Buffalo State College:

Buffalo NY

14 August, 2021

1:13 PM

Description

Press release from Buffalo State College: Michael Canfield August 13, 2021 After more than a year of schooling over computers, Buffalo-area middle school students involved in the Community Academic Center's summer program finally had a chance to learn in person. And they loved it. "The engagement of the students has been incredibly high," said Jennifer Serniuk, program director for the CAC. "The students have been trapped on Zoom through the pandemic, so they were really looking forward to being able to be with other students, staff, and teachers." The middle schoolers were on the Buffalo State College campus in early August as part of the CAC's Global Youth Leaders Program.* Through the program, local high school students focus on service to Buffalo's East and West Side communities, developing college and career readiness, and fostering civic growth and knowledge of social justice. The idea is to expose interested students at a young age to science, technology, engineering, arts, and math (STEAM). In June, a group of Buffalo State students and recent alumni laid out activities for the high school students, who in turn came up with STEAM-based activities on campus for the middle schoolers.The middle school students come from a wide variety of backgrounds; many have emigrated from Burma, Sudan, or Iraq. "The point of the program is to have them be able to envision themselves in these fields in the future," Serniuk said. "So, it's really a pipeline that we're trying to create through elementary school, through college." The middle school students took part in a number of STEAM activities during the week, including computer coding, scientific investigation, and using astronomy software from the Whitworth Ferguson Planetarium. They also took part in music and dance lessons. Christopher Shively, associate professor in the Elementary Education, Literacy, and Educational Leadership Department, teaches the Buffalo State students involved with the program and runs the science activities for the middle school students. He and his students have been working with the middle schoolers since January, over Zoom. He said being able to work with the younger students in person was refreshing. "It's just a human thing," he said. "Humans like to be in the presence of humans. That's why we all grew the way that we did." Three guest speakers were also brought in, Serniuk said: Donald Schmitter, lecturer in Buffalo State's Hospitality and Tourism Department; John C. Panepinto, a professor from the University at Buffalo's Jacobs School of Medicine and Biomedical Sciences; and Emmanuel Nsengiyumva, a chemical engineering Ph.D. candidate at UB. "It was great because it was for all ages of students," she said. "College students, high school students, and the STEAM students—they all got something out of the presentations, because they're all looking at these fields from different levels, either as potential careers or just learning more about the subjects in general." This press release was produced by Buffalo State College. The views expressed here are the author's own.