2024-2025 Zankel Projects

Sponsor: Dr. Aparna Anand

Department: Education Policy & Social Analysis 

Fellowship Site: P.S. 075, Emily Dickinson

Number of Fellows: 1

Project Description: The Zankel fellow will play a crucial role in supporting the instructional needs of English Language Learners (ELL) children through an intervention project called "What I need" (WIN) at P.S.75 Emily Dickinson, a District 3 elementary public school in New York City. With a total enrollment of 464 students in grades K-5, the school faces the challenge of effectively addressing the needs of its diverse student population, mainly due to the increasing number of immigrant children. To address the diverse needs of its student population, the school introduced the WIN program, a whole-school intervention plan aimed at supporting students academically in areas where they require the most assistance. This program involves grouping students below grade level in phonics, reading, and writing into small groups. These groups receive targeted reading intervention using Orton-Gillingham programs (SPIRE and Sound Sensible), with progress monitored bi-monthly to ensure effective support. The Zankel fellow will support the WIN program by offering instructional assistance during WIN periods. With the ongoing challenges ELL students face, particularly those at the entering level who require additional instruction, the fellow's role becomes instrumental in bridging the gap between student needs and available resources. The fellow will collaborate with teachers to deliver targeted instruction, ensuring that ELL students receive the necessary support to thrive academically.

Skills Sought:  The Zankel Fellow should express a passion for working with elementary school children from marginalized communities and work collaboratively with the teachers. The Fellow should be able to promote an inclusive and welcoming learning environment and be fluent in written and spoken Spanish. Skills in phonics and sounds would be an asset.

Sponsor: Dr. Limarys Caraballo

Department: Arts & Humanities; Curriculum & Teaching

Fellowship Sites: CUNY Queens College,  College Now and all of its partner high schools.

Number of Fellows: 2

Project Description: The "Students and Teachers as Critical Researchers" project engages high school youth in critical social research methods via an afterschool program, Cyphers for Justice (CFJ). The fall cohort is part of the CUNY College Now program, while the spring cohort is at TC. In this program, diverse groups of students from public schools throughout NYC will improve their critical literacy skills while learning critical social theory and qualitative research methods as they design and implement their projects. 

The Zankel Fellow will also learn about youth participatory action research methods, co-plan and co-implement lessons and activities in the afterschool seminar, help students with their projects, comment on students' work, collect data, transcribe interviews and class audio recordings, take field notes, and analyze data. While collaborating on various research projects, the high school students and Fellows, along with the faculty supervisor (Dr. Limarys Caraballo) and program coordinator (Ms. Mijin Yeom, TC Alum), will examine how youth can deepen their engagement in critical action research. 

Fellows will gain educational experience in urban learning settings in more traditional classrooms during the fall seminar and in an afterschool context at IUME. They will also learn about and practice conducting research for social action. Interested students will have ample opportunities to engage in further research and publication beyond their Fellowship term.

Skills Sought: Because the Fellow would be working with youth as well as other adult allies, it is essential that they be interested in and engaged with youth. Have prior experience working with adolescents, be interested in literacy and inquiry, and be familiar with popular youth culture and some aspects of the arts and multimodality (such as interest in poetry, archiving, podcasting, film, etc.). Some teaching experience would be preferred.

Sponsor: Dr. Cristina Compton

Department: Arts & Humanities, CPET (Center for the Professional Education of Teachers)

Fellowship Site: Our projects take place primarily in K-12, NYC public schools throughout the City. Our partnership sites for next year include Morris Academy for Collaborative Studies, Westchester Square Academy, Bronx High School of Business, Fordham Leadership Academy, Global Learning Collaborative, Brownsville Academy High School, and East River Academy. 

