Teach the children well
Playing and working well with others is critical to children’s growth and learning. So concluded two seniors who completed their Jepson School internships working with children in vastly different settings: Matt Rooney as a lead instructor in a summer school program for high-need middle school students in Denver and Ellie Grabow as a head counselor at a summer camp in the foothills of the Catskill Mountains.
Rooney came to University of Richmond thinking he would pursue a legal career, but changed his plans after taking several leadership studies classes where he learned about education inequities.
“These classes taught me to think outside the box — or even destroy the box,” said the leadership studies and history major. “I decided that if I could be part of the process of making education more equitable, I’d like to get started.”
This summer, he interned with Generation Teach, a nonprofit that recruits and trains diverse cohorts of aspiring teachers to work in high-need schools. He taught at a Denver middle school, working with 18 eighth graders to improve their reading, writing, and math. The supportive community created by Generation Teach, including daily check-ins with his mentor and his cohort of 40 teachers-in-training, proved invaluable, he said.
Even so, it was hardly a cake walk. Rooney said one student proved particularly challenging in his use of negative language, including racial slurs and jokes.
“Improving my students’ social-emotional skills, the way they talked to each other and to their teachers was very important,” he said. “I realized that while I might not be everyone’s favorite teacher, I would do my best to give them what they needed to succeed.”
Grabow faced her own set of challenges as a head counselor at Camp Echo, her family’s summer camp for boys and girls ages seven to 15. She grew up spending summers at the camp, located 90 minutes from New York City on 200 acres of rolling hills. For the last few years, she has worked at Camp Echo in roles of increasing responsibility.
As a head counselor, she oversaw 150 girl campers and 50 staff members this summer. Her days started at 7 a.m. and ended at midnight, with only four days off in nine weeks.
“As the youngest person to serve as a head counselor, I learned to balance my friendships with staff with getting tasks done,” said the leadership studies and health studies major. “Camp Echo has all the facilities any kid could want — a zip line, private lake, pizza oven — but what makes it special is the community, the people. It is so rewarding to see the kids’ growth.”
That growth comes in the form of the children’s social-emotional development, something Grabow attributes to the camp’s technology ban and the guidance of trained staff.
“Without access to their cellphones, campers learn to speak to each other and resolve conflicts,” she said. “They form deep friendships. Most come from busy towns and cities and love spending time in nature. It’s a very tranquil setting, except,” she added with a laugh, “when all the kids are dancing and screaming!”
Both Grabow and Rooney graduate this month, a semester early. Grabow has lined up an internship in the human resources department of a technology company, but come summer, she will be back at Camp Echo. Afterwards, she said she will look for a job working with children.
Starting in January, Rooney will be a long-term substitute, teaching AP government and honors history at Glen Allen High School, his alma mater, located just north of Richmond. Next, he plans to get a master’s degree in education, become a full-time high school history and government teacher, and work to ensure more students receive the kind of quality education he received.
“I wish everyone could have a University of Richmond education,” he said.