All posts by Jill Craven

Conferences, Dyslexia

Who’s Who at the DeMystifying Dyslexia Conference

We are looking forward to sharing insights about dyslexia with you on February 8th.
Check out the expertise that will be “in the room.”

Speakers in Order of Appearance

Sara Stinchcomb

Ms. Stinchcomb is a student at Millersville University majoring in Mathematics. She was diagnosed with dyslexia at age 7 and has since tackled many of the challenges of dyslexia.

Dr. Jill Craven

Dr. Craven is a  Millersville University English professor. She received her Doctorate In Comparative Literature from the University of North Carolina Chapel Hill. She is Chair of the English Department and a parent of a dyslexic child. She is the founder and organizer of this conference.

Dr. Janet Josephson

Dr. Janet Josephson is an associate professor in the MU Department of Early, Middle, and Exceptional Education (EMEE). She conducts research in Universal Designs for Learning, behavior management for inclusive settings, and the experience of pre-service teachers in field placements. In previous years, she had worked as a special education teacher in New York and Philadelphia.

Dr. Margaret Kay

Margaret J. Kay, Ed.D. NCSP, FABPS is a licensed psychologist in PA and DE, a Nationally Certified School Psychologist, and a Fellow of the American Board of Psychological Specialties with Forensic Specialization in Educational and School Psychology. Dr. Kay has been in private practice since 1980 and performs Independent Educational Evaluations (IEE’s) for school-age children, college students, and adults with language-based learning disorders of the dyslexic type.

Rebecca Warner

Rebecca Warner is a founding member of Decoding Dyslexia Virginia and the creator of the Dyslexia Symbol pqbd.  A graduate from Hampshire College in Amherst, MA, and a jewelry designer by trade, Rebecca’s advocacy began about 10 years ago as she began navigating her two sons through public school with dyslexia and ADHD.  She serves on the Special Education Advocacy Committee with the Virginia Department of Education and is a partner with the Dyslexia Friendly Libraries of Virginia, but her passion is connecting with parents who are trying to support their dyslexic children.  “Apparently it DOES take a village.”

Lauren Maffett, M.Ed

Lauren Maffett is a Pennsylvania-certified public school teacher with a master’s degree as a Reading Specialist. She currently works as a preschool director. She has two dyslexic children of her own. In addition, she is a Certified Dyslexia Practitioner with the Children’s Dyslexia Center and co-founder of Lancaster Reading Solutions, LLC.

Rachel Moore, MD

Rachel Moore has worked as a family physician, an artist musician, and a teacher. She lives with her daughter and husband, who both have dyslexia. She is a Certified Dyslexia Practitioner with the Children’s Dyslexia Center and co-founder of Lancaster Reading Solutions, LLC.

Hollie Woodard

Hollie Woodard is a high school English teacher and technology coach from the Council Rock School District in Bucks County, Pennsylvania. She is the PAECT Advocacy Chair, 2017 Keystone Technology Star, 2018 and 2019 Keystone Technology Star Lead Learner, and a member of PTAC and Decoding Dyslexia PA. As the mother of a special needs child, she is a passionate dyslexia advocate and credits much of her teaching innovation to her desire to meet the needs of her most vulnerable students.

Dr. Stacey Irwin

Dr. Stacey Irwin is Professor in the Media & Broadcasting program at Millersville University where she teaches a variety of courses in media production, public speaking, and leadership. Her husband and daughter are unique learners and the inspiration for her documentary, Raising Faith: Stories About Dyslexia, released in 2019. She hosts the dyslexiastories.com website where she shares information about the film and the forthcoming Dyslexia Stories podcast.

Heather Hinkel

Heather Hinkel has been the Director of the Children’s Dyslexia Center of Lancaster since 2013. She received her Certified Dyslexia Practitioner-1 (CDP-1) certification in 2008 and her CDP-2 certification in 2012. In 2015, she received certification as an Instructor of Practitioners and has been certifying adults as dyslexia practitioners at both the initial and advanced levels through the Children’s Dyslexia Centers. She has helped students of all ages overcome challenges associated with dyslexia.

Angela Kirby

Angela Kirby is the PaTTAN (Pennsylvania Training and Technical Assistance Center)- Harrisburg Office Director and has held this position since 2008. She has previously worked as a teacher, administrator, educational consultant and special assistant to the Pennsylvania Secretary of Education.

