Book: The Divergent Series

I was familiar with New Haven Reads before I started this internship. I volunteered at New Haven Reads during my senior year of high school to fulfill my community service hours. During the couple months of volunteering here, I worked in the Pre-K and Kindergarten program assisting the students one day a week. I didn’t know the full extent of what other opportunities New Haven Reads had other than tutoring students until I started working at Literacy Volunteers and saw their tutoring programs during the school year. Being a summer intern here has given me the opportunity to see just how much is actually going on, and to be a part of it.

This summer I have been involved with Math, Arts & Crafts and Performing Arts enrichment clubs. In the beginning, I was kind of nervous to do these clubs, but throughout these past couple weeks running them, they have been easier than I expected them to be. Seeing the students’ faces light up when we start lights up my whole experience working with them, making this experience so much better. Having the help from other tutors and also the site team has helped me a lot and I’m grateful for them being there.

The students make the whole experience great. In the beginning, it took some time for the students to get to know me and get to know them. Throughout these weeks, I’ve developed bonds with the students I’m tutoring, running the clubs, and co-leading clubs because they see you every time you work with them and you get to know who they are and I share so many laughs with them. I get so excited coming in to work with the students and working with other tutors because you see so many backgrounds of tutors and students and it just makes this whole experience great. I also appreciate the site team at Science Park for making me feel at home and being there every step of the way, thank you guys.

I want to thank KeyBank for giving me the chance to be a part of all the amazing things that are happening at New Haven Reads. I’ve absolutely loved my time here; I would be honored to come back again and possibly work at New Haven Reads and continue tutoring to change the lives of the students in New Haven.

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Name: Owen Lamothe
Hometown: Hamden,  CT 
College and Major: Middlebury College, Arabic and International Politics and Economics 
Tutoring Site: Bristol Street
Clubs: Chess and Math
Favorite Childhood Book: Goosebumps Series by R.L. Stine

When I first walked into the Bristol Street site on January 31st, 2019, to interview as part of the process to be a tutor, I would never have expected that I would have the opportunity 3 years later to experience all that New Haven Reads has to offer. I was a busy high school freshman who could only come into tutor 1 hour a week, and for that small window of time, I always took the chance to observe the staff, tutors, students, parents, and everyone in between all coming together to learn and have a blast while doing it. This feeling remained constant throughout my three years at Willow Street. When I found out about the KeyBank Summer Intern position, I jumped at the chance to join the community in a larger role.

My favorite part of the summer so far has been leading and helping with the Bristol Street summer clubs. New Haven Reads is a community of learners, no matter what role everyone plays. When I lead the chess club, I’m surrounded by eager chess students and volunteer helpers that bring a lot of chess experience to the club. Every meeting people meet each other where they’re at and we have so much fun playing chess, getting to know each other through icebreakers, and beating the heat inside at the chessboard. As someone who is passionate about language learning, I had a really meaningful day on July 20th, when I had to put my Arabic skills to the test to help translate information about the Vision to Learn program. In moments like these, being a KeyBank Intern at New Haven Reads allows me to interact with many members of the amazing greater-New Haven community and for that I am extremely grateful.

It is amazing to be back in-person with New Haven Reads this summer! Every day when I walk into the Bristol Street site I can sense the same sense of enthusiasm amongst everyone there. I am so lucky to be able to dive deeper into this community and help support our students in having a fun and productive summer. Thank you to the entire New Haven Reads organization and community for this opportunity. I also sincerely appreciate KeyBank for this internship opportunity. Thank you and have a great rest of the summer!

 

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Name: Delianne Ayala Ramos
Hometown: Fajardo, Puerto Rico
College and Major: University of New Haven Class of 2024; Forensic Science
Tutor Site: Science Park
Clubs: Math, Performing Arts
Favorite Childhood Book: The Velveteen Rabbit

I had never heard of New Haven Reads until I received my placement for my university’s
fellowship program. As soon as I was able, I did a deep dive into what New Haven Reads is and
what they do for the community. At that point, it was all very abstract, but once I started working I was able to see how New Haven Reads makes sharing the joy and power of reading the focus of everything they do.

During the summer, I’ve worked in supporting the Education Department and with Math
Club. I grew up loving math, so I was very excited to be a part of this club. The best experience
I’ve had so far is seeing the children’s faces light up when they see a topic they know well. I love letting them teach me and giving them the chance to be confident in themselves. I had so many teachers that believed in me, and it changed how I perceived myself.. Now I get the chance to be the person who believes in them.

Another amazing part of working here is forming connections with the students. One
noteworthy experience happened just last week as my student and I talked during choice time.
She told me about her nationality, which just happened to be the same as mine. Then she told
me about the rainforest her family lived on, which is the same my grandparents live on as well.
As she revealed more details, we both saw how similar we were. She then went on to tell me
about how she wanted to be an author and write stories for a living, and I felt so inspired by this
young girl with such big dreams. Let’s just say I look forward to reading all the books she may
write in the future.

Working with New Haven Reads has been life-changing. I never had a reason to want to stay in the Greater New Haven Area past graduation, but now I can’t help but imagine a future in which I can continue working with New Haven Reads to make a difference in the lives of the kids in our community.

 

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