Spring 2007

Snelling Connection Newsletter of the Hancock/Hamline University Collaboration

College Begins in Kindergarten (CBiK)

In This Issue: 1

Oral History Project

2

Hand-in-Hand

3

From the Desk of...

4

Homelessness Project Speak Out!

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New Liaison More on Mock Trials

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Volume 10, Issue 3

Some barely peering over the table, Hancock 5th graders sit in the jury box, listening intently to witnesses’ testimony in the trial.

Jacobs, acBy Issam Himmi and during the Mock “I liked mock-trial because Mike cused of sprayWilliam Keiser Trials at Hamline Hancock Student Editors Law School. Each it was fun to act out what ing racist com5th grader had a could happen in real life.” ments on the locker of Kris uilty or not guilty? At role. There were -Courtney, 5th grader Burke, was guilty the beginning of Febru- judges, bailiffs, jury ary, this was the question members, lawyers, and witnesses. of this hate crime. To do this, 5th Hancock 5th graders tried to answer The goal was to figure out whether graders went to a real courtroom and participated in a Mock Trial, which is a practice trial.

Before the 5th graders took part in the Mock Trials, Hamline Law students went to Hancock to help them practice their parts. Gathered around their desks, lawyers practiced asking questions, witnesses practiced their answers, the jury and bailiffs learned their role in the courtroom, and the judges learned how to control the court proceeding.

The Mock Trials, in their fifth year of uniting Hancock and Hamline Law students, are always a hit with all involved.

Hancock judges maintain order in the court during the Mock Trial at Hamline Law. More on the Mock Trials on page 6

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Geoff Hankerson

Mock Trials

Geoff Hankerson

American Council on Education’s www.collegeispossible.org suggests that as parents, you should: • Discuss career and college options with your child and encourage his or her aspirations.

Many students assume that higher education is not for them or that the jobs they are interested in don’t require college. Today, some form of formal postsecondary education or training is required for almost every well-paying job. With $60 billion in financial aid available, college is possible for almost every American. So encourage your child to aim high, explore all the options, and plan to attend college.

• Make sure your child starts on a college preparatory track in middle school or junior high.

If students don’t take the right courses in middle school, they may be shut out of the college preparatory track in high school. The U.S. Department of Education recommends that middle and junior high school students take Algebra I in 8th grade, geometry in 9th grade, and English, science, and history or geography every year. Foreign language, computer, and visual or performing art classes are also recommended.

Hancock Rules Trials Success

Spring 2007

Hamline and Hancock Make History

By Linda Sjostrom Hamline Student

tudents in Kathleen Walsh’s 6th grade classroom are sitting in seven groups around the room. They are taking turns interviewing each other with a digital voice recorder, which they have just learned how to use. In each group, a Hamline University student guides the process.

This is the second time Hamline professor David Hudson and his class of seven journalism students has visited the 6th graders.

The project is part of a collaborative effort between Hamline University and Hancock/Hamline University Collaborative Magnet School. With each other’s help, the two classes—both Walsh’s and Hudson’s—are working to create history projects that are detailed, honest and told completely in the voices of those who lived it.

The method they’re using is oral history, a process of recording an interview where someone answers questions regarding their life. After the interview is finished a transcript of the interview is written and any other projects using it, such as books, videos or other media, are created.

A majority of Walsh’s students can tell you where their families lived before coming to the United States of America, and most of those students are recent immigrants themselves. Some of the nations they have come from are Somalia, Burma, Mexico and Laos.

Each of Walsh’s students will take one of the recorders home for the night and ask a parent or other older person in their family questions to try their hand at the interviewing process, try out the equipment and find out why their family settled in Minnesota.

By asking things like “Why did our family come to the United States?” and “What’s one of our best family stories?” the goal of the students is to learn their own families’ histories in order to share

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Whitney Klein

them with each other. Eventually, the students will transcribe the most interesting parts of their interviews and make a class book.

The students from Hamline are also hoping to interview parents and community members of Walsh’s students. Their class is, for the most part, experimental and is being designed not only by Hudson but by his students as well.

They know they want to talk to recent immigrants, including members of the Hmong and Somali community in St. Paul, that have come to Minnesota in order to find out why they came and give them a chance to voice their stories—but the final product of the work is still up in the air.

Once Walsh’s students are done with their own interviews, Hudson and his class are hoping that some of those participants will be willing to do longer, more elaborate interviews with them.

Four years ago, Hudson and another small group of students held another experimental course in which they interviewed residents of St. Paul’s old Rondo neighborhood that had been children at the time the area was demolished to make room for Interstate 94.

They, too, were unaware of what the final outcome would be. However, work by a former classmember and others led to the creation of Children of Rondo—a book containing interview transcripts and photographs.

Hudson knew he wanted to do a similar course in the future, but wasn’t sure what the best community to work with would be. That is, until he became the Hamline liaison for the Hamline/Hancock

collaboration.

At the end of the project, both Hudson’s and Walsh’s classes will have performed numerous interviews and discovered the rich histories of the people they talk to.