Daphne Uliana

Inspired by struggles with her three dyslexic children, Daphne along with other advocates helped to pass Act 69 of 2014, which established a pilot program to screen all children for reading difficulty in Pennsylvania.  In 2018, she helped to pass a two-year extension for the pilot program, and she–along with other parent advocates–was instrumental in having an audio version of the Pennsylvania driver’s manual placed online. In 2018, Daphne started the Dyslexia and Literacy Network, an all-volunteer nonprofit to help parents who have children with dyslexia, bring more awareness of dyslexia and advocate for change.

Dr. Sara Haas

Dr. Sara Haas  is a licensed child psychologist in PA who specializes in treatment and evaluations for toddlers through young adults with behavioral and attention struggles. As an established researcher and as a private practice owner (CenterForActiveMinds.com), Dr. Haas often sees clients with dyslexia and co-occurring ADHD and/or anxiety. She is dedicated to empowering youth and young adults to overcome their academic and behavioral challenges. A Buffalo, NY native, she has been sought after for many therapist and teaching positions locally, including positions at Penn State Hershey, Penn State Harrisburg, Dickinson College, and Elizabethtown College.

Kevin Ghaffari

Kevin Ghaffari has been teaching middle and high school students with reading challenges for over 20 years. He has taught in public and private schools in California, New York, Maryland, and, now, Pennsylvania. He is currently teaching at Wheatland Middle School in Lancaster.

Abby Rissinger

Abby Rissinger is a Millersville student with dyslexia.

Faith Irwin

Faith Irwin is a Millersville student with dyslexia. She is the inspiration for the documentary “Raising Faith: Stories about Dyslexia” which focuses on dyslexia and how it presents in children, along with the challenges dyslexia poses.

Katie Shuey

Katie Shuey has been working at The Janus School for four years. In 2012 she earned a Bachelor’s Degree in Early Childhood Education from Stevenson University in Baltimore, Maryland. Katie got her first teaching job at a public school in Baltimore County. After two years, she decided she wanted to dedicate her time to children who learn differently. She transferred to The Odyssey School in Baltimore, MD, focusing on dyslexia and a variety of learning differences. After two years at the Odyssey School, Katie moved to Pennsylvania for some life opportunities. Katie loves working at The Janus School where she can teach ALL learners and put her students first.

Jen Risser

Jen Risser has been a teacher and Reading Specialist at the Janus School for 19 years. She graduated from Millersville University with a Bachelor’s degree and a certification in Elementary and Early Childhood Education and a Master’s degree in Reading and Language Arts and a certification as a Reading Specialist.

Organizations

Decoding Dyslexia is a grassroots movement of parents concerned with the limited access dyslexic students have in public schools to services, technologies, and reading programs that truly work for them. Decoding Dyslexia PA is led by volunteer parents and other interested people who work together to increase awareness of dyslexia and related neurolinguistic learning disabilities; to educate parents, educators and policy makers; and to advocate for children with dyslexia. Chapters of Decoding Dyslexia are in every state in the USA, and the movement has spread to other countries, such as Canada.

Children’s Dyslexia Center

Since opening its doors in 2002, the Children’s Dyslexia Center of Lancaster has helped remediate reading and written language skills of over 200 children, and trained nearly 50 tutors. Housed inside the Masonic Center of Lancaster County on Chestnut Street, the Children’s Dyslexia Center of Lancaster operates as a 501(c)(3) nonprofit organization and tutors children for free on a first-come, first-served basis regardless of race, ethnicity, economic status, gender, or religious affiliation.

The Janus School

The Janus School is an independent and accredited day school offering a core academic program to students in central Pennsylvania with learning differences such as language- or math-based learning disabilities, ADHD, high functioning autism, executive function difficulties, nonverbal learning disorders, or auditory processing disorder.  The Janus School aims to inspire, prepare, and uplift students who learn differently to become thriving participants in diverse communities, empowered by their educations and enabled to succeed.

Lancaster Reading Solutions, LLC

Lancaster Reading Solutions offers private lessons and group lessons for students with dyslexia.

 

Uncategorized

Dear Dyslexia: The Struggles and Strengths of Dyslexia

Dear Dyslexia,

I am left speechless by how much I have to say to you.

