The RCDS Community Engagement Fellowship Program

Partner: Gigi’s Playhouse

Project: Building on his project from last year, Carter is running a musical theatre camp at Gigi's Playhouse - this year, he will be organizing one large show at the end of the four week program so participants can build upon their own skills. 

Partner: WestCOP

Project: Anika is partnering with a Master Chess Instructor to design a chess program for the EastCAP summer camp, a chapter of Westchester Community Opportunity Program Inc. Through fun lessons and game play, she teaches chess to develop strategic thinking skills in children from grades first to seventh in a device free setting. 

Partner: Dignity Grows chapter in Greenwich

Project: Ronen is developing a product distribution branch that will supply men and boys with important but rarely donated hygiene products that will allow them to go to work or learn in school with confidence. He is researching how he can get bags of these products under $10 each and then building a structure for distribution and sustainability going forward.

Partner: Edith G. Read

Project: Willow is building a QR Tour Project at Edith Read Sanctuary and the community, to encourage easy access to this important resource for all members of our community. She is building info sheets and short films people can look at to learn more about our local habitat and what threatens it.

Partner: The Special Victims Unit (SVU) at the Greenwich Police Department

Project: Celine is working with the Special Victims Unit at the Greenwich Police Department to enrich the waiting area that survivors sit in while seeking support. She will paint a mural as well as providing tools for de-stressing.

Partner: Our New Way Garden

Project: Adé is working at Our New Way Garden, reaching out to local restaurants to see if they will build a partnership by purchasing locally grown vegetables for their menus, providing an important source of revenue for the nonprofit. He is also helping coordinate and facilitate volunteer days on site and creating an ordering form for the PepsiCo Farmer’s Market.

Partner: Meals on main Street

Project: Tyler is streamlining the logistics behind inventory management and food distribution at Meals on Main Street. He plans to assist in creating procedures and descriptions for their new “Food Hub” so that any community can model after the existing Port Chester and Ossining food distribution sites and reach those most affected by food insecurity.

Partner: Graham Windham in Harlem

Project: James is creating a summer book club for kids at their site in Harlem, as well as tutor individual students that may be struggling with reading. Graham Windham in Harlem provides support and services to underserved kids experiencing food insecurity and home instability.

Partner: Rye Nature Center

Project: Jack is placing QR codes at points along Rye Nature Center’s trails. His codes will direct hikers to articles and activities that relate to their position on Rye Nature Center’s grounds.

Partner: Save the Sound

Project: Lily is learning how to build a Rain Garden in the city of Rye with through Save the Sound, and then using what she learned to implement an environmentally-conscious rain garden on campus at RCDS.
 

Partner: Audubon of Greenwich

Project: Leah is partnering with the Audubon of Greenwich to create ecology and climate science summer programming for children focused on hands-on experiments, encouraging the community to participate in local conservation and environmental efforts.

Partner: Queen World Film Initiative 

Project: Isabel is organizing and producing content for a youth centered film screening, featuring the work of young filmmakers who are often exempt from film contests based on age. She is interviewing with professional filmmakers to pass on their knowledge, all to be shown at the formal screening.

Partner: Meals on Main Street

Project: Arthur is doing research on the expansion of Meals on Main Street and creating a new QR Code system that helps MOMS see who collects food. The new system will also notify people within a certain radius of MOMS when food is available.

Partner: Adults Communicating Together

Project: ​​Ruth is organizing a weekly program for people who have Alzheimers and dementia to create memory books with personal illustrations that support cognitive function and awareness. She is also developing an online workshop to guide a similar process with digital creations, and plans to compile them into a finalized book.

Partner: Boys & Girls Club of Stamford

Project: Mina and Donna will create a music camp at the Club teaching young people how to play the piano. They will organize two recitals, one at the end of each of their two-week sessions.

Project: Emilie and Ewan are developing a music program with the Port Chester middle school summer camp made to enrich kids of the arts and stem fields. The program is run at Port Chester Carver Center. They teach several genres of music through multiple instruments, encouraging a range of musical abilities.

Partners: Backyard Sports, White Plains, N.Y., The Thomas H. Slater Center, White Plains, N.Y., The Port Chester Carver Center, Port Chester, N.Y., The Boys & Girls Club of Mount Vernon, Mount Vernon, N.Y.