Number of Fellows: 5

Project Description: The CPET at Teachers College, Columbia University, offers equal and high-quality education to all. Our Zankel Fellowship Projects provide in-person engagement with students, including the Student Press Initiative (SPI). We're exploring ways to create an online coaching experience that provides a stronger connection between Zankel Fellows and students. Zankel Fellows collaborate with experienced coaches and teaching artists to gain effective teaching practices. The Zankel opportunity directly impacts K-12 education through project-based learning. It's valuable for teachers' college graduates and allows them to apply their coursework in real-world classrooms and contribute to CPET resources.

Skills Sought: We seek candidates with strong organizational, interpersonal, and communication skills who desire to work directly with youth and their teachers. Ideally, Zankel fellows have a minimum of at least two years of K12 teaching experience. Background knowledge in teaching reading, writing, and/or performance is valued. Proficiency in Microsoft Office, Google Suite, and multimedia platforms is essential, although CPET can offer support to reach these proficiencies.

Sponsor: Dr. Regina Cortina

Department: International & Transcultural Studies; International and Comparative Education

Fellowship Site: ELLIS Prep

Number of Fellows: 2

Project Description: The Fellows will assist in and outside high school classrooms. The Fellows provide teacher and student support one day a week during class and sometimes at lunch or after school.. In class, they help students make sense of the assignments and engage students to think creatively about concepts in applicable and exploratory ways. Often, they prepare homework help and test study sessions during the lunch period to provide extra support to students, focusing on literacy supports that will help them on their portfolio projects and, in turn, to develop skills necessary for post-secondary studies. The goal is to scaffold students into academic competencies, while simultaneously building upon their English language growth and proficiency. Through this Fellowship, students will cultivate strong relationships with the high school students and teachers at the site. 

Skills Sought: The Fellows will need to have the skills to provide personalized attention, college counseling and instructional collaboration.

Sponsor: Dr. Ansley Erickson

Department: Arts & Humanities; Education Policy & Social Analysis

Fellowship Site: Wadleigh Secondary School for the Performing and Visual Arts

Number of Fellows: 2

Project Description: Youth Historians in Harlem is one aspect of the Harlem Education History Project, a project of the Center on History and Education and the Institute for Urban and Minority Education. Youth Historians has been working since 2012 in a variety of capacities at multiple school sites in Harlem: Frederick Douglass Academy 2, Wadleigh Secondary School, Central Park East High School, and Columbia Secondary School. These schools serve students from the immediate Harlem community and other parts of New York City. The project engages high-school-age youth in learning about the history of their local community. Over the life of the program, we have worked in small groups, after-school settings, summer institutes, and school-day co-teaching partnerships. Since 2019-20, the project has created semester-long courses to meet the existing NYS requirement for civics/”Participation in Government” through an intensive focus on the history of education and Black and Latinx educational activism in Harlem. Zankel Fellows also partners with teachers in US history and global literature courses. Beginning in 2023, they also draw on the primary-source-based curriculum resources created by the Center on History and Education’s New York City Civil Rights History Project. Zankel Fellows on the project have come from programs in History and Education (A&H), Social Studies Education (A&H), Politics and Education (EPSA), Sociology and Education (EPSA), Anthropology and Education (ICT), Counseling Psychology (CCP), and Curriculum and Teaching (C&T). For Fellows who are future historians, the program offers a unique perspective on historical research in more public and participatory forms. For Fellows who are future teachers or teacher educators, the program provides experience engaging students in local historical research and considering the implications of local history and community history for future work as a teacher.

Skills Sought: Fellows must have skills in classroom leadership, individual and small-group work with students, and the ability to work collaboratively with teaching partners to design a history-focused curriculum. The program depends upon fellows either already possessing or being willing to gain knowledge of the history of Harlem and its educational history.

Sponsor: Ms. Jamila Gerald

Department: Raising Educational Achievement Coalition of Harlem (REACH)

Fellowship Sites: 03M154 (PS 154); 03M036 (PS 36); 03M860 (Frederick Douglass Academy II)

Number of Fellows: 6

Project Description: Fellows will support the expanded learning opportunity (ELO) programs by pushing into classrooms and/or leading afterschool clubs. Historically, their clubs include, but not limited to, yoga, nutrition, dance, literary magazine, photography storytelling, social justice, debate, and book clubs.