I hate you, because you kept me from reading and writing for so long. Being in third grade and still not being able to spell “of” was diminishing. Failing all my spelling tests for years, despite the time I sat and studied with my mother. My run-on sentences were longer than the Empire State building is tall. To this day, I still read three times slower than my peers. I still can not spell, and comma splices are enemy number one. Do you know how embarrassing it is to have people continuously point out your spelling mistakes? To tell you how you are spelling so badly that a child can spell better than you? Do you know how stupid you made me feel for so long? I dropped a college course because of you. The textbook didn’t make sense, and they graded on spelling. I changed my major because of you. Even as a child you made me feel lost and inferior as I saw all the other kids reading and writing years above my grade level. I had to work so darn hard to catch up, and I still read and write slower. Sometimes I wish I wasn’t dyslexic.

I love you, because I learned to think differently from a young age. Even in middle school I would create arguments about characters in literature that opposed the teachers, arguments that forced their perspectives in a new directions. I love you because I was taught pain and struggle from a young age. I knew how to empathize with others and learned how to see from their perspectives, even if they were nothing like me. I love you because you made me think differently. I think in patterns. I excel at mathematics. You did that. You taught me. You gave me the persistence and grit I need to get through life. You taught me to always bounce back from setbacks. You taught me to deeply analyze. Dyslexia made me a better person.

Through the good and the bad, we are a team. I didn’t get a choice in that, but I am getting used to it. Life is tough sometimes, but we wrestled through it together. We failed together, and we succeed together. I see a bright future, despite the dark past. We don’t look there anymore. I’ll take all the things you have shown me along the way and walk with you into whatever the heck is in front of us.

–You know who

Conferences, Dyslexia, Special Activities

Demystifying Dyslexia Conference: February 8th 2020

Millersville University will host the second Demystifying Dyslexia Conference to bring resources pertaining to dyslexia to teachers, future teachers, parents, people with dyslexia, advocates, administrators, and allies. We hope to see you there!  Child care will be available.

Facebook.com: DDMU20        Instagram: @ddc_mu

Poster: dyslexia-poster-final
Flyer: dyslexia-flyer-final

Holly Woodward’s IEP 2.0–A collection of technology tools to address learning differences

CHILD CARE provided by MU university students with Child Abuse clearances.  Sign up required.
Provided in Room 206 Stayer Hall

REGISTRATION

Registration is required. A small fee ($5 per credit) will be charged for those desiring CEU or Act 48 credits.

MORNING SCHEDULE (WINTER CENTER)

8:15 Coffee and Registration with Info Tables

  • Information about Educational Opportunities at Millersville (Rich Mehrenberg)
  • Online, Virtual Tutoring (Lauren Maffett, Rachel Moore)
  • Decoding Dyslexia PA (Anne Edwards)
  • Decoding Dyslexia Virginia and pqbd (Rebecca Warner)
  • Center For Active Minds  & Sarah Haas, PhD, Licensed Psychologist, Clinical Director of the Center
  • Dyslexia & Literacy Network (Daphne Uliana)
  • Children’s Dyslexia Center (Heather Hinkel)
  • The Janus School (Janet Gillespie)
  • Office of Learning Services – Accommodations and Kurzweil at Millersville University (Julianne Browne)
  • Dyslexia Interest Group Sign-up (Sara Page Stinchcomb)

9:00 Welcome
Ms. Sara Page Stinchcomb, Millersville University Student and Advocate for People with Dyslexia

9:05 Organization of the Events
Dr. Jill Craven, Chair of English

9:10: Understanding the Challenges of Dyslexia and Working to Create Opportunities for Access
 Dr. Janet Josephson, Associate Professor of Early, Middle, and Exceptional Education (EMEE), Millersville University

10:00 A Teacher’s Influence
 Ms. Sara Page Stinchcomb, Millersville University Student

10:15 Break

10:30 From Dyslexia Identification to Getting Services: A Testing to Teaching Model
Dr. Margaret Kay

 LUNCH and KEYNOTE ($12, GORDINIER HALL–Free for MU Students with ID)

  • 12:00 Lunch: Gordinier Hall, Lehr room (2nd Floor)
  • “Keynote Panel: Creating and Structuring Advocacy in PA–Making a Movement” Angela Kirby (PaTTAN), Daphne Uliana (Dyslexia and Literacy Network), Rebecca Warner (pqbd, Decoding Dyslexia Virginia), and Hollie Woodard (Decoding Dyslexia Pennsylvania); Moderator, Jill Craven (Millersville University)

