Fall 2003

Volume Seven Issue One

Fall 2003

Snelling Connection A newsletter highlighting the Hancock/Hamline Collaboration

Inside this Issue Collaboration Celebration From the Desk of . . .

Monica Lee Lindsey Anderson Song Her Sarah Jungbauer Gao Houa Moua Hamline University Pool Schedule Hand-in-Hand Hancock School Song Kids’ Corner

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Collaboration Celebration

By Lindsey Anderson December 2nd, 2003 marks the date of the Hancock/Hamline University Collaborative Celebration. The celebration will recognize the success of the relationship between a Hancock (a public elementary school) and Hamline (a private university).

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In the early 1990’s former Hancock principal Joan Fehlan and Hamline University professor Mary Gotz formalized a request for Hancock to receive a magnet school status.

The request was approved, making the Hancock / Hamline University Collaborative the first universityelementary school

H&H A SUCCESS STORY: Hancock & Hamline Collaborative December 2 • 2003 collaboration in the United States.

The Hancock / Hamline University Collaborative Advisory Committee was formed in the spring of 1997. This committee, consisting of community members, Hancock parents, Hamline students and faculty and administration from both schools,

meets monthly to discuss the direction of collaborative work. It is through this committee that programs such as Grade-Level-Pairings, America Reads and Earth Day Celebration were formed and continue to serve as extremely beneficial “Collaboration” continued on page 3

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From the Desk of . . .

Lindsey Anderson Hamline University Student Editor I am tremendously excited to be working as the Hamline University Student Editor of the Snelling Connection this year! I have already had the pleasure of meeeting my fellow editors at H/ HUCMS as well as some extremely influential people who are a part ofthe Hancock / Hamline University Collaborative.

Gao Houa Moua, Sarah Jungabauer, Song Her, and Monica Lee H/HUCMS Student Editors

Song My name is Song Her, and I’m a sixth grader at Hancock School. My favorite classes at Hancock are SEM class and my my homeroom. I hope to learn more about Hamline as a writer / editor of the Snelling Connection. I would enjoy being in Snelling Connection a lot and learn more about it.

I am a first year student at Hamline. My major has not yet been decided, but I am leaning towards either English (I’d like to be a writer) or Pre-Law. I enjoy Monica reading, writing, and watching movies with my best My name is Monica Lee and I am a sixth grader at Hancock School. My favorite classes at Hancock friends. are gym and writing. I hope to learn about Hamline I look forward to a great year of Snelling Connec- a lot as a writer / editor of the Snelling Connection. tion and encourage anyone interested to write or suggest articles for upcoming editions!

Gao My name is Gao Houa Moua and I am a sixth grader at Hancock School. My favorite classes are writer’s workshop and prep. I hope to learn more about Hamline as a writer / editor of the Snelling Connection.

Sarah My name is Sarah Jungbauer, and I am a sixth grader at Hancock School. My favorite classes are writer’s workshop and gym. I hope to learn a lot and write better as a writer / editor of the Snelling Connection.

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“Celebration” continued from page 1

learning aids for everyone involved.

Hamline University Community Pool Hours

The Collaboration Celebration will honor those who made the collaborative such a great success, and begin with a private luncheon at Hamline University.

Morning Lap Swim: Monday through Friday: 7:30 - 8:30 a.m.

A program by the children of Hancock and some of the Hamline participants will follow the luncheon.

Open Swim: Sunday, Monday, Thursday: 7:00 - 8:30 p.m.

According to Collaborative liasons Rita Johnson and Shannon McParland, “The advisory committee members are excited to bring together people who’ve never had that chance before...like Hamline University and the St. Paul Public Schools’ administrators, classroom faculty and the original founders of the program. We hope that people will get to know each other and better understand the essence of this remarkable collaboration, and that each person will leave with a story that shows the power of the collaboration in the lives of those who participate in it.”

A special thanks to Strategic Management for information on the history of the collaboration.

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Noon Lap Swim Monday, Wednesday, Friday: 11:30 a.m. - 1:00 p.m.

Tuesday, Thursday: 11:30 a.m. - 12:40 p.m.

The pool will be closed October 24-26 for Midterm break and November 27-30 for Thanksgiving break Finals week and winter break hours will be posted in December at the Walker Field House front desk and on the pool door.

The pool is open to the community. A $1.00/day/swimmer fee is required if no current Hamline University ID or WFH membership card is not presented to the lifguard on duty.

Hand-in-Hand: A Collaboration Highlight

By Ahmed Kaabineh Sirleaf

Hancock / Hamline University Collaborative Magnet School and Hamline University pride themselves on preparing compassionate citizens of the world. One of many ways it does this is by reaching out to its neighbors and collaborating their

neighborhood projects.