Skills Sought: Reliability, flexibility, ability to share their passion in a creative way for students to be able to receive the information, experience working with children, having hours available to work form 8:30AM - 2:20 PM, with some flexibility for afterschool hours (3:00PM - 5:00PM); mentality of "serving" not "saving" a community.

Sponsor: Dr. Jeanne Goffi-Fynn

Department: Arts & Humanities

Fellowship Site: At TC, but working with M485 (LaGuardia), M362 (Columbia Secondary), M245 (The Computer School)

Number of Fellows: 1

Project Description: In the Singers' Workshops: Finding Our Voices, the Fellow's responsibilities involve planning the curriculum, helping to organize participants, and co-leading biweekly sessions for both ensembles and additional individual or small group sessions. In the fall, these sessions are focused on helping those applying to the performing arts high schools (The Process of Performance), but all are invited who wish to develop confidence in this area. In the spring, we lead sections of Music Theater to engage the learner in the arts, including poetry, storytelling, rap, and other singing styles. Additional groups we currently lead include "Jazz and Gospel Singing" and "TBB'ers – For those singing in the Tenor-Baritone-Bass range and open to all who identify with the lower ranges." Additionally, we encourage conversations on challenging topics and ways the arts can support these topics. Two examples from our recent past include "Hamilton," which involves a diverse cast and history, and "Dear Evan Hansen," which addresses mental health issues in young people. We connect a diverse approach to musical selections and involve our students in the creative process. We strive for modeling from a wide range of professionals in the field for performance classes and special events. We also bring a more advanced group to Carnegie Hall to join the Cecelia Chorus twice yearly, often in new works. 2022-23, we performed "Neither Separated, Nor Undone" by Derrick Skye and "The Brown King" by Margaret Bonds. This fall (2023), we joined in "Dona Nobis" by Ralph Vaughn Williams, and this term (spring 2024), we are joining in a piece by jazz composer Cyrus Chestnut in "Power in the Blood."

Our programs assist all singers in preparation for a musical journey, including vocal development and musicianship, while developing confidence within an inclusive and supportive environment. We also have community events to share our voices; for example, in April 2024, with Concerts in Motion, we will meet with senior adults and share our songs. Above all, we work collaboratively to encourage expression in music and the spoken word in our young people. We address identity and choice in our music.

Our current work involves multiple schools that send students to this program, including LaGuardia HS, Columbia Secondary, and The Computer School, and we will expand this opportunity to others in the middle and high school years. A Zankel Fellow will provide leadership and opportunity for an interdisciplinary approach to the arts and growth and confidence for our youth in NYC.

Skills Sought: The fellow will have the ability to facilitate learning in a positive environment, with musical skills across different genres or styles.

Sponsor: Dr. David Hansen

Department: Arts & Humanities | Philosophy and Education

Fellowship Site: La Scuola D'Italia

Number of Fellows: 1

Project Description:  The individual selected for this position will be pivotal in fostering proficiency in Latin and English literacy and language arts within a bilingual International Baccalaureate (IB) school setting. The fellow will dedicate 7 to 8 hours weekly to engage students in comprehensive language learning experiences customized to IB curriculum standards. This involves teaching linguistic skills and fostering a deep appreciation for the cultural contexts of both languages.

Skills Sought: Knowledge of pedagogy in literacy and language arts combined with a background in philosophy of language and mind.

Sponsor: Dr. David Hansen

Department: Arts & Humanities | Philosophy and Education

Fellowship Site: City-As-School High School (M560)

Number of Fellows: 1

Project Description: The Fellow will collaborate with students participating in internships as a regular component of the school's curriculum. He/she/they will primarily focus on supporting students' literacy and communicative skills, particularly their ability to engage in productive dialogue with adults and peers. Drawing from approaches developed in our Philosophy and Education program, the fellow will emphasize the arts of interpretive reading, active listening, effective explanation, probing questioning, and the associated skills of patience and persistence.