 AFTERNOON BREAKOUT SESSIONS (STAYER HALL)

 2:00 Breakout Session I (Stayer Hall)

  1. Experiences of Learning with Dyslexia (Audience: 7) Room 100 Multipurpose Room
    Abigail Rissinger, Sara Page Stinchcomb (Moderator Jill Craven)
  2. Technology for People with Dyslexia (Audience: 7) Room 108-9
    Demonstrations with Hollie Woodard (DDPA)
  3.  Advocacy Workshop for People who Care about Dyslexia Legislation (Audience: 7) Room 104
    Daphne Uliana
  4. “Supporting People with Dyslexia in Math, Science, and Non-Language classes” (Audience: 7) Room 106
    Dr. Janet Josephson
  5. “What to do if your Child shows signs of Dyslexia” (Audience: 2, 3, 4, 5). Room 110
    Dr. Margaret Kay

3:00 Breakout Session II (Stayer Hall)

  1. PA Act 69 Update/Results (Audience: 2, 3, 4, 5) Room 204
    Angela Kirby, Director of PaTTAN
  2. Dyslexia in PA –The on-going battle over the “D” word.  (Audience: 7) Room 110
    Dr. Margaret  Kay; Lauren Maffett M.Ed; Rachel Moore, MD
  3. IEP 101: Proven Strategy to Get the Support Your Child Needs  Room 106
    Hollie Woodard
  4. Orton-Gillingham in the Classroom (Audience: 2, 3, 4, 5) Room 108-9
    The Janus School
  5. Dyslexia plus ADHD and/or Anxiety – Now What? (Dr. Sarah Haas) (Audience: 7) Room 104

4:00   Breakout Session III  (Stayer Hall)

  1. Regional Offerings for Tutoring  and the Children’s Dyslexia Center of Lancaster (Audience: 7) Room 106
    Heather Hinkel, Director of the Children’s Dyslexia Center
    Lauren Maffett, M.Ed.; Rachel Moore, MD; Lancaster Reading Solutions
  2. Dealing with Dyslexia as an Adult–Group Discussion (Audience: 6) Room 104
    Kevin Ghaffari, M.Ed;  Abby Rissinger
  3. Raising Faith (Audience: 7)  Room 110
    Dr. Stacey Irwin and Faith Irwin
  4. Advanced Phonics Presentation  (Audience: 3) Room 108-9
    The Janus School
  5. Advocacy Planning (Audience: 7) Room 204 with refreshments
    Jill Craven (Millersville), Angela Kirby (PaTTAN), Daphne Uliana (Dyslexia and Literacy Network),
    Rebecca Warner (pqbd, Decoding Dyslexia Virginia), and Hollie Woodard (Decoding Dyslexia Pennsylvania)

 Audience Key:

  1. Students
  2. Parents
  3. Teachers and Future Teachers
  4. Counselors
  5. Administrators, Advocates and Attorneys
  6. Adult Dyslexics
  7. Everyone

Sponsored by
Millersville University’s Department of English,
the College of Education and Human Services,
the Department of Early, Middle, and Exceptional Education,
and The School of Social Work

Community Engagement, Conferences, Literary Events, Student Activities

Alumni and Current Students Swap Stories and Insights at Lit Fest

This last semester’s Literary Festival, Writing in Community, was very special.  There were so many moments of genuine community, that made us all remember why we love Millersville English.

Uncategorized

Multiple People, One Voice

Emily Perez is a senior English major at Millersville University with a concentration in writing studies and a minor in theatre. She enjoys reading, writing, and anything pertaining to sports or outdoor activities. Read more about her recent summer internship below! 

From Left to Right: Sarah Crocker, Emily Perez, Gabrielle Resh, Karen Loftus, Tianna Smith, and Taylor Onkst

Walking into my internship the first day, I didn’t know what was going to be asked of me pertaining to the writing that my boss would want me to produce. Would she want me to write narrative pieces like the ones found on several different travel blogging websites or would she want me to conduct interviews? As a 20-year-old college student who has never traveled very far out of the United States, would I be able to deliver a writing style and voice that matched what a 50-year-old travel writer and expert was looking for? These were the questions that raced through my head when I sat down in front of her the first day of my internship.

