Jump To: NYC Internship | Monroe, Louisiana Internship | Intern Profiles

To strengthen the impact we make in our partner schools, Carmel Hill works with local universities to support internship programs in New York City and Monroe, Louisiana. Interns work in public schools using the Accelerated Reader program to teach literacy skills and impart a love of reading to first grade students. Through the internship, college students receive the unique opportunity to educate young minds and observe the workings of public schools firsthand.

Carmel Hill's internship program began after Bill Ruane had the opportunity to visit a particularly successful using Accelerated Reader in Jones Fork, Kentucky in the spring of 2004. In spite of community challenges such as parental drug abuse and residents' limited access to resources in such a rural area, Jones Fork Elementary School students were so successful that its first graders were averaging a third grade reading level, and the top reader in the class was reading on a sixth grade level.

Bill Ruane examined the practices at Jones Fork to uncover what the school was doing to achieve this level of success. Bill discovered that Jones Fork's results could be attributed to their use of Accelerated Reader in conjunction with volunteers who mentored and provided reading assistance in the classroom. Bill decided that it was important to make use of assistants in his project to increase the impact of Accelerated Reader.

NYC INTERNSHIP
In the 2004-2005 school year, Carmel Hill formed a partnership with Eugene Lang College in New York City. Working with Eugene Lang, Carmel Hill interviews and selects approximately fifteen college students each year to be Ruane interns. These students work in five public schools in Harlem and Washington Heights. Interns read books to large and small groups and work one-on-one with struggling students to help them improve their reading skills.

The interns’ experiences are further enhanced through coursework offered at Eugene Lang’s Institute for Urban Education. A weekly seminar for the interns includes topics ranging from developmental learning temperaments to contemporary trends in urban school reform. The seminar also provides a forum for more experienced interns to pass on their knowledge to new interns.

Through the internship, Eugene Lang students gain real-world experience and valuable leadership skills.

MONROE INTERNSHIP
Approximately 14 students from the University of Louisiana at Monroe work in five different schools in the Monroe neighborhoods.

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INTERN PROFILES
During my years working as an intern I have explored a variety of teaching methods. When I first began I primarily read a book to the entire class and proceeded to quiz the students two at a time. Then I discovered the benefits of working one on one with students, especially for those children who require more constant attention from me. I noticed how this encouraged the students' confidence and led to learning breakthroughs. I also began to prepare Power Lessons for small groups of students who all could benefit from extra work with a specific aspect of literacy, say consonant digraphs. This arrangement has been very popular because the students enjoy the specialized attention while also having social support. The best part of this internship is the opportunity to find different ways to encourage students to discover and utilize their knowledge and ability to learn. The "click" moment, as I call it, when something comes together for an emergent reader and she can read, is such a priceless, beautiful event. In that moment the student recognizes her own ability to think, and her confidence soars. That is empowerment in action and what inspires me to pursue a life in education.

-Sarena Melchert, Intern Liaison, third year of participation in internship

The past year that I spent interning in Public School 197 was even better than the previous one. This time I found myself not only in a perfectly organized classroom with rules and results, but also working with a passionate teacher that had a modern approach towards elementary education. Through systematic work and a set schedule, we achieved Renaissance Learning's Model and Master classroom certifications without diverging from the spirit and purpose of the quizzing system. Namely, it was always the reading and personal growth of the child that was the most important goal and not the quiz score or the quantity of quizzes. As a personal contribution, through the use of visual materials, I managed to make the children more familiar with their immediate neighborhood and also the geographical layout of the US and the world. In order to allow the children to have a better understanding of their surroundings in a broader context, I conducted social studies sessions about historic anniversaries and contemporary events of international and local importance. Although education per se is not my major in college, the experience I have interning in a public school has enriched my knowledge of both gender studies and politics, which are in my educational and professional interest.

-Roch Dunin-Wasowicz, Third Year Intern