Project: Continuing from last summer's project, Connor will work with Backyard Sports build gaga pits at the Carver Center and The Boys & Girls Club of Mount Vernon, and he will expand the programming at The Thomas H. Slater Center to include gaga, yoga, and other activities.

Faculty Mentor: Iain Pollock, Upper School English Teacher

Partner: The Port Chester Carver Center, Port Chester, N.Y.

Project: Wendy will organize and lead a STEM camp for students.

Faculty Mentor: Cathie Bischoff, Science Department Chair; STEAM Coordinator; Upper School Science Teacher

Partner: Westchester Children's Museum, Rye N.Y.

Project: Eliza will be leading a children's literacy program for children who visit the museum.

Faculty Mentor: Stacy Kaufman, Lower School Teacher (Grade 4)

Partner: New York League of Conservation Voters, New York, N.Y.

Project: Peggy will conduct research on the levels of lead found in the pipes of Westchester County and New York broadly, analyzing the findings so the NYLCV can run an educational campaign to publicize the results.

Faculty Mentor: Kerry Linderoth, Director of Sustainability; Upper and Middle School Science Teacher

Partner: The Boys & Girls Club of Mount Vernon, Mount Vernon, N.Y.

Project: Building on her experience from last summer's Fellowship, Eesha will lead a dance camp. This year, the camp will also include a drama/acting component.

Faculty Mentor: Tameka Farrell, Upper School Science Teacher

Partner: Carver Center, Port Chester, N.Y.

Project: Chidera will lead a dance camp for kids at the Carver Center, building on a previous fellow's project.

Faculty Mentor: Tia Gueye, Upper School Mathematics Department Chair; Middle and Upper School Mathematics Teacher

Partner: New York-Presbyterian Morgan Stanley Children's Hospital

Project: Partnering with children from the hospital, Samantha will create a children's book about heart conditions that will be sold as a fundraiser for research.

Faculty Mentor: Joanne Aventuro, Lower School Teacher (Grade 3)

Partner: DreamYard, Bronx, N.Y.

Project: Isabel will facilitate an athletic-based women's empowerment program for children in the community.

Faculty Mentor: Elizabeth Bennett, Athletics Office Administrator; Coach

Partner: Community Resource Center, Mamaroneck, N.Y.

Project: Building on a previous Fellow's project, Anna and Oliver will build new shelves, and reorganize the Reading Nook with a new organizational system, making it easier for young people to pick books while visiting the CRC.

Faculty Mentor: Iain Pollock, Upper School English Teacher

Partner: Our New Way Garden, White Plains, N.Y.

Project: Sebastian and Charumathi are revamping the website for ONWG including building a new online volunteer management system, and working on-site repairing the infrastructure.

Faculty Mentor: Amanda Sackey, Middle School Science Teacher

Community Partner: The Carver Center (Port Chester, NY)

Project Description: The Port Chester Carver Center has been serving the community's children and families since 1943. Carver's mission is to build brighter futures by serving, educating, and empowering families in the community. Building off his previous volunteer work in Carver's Tech Lab, Kyle worked with Josh Shapiro '18 and computer science teachers from the Port Chester school district to create and teach a computer coding program for 10-to-14-year-old students in Carver's summer camp program that aligns with the district's computer curriculum. Kyle and Josh developed this project to share their love of coding with younger students in a fun and engaging way.

Community Partner: The Nathaniel Witherell (Greenwich, Conn.)

Project Description: The Nathaniel Witherell is a short-term rehab and skilled nursing care center that is owned and operated as a nonprofit by the Town of Greenwich. For his project, Joey helped residents at the Nathaniel Witherell connect with their families and friends through technology such as Skype, FaceTime, and video messaging, and provided individual instruction to help residents use technology to foster their interests and hobbies. Through this project, Joey hoped to use technology to help residents feel less isolated and more connected.

Community Partner: Building One Community (Stamford, Conn.)