After writing for my boss the first time, I found that we had different target audiences in mind which influenced the way I wrote and related to the audience through my tone and style. I had one idea of what the writing on her website should do, and she had a different one. Seeing her as my client, I realized that it didn’t matter if my voice was in it; for a company, the voice has to be unified even if it’s multiple people writing. Thus, I had to learn to be a writing chameleon. So, I learned to write as if I was a traveling expert, as if those that were already traveling were coming to me for fun and witty information. It was through this process that I learned how important it was to be able to adapt to a new writing style and voice.

Taking on the voice of my boss and her company taught me several important lessons throughout the process of my internship. First and foremost, I learned the importance of being a chameleon. In the professional writing industry, especially as a content writer, I would have to write for lots of different clients, each company having their own voice and presence. As a writer, I have to be able to adopt that voice easily and quickly to produce content that matches how that company sounds on a regular basis. This is important because when other people are viewing a company’s content, they can pick up on changes in the writing style which can, in some cases, create problems. For example, imagine each writing piece is a red apple. If one writing piece has a different feel to it, then it would be like a green apple in a line of red apples; it would stand out like sore thumb.

Another lesson learned from the process of taking on someone else’s writing style is that a client changing your writing or asking you to slightly change something is never personal and shouldn’t be taken that way. Again, the client simply wants a unified front for their content and asking for any changes is what they are trying to achieve. Hence, a writer should never take it personally, but should simply try to edit the writing to create the content that the client is looking for.

The last thing that I learned from this process, which goes along with the not taking change personally, is that as writers, we must be open to editing. Editing is a natural part of being a content writer or any type of writer. During the process, a piece can go through several edits and proofing rounds before a client approves it. So, never get upset when your writing is being edited to sound different. Again, this is so the client can achieve their voice and should be seen as a learning process and a chance to really embrace the new voice more fully.

In the end, I realized that through it all, being an English major helped me easily transition into a different type of writing style and voice. Taking tricks from my courses and learning the type of writing that different professors liked, allowed me to easily do that for my internship supervisor at Women’s Adventure Travels. After reading through my boss’s edits, I was able to find the little quirks and word usage that she tended to use in her writing that she was also looking for in the writing that I was producing for her. Overall, as writers and English majors, it is important for us to be able to transition our writing to match that of any company that we are writing for because their publication may be multiple writers, but it should be one voice.

– Emily Perez

(Title Image: John Simpson, Gabrielle Resh, Karen Loftus, Sarah Crocker, Tianna Smith, Taylor Onkst, Jacob Gould, and Emily Perez)

 

Uncategorized

Reading Masculinities in our World

The spring, Professor Shaun Karli taught Reading Our World: Masculinity in English.  Today, Professor Karli reviewed the course and some of the history of Masculinity Studies for Women & Gender Studies students and faculty.  The following is commentary about the course, by student Jacob Dickens.

 

Shaun Karli teaching about masculinities
Shaun Karli teaching about masculinities

Every so often, I like to talk to my friend in Canada through the chatting app Discord about our favorite shows, YouTube videos we both love (we will send everything related to the artist Jack Stauber to each other, it’s a problem), and our personal lives. When I talked to him about my remaining classes before the semester’s end, I mentioned that I was enrolled in the class Reading Our World: Masculinity, an English class that explored different facets of masculinity through various short stories, plays, and books. He sort of scoffed at it and said, “I’m sure it’s a good class and all, but it just seems weird”. He wasn’t the only person to show hesitation about the class. Other people in the class talked about their friends acting incredulous when the class was mentioned, as if the idea of studying what our culture expects men to be is ridiculous or unnecessary. But to those people I say that this class was not only fascinating, but something that every student should consider attending when it becomes available.

The class was structured in a typical English format: a reading due and a discussion in class. But the discussions themselves felt loose enough that we were free to discuss whatever facets of masculinity we were interested in. In a recent class, a presentation on masculinity in American Beauty lead to a nearly hour-long discussion of masculinity in the Star Wars series (including about 15 minutes of explaining the premise of the series to classmates who hadn’t seen it). The class was also structured to discuss intersectional masculinity, the idea of men’s expectations overlapping in their race and class. For instance, the way that Troy in August Wilson’s “Fences” expresses his masculinity as a working-class black man is very different from how Yunior would in Junot Diaz’s “Drown” as a lower-class Dominican teenager. After a few classes, it was as if our class had developed its own language, discussing “breadwinner dynamics” and “hegemonic masculinity”.