What the final outcome of it all will be remains unclear, but both groups are eager to find out.

Until that time, Hudson and Walsh will coach from the sidelines, watching their students teach, and learn, from each other.

Whitney Klein

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Students in Walsh’s class practice using digital voice recorders, which they will take home to record the history of their families.

Hancock students group up with their fellow classmates and a Hamline student.

Spring 2007

Hand-in-Hand Offers Friendship and Fun

By Melinda Hexum President, Hand-in-Hand Student Exec. Board Hamline Student

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buddy. Later in the spring Handin-Hand will hold another large group event on Hamline’s campus.

As in the past, the spring event will be a picnic lunch – complete with pizza, cookie decorating, crafts, and outdoor games.

Anyone with questions about Hand-in-Hand or interest in volunteering can contact the program at

hih@hamline.edu

Whitney Klein

n any given school day, a visitor to Hancock is likely to be greeted by the sight of college students sitting in the school’s hallways and not acting their age – playing Candyland, reading Where’s Waldo, or drawing in coloring books with elementary students. These Hamline and Hancock students are part of Hand-in-Hand—a mentoring program that pairs Hamline undergraduate volunteers with elementary students. The goal of Hand-in-Hand is to nurture the communication and social skills of Hancock students by providing opportunities for one-on-one interaction with an older friend or role model. At the same time, Hamline students get the chance to gain new perspectives on community involvement while getting

in touch with their inner child.

(When else during the week does a college student get the chance to play Hungry, Hungry Hippos?)

During the fall semester, 56 Hamline volunteers were part of the Hand-in-Hand program, visiting weekly with their Hancock buddies. On December 14, Handin-Hand held its annual fall large group event, during which buddy pairs came to Hamline for lunch at Sorin Dining Hall. Turnout for the lunch was fantastic, as 53 out of 56 buddy pairs were able to attend. This event is always popular with the Hancock students, who enjoy all the food choices. At the same time such events are a great opportunity for members of Hamline’s campus to see the collaboration between the University and Hancock at work.

Currently, Hand-in-Hand is in the process of recruiting more Hamline volunteers, as there are always more Hancock students who would benefit from having a

Hancock students play with games with their Hamline Hand-in-Hand buddies.

Whitney Klein

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Snelling Connection

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From the Desk of...

K William

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Hi! My n ame is M ai See M grader a oua. I’m t Hancoc a 6th k/ Collabor ative Ma Hamline Univers ity g n et Schoo Walsh’s cla l in Mrs. math, so ss. I like reading cial stud , writing , ies, and Enrichm SEM (St ent Mod udent el) class working es. on the S nelling C I like because onnectio a lo n happen in t of interesting t side the school th hings even not a ice until you are t t you don’t the Snell old abou ing Conn t it in ection.

Craig Anderson

My name is Craig Anderson. I am the new Curriculum Coordinator/Hamline Liaison at Hancock Hamline University Collaborative Magnet School. I came to Hancock with twelve years of teaching experience in the St. Paul Public Schools. I spent one year as a science specialist and eleven years as a 5th/ 6th grade teacher.

My desk is currently full of information about the wonderful things that happen here at Hancock. The first pile is for the 70+ America Reads and America Counts tutors at Hancock. The one-on-one support of student in reading and math makes Hancock a very special place to learn.

The next pile is for the arts: Art Start, the $5,000 arts integration award that Hancock received from the St. Paul Public Schools. An artist in residence, Armando Gutiérrez, will be working with grades 4, 5, and 6 (watch for beautiful portraits this spring). Rita Mustafi an East Indian dancer will be working with all the students at Hancock during March. You are invited to the final performance Thursday, March 29th at 2:00 p.m. in the cafeteria.

The final pile of papers is for the wonderful grade level pairings with Hamline University. From the kindergarten tours to the Mock Trials, our special connection supports the fact that at Hancock, college does begin in kindergarten.

If you haven’t had a chance to meet me, please stop by my office. The coffee is always on.

Spring 2007

Homelessness Project in Full Swing at Hancock

By Phoua Thao, Mai See Moua, Jason Allen, and Eddie Henderson Hancock Student Editors

Samantha Henningson

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omelessness is a very important issue to Hancock 4th, 5th, and 6th graders. Throughout the year they have been working on various projects to learn about and help the homeless.

The 4th graders had a food drive and collected a lot of food. They took the food to a shelter on Dale Street. They also made posters about homelessness and did other projects in their rooms.

The 5th graders went to the Dorothy Day Center in downtown St. Paul to learn empathy firsthand.

They also raised money and made

cards for people who helped. The money the 5th grade students and teachers raised totaled $150. Each classroom had their own way of raising money. Mrs. Smith’s class decorated a big jar that they filled with spare change. The money went to the Dorothy Day Center, the Family Place, and Project Home. The 5th graders learned a lot about homelessness through this experience.

The 6th graders had a silent auction to raise money for the homeless. The silent auction took place at Ginkgo’s on March 11. Also as part of their efforts to end homelessness, Hancock 6th graders attended Lobby Day on February 16 at the Minnesota State Capitol.

