A newspaper written by elementary students, mentored by university students
THE
SNELLING CONNECTION Newsletter for the Hamline to Hamline Collaboration Fall Issue 2014
Volume 18, Issue 1
The Jie Ming Tutor
The one and only! By Kao Ar Her Journalist
[Photo by Jennifer Hamilton]
Margot Howard with students and staff at the annual Hike for Health of the Hamline to Hamline Collaboration.
Legacy Left Behind
Margot Howard hands over position to Maggie Blackmon By Chineze Okolo Journalist
Margot Howard will be leaving the Hamline to Hamline Collaboration and will no longer be in the Coordinator position this winter. She has held this position for the last three years, before deciding that moving to a different role within Hamline University was needed. However, there is somebody just as savvy by the name of Maggie Blackmon who will be taking over the position in the spring. Howard has been part of the Hamline to Hamline Collaboration for a total of eight years. Howard stated, “The Collaboration was so important to me during my time in college.” As an undergraduate student, Howard was a tutor and buddy at Hamline for four years and ended up being head of both programs in her senior year. She was even the advisor to the Snelling Connection for a year. She became Coordinator of the Collaboration in 2011. “As an undergrad student, I
always dreamed about what a great job being the Coordinator for the Collaboration would be, but never thought that it would one day be my job.” As the coordinator, Howard helped make new connections, networking between people and communities in efforts to move the Collaboration forward. She did outreach to inform the greater Hamline University and Hamline Elementary communities. For someone who had been part of the program before, she knew how to improve the program from the inside out, and was in the unique position to be able to address those needs. Howard will be moving from the Collaboration Coordinator to Social Justice Initiatives. She will coordinate alternative spring break trips for University students where service within a community is used to investigate social justice issues. For a smooth transition Maggie Blackmon,
Margot Howard, Page 3 >>
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Victoria Virasy is a Hamline University student and happens to be the only Jie Ming tutor this year. Tutors are helpers that come to Hamline Elementary to help out around the classroom. This is Virasy’s third year at Hamline University, but her first year tutoring in Jie Ming. Jie Ming is a Mandarin Immersion Academy that teaches kids Chinese along with the Chinese culture. Virasy chose the University because she likes the small class sizes and the personal interactions in the classroom setting. She toured the campus five or six times and immediately felt comfortable at Hamline. She likes that Hamline is just big enough to not know everybody, but yet small enough to recognize faces. Virasy started helping at Jie Ming because she wanted to challenge herself and partly because she felt like she knew enough Chinese to be helpful in the classroom. She helps students with their journal entries during writing workshops. She also helps students with their math worksheets. Virasy likes watching the students grow as their Chinese improves throughout the year. As Virasy learned more and more about the Jie Ming program, she became inspired about other subjects, like majoring in public health science and East Asian studies. Victoria will always try her best to help students that are struggling with their fluency in Chinese. She is glad to be tutoring in the Jie Ming program, “I love seeing the students grow and learn.” She is proud when students walk past her in the hallway and say “hi” in Chinese to her like they were native speakers.