$660k grant will help Student Bridges expand into Springfield
A program that has UMass Amherst students reaching out to their younger counterparts in cities like Holyoke has received a five-year $660,000 grant from the U.S. Department of Agriculture.
Student Bridges, supported by the Student Government Association, has been making college and career connections with students in Holyoke for the past two years, providing mentoring and tutoring by UMass Amherst students.
Under a partnership with the Massachusetts 4-H Youth Development Program, run by UMass Extension, Student Bridges will now be able to further expand its activities to students in Springfield.
The project, Massachusetts 4-H SET (Science, Engineering, and Technology) Adventures will be administered by the 4-H program and will include both campus and community-based elements, according to 4-H Extension educator Karen Barshefsky, who is principal educator on the project.
Partner organizations in the Springfield community will include the South End Community Center, New North Citizens’ Council, Spanish American Union and the Dunbar Community Center.
Harream Purdie, a AmeriCorps VISTA volunteer working with the Student Bridges Program said the partnership with community groups is critical to the program and central to the philosophy behind its mission.
“Student Bridges hopes to increase college preparedness and awareness by working collaboratively with the South End Community Center and the New North Citizens’ Council,” he said. “This opportunity to partner with UMass Extension is representative of the University’s efforts to increase collaboration with the greater Springfield area and allows more UMass students to volunteer with Student Bridges and serve the Springfield community.”
Working in areas of science and technology is nothing new to Massachusetts 4-H, said Barshefsky. Nor, she added, is working with young people in an urban environment.
“Student Bridges is a terrific program, and has been very helpful to us in our ongoing work in Holyoke,” she said. “It’s amazing to see the impact that college mentors have on the youth. It is an important connection that’s rich for both our UMass students and for the cities’ young people.”
Barshefsky said that Science, Engineering, Mathematics and Technology (STEM) initiatives have become an increasingly important part of UMass Extensions 4-H Youth Development programming. The National Association of State Universities and Land-Grant Colleges (NASLGC) and the National 4-H Council see STEM programs as having a profound impact on preparing a globally competitive workforce, she said.
First-year funding for the Massachusetts 4-H SET Adventures will be $100,000, with $140 in each of the next four years. The funding comes as part of the Sustainable Community Program run by Children, Youth and Families at Risk (CYFAR), which in turn is part of USDA’s Cooperative State Research, Education and Extension Service.
The Massachusetts 4-H Youth Development program will also be expanding its general 4-H program with the GEAR UP program, the Martin Luther King Community Center and the Citizen School in Springfield.
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May 11, 2009.
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