This pedagogical approach will be implemented onsite at the school, with a schedule coordinated in conjunction with cooperating teachers. Additionally, the fellow will regularly accompany students to their internship sites, serving as a supportive observer as students undertake their internship responsibilities. Following each accompaniment, the fellow will engage in debriefing sessions with individual students to discuss their experiences and reflect on communication dynamics and expressiveness.

Furthermore, the fellow will collaborate with students to craft concise reflection pieces on their internship experiences, aiming to enhance their overall literacy skills.

Skills Sought:  The Fellow must have outstanding communicative skills, a strong background in conceptions and practices of literacy, and will have both studied and enacted approaches to dialogical learning in educational settings. The latter will require a demonstrated philosophical background on the fundamental meanings of dialogue and communication.

Sponsor: Dr. Maria Hartman

Department: Health Studies & Applied Educational Psychology; Deaf and Hard of Hearing

Fellowship Site: NYCDOE Schools - PS 133 (Bronx), Chelsea Prep (NYC)

Number of Fellows: 2

Project Description: The Zankel Fellows assigned to this project will work within the classroom as a tutor/mentor to individual students, who are in need of support in language/literacy skills. In addition to supporting the classroom teacher during the school day and working closely with students individually, the Fellow will collaborate with the children’s teachers, speech language therapists and audiologists in order to discuss and incorporate teaching strategies that support deaf children using either Spoken English or American Sign Language. Intervention will be centered on the use of specific children’s literature to support enthusiasm for reading and exposure to texts that are representative of the children’s cultural background. Texts with characters with hearing loss will also be highlighted to encourage positive self-identity and self- advocacy.

Skills Sought: Knowledge of American Sign Language, knowledge of deafness, knowledge of teaching literacy to special needs children.

Sponsor: Dr. Laudan Jahromi 

Department: Health Studies & Applied Educational Psychology; Program in Intellectual Disability/Autism

Fellowship Site: Association to Benefit Children (ABC) Graham School at Echo Park

Number of Fellows: 1

Project Description: Fellow will work directly with children in the early-childhood program or after-school program setting providing academic instruction/tutoring. Fellow will continue to develop a Youth Leadership Council program using a Community Based Participatory framework to facilitate the empowerment of youth in the development of meaningful experiential learning activities of their choosing that would promote positive social skills, leadership skills, and research/critical thinking skills. Finally, based on their knowledge and skills in the areas of child development and special education, the fellows will be involved with providing professional development workshops and training to support after-school staff in the use of effective strategies when working with youth with special needs, develop materials, and model strategies that can inform the staff about the support needs for autistic youth and those with other developmental disabilities.

Skills Sought: Fellow will benefit from having experience supporting students with disabilities. Moreover, Fellow should have a strong interest working with culturally diverse children and their families.

Sponsor: Dr. Richard Jochum 

Department: Arts & Humanities

Fellowship Site: Teachers College Community School, PS 517

Number of Fellows: 2

Project Description: The Fellows will teach classes in technology-infused art education at Teachers College Community School (TCCS). The curriculum will allow kids to engage in collaborative making projects including but not limited to digital storytelling (stop-motion animation), 3D modeling and VR, physical computing (with Makey-Makeys, electronic circuits, and crafts material), and creative coding (with building blocks such as Scratch). The program will enable pupils to personalize and integrate what they have learned in their classes and engage in hands-on explorations, collaboration, creative inquiry, and play. It will help them to approach technologies as creators, not consumers while activating rich connections between art, technology, and education. Students will be introduced to various applications and digital tools using traditional art-making materials. This blend of digital and analog processes promotes cross-disciplinary thinking and collective problem-solving in a playful and expressive way.

Skills Sought: The students are expected to have completed the first year of the Creative Technologies curriculum, which teaches basic skills in digital storytelling, creative coding, physical computing, and digital fabrication, or to possess significant teaching experience with creative technologies. They must demonstrate excellence in communication, be reflective practitioners, and deeply care for communities, students, and learning. Our program offers a unique opportunity for pre-service teachers to collaborate genuinely with their students, putting dialogical and democratic theories of education into practice. Instructors will thoughtfully facilitate student-led projects while also integrating their creative practices into the work being produced.

