Janine Bixler, Education professor at Mount Saint Mary College, discussed the many advantages of the Newburgh Armory Unity Center for local children and Mount students
In the past ten years, Janine Bixler, Mount Saint Mary College professor of Education, has seen hundreds of local children and Mount teacher candidates benefit from the free educational programing at the Newburgh Armory Unity Center.
And all it takes to start, she noted, is one Saturday morning.
Bixler kicked off this semester’s Investigating Research on Campus (iROC) series of free, public talks with “What’s All the Buzz about the Newburgh Armory? Practice/Service Makes Possible” on Thursday, January 30 at 12:45 p.m.
Dozens of classrooms buzz with children reading their original stories to classmates and parents. Educators are imparting the joys of the written word to youths of all ages, and teachers in training from area colleges are working one-on-one with them to unlock their full academic potential. It sounds like a dream school, but it’s happening every Saturday morning at the Newburgh Armory Unity Center in the City of Newburgh, N.Y. On these mornings, Mount Saint Mary College Education faculty and teacher candidates join young Newburgh learners, their families, and other community partners to enjoy a world of literary experiences at the Armory.
“More amazing than the fact that the programs are free is that an average of 300 children wake up early in the morning by choice every Saturday for more opportunities to learn and have fun,” said Bixler.
The Newburgh Armory has been changing young lives since 2010. From accessible literacy courses to helping children explore career paths, the Armory hosts a variety of educational programs on Saturdays and weekday afternoons.
The Armory is “the ideal teaching and learning space for enrichment programs where grassroots, innovative, and research-based practices occur within a diverse and united community,” Bixler said. “The Armory includes a learning community of cross-grade children, parents, community volunteers, teacher experts, coaches, high-school students, college faculty, Nursing students, and teacher candidates who, together, are redefining a cultural model in Newburgh.”
As part of the college’s Collaborative for Equity in Literacy Learning (CELL), Mount students help young Armory students to explore books that reflect various cultural backgrounds and interests of the Newburgh community, says Bixler, director of CELL.
For the children of the Armory, the sessions afford small group and one-on-one tutoring, and increase their literacy skills in a fun and engaging way. This is in-line with the vision of Armory founder and board chair William Kaplan, an entrepreneur and philanthropist from Newburgh, N.Y., who says that offering such programs will help reduce poverty and eliminate the need for educational remediation for participants.
For the Mount Education students, teaching at the Armory extends beyond in-school fieldwork experiences and creates more effective and culturally aware educators, said Bixler. Teacher candidates benefit from out-of-school community learning experiences to develop knowledge, skills, and experiences “that nurture the whole child with the community.”
For more information about the Newburgh Armory Unity Center, visit https://www.newburgharmory.org, email info@newburgharmory.org, or call 845-245-4035.
The goal of the college’s iROC is to “provide a forum for Mount faculty, staff, and students to showcase their research endeavors with both Mount Saint Mary College and the local community in a manner easily understood by attendees,” explained series coordinator Evan Merkhofer, assistant professor of Biology. Presentations include research proposals, initial data collection, and completed research projects.
Mount Saint Mary College is ranked a Top-Tier University by U.S. News & World Report, and offers bachelor’s and master’s degree programs for careers in healthcare, business, education, social services, communications, media, and the liberal arts.