Internships

• Can you teach people to be tolerant about other groups?
• How can one make people reconsider their strongly held beliefs and assumptions about different communities?
• Is the new generation more open-minded about people with different national origin, race, sexual orientation, religion, etc?
• Do people judge the Muslim Religion after 9/11? How can this situation be improved?
• How can I improve my leadership and communication skills?

Donna Truong
LGS Junior
CAAAV Organizing Asian Communities (formerly known as Committee Against Anti-Asian Violence) / Independent study with Prof. Melanie E. L. Bush from Sociology Department

I am currently interning with CAAAV Organizing Asian Communities in Chinatown, NY. Specifically, I assist the staff organizers and coordinators with the various projects CAAAV is involved with in Chinatown and around New York City. We work with tenants' issues and rights (with the Chinatown Tenants Union, a sub-organization of CAAAV); develop youth's skills and political and social awareness (with the Chinatown Justice Project, another sub-organization of CAAAV); and along with other organizations, we work with local residents of the Chinatown and Lower East Side communities to ensure open, public space as the City redevelops the East River Waterfront. I am learning how a local non-profit organization organizes within a specific community. I seek to answer the following questions:

• What is community organizing and how is it effective?
• What is the significance of allying with other community organizations working on similar issues but different demographics?
• How is weekly outreach a tool for CAAAV and how effective is it in promoting the organization and its goals? What is the role of outreach in CAAAV's work?
• How does CAAAV train and effectively use youth in its work?
• What are CAAAV's political and social goals?
• In what ways do CAAAV's initiatives address the social myth of the
  "model minority"?
• How is CAAAV's work a part of post-civil rights movement activism?
• What is social activism?
  

Matthew Sanfilippo
LGS Junior
Hispanic Counseling Center/LGS Community Computer Coverage Initiative
Download Matthew's internship presentation (PDF 1MB)

I will be teaching classes at the Hispanic Counseling Center in Hempstead twice a week as a two credit internship.  The students will learn how to create a resume for themselves, and then learn how to make websites using HTML code. Creating lesson plans, is a lengthy process, so I will be spending about 3 hours a week outside HCC creating assignments and tutorials to introduce them to different HTML codes and start them on small projects. Read more...

Michelle Consorte
LGS Freshman
Leadership Training Institute
Download Michelle's internship presentation (PDF 3MB)

During the spring 2009 Semester I will be interning at the Leadership Training Institute in Nassau County. My internship is centered on the education of juvenile delinquents both during detention and after release from detention centers. My job is to assist these children in completing their education in a nontraditional setting. I will work with children both in and out of detention centers. Because I am an English major, I will be helping the children with the annual oratorical contest hosted by the Nassau County Juvenile Detention Center, as well as introducing literature which is appropriate for the wide age range of children in the center. Those who have been released from detention centers will be entering an alternative education program called "Pathways" in which they will aim to complete a high school diploma or other educational certification. I will be working on a project throughout my internship that incorporates secure and non-secure detention centers, as well as alternative education programs like "Pathways".

Some questions that I hope my internship will answer are:

• How does the juvenile justice system work?
• How is it different from the adult justice system?
• What unique methods must be used when teaching in a detention center, especially considering the broad age range?
• What exactly is "alternative education," i.e. "Pathways"?
• How have the rates of incarcerated children changed over time and what were the reasons for this change? What trends are visible?
• What percentage of children who go through alternate education (in or out of a detention center) and complete a high school diploma?
• What percentage of these children continue into higher education, i.e. college or vocational training?
• What percentage of children who are released stay out of prison?