Ultimately, the class showed me the various societal pressures we place on boys and men to assimilate as the “ideal man” and how ultimately destructive it can be. In America, the ideal man that is presented to us in the media continues to be one that isn’t vulnerable emotionally, that views women as a prize or a sex object, that exercises power by dominating over his colleagues or enemies. These are the idealized images of men and masculinity and they have been for decades. And these images reflect back into what we expect of men in our culture. A 2019 Pew Research survey found that more than eight in ten men nationwide say they face pressure to be “emotionally strong”. This bottling of emotions can be damaging to many men and provide them with little or no nonviolent outlets that are seen as acceptably masculine. It’s worth examining other, more positive ways to encourage boys and men to accept that they can forge their own paths in their masculinity and shouldn’t feel burdened having to match societal standards. You don’t have to be sexually active to be masculine. You don’t have to be violent to be masculine. You can be masculine and feel vulnerable and scared. It’s worth looking at these in an academic sense to fully understand these pressures through a wide variety of lenses and so I end by encouraging everyone to not only look into what they think a man should be or look like but why they think that. It’s worth doing so the men in our community and abroad don’t feel so tied down by this intangible idea of men.

–Jacob Dickens

Source: https://www.pewresearch.org/fact-tank/2019/01/23/americans-views-on-masculinity-differ-by-party-gender-and-race/

Community Engagement

Internship Profile: Attollo (non-profit)

Attollo is the Latin word meaning to strive for something, to reach for a goal. It is an integral part of the Children Deserve A Chance Foundation, founded by Jordan Steffy, because it provides services that help young people as they strive to achieve the educational success crucial to the development of leadership roles. One of the ways they have done this, and the one that I am most familiar with, is the SAT preparation boot camp. Other leadership programs for high school students include a program for college visits, coding instruction, and programs to develop entrepreneurship and business planning.

The company mission is defined by their five core values, which are relevant to team members and students alike. These values are as follows: Strong mind, Competition, Resiliency, Accountability, Sacrifice, and Finish Strong. The basic meaning of these core pillars was demonstrated by the work I observed being done at the site. Being a part of the program required a strong mind because students must learn how to take on difficult challenges. Competition is a healthy motivating factor that encourages enjoyment and allows people to be recognized for their achievements and is balanced by the resiliency needed to recover from the various rejections, setbacks, and losses that are inevitably faced in life. Sacrifice links with the competitive mindset, as future gains often require losing something in the present. Accountability is the understanding that our actions affect others; this is to encourage helping others. And the final part of the core pillar is to finish strong, which is another way of saying not to get comfortable and start coasting as the finish line approaches. All projects should be handled with intensity from start to finish.

The Rubik’s cube is emblematic of a challenge most people consider too difficult to solve, but it can be learned with patience and instruction. It is a symbol of Attollo with good reason, as it demonstrates what one can do with training and persistence. While working at Attollo, I had to be open to solving problems at a moments’ notice. The most important thing I learned about having a strong mind is that by working with others and being open to finding a solution, most problems could be solved.

I had a chance to see these core values in action while working at Attolo. These values were not simply values spoken to the students who came to the organization and participated in the SAT boot camp, but values that all of the staff and management demonstrated daily. I observed that Attollo had a loose structure that allowed for multi-tasking and generalizing. While the individual staff specialized in their major skill set, they were able to perform multiple tasks or work outside of their assigned skill set whenever needed. Rarely was anybody idle because if there was work to be done, anybody could handle it.

Attollo helped me grow as a person. I can’t emphasize the connections and reconnections I have made with the community as a result of my time here. I have been able to manage my own time, create lesson plans, work with individuals to help them reach a desired goal, and even make a multitude of friends along the way. I have learned how important interpersonal interactions are for cultural and intellectual developments. Working for Attollo has connected me to the local community and has helped me gain a renewed appreciation for downtown Lancaster and the surrounding areas. I have gained a sense of what people struggle for, and what they are able to go through in order to achieve a goal. I have also learned that all interactions do not have to be extremely formal, that some degree of friendliness and a little laughter goes a long way towards aiding the learning process. Overall, working at Attollo has greatly impacted my personal growth because of these previously mentioned things. I believe it will continue to do so, and that the experience will become an important part of who I am as the lessons I learn here carry into the future.