Project Description: Building One Community's purpose is to help immigrants and their families succeed. Their programs include English language instruction, job skills training, personal support services, and more. Alex provided database management and IT support to enhance Building One Community's services and programs, particularly in the areas of volunteer management and client job training. Having volunteered at Building One Community in the past, Alex developed this project as a way of using his expertise with computers to deepen his connection to the organization and create systems to enable them to gather and use data in the most efficient and beneficial way possible.

Community Partner: Boys & Girls Club of Mount Vernon (Mount Vernon, NY)

Project Description: The Boys & Girls Club of Mount Vernon is a youth development organization offering a variety of programs designed to help children learn and grow while having fun. The Boys & Girls Club runs multiple programs, including a summer camp. As a 2016 Community Engagement Fellow, Faith introduced a performing arts component into the summer program. Her 2017 fellowship project built upon last year's successful program and developed it further into a more student-driven program. An avid singer, dancer, and actress, Faith wanted to expose students to all aspects of the performing arts while helping them discover their talents and work together toward a common goal.

Community Partner: Columbus Elementary School (New Rochelle, NY)

Project Description: Columbus Elementary School serves approximately 850 students in grades K-5 in the City School District of New Rochelle. Having attended Columbus when she was in elementary school, Andrea saw a need for a program to offer English language instruction to parents at the school, many of whom are immigrants. For her project, Andrea created and taught an English as a Second Language (ESL) program for parents in the New Rochelle Community.

Community Partner: Department of Parks and Recreation (New Rochelle, NY)

Project Description: The New Rochelle Department of Parks and Recreation's summer day camp program at Jefferson Elementary School offers sessions in sports, music, performing arts, and character building to elementary school students. Through the day camp, Angelica developed and ran a hands-on, interactive STEM (science, technology, engineering and mathematics) program for girls. Angelica's goal through this project was to make STEM more accessible to young women of color, who are traditionally underrepresented in these fields.

Community Partner: The Carver Center (Port Chester, NY)

Project Description: The Port Chester Carver Center has been serving the community's children and families since 1943. Carver's mission is to build brighter futures by serving, educating, and empowering families in the community. As part of Carver's summer camp program, Cole created and led a sports enrichment program for students of different ages. In this program, Cole aimed to help students develop their athletic skills, self-confidence, and teamwork through sports.

Community Partner: The Carver Center (Port Chester, NY)

Project Description: The Port Chester Carver Center has been serving the community's children and families since 1943. Carver's mission is to build brighter futures by serving, educating, and empowering families in the community. Building off his previous volunteer work in Carver's Tech Lab, Josh worked with Kyle Christopher '18 and computer science teachers from the Port Chester school district to create and teach a computer coding program for 10-to-14-year-old students in Carver's summer camp program that aligns with the district's computer curriculum. Josh and Kyle developed this project to share their love of coding with younger students in a fun and engaging way.

Community Partner: The Carver Center (Port Chester, NY)

Project Description: The Port Chester Carver Center has been serving the community's children and families since 1943. Carver's mission is to build brighter futures by serving, educating, and empowering families in the community. As part of Carver's summer camp program, Sarah developed and taught a STEM (science, technology, engineering, and mathematics) enrichment program for middle school students. Sarah's goal for this project was to help students traditionally underrepresented in STEM learn about biology, chemistry, physics, and engineering through fun, hands-on experiments.

Community Partner: Community Resource Center (Mamaroneck, NY)

Project Description: The Community Resource Center was founded in 1998 to help immigrants become self-sufficient and active members of the community through comprehensive direct client services and programs. Sofia's project made educational resources and information more accessible to parents, particularly those who are primarily Spanish-speaking. Sofia helped create a library and resource area at CRC for students and families to access required summer reading materials and information about course placement in the local school district. Sofia created this project to ensure that all students in Mamaroneck, her home community, have equal access to educational opportunities and resources.

Community Partner: The Carver Center (Port Chester, NY)

Project Description: The Port Chester Carver Center has been serving the community's children and families since 1943. Carver's mission is to build brighter futures by serving, educating, and empowering families in the community. For her project, Helena created and led a program called Counting Cupcakes, which taught math and social entrepreneurship skills to students through baking. Helena's goal for this project was to share some of her passions and creativity with students while teaching them important skills that will be useful to them throughout their lives.