Sponsor: Drs. Pamela Ann Koch & Laura Azzarito 

Department: Health Studies & Applied Educational Psychology/Arts & Humanities

Fellowship Site: Columbia Secondary School (CSS)

Number of Fellows: 4

Project Description: Each Zankel fellow will be dedicated to one of the following: nutrition, science, spirituality, or communication/technology. The Nutrition Zankel Fellow works with and for students at CSS to construct high schoolers as “chefs” and “empowering consumers,” creating “cooking classrooms” in which students connect, problematize, make meanings, and create relations involving food, identity, tradition, nutrition, and agriculture for sustainability transformation. The Science Fellow uses an embodied approach to foster relationships between soil, seeds, plants, water, green spaces, sun, well-being, nature, and wellness for sustainability transformation. The Spiritual Zankel Fellow engages young people in creative movement (e.g., dancing, nature-based practices, walking), imagining and enacting pedagogical opportunities for students to experience themselves as “spiritual bodies” who become invested in sustainable lifestyle in affirmative, mindful, spiritual, and creative ways. The Communication/Technology Zankel Fellow helps students create, curate, write, craft, express, and represent literacy with imagination.

Skills Sought: Experience in either nutrition/cooking, science, spirituality/movement, or communication/technology. 

Sponsor: Dr. Megan Laverty 

Department: Arts & Humanities

Fellowship Site: The Bronx High School for Law and Community Service

Number of Fellows: 1

Project Description: The Fellow's proposed responsibilities include attending the school one full day a week, observing the cooperating teacher's pedagogy as part of a self-study the teacher is undertaking, assisting the cooperating teacher on occasion with the teaching of English, providing conferences and individualized instruction for some students, and meeting with the cooperating teacher to discuss the value of teaching argumentation. 

Skills Sought: The Zankel Fellow should have teaching experience and keen observational skills. The Zankel Fellow should understand adolescents, the scholarship of argumentation theory, and some of the principles of the teaching of English. Ideally, the Zankel Fellow should be interested in how an academic identity is cultivated through apprenticeship in a discipline. 

Sponsor: Dr. Na Lor

Department: Educational Policy and Social Analysis

Fellowship Site: PS 125, Ralph Bunche School

Number of Fellows: 2

Project Description: Zankel Fellows will provide classroom tutoring for recent newcomers and after school mentoring and programming to build culture and community wealth for all students. Zankel Fellows will facilitate guided activities that (a) demonstrate culturally pluralistic conceptions of what it means to know, repositioning students as agents and co-creators of knowledge; (b) create third spaces for diverse cultural ways of knowing to thrive, inviting students in as co-collaborators in their own learning; and (c) preserve cultural and ethnic identity, revitalizing linguistic and cultural repertoires of knowledge and contributing to the collective restoration and reclamation of culture in educational spaces.

Skills sought: Fellows should be bi/multilingual with an interest in community/cultural praxis and restorative education. Fellows should also possess the skills or aspirations to be youth mentors and the ability to work with others towards designing a culture-based curriculum and implementing culturally revitalizing/sustaining activities.

Sponsor: Dr. Susan Masullo

Department: Health Studies & Applied Educational Psychology

Fellowship Site: READ 718

Number of Fellows: 2

Project Description: The Fellows will provide intervention services in small group and individual sessions to students identified as reading and writing below grade level expectations. These services will be provided at a Brooklyn non-profit after school program. Fellows will receive training from the placement site in strategies and methods that have been shown to be effective for students who have difficulty reading and writing. They will conduct intervention sessions minimum of twice per week in a small group and one-on-one setting. The Fellow will work closely with the site's staff, including attending planning meetings and providing post-session information about students' response to intervention. 