Conferences

6th Annual Learning Institute Global Well-Being and Social Change Presentations

On April 28th, 29th and 30th Social Work hosted the 6th Annual Learning Institute Global Well-Being and Social Change Conference. On Friday April 29th, MA English graduate student William Artz presented “Perceived Intrinsic Iniquities in LGBTQIA+ Health Care: An affordance theory (literary) approach”. His discussion connected affordance theory and literature to a broader practical audience, demonstrating how literature makes possible better conversations surrounding social justice, race, and politics in America.

Additionally, Dr. Nicole Pfannenstiel and Professor Michele Santamaria presented “Finding Space, Making Change: Shifting to a campus community read.” Their discussion connected the One Book selection to cross-disciplinary adoption, and the value of life-long reading to support learning and college success.

Community Engagement, Student Activities

English at “Educate the State” Rally

On Tuesday, April 23rd,  the Education Justice rally, “Educate the State,” took place on Millersville campus in front of the library.  Millersville students and faculty from several departments participated.  Our friends in the Art Club, led by Abigail Saurbaugh, created signage for the event and encouraged people to write about their experiences with education and education funding.

Millersville alumnus Howard Jones (MA in Psychology) began the event “speaking from the heart” about the role of education. Those of us who know and love Howard were excited to see Howard back on campus, leading off this event, and advocating for change.  Howard works as a legislative aide for Mike Sturla, who was delayed, so Howard covered some of the legislative issues, like helping students with Adverse Childhood Experiences (ACE’s) and supporting higher education, and then Howard spoke about moving theory into practice by making change through being an engaged intellectual.

English BSE and PA Student Power representative Nate Warren then gave a stirring representation of what the lack of state funding of higher education does to many undergraduates.  He roused the crowd through appeals to logos, pathos, and ethos, providing memorable images of Millersville’s hard-working students.  You can read his full speech in another post in our newsletter.

Ken Smith
Ken Smith notes “a rising tide lifts all boats”

APSCUF President and Economics professor Ken Smith provided a cogent economic analysis of the value of investment in higher education.  His statistics demonstrated a strong return on investment not only for the individuals going to college, but also to the state as a whole.  As Smith described, the overall income of people in the state rises with the education levels in the state, noting “a rising tide lifts all boats.”  The PA Promise helps not only students, but helps the whole state.

Reunisha Williams
Reunisha Williams talks to crowd

Black Student Union treasurer Reuneisha Williams followed up with a powerful talk about her experiences in the educational system.

Dr. Nicole Pfannenstiel addressed the crowd on the potential of online educational resources (OER) for reducing student costs and debt.  Dr. P is part of a working group.  She explained how, through the group’s efforts to change professors from books to free online resources, they have already saved students $150,000.  Dr. P invited students to learn more at the table where members of their group helped students to think about the possibilities they would have with the money they could save.  Following Dr. P, Susan Spicka, the head of PA Education Voters, also voiced her support for needed changes in education.

English majors Kat La Bar and Kitty Dillon presented some spoken word poems.  Dr. Miriam Witmer, who watched the performance, explained that her education class analyzes Kitty’s enthralling 4-part poem.  We look forward to seeing both Kat and Kitty get their works published!

Speaker and poet Marci Nelligan was impressed by our English students’ work, as well as the Spoken Word from the group Original Thought. She presented on her grants to bring African American Artists into School District of Lancaster classrooms.  She presented impressive statistics about the impact that art has on classroom performance and success.

English BSE alumna and SDoL teacher Sherri Castillo talked about her efforts to lead LGBTQ+ support in schools, and also discussed the issues she had being an “out” teacher in Pennsylvania, where sexual orientation isn’t a protected class for jobs.  Her careful navigation of a difficult issue was instructional for all who heard–both gay and straight.

Students from Original Thought, a poetry organization under the BSU, presented impactful viewpoints in their spoken word poetry.  They left the audience pondering privilege.  It’s one thing to be concerned about debt, and quite another about survival.