Devany Dawson
LGS Freshman
Harlem Children Zone Elementary School
Download Devany's internship presentation (PDF 4.2MB)

My internship is with the Harlem Children Zone elementary school. The Harlem Children Zone (HCZ) schools are charter schools that begun in 1970 with Rheedlen, working with young children and their families as apart of the city's first truancy prevention program. As time has developed so has the school. Especially in the environment of Harlem where there has been a breakout of crime and drugs, the HCZ centers have adopted an open door policy to the community to help in any way possible. Offering community services, activities on the nights, weekends, and summers, the schools serve as more than just a place for education. In 2007 the program served 7,400 children and 4,100 adults. I will be working with the only school psychologist for the three schools in this particular area. One of her responsibilities is to assess the students using testing to find better ways for learning. I hope to follow her in her counseling work with students and learn about the role and effectiveness of psychological, mentoring and coaching services offered to the children in HCZ schools. The questions that my internship will try to address include:

• What will make this charter school more effective than regular public schools?
• How can the environment in school promote the desire for success?
• What role does the school play in the children's lives?
• How can the programs in school have the most effect on the children?
• What services can we give to the students to ensure that they get the best chance to succeed?

Paige Hall
LGS freshman
Planned Parenthood of Nassau County
Download Paige's internship presentation (PDF 92KB)

During my internship at Planned Parenthood I will be working with the public affairs department in order to spread Planned Parenthood’s mission statement to those on Adelphi’s campus.  We are working as a team in order to help our fellow students understand what Planned Parenthood really does.  There are many misconceptions about the organization and we hope to really give useful information and help for young adults in regards to their sexual/reproductive health. Most of this work will be done by walking around campus handing out PPNC information,  setting up information stands outside of the UC, and planning one large event to educate the Adelphi community.  On the other side of my internship I am hoping to work in the office with my supervisor Candis Tolliver in order to gain experience in a business setting. I have so far helped Candis with mailing out letters to New York Senators, Assembly members, and even President Obama.  I look forward to accomplishing many things with Planned Parenthood and educating more people about how to live healthy and constructive lives. While interning with PPNC  I am hoping to gain even more planning and execution experience.  By planning a large event to spread sexual awareness at Adelphi University I hope to understand more about how to market the event to people’s interests and learn how to put a plan to action. The questions that my internship will hopefully offer the answers to are:

• How can I market my ideas and the real mission statement on Planned Parenthood to my fellow students/peers?
• How can I encourage people to be open minded in regards to Planned Parenthood?
• What is the best way to promote my beliefs and ideas and persuasively share them with others?
• How can I plan and organize public events successfully and thoroughly?
• How can I increase my network?
• What are the best ways to work with a group in order to inspire and motivate others about a certain interest/value of my own?
• How to cope with stress and manage time while planning time comprehensive events?
• How to specialize each individual's work when working with a group/team in order to make the best of a project?
• What are my strengths?
• What are my weaknesses?
• How can I increase my leadership skills?

John Campana
LGS freshman
Food and Water Watch Organization

The Food and Water Organization is in the process of combating the privatization of water and the water crisis. This is due to the fact that water has no longer being considered a free resource and has been privatized into a "blue gold". Many foreign companies have begun to buy local communities water system and promised to better there water supply, yet the private water companies have all raised the prices for local communities. This in turn leads to the privatizations of a natural resource that should be available to all, rather than a person that can afford it. Furthermore bottled companies are the emblem of the privatization of water, and convinced people that bottled water is much safer than that of tap water. In fact most local tap water has more stringent rules placed upon them compared to that of  bottled water. Furthermore the pumping stations that are used in order to create bottled water have damaged many ecosystems in various states such as Michigan. This is not only an American issue this is a global issue that can be clearly seen with Bolivia that had there water privatized to the fact that the peoples were not allowed to access potable water unless they had enough money to pay for it. The purpose of this internship is to establish the truths that are not revealed by the bottled water companies of their products as well as to help better understand the water crisis. The questions that my internship will try to address include:

• What can Adelphi due to acknowledge the water crisis that is a mere twenty five years away? Can Adelphi be able to ban the sale of bottled water upon its campus? Is there a way for Adelphi to join a campaign to safe water?
• Can Adelphi be able to provide clean water that is of the same quality as or much better to that of bottled water?
• Can Adelphi as an NGO help educate those on the water crisis by having a education panel? And if so, how can this education be done?