Reach Out! 12/98 Progress Report: I. Anecdotal Report C
Debbie McCartney
Debbie joined the CUOS outreach program as a work-study in the fall of 1996. This person, who appeared very shy and quiet, has evolved into a key leader for Reach Out! Debbie has essentially taken over the Ann Arbor learning community in the North and South Maple area serving elementary-aged children. Her dedication and success are incredible. During the past three years, she has become fully accepted as a stakeholder at the Peace Neighborhood Center. |
| Peace Neighborhood Center and Community Development |
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| Debbie took over a hands-on science club at Peace in 1997 when CUOS graduate students Amy and Jim moved on to take jobs out of state. Debbie solicited friends and a sorority to help her out as it became clear how much individualized attention the kids really needed. Debbie developed lessons for the Web site, prepared materials, provided training for volunteers, and helped to coordinate car pooling. She dealt with discipline and attitude problems and helped volunteers learn how to relate to and with the kids and staff. In the summer of 1997, Debbie made a commitment to continue science activities as part of the Peace Summer Camp program. |
| Deb has worked with CUOS REU students and friends during the last two summers to plan and provide weekly science activities for Peace children at various Ann Arbor city parks. She and volunteers served 417 children at 10 sessions during the summers of 1997 and 1998. |
| In fall 1998, Debbie enlisted the help of her fiancé and a friend to involve UM Air Force ROTC members. She hopes that they will adopt and incorporate Peace science club as one of their community and volunteer programs. Her roommate, Suzanne, also works with Deb at Peace. This is another example of how Reach Out! enables students to link friends and peers as a family group to do community service together. She is hoping to help Peace children prepare a lesson they especially liked and take to their own classrooms during winter semester. Debbie has talked with the neighborhood principal about this concept and we believe it will be fantastic for all involved. We are especially excited to see the children feel confident enough in science to teach their friends. And their teachers may see another side to these children as they plan and implement science projects in the classroom. |
| Career Awareness | Web Work and Linking Community Resources | |
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| Debbie is another person who can see she was "pipelined" into engineering. The more she has worked with children and community programs, the more she has come to realize she has talents and skills in the teaching and organizational development fields. She has worked on the Web site's career and college planning components and devised a simple outline that mentors, parents, or youth themselves could use to better understand themselves and what careers might be a good fit for how they learn and what they love to do. Currently, the Web site includes job shadowing, career presentation, and tour opportunities. | Debbie took over the Web work about community resources when Grace graduated. She further identified and created directories of links to great web resources for teachers and one "for kids only." Debbie has ventured out to share information about Reach Out! with people in her hometown of Saline. She is a linker and a connector, who doesn't care who gets the credit for something as long as it gets done. |
University and Statewide Stakeholder
Development
| Deb has met with CoE deans, Lew Morrissey and Jim
Kosteva, and members of Gov. Engler's staff, and hopes to meet with
President Bollinger about the Reach Out! Center. Debbie
attended the summer 1997 LeaderShape program with Alicia. She has a
vision for campus and the community —and a desire to help all
children be more ready and able to enjoy post–high school
educational programs. Like Grace, Debbie has improved her public
speaking skills greatly. She is a person who leads by example. | and the Community Impact Science Club
| Debbie is also supporting Professor Bill Schultz and a small
group of engineering students in providing a science club for
elementary children at North Maple Estates. This program is going well
and it illustrates how Debbie expands programs and stakeholders within
her learning community area of Ann Arbor. We look for her to continue
bringing family members and friends into the Reach Out! loop as
so many others have done. Her younger sister, attending Saline High
School, helped Deb with the summer Peace program. She is working on
her father and mother to offer job shadowing at their family-owned
photography studio. She has met with her own former secondary
teachers, whom we expect, in time, to use more of our Web resources
and help us to reach out to the Saline community. |  | ||
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