One such project is Hancock/Hamline University Collaborative.

In this project, there are various wings, one of which is Hand-in-Hand (H-I-H).

Hand-in-Hand, according to its president Krystal Klien, is a Hamline student organization where

Hamline students match up with their Hancock counterparts (buddies) for various activities.

“Each pair meets for 45 minutes, per week, to socialize, play games, learn life long skills and engage in academic activities.” says Jarren Peterson, Executive Board member.

“H-I-H” continued on page 6

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New Hancock Elementary School Song

By Angie Abraham

Megan Keefe

A music performance major at Hamline University and students at Hancock Elementary are combining their talents to write a new school song for Hancock that will be finished this coming spring.

Megan Keefe, a college student, pianist and composer, will write what she describes as an “upbeat” song for the elementary school, featuring a theme of peace and community.

The lyrics for the song will be based on poetry written by some of the students at Hancock.

Keefe plans to visit the elementary school during Snelling Connection

the coming weeks and work with the students on the writing process.

Keefe will be helped during this project by Anne Kilstofte, an adjunct assistant professor at Hamline, who is also an accredited composer of orchestral, operatic, chamber and choral music.

Kilstofte hopes that this project will teach the students at Hancock what it is like to be a composer. She wants students to realize that composers are not just written about in history books, or live far away.

“We have a community of composers here in the

Twin Cities, composers that are out there working now and are part of the community,” said Kilstofte.

According to the composers, the song will be completed around the first part of April. There are some preliminary plans for a ceremony at Hancock that will feature student artwork and multiple performances of the new song. Parents will be invited to attend the performances, which will feature singing and possibly some student accompaniment on percussion instruments.

The composer, Megan Keefe, from Pine City, Minn., graduated from

Pine City High School in 2002. She also received her Associate in Arts degree from Cambridge Community College the same year, before coming to Hamline.

Keefe currently works for Student Experience, where she helps disabled children.

Anne Kilstofte is a full time composer/publisher.

She has taught at Hamline for eight years and is currently a community liaison for the Governance and Education Committees of the American Composers Forum and “Song” continued on page 5

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Kids’ Corner

What does Autumn mean to you?

“Song” continued from page 4

was recently re-elected to her third term on the Board of Directors of the International Alliance for Women in Music.

Kilstofte will also compose a piece in honor of the 150th anniversary celebration of Hamline University.

Picture by Sarah Jungbauer

Picture by Gao Houa Moua

Picture by Song Her

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“H-I-H” Continued from page 3

Peterson also mentions that many Hamline students sign up for the program each year, but as time goes by, attendance and participation shrink. “We don’t need large numbers, we need committed people.

People who sign up must understand that it is going to be a semester or year long commitment.”

Participating students will critique their HandIn-Hand experiences for improvement purposes in the years to come.

“We would like to build a better connection, not only with Hancock, but also with the larger Snelling neighborhood,” says Peterson. “ That, we don’t exactly know how we would do yet, but we’re still brainstorming.”

“This year though, the biggest thing that has come up is the overhead bridge project to alleviate the problems with crossing Snelling Avenue. The Hancock / Hamline University Collaborative Advisory Committee is working on this,” Klein adds.

Klein says that although almost all of the buddies

“Our mission is to build and strengthen the collaborative community through shared learning, relationships, and cultural diversity.”

The Snelling Connection is published quarterly and distributed to H/ HUCMS families, the Hamilne University community, and to others interested in the collaboration

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have already been selected, there are still opportunities for Hamline students to get involved. Additionally, tudents may contact a Hand-in-Hand representative or call Krystal Klein at (651) 523-4155 to find out how.

Some of the buddies may leave the program mid-semester or midyear, so there is still the need for people to signup, get trained and registered.

about participating and committed to the program.

“This program provides young students with the opportunity to have an older friend and experience a piece of University life, while Hamline students would get the opportunity to gain a new perspective on community involvement and voluntarism,” says Klein.

Hand-in-Hand values the importance of a strong relationship in a child’s life, so buddies must be both enthusiastic Coordinator: Rita Johnson, Hamline University Management/Economics Dept. rbjohnson@gw.hamline.edu (651) 523-2431 Editorial Advisor: David Hudson, Hamline University English Dept. dhudson@gw.hamline.edu (651) 523-2893 Editor: Lindsey Anderson, Hamline Student landerson06@netmail.hamline.edu (651) 523-4438 Hancock Contact: Shannon McParland, Hancock/ Hamline University Collaborative Magnet School shannon.mcparland@spps.org (651) 293-8715

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