Each One, Teach One: A methodological approach for national disaster school response

Abstract

Background Hamline University, a medium sized college in St. Paul Minnesota, dedicated resources and time to New Orleans, Louisiana in its efforts to rebuild and reclaim the city. Days after Hurricane Katrina hit, Hamline sent students, faculty and staff to help with recovery efforts. The Education Club adopted Martin Luther King Science and Technology school (MLK) soon after to help in cleaning and rebuilding the school and sent over $20,000.00 in books, supplies, merchandise gift cards, food and water to help with this effort. Still fueled by the great need in New Orleans for assistance, the group's leader Dr. Jean Strait worked with Traveler's Insurance Company and received a grant of $30,000 to start an online tutoring and mentoring program that would be staffed by Hamline University and Avalon High School students in St. Paul. Students traveled to New Orleans in March of 2008 to meet their MLK student mentees, help with self-esteem programming, and create relationships of trust and respect with the mentees. The first phase of the project ended in June of 2008. Hamline Students who were part of the initial trip accompanied Dr. Strait and Dr. Rob Shumer (University of Minnesota) to New Orleans in July of 2008, continuing to volunteer their services in the clean-up and remodeling of the Depot House, a historic landmark in the warehouse district on O'Keefe Avenue. According to a report compiled by the Cowen Institute for Public Education Initiatives in 2008, a post-Katrina school system is vastly different from the previous public system. Changes include:

1:1 online tuition: a review of the literature from a pedagogical perspective

“…However, taken as a whole, empowerment was less likely to be associated with one‐to‐one tuition than other forms of online and blended learning (e.g. Condie & Livingston 2007; Strait & Jones 2009).…”

“…This has been reinforced outside the core studies by Strait and Jones (2009) and Whitney (2007), who found that most of the literature around the use of technology in literacy focused on the development of cognitive processes among students, rather than on engagement or motivation. It should also be noted that Barker (2002) and others' claim that teachers need to develop such technical skills more than students who may have honed their digital habits outside of formal education has been echoed by other research into technology-based learning (e.g.…”

T-shirts For College Bound Students: A School-University Service-Learning Project

“…Strait suggests finding ways for community partners to contact the instructor or person in charge of the project. The budget for a project is another important aspect, which takes extensive planning (Strait & Jones, 2009). The budget proposal for any project should be very detailed and specific.…”

School Counselors’ Experiences and Responses During the South Carolina “1,000-Year Flood”

“…To respond effectively, school counselors must have a broad range of knowledge about community resources available to aid in disaster response (Razi & DeChillo, 2005). Partnerships with community resources were found to be essential in crisis response within schools after Hurricane Katrina (Strait & Jones, 2009). Many communities have well-established entities, such as faith-based, recreational, and social organizations, that can be beneficial partners for school counselors to access needed resources for their students following a disaster (West-Olantunji & Goodman, 2011).…”

“…Many communities have well-established entities, such as faith-based, recreational, and social organizations, that can be beneficial partners for school counselors to access needed resources for their students following a disaster (West-Olantunji & Goodman, 2011). Strait and Jones (2009) also asserted that communities have the ability to experience resilience and a sense of hope in moving forward when coming together in resourceful ways to meet each other’s needs after a disaster.…”