Thomas Ronan ’21 is concentrating in computer science, not carnivorous plants. 那他为什么要花一个晚上电子游戏正规平台捕蝇草呢?
Because one of Ronan’s charges at the Mattapan Early Elementary School (MEES) got a Venus flytrap for his birthday. The dapper seven-year-old (he wears a tie to school every day) was excited to tell Ronan, a 4波士顿 志愿者，都是关于礼物. 然后在下周回到他的服务岗位, 罗南查找了一些关于植物的趣事, 护理小贴士. He typed up his own age-appropriate info sheet and gave it to the lad the next time he saw him.
None of that extra work counted toward the ostensible four hours a week Ronan volunteered at MEES, 但他很乐意这么做. It was the same story over at the Jackson-Mann 社区 Center in Allston. 金融 and accounting student Brian Piccola ’20 carved out spare time to draw pictures of the Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles to bring to his kids in the after-school program. 他甚至还钻研了他们最喜欢的新动画片，比如 《电子游戏正规平台》 so that he could surprise and delight the kids by spouting quotes back at them.
Ronan and Piccola are just a couple of the 108 Carroll School students who performed service in 22 4波士顿 placements across the city this past academic year. And 4波士顿 is just one (albeit the largest) of 电子游戏软件’s several service organizations.
“这对我来说是一件神奇的事情, 不列颠哥伦比亚省有多少学生愿意做志愿者,费雯·莫里斯说, founder and co-chair of the Mattapan Food and Fitness Coalition (MFFC). “这是大学文化的一部分.”
穿梭服务
Carroll School students wait for the Mattapan/Dorchester 航天飞机. Left to right, Brendan Lenhard, Grace Nofziger, and Thomas Ronan, all class of '21.
Morris is also the community engagement manager for the Carroll School’s 约瑟夫E. 科科伦房地产和城市行动中心它开始运行 每日穿梭 this year to bring volunteers to sites in Mattapan and Dorchester. Plenty of students perform service close by the Heights as well, in Brighton and Allston. But the black Ford transit van that now ferries students like Ronan to MEES and other sites in Morris’ neighborhood has presented visible, vehicular evidence of 电子游戏软件’s commitment to its urban community.
无论他们去哪里, 学生们对教育产生了真正的影响, 卫生保健, 以及他们服务的社会服务网站. 莫里斯说18岁的海莉·麦科马克, 例如, didn’t require any handholding when she interned at the MFFC in the spring, 帮助策划社区年度健身活动. “It’s been a real joy having a BC student who can put in the time to do a lot of the nuts and bolts of making this the big event that we want,莫里斯说. “海莉帮了大忙.”
在杰克逊曼的课后项目, Piccola and more than a dozen of his peers filled a critical need. They provided the children, aged 5 to 10, with safe activities and mentorship between 2 and 6 p.m.那时他们的父母还在工作. Besides helping the children with their homework and playing basketball with them, 4名波士顿志愿者花时间听他们说话.
“After snacks, that’s when they’d open up and talk about their lives,” said Piccola. “It’s been rewarding to see how much the kids have grown” over his two years in the program, “不仅在学术上，而且在做人方面. . . . It’s cool just being able to have a normal conversation with them. 他们会问，‘你的考试怎么样?’”
罗南和他的同事们说，在MEES，交流也是关键. The school serves a large Haitian immigrant population, including children who’ve experienced trauma. Simply talking to the kids helps with their language and social development.
此外, 中小学校的师生比例很大, so a few extra adults on hand means kids can get the attention they need. “在那里注意细微的小细节是很好的,奥拉·扎沃斯基说, 康奈尔大学18届. “Like if a kid’s detached from an activity or you can just tell they’re having an off day. 我们可以上去解决这个问题. 这可能是最感人的部分了, to be able to turn around their day a little bit—to impact that kid’s life even in a small way.”
城市行动
电子游戏软件 students perform “The Little Mermaid” for students at the Young Achievers Pilot School in Mattapan.
在上个学期班车开始之前, students had to travel up to two hours each way to their placements, 在多个火车和公共汽车之间切换. 或者他们花40美元叫优步. By contrast, the 航天飞机 ride took 20 or 25 minutes, and cost the students nothing.
“I rave about the 航天飞机,” said Sarah Fay, Lynch School ’20, a MEES volunteer. “我认为这是世界上最好的事情.”
就像航天飞机把志愿者和他们的工作地点联系起来一样, 他们的服务将他们与社区联系在一起. So it’s fitting for the Corcoran Center to provide that support. The Center’s mission is to strengthen interdisciplinary work that advances the quality of life in marginalized urban neighborhoods.
“每一天, students from across disciplines are helping organizations on the front lines of social change here in our city,尼尔·麦卡拉格说, 该中心的执行主任.
“他们从全面了解波士顿中受益,志愿者莫里斯说, 他们中的许多人都准备成为未来的领导者. “毕竟，什么是城市环境? 不仅仅是栗子山的山丘. 波士顿地区的任何学生都需要了解这一切, and you can’t fully understand it without some experience that challenges the information you receive through the media or other sources.”
当学生离开BC时,麦卡拉格说, "无论他们去哪里", they will be better prepared if they have a deeper understanding of urban life. If we can connect students to experiential learning opportunities that strengthen their understanding of urban life, 然后这些学生中的每一个都会成为一个更好的领导者, a more informed citizen and better prepared as a change agent to work toward the ideal of greater equity.”
Working toward equity, working with underserved children—these might be challenges. 然而，皮科拉说:“我从来不觉得这是一件苦差事.”
帕特里克·L. Kennedy, Morrissey College ’99, is a writer in Boston and the co-author of Bricklayer Bill: The Untold Story of the Workingman’s Boston Marathon.
照片 of students at 航天飞机 bus stop by Media Technology Services at 电子游戏软件. 照片 of students at Young Achievers Pilot School in Mattapan provided by the 科科伦房地产和城市行动中心.