Preacher Gerald Simmons touched the moral aspects of fairness in education.  His stirring oratory touched on issues of fair funding across the 500 PA school districts.  Currently, districts that are whiter get more monetary support per student than districts that have more students of color.  PA is the most egregious in this category.

Skyler Gibbon, senior English major, read two poems by others as well as one of her own creations.

Brynn Raub, an English Education major, read out a thoughtful reminiscence about how she started as just a number in the school system, and then grew to finally understand what education really meant.

Rob Spicer ended the day’s speeches reminding us all of the power we have in free speech and assembly, and the need to protect that right.

Thanks to everyone who spoke on stage, provided information at tables, read original work, and witnessed the power of publicly calling for education justice.

–Jill Craven
Event Organizer

 

 

Special Activities, Uncategorized

Education Justice Rally Speech – April 23rd, 2019 – Nathan Warren

Hello, my name is Nathan Warren, and I’m a senior here at Millersville. I’m studying English Education, because I believe that communication is key to how we understand the world, and I want to pass that on to younger generations. Currently, I work 18 hours a week on campus, take five classes a semester, and worry every day if I will be able to afford my way through to graduation. Even if I can, I’m surrounded by the reality of being in debt for life.

I’m a member of the Pennsylvania Student Power Network, which has empowered me to speak up against the injustices affecting students and society. We’re in campuses across the state, building connections between colleges and showing us that we are not alone in our struggles. If we unify as students, we can make our voices heard and make the change we need.

College feels like a process you go through, more than one you learn during, and I am often too stressed about my finances to put my full effort into my classwork. How can I be expected to write essays at my best when I are wondering when I will lose my roof? I’m too scared of costs to heat my apartment in the middle of winter, and I know I’m not alone. Plus, overwork in attempt to make ends meet is all too common among students, and as a disabled person, I am constantly fatigued trying to navigate the exhausting modern college student way of life. I have whole-body pain daily, but I still must take on a full workload in order to survive.

Where's the Funding?
Where’s the Funding?

Disabled, working, and other marginalized students are forced to confront numerous additional barriers to education and are the last thought about by educational administrations. I want to truly learn in an environment that cares about the unique lives of students and understands that workload and finances severely limit the potential of the people who are making the future.

When it’s part of the college experience to skip meals because they’re too expensive, when it’s part of the college experience to sleep on the floor without a mattress because it’s too expensive, when it’s part of the college experience to work two or three jobs on top of a full semester because rent is too expensive, there are issues in education. These are experiences that not only I have had, but many of my friends and classmates have had as well. For example, the term ‘food insecure’ was originally used as a euphemism to refer to other countries, but now it’s a word every college student understands; nobody should be ‘food insecure’. We’re forced to accept these conditions as a normal part of what it means to be in college, but we shouldn’t have to.

That’s why I support the PA Promise as a step toward affordability for all. I’m a member of the PA Student Power Network, a statewide organization of students advocating for justice, for us and for our communities. We believe that nobody is free til we’re all free, as the civil rights organizer Fannie Lou Hamer once said. We’re ready to make our voices heard, and ensure that all students have free and accessible education—no matter whether you’re undocumented, have a criminal record, or are an older or nontraditional student who’s had to take time off.

As a state, Pennsylvania ranks 47th in state funding for higher education, and as a result we as students have the highest levels of college debt in the country. While tuition fees at colleges are going up, state funding is going down. The PA Promise would cover two years of tuition at PA community colleges and four years of tuition at PA state system schools, including Millersville. This would apply to recent high school graduates whose families make less than $110,000 a year. The PA Promise would be life-changing for many.

I also want to make sure this vision is accessible for all. As we know, there is a lot of diversity in who is a student and who wants to be a student- there is no single way to be a student. We also need to think about students who are disowned by their families for being queer, or students who have had to take leave for medical issues, or students who are returning to college after a long period of time. If these students are able to access education, our society will truly change for the better, with creativity and education leading the way to innovation.

Imagine a world with free college, a world where education is acknowledged as a human right. What change will this bring you? I’m excited to support PA Promise as a step towards this world, and to keep building the power of students and communities. I encourage you to bring what you’re learning today back to others; share the feelings and energies of a space that won’t settle for injustice. Talk to your friends, your family, your peers; show them that there is a way we can do something, as a people. These conversations are how we will make change.

Nate Warren
Millersville Pennsylvania Student Power Network