By Richard LeComte
Photos by Samantha Hernandez
Inside the cafeteria at Tuscaloosa Magnet School, Sarah Barry is building a dance with eight students. Barry asks them about the type of things they do. Each student tells her and finds a motion that brings to life their activity. Eventually, the entire group is performing all the motions, in order of their creation – and bingo, it’s a dance.
Barry is one of the dozens of University of Alabama faculty and students working with Tuscaloosa Magnet School students in an ongoing enrichment program.
“It’s such a gratifying experience to work with a small group of students who are interested in dance, but might not have any other chance to take a dance class,” says Barry, assistant professor of theatre and dance. “We are always looking for opportunities to bring dance to the Tuscaloosa community and are so appreciative that TMS is providing us the chance to work with their students.”
The program provides during-school and after-school programs in the Tuscaloosa Magnet School elementary-school section, in areas including music, dance, art and engineering through activities and classes called “exploratories.”
“We’re partnering with people in the community and the University to provide enrichment and mentorship for the kids at the magnet school,” says Laura Woolf, director of the UA/Magnet School Partnership.
Students from the magnet school, which opened in August 2009, are placed in three mini-courses during the year. Students and faculty from the University — including graduate students in music, dance, theatre, engineering, geology, journalism, foreign languages, New College and art history — will participate. The idea is to expand the elementary students’ ideas of world culture and how they fit in it.
“We’re trying to include a variety of options for the students to be able to experience authentic learning opportunities that will help them know where they fit into the global community and hopefully inspire them to be the professionals, artists, and patrons of tomorrow,” says Woolf, whose position comes from the provost, The College of Arts and Sciences, Creative Campus Initiative and the UA School of Music.
Communication between the University partners and the magnet school teachers is another key component, she says.
“These things aren’t taught in isolation,” she says. “For example, if the students are working on Alabama history in fourth grade, then what they do in their exploratory may link the culture of Alabama in dance form or in art form or whichever topic they are exploring.”
In a geology class, Dr. Andrew Goodliffe, associate professor of geological sciences, is getting first-, second- and third graders jumping around and looking at what’s beneath their feet.
“We’ve been taking the students out to look at the basic rocks and minerals of Alabama,” Goodliffe says. “We’ve also played around with exploring plate tectonics by making our own earthquakes. We had some instruments that we can use to detect earthquakes. We took them out and set them up in the schoolyard and had the students jumping all over the place so we could record the mini-quakes they made.”
In another classroom, UA students in 2009 were helping students build cars as part of an exploratory using Legos to explore the principles of engineering. LaShondra Torbert, one of the engineering students helping out, found the experience fit perfectly with her academic goals.
“I’m a junior majoring in electrical engineering and hoping to get my masters in elementary education, so this program was really a perfect fit for my interests,” she says. “I must say that the fascination that all the kids show is phenomenal. Having first graders understand and relay the concept of pulleys and mechanical systems makes me know that we are actually on the right track.”
Among the UA students serving at TMS, several Coca Cola First Generation Scholars are mentoring the students under the supervision of lead teachers. Each semester, the Scholars are given several service opportunities from which to choose, and this spring, the Tuscaloosa Magnet School was one of those options.
“Corey Whaley, a sophomore business major from Huntsville, says he enjoyed his first assignment in the simple machines classroom so much he would like to stay there the rest of the semester,” says Dianne C. Teague, coordinator of the scholars program. “Zach Swiecki, an A&S pre-major student from Hamilton, says that the children in his geology exploratory really enjoy what they’re doing.”
Salvos into the arts include at least three drama productions, including the Drama Club’s production of “The Best Christmas Pageant Ever” before the holidays. Dr. Cathy Pagani, of the art and art history department, is recommending three graduate students to teach exploratories in art history, printmaking, art and art history.
“Another exciting thing is that two different drama groups are working toward productions of ‘You’re A Good Man Charlie Brown’ and ‘The Jungle Book’ at the end of the semester,” Woolf says. “Also, one art-history and one art doctoral student have combined forces to teach a multi-grade-level course covering different periods in art history.”
Meredith Cummings of the journalism department is working with the elementary students on putting out a newspaper, and Roy Clem and the WVUA news production staff is helping the fifth-graders learn how to produce a newscast for the school. The broadcasting class was able to record a newscast in the WVUA studio.
In addition, Jennifer Wofsey of Yoga Bliss teaches classes in yoga. Dr. Jane Weigel, director of the UA Community Music School, is teaching recorder. Yang Zhao and Ellen Najjar, certified Suzuki teachers, are teaching Suzuki violin.
The TMS-UA partnership is feeding scholarship as well. Students at the magnet school presented alongside UA faculty and students at “Connect the Dots,” a conference in early March that helped college students learn how to organize in their communities to promote democracy. The conference was sponsored by UA’s New College and the David Mathews Center for Civic Life.
What’s more, the program is a great opportunity for UA community members to bring great ideas to young minds.
“Elementary school students are not particularly worried about what anyone else thinks,’ Goodliffe says. “They have fertile imaginations, and they’re not afraid to ask questions. It’s a lot of fun to go out and teach these kids. These kids are just naturally enthusiastic. I’ve been bringing out my graduate students so they can see another side of Tuscaloosa.”
For more details on the program, contact Laura Woolf at laurawoolf@bellsouth.net or the Community Music School at 205/348-6741.