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Tennessee State Students Teach Youngsters Affected by Katrina

Photo credit: C. Darnell Porsche Buckner, left, Marquita Orr, Robyn Higgin and Markevia Grey, students at Tennessee State University who taught at Camp Supercharge in New Orleans, helped clean McDonogh 42 Elementary School, damaged by Hurricane Katrina.

By Eddie R. Cole
Black College Wire

In reading class, youngsters reviewed passages and identified main ideas.

Math students multiplied fractions and solved word problems.

In art class, young Michelangelos designed and painted miniature masterpieces.

Fitness was top priority in physical education.

Camp Supercharge was a not-so-ordinary summer camp, led by 25 Tennessee State University students serving as camp instructors in New Orleans from July 10 to Aug. 4.

The camp welcomed an average of 215 inner-city New Orleans children every weekday to Loyola University.

A wave of buses, filled with first- through sixth-graders whose education had been hindered by Hurricane Katrina, rolled into campus at 7:45 a.m., then receded with the Gulf Coast sunset.

“I expected it to be like a real summer camp, with swimming, hiking and field trips,” said Ebonye Walton, camp instructor and senior elementary education major from Memphis. “We ended up actually teaching, and it was more like summer school.”

Camp Supercharge supervisors said the program’s objective was to better prepare New Orleans students, who missed large portions of class last fall, for the upcoming school year. The camp’s academic programs were based on Louisiana state guidelines.

Tennessee State won a $350,000 grant to hold Camp Supercharge, administered through the university’s Office of Service Learning and Civic Engagement.

The grant was part of the Universities Rebuilding America Partnerships, a program of the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development and the Corporation for National and Community Service. It provides funding to college students, faculty and staff to aid in rebuilding the Gulf Coast, according to servicelearning.org.

The camp instructors were supervised by a graduate assistant and three doctoral students from Tennessee State. They teamed up for classes, two camp instructors per class. All were trained in psychology to prepare for any students affected by Katrina-related stress and trauma.

Carl Darnell, a graduate assistant from Huntsville, Ala., pursuing a degree in education administration and supervision, said each New Orleans student was tested before entering the camp. A curriculum was then designed to meet the child’s individual need. At the conclusion of camp, the students were tested to identify progress made during the four weeks.

The camp was available at no cost to the children’s parents, and participants were chosen from low-income inner-city schools.

In the sixth-grade class taught by Mark Lollis, a senior physical therapy major from Memphis, and Lanique Ruffin, a sophomore psychology and business major from Stockton, Calif., the last week of camp started with lessons on conversion. Students converted kilometers to meters, and percentages into numbers with decimals.

“I thought they would be way behind because of the hurricane and them missing school, but they are really good and my expectations are high for them,” Lollis said. “They’ve taught me a lot. I expect them to pass this test but, not just pass, to pass with As and Bs.”

Melvin N. Johnson, president of Tennessee State, briefly sat in on Lollis' and Ruffin’s class. After praising the children for their enthusiasm, he asked whether anyone knew how many kilometers there were between New Orleans and Nashville. The class eagerly responded, “A lot!”

At the end of Johnson's visit, camp instructors gave him a camp T-shirt.

Toriano Green, a junior human performance and sports sciences major from West Memphis, Ark., said he wants to teach in inner-city schools.

“This gives me good hands-on experience with the type of personalities I will be dealing with,” Green said. “I can’t use the words I use when I talk to my peers. You have to find alternative words" with younger students. "I’ve learned a lot since I’ ve been down here.”

Robert McDonald, a certified teacher from Austin, Texas, aided the instructors with the fourth- through sixth-grade reading courses. One of a handful of professional teachers who worked with the camp, McDonald said the program was much needed, though difficult.

Teaching at the camp was "very challenging" because of "holes in the education system here — before and after Katrina,” McDonald said. “The TSU students had some eye-opening experiences because a lot never dealt with children before. I think it has been very challenging for them, but they have taken responsibility.”

Walton, Green’s teaching partner, said one challenge was their limited ability to discipline children. Some Loyola employees and guests complained about noisy behavior.

Walton said she had a new respect for teachers, who are not allowed to paddle children, and the increased expectations mandated by the No Child Left Behind Act, under which all children art to be proficient in core subjects by the 2013-14 school year.

Walton urged students interested in education to participate in a summer program such as this one.

“To teach, you have to have experience,” she said.

Darnell said that despite the occasional mishap, the camp exceeded his expectations.

“I knew it was going to be an academic summer camp, but I didn’t know it was going to be as academic,” Darnell said.

In addition to their camp activities, Darnell said, 14 Tennessee State camp instructors aided in the cleanup of McDonogh 42 Elementary, located in the city’s severely Katrina-damaged Ninth Ward.

The diverse group of student-instructors, which included physical education majors and members of Greek-letter organizations, made the camp a success, he said.

“We all teach life lessons, and teach it well,” Darnell said.

Eddie R. Cole, a student at Tennessee State University, is editor in chief of the Meter.

Posted Aug. 7, 2006