“Lobby Day is when all the peo-

Hancock 6th graders gathered at the State Capitol to lobby for the Housing Act. ple who are interested in homelessness go to the Capitol and tell our representatives what we think. On Lobby Day this year, we were lobbying for the Homelessness Housing Act,” said Craig Anderson, Hancock Curriculum Specialist/Hamline Liaison.

Samantha Henningson

Hancock students, equipped with letters written about ending homelessness, converse with their legislators about Housing Act.

Speak Out!

Homeless people worry about food and shelter. Lobbying for the Housing Act would free homeless people of one of those worries.

The people that attended Lobby Day were the 6th graders at Hancock, teachers, Hamline students, community members, and anyone else concerned about homelessness.

Before attending Lobby Day, the students wrote letters to their respective district legislators about helping the homeless. They brought these letters with them to the Capitol.

The students and their teachers talked to their legislators about helping the homeless find jobs, affordable housing, and about increasing the minimum wage, according to Ms. Susan, Hancock 6th grade teacher.

All the 6th graders enjoyed the field trip and had lots of fun trying to help end homelessness.

Hancock 6th Grade Student Editors ask: - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -

What have you learned about homelessness?

When people think of homelessness they think of people begging for money or food, with torn or old clothing. Homeless people often have jobs but they still can’t afford a home. We asked our classmates what they’ve learned about homelessness.

“They are poor. When they don’t have homes, they go to shelters. You can raise money, donate money, or start a program or web-site to help the homeless.” Sarah Xiong, 5th grader in Mrs. Saari’s class.

“There’s some homeless people that don’t have enough money to pay rent. You can donate money and clothing.” Drakarr Brown, 5th grader in Mrs. Saari’s class.

“Homeless shelters are good because if you don’t have a shelter you can’t survive in this weather.” Yang Chee Yang, 6th grader in Mrs. Walsh’s class.

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Snelling Connection

Anderson Smiling As New Liaison

By Emily Lesnak LEAD Tutor Coordinator Hamline Student

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Hancock lawyers question witnesses at the Mock Trial while judges and jury look on.

By Adrianne Adams Hancock Student Editor

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was a juror in the Mock Trial and I liked it very much.

When a witness went to the front, I and the other jurors had a packet to fill out about what the witnesses said. The packet had people’s parts in it. I had to always write the packet. When witnesses went to the front I had to write if I agreed or disagreed with them. When Mike Jacobs went up to the front I saw him looking very nervous, so that’s what I wrote on the packet. I learned that it is all up to the jurors to prove if the person was guilty or not guilty. Being the juror in a courtroom was really fun. It was a really cool opportunity for me.

Geoff Hankerson

Geoff Hankerson

Whitney Klein

Anderson, with a smile on his face, delivers a letter to a Kindergarten student.

Geoff Hankerson

raig Anderson is the new Curriculum Specialist/Hamline Liaison at Hancock/Hamline Collaborative Magnet Elementary School. He started in December and said that he could not be happier!

“Being around kids and the adults who like to work with kids makes the elementary school a wonderful place to work,” Anderson said.

Anderson is also eager to convey his excitement about the Hancock/ Hamline Collaboration. One of the goals he has for the Collaboration is to build on its success and strengthen the bond with Hamline so that the motto “College Begins In Kindergarten” comes true for Hancock students. He believes that the Collaboration is a model for what is possible in the world.

When asked what the Collaboration means to him, Anderson replied, “Community members working together for the greater good of all, creating a positive impact of working as a community to enrich the students on both sides of the street, offering a motto (College Begins in Kindergarten) that sets the academic bar high and the sky as the limit.”

Anderson’s passion for children shows up in his personal life as well. Anderson and his wife have a three-year-old daughter Emily and they are expecting another child in April. In his spare time, he enjoys reading and playing with his daughter. He loves spending time in the wilderness and taking weekend trips to the family cabin.

Here are three facts that you might not know about Anderson: One food that he could not live without is cheese, his favorite childhood memory was spending weekends at the lake with his family and his favorite book is Walk Two Moons, by Sharon Creech.

We are glad to have Anderson as a new addition to the Hancock staff and he said he is equally as glad to be here.

“All the people I get to work with—Hancock students, Hamline students, Hancock staff, Hamline staff, parents and community members—have made this first two months wonderful. Sometimes when I’m driving home from a long day at work I catch myself smiling!”

View from the Jury Box

Snelling Connection Contacts:

Hancock/Hamline Collaboration

Editor: Whitney Klein, Collaboration Assistant, Hamline University student wklein02@hamline.edu 651-523-4082

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

Hamline Liaison: David Hudson, Hamline University English Dept. dhudson@hamline.edu 651-523-2893 Hancock Liaison: Craig Anderson, Hancock/Hamline University Collaborative Magnet School craig.anderson@spps.org 651-292-3499 Hancock Student Advisor: Glynis Grostephan, Hancock/Hamline University Collaborative Magnet School glynis.grostephan@spps.org 651-293-8715

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Snelling Connection