Summer 2020

Liberty Partnerships Program 1220 Coffeen St. Watertown, N.Y. 13601 Summer 2020 Edition

Online Connections Proving a Useful Boon Due to COVID-19, colleges and school districts across the country were put on pause and told to “stay home and stay safe� to avoid spreading the virus. That, however, did not stop the Liberty Partnerships Program from reaching out to our students. Meetings through the online video-chat program Zoom were held at regular times for Wiley Elementary, Case Middle School and Watertown High School students. Many of them took the time to drop in and visit, do homework and keep us up to date on how things were going. Below is a picture from one of our Zoom meetings.

(Top row: Miss Schenck, Mr. Parody. Bottom row: Atheana Hodkinson (WHS student) and Mrs. Essex.)

Mission: Lunch Liberty Delivers Pizza to Students, Families Any way you slice it, this year brought unique circumstances, to say the least.

But Liberty Partnerships rose to the occasion and reached out to our families with ...pizza. Mr. Parody, Miss Schenck, Mrs. Free and Mrs. Essex roamed the city dropping off pizzas, visiting with students and catching up with their progress.

( Avery Elliott ,who will be a 9th grader this fall at WHS, was one of the students receiving pizza from Liberty.)

In Other News...

Liberty Bids Pair Our Fond Farewells

Cassie Free

This year the Liberty staff said “hello and welcome aboard” to Mrs. Cassie Free. She served as mentor with our Wiley students.

When schools went on “pause” she set up Zoom meetings for the 5th and 6th graders. It is with deep regret we had to say farewell to her. We were happy that she was able to deliver pizzas with us and say goodbye to her students. She was a real asset to this program, and she will be deeply missed by staff and students alike.

We wish her and her husband (who will be attending Harvard) much success for the future.

This past school year we also said farewell Genisis to Genisis Balico-Hohn. Many students may Balico- remember her as the mentor at Watertown Hohn High School. She joined the Liberty staff in February 2019. This past fall she and her husband relocated to Texas. Although she was with us but for a brief time, she made a significant impact on everyone who had the privilege to work with her.

Looking Ahead Even with the COVID pandemic all around, there are many programs in which our Liberty students are taking part this summer. Below are a few of them:

EPIC In July, students from Wiley and Case are taking part in our summer EPIC program. Every summer, LPP teams up with the YMCA and offers a free, four-week summer day camp program with transportation, meals (breakfast and

lunch ) included. In the past students have participated in many fun and challenging activities. They have included teamwork building, problem solving, healthy cooking, physical fitness (swimming) and many more projects. This year, Liberty and the YMCA were excited to be able to announce that EPIC will take place real-time; with modifications to meet the necessary COVID safety guidelines. We know it is going to be an exciting time.

Liberty Partnerships Internship For the third summer in a row, Liberty students have the opportunity to take part in a paid internship program.

This is available in conjunction with the YMCA. Participants work with various companies in the area, while learning about the workforce and gaining experience for future careers. Mrs. Schreene Babcock will once again be leading the seminar and group meetings and has a slate of interesting guest speakers lined up for our interns.

This summer will look a little different, however, as the work hours and group meetings will be done with Zoom.

Even so, students who have done the internship program in the past, as well as the new interns this summer, are eager to get started.

Liberty Students Take Part in JCC Online Psychology Class This summer, once again, some of our Liberty students are getting a jump-start into college by taking Psychology 120 through Jefferson Community College. This class offers them opportunity to work toward earning three college credits toward their degree. The class this year will be completed online.

Congratulations to Liberty Students in the Watertown High School Class of 2020 The following Liberty Partnerships students recently graduated from Watertown High School: Shaun Albino Brianna Chest Savannah Largett Alyson McKinney Hunter Oxendine Gunish Sudera Heather Thompson

Molly Ard Angela Collins Adam Marcinko Avery Merryman Ting Tin Pan Bryanna Sutton Anastasia Towsley

Juliana Bare-Lowe Madalyn Herron Jada Martin Vanessa Montgomery Adriana Pfister MaKenzie Sweet Lonnie Weaver

Reminder: The Liberty Partnerships Program of Jefferson Community College is a student success program funded by a grant from the New York State Department of Education. The program is a partnership between JCC, the Watertown City School District and multiple community agencies including the YMCA and Cornell Cooperative Extension. The Liberty Partnerships Program (LPP) is founded on the belief that students will achieve academic success and lead productive lives as adults if they are provided with support, encouragement, information and effective interventions. The LPP is designed to promote collaboration among post-secondary institutions, community organizations, school districts, businesses and industries, parents and volunteers. SUNY Jefferson's LPP fosters innovative support programs which help Watertown City School District students achieve their full potential and pursue appropriate post-secondary education or employment. We are available to work with Liberty students who are taking summer school classes. Meeting times will be Monday to Thursday, 2:30 to 3:30 p.m. for 7th graders and Monday to Thursday 3:30 to 4:30 p.m. for 8th graders. High school tutoring is available by appointment. If you have any questions, please contact Mrs. Essex at kessex@watertowncsd.org, Miss Schenck at eschenck@watertowncsd.org or Mr. Parody at tparody@watertowncsd.org If you have any news you would like included in our fall newsletter, please send it to Mrs. Essex at kessex@watercsd.org

Our Address: SUNY JEFFERSON ATTN: LIBERTY PARTNERSHIPS PROGRAM 1220 Coffeen St. Watertown, N.Y. 13601

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