2006 Annual Report

After years of conceptualizing and months of planning, Trinity University and Mark Twain Middle School launched their partnership in 2005-2006. This partnership is an informal arrangement and is in addition to more formal links between the Trinity Education department and other ongoing relationships between the Biology Department and the staff at Mark Twain.

This has been a wonderful year in which the creativity, energy, and spirit of caring and serving by the faculty, staff, and students has been overwhelming. We learned a lot, have plans for improvements, and are on our way to a longstanding service program.

-         Invite a member of the committee to a department meeting to discuss ways to get involved.
 

-         Think Twain. Got extra supplies and equipment? Think Twain. Have students who can serve our neighbors by tutoring, teaching, and mentoring? Think Twain.
 

-         Parents are among our constituents. Can you present on adolescent development, nutrition, budgeting? Many are Spanish speaking. Do you speak Spanish? Please consider sharing your knowledge.
 

-         Review the attached abstract of programs that faculty and staff proposed this year. Please consider other ideas for new ones to add to this menu.
 

-         Contact David Tuttle, Dean of Students Office, on behalf of the committee with any questions or ideas. The committee will work with a contact at the school to get you connected.
 

-     Join our committee. Contact David Tuttle at dtuttle@trinity.edu or call x8844.

While Trinity University is involved in the community in several ways: hosting distinguished lectures open to the public, participating in the Fiesta parade, sending students into the community through student volunteer programs, and more, this partnership was established as a structured community service program for faculty, staff, and students. As a good neighbor it is important for Trinity community members to help those with fewer resources and support. It is our responsibility as a local University to do work in the San Antonio community. It is our privilege as individuals to do volunteer work on behalf of the University.

It is important to the University community that this partnership is meaningful, on-going, practical, and connects with our educational mission.

There are so many people that made outstanding contributions to the partnership this year, among them:
 

  Yvonne Hinojosa, Career Services, for spending countless hours coordinating volunteers and organizing the web page.
 

  Christine Drennon, Sociology and Anthropology, for her tireless work with the AVID program and for involving her students in developing an ethnography of the neighborhood.
 

  Latino Exchange, for their work on Saturday Schools and for connecting in a special way with the students at Mark Twain.

  John Donahue, Sociology and Anthropology for “Spreading the World,” tours, and the neighborhood ethnography.
 

  Mary Anthony, Public Relations, for programs on diet and portion control.
 

  Nipoli Kamdar, Economics, and students for Economists in the School.
 

  Jerry Alexander, Twyla Hough and the Career Services staff for the Texas Scholars program.
 

  Ankita Rakhe, Campus & Community Involvement, for a program on leadership and communication.
 

  Karly Brockett and Admissions, for programs on college preparation.
 

  Katie DePonty, Admissions, for the sixth grade field trip.
 

  Paul Kelleher and the Education Department for identifying the school for our partnership and for coordinating sample classes with Trinity faculty.
 

  Scott Baird, English and students for English as a Second Language.
 

  Pat Norman for her many connections to the program and contributions as a member of the committee.
 

•      Getting the people from the Mark Twain community physically on campus during evenings and weekends proved to be difficult. The KRTU staff and Drama departments offered some clever on campus programs that did not draw heavily, but may be excellent options in the future.
 

•   Tutoring coordination.
 

•   Criminal background check forms. 

   • Development of a Blackboard page on the portal.
   • Updates to the web page.
   • Re-conceptualization of the student volunteer program. The hours that were available were not convenient to students and the
        volunteer numbers were far lower than initially planned. In 2006-2007 the tutoring hours will be 3:30 to 5:00 p.m. throughout the
        week. (This year hours corresponded with class times at the Middle School.) 

The students at Mark Twain fell short of their goal on the TAKS tests. With a strong tutoring program we can help make a difference for the students who are struggling in science, reading, and math.

Angela Breidenstein, Associate Professor of Education
 

Richard Butler, Professor of Economics
 

John Donahue, Professor of Sociology & Anthropology
 

Tucker Gibson, Professor/Chair of Political Science
 

Jorge Gonzalez, Professor of Economics
 

Arturo Madrid, Murchison Distinguished Professor of Modern Languages & Literatures
 

Char Miller, Professor/Chair of History and Director of Urban Studies

Beth Angell, Student
 

Karly Brockett, Admissions
 

Richard Butler, Economics
 

Christine Drennon, Sociology & Anthropology
 

Lin Fisher, Residential Life
 

Elva Hernandez, Mail Center Manager
 

Vanessa Hernandez, Student
 

Yvonne Hinojosa, Career Services
 

Pat Norman, Education
 

Rachel Ortega-Gonzalez, Counseling Services

Ankita Rakhe, Campus & Community Involvement
 

Rosie Salinas, Computer Science
 

Katie Storey, Residential Life
 

David Tuttle, Dean of Students/Residential Life