By Keyanna Dunn '16
The students of the Siena College Writing Partnership are working together towards strengthening the Capital Region’s literacy one student at a time.
The Writing Partnership sponsored a Writing Partnership Scholarship Fund for 35 refugee students to attend Bishop Maginn High School. The Siena students continue to support them each Thursday night with a curriculum that works to advance the young student’s literacy abilities and help them develop leadership skills within their community.
Starting five years ago, the Writing Partnership was developed as a service learning experience for students in the First Year Seminar class of Dr. John Harden, J.D., Ph.D., current assistant director of student success and advising. The original program required the students to participate in 4 hours of service each semester at the St. John’s/St. Ann’s Outreach Center.
“I noticed that the biggest fear for both my Writing Partnership students and my Siena students was reading their writing out loud,” said Harden.
To help his students overcome their fears, Harden organized meals between the community members and Siena students before they worked together, serving as a way to make the learning environment more comfortable. This project was initially funded by a grant from the Siena College Damietta Cross Cultural Center.
During her time at Siena, Adderlin Taveras ‘15 had the idea to move forth with this program on a broader scale. Harden and Taveras collaborated to plan out the curriculum and goals of the program and have since successfully expanded the mission of the group.
As the Writing Partnership’s mission expanded, so did the population of students they work with. The program members have become a diverse group, from middle-aged African-American adults to young refugee students.
The young refugee students from Burma looked to join the Writing Partnership due to the quality and impact of the program. This learning experience has been beneficial to the students; strengthening their literacy skills and giving them an opportunity to learn in an intimate environment.
After beginning to work with them, Harden decided it would best for the refugee students to attend Bishop Maginn High School. The small school would enable the students to learn in a more personal academic environment. Harden, an alumnus of Bishop Maginn, and the Writing Partnership as a nonprofit organization, decided to fund a scholarship to enable the students to enroll.
While spreading their Franciscan values out to the local community, the Saints have also seen personal growth from the collaboration.
"Our organization is truly a partnership between Siena students and students of the Albany community where we are continually learning from one another,” said psychology major, Kaileigh Hughes ’16.
The Writing Partnership’s work not only strengthens the literacy of the students in the classroom, but it also opens them up to the opportunity for higher education in the future.
