Mis compañeros Belkys, Evelyn, Dillon, Heath, y  yo estamos en la oficina hispana, este sábado y son las once de la mañana. Yo estoy hablando con los niños y ayudándoles a crear poemas. A  mí me gusta ayudar personas por la satisfacción que me da. Me siento bien porque me doy en cuenta que estoy haciendo algo por mi comunidad. La otra razón es que me gusta conocer  a gente diferente.

On Saturday, 6 April, 2013, professors and students from Penn State Univ/ Hazleton provided an Enrichment Program to students from the Hazleton Middle School by introducing them to the following topics:  1.  The Amazing Newborn:  Stages of Development   2.  Breaking the Ice:  Communication Techniques    3.  Looking for Metaphors in Pablo Neruda’s Elemental Odes.

Jane Roda, Instructor in Human Development/ Family Services, gave a presentation on the Amazing Newborn. 

She explains:  “My presentation was called The Amazing Infant and I talked about Human Development during the first year of life. I wanted to make the students aware of how much an infant is capable of seeing, feeling and learning, even though it might not seem like they do much. At a quick glance, it often appears that an infant is only capable of eating and sleeping but a closer look reveals that they have an impressive array of skills and abilities. I wanted to share these fascinating abilities with the students so they can be as impressed as I am at what researchers have discovered about the newborn infant”.  

Myrene Magabo,  Instructor in Communications, explained to the students how to break the ice by using various strategies and adds that “ the workshop started with an ice breaker activity for student participants, followed by a presentation in basic terms and simplified explanations of the following main points:

1)    The historical, metaphorical, and modern day meanings of “breaking the ice”
2)    A video illustration of the titanic-- symbolically representing the self, inner core values and potentials, and the iceberg to represent external obstacles in life.  
3)    A video slide show of some important core values
4)    Inspirational video featuring Will Smith’s Mindset Wisdom.

Penn State student, Eduin Lorenzo Medina assisted during the presentation, providing interpretations and some guidance to participants during the workshop activities. Ms. Sandra Lopez-Medina and Ms. Lorie Cudwadie of the Central Susquehanna Intermediate Unit (CSIU) also worked closely with the kids and participated in the “icebreaker” discussion.

 Beatriz García Glick, Instructor in Spanish,   and PSU students developed the topic of metaphors by analyzing poems in Elemental Odes  by the Chilean poet,  Pablo Neruda.  Dominican Poet, Eddy Ulerio,  who was also present at the ARTS Workshop,  used several examples of metaphors from his book of poems “Travesía”. 

This collaboration was possible through the efforts of Sandra Medina-López,  Director of the  Office of Education for Migrant Students, and Lorie Cudwadie,  Assistant to the Director.