Skills Sought: The Fellow must be committed to working with special readers and writers, want to learn about evidenced based strategies and programs, and develop some basic proficiency to implement them with this population in a professional manner. Prior experience teaching and/or tutoring children in reading and/or writing would add to the applicant's profile. Ideally, the Fellow is expected to extend what they learn from this experience to future career goals working with individuals with literacy needs, including those with learning disability.

Sponsor: Ms. Kelsey Mearman

Department: Office of the President

Fellowship Site: Teachers College Community School, PS 517; Columbia Secondary M362

Number of Fellows: 8

Project Description: Each year, TC provides enriched learning experiences for TCCS students in every grade through the Zankel Fellowship program. Fellows at TCCS will provide school-day support as either the main teacher in the classroom (all music classes), pull-out one-on-one interventions (literacy with 1st-5th graders); or as push-in supports to collaborate and teach with a DOE teacher or to work with students during class time. All fellows work a minimum of 5-8 hours directly teaching TCCS students and 2-5 hours in planning and curriculum development. This year we hope to support Columbia Secondary by providing high school literacy support.  

Skills Sought: 1) At least 3 students who have experience working one-on-one with elementary students in literacy. 2) At least 3-4 students who have taught music to PreK-8 students (general music, violin instruction, choir, and digital music) and/or are studying music education at TC. 3) 1-2 students who have experience in teaching math to work as push-in support for middle school math classes. 4) 1-2 students who have experience in teaching subjects such as middle school Spanish and Science. 5) 1 student who has high school literacy experience to work at Columbia Secondary. Note that the needs listed above are subject to change depending on how the needs of TCCS change by the end of the school year, but in general, the above reflects the skills we are looking for in fellows.

Sponsor: Dr. Mary Mendenhall

Department: International & Transcultural Studies, George Clement Bond Center for African Education

Fellowship Site: The African Services Committee (ASC)

Number of Fellows: 2

Project Description: The Fellows will provide additional English language/literacy instructional support to an existing program at the African Services Committee, which is currently seeing significant demand from newly arrived asylum seekers, many of whom are young adults. They are primarily, but not exclusively, from Africa, currently substantially from West Africa. Additional support would allow the existing program to offer different levels, more frequent meetings to smaller groups, and the possibility of one-to-one support. The Fellows would assume responsibility for a specific group or groups of young adults, preparing, delivering and following up on their sessions. The fellows would be responsible for selecting, adapting or devising appropriate curricula (lesson plans and learning materials), and for assessing participants’ performance for potential reassignment to a higher level group.

Skills Sought: Fellows should be fluent in the English language and comfortable working with young adults. Fellows should be prepared to serve a population that includes young people with multiple complex needs, who may be unhoused, or have trauma from their immigration experiences or other aspects of their lives. Fellows should uphold multicultural values and be interested in learning about their students' lives, interests, etc. Fellows should have strong interpersonal communication skills and be punctual, independent, and reliable. Fellows should be comfortable working during the early evening hours in Harlem. Additional language skills, particularly in French, Arabic, or African languages (particularly Wolof) are welcomed but are not required. Instruction is expected to be provided in English, but additional languages can be valuable in managing logistics and establishing trust with participants.

Sponsor: Dr. Carolyn Riehl

Department: Education Policy & Social Analysis

Fellowship Site:  Parkside School (P.S. 130)

Number of Fellows: 1

Project Description: With funding from the Spencer Foundation several years ago, Dr. Riehl studied teachers’ use of student data for instructional planning in four Title I Elementary schools in New York City. Her research has focused on how teachers gather and use different types of information about their students as they make decisions about their teaching and attempt to respond to student learning needs. The project engaged in sustained fieldwork that included observation of schoolwide planning meetings, grade level teacher meetings, and classroom instruction, along with interviews of teachers, instructional coaches, and school administrators. 

For the next stage, the support will focus exclusively on mathematics. For part of each day, the Fellow will assist small groups or individual students with the material being taught, as designated by the teacher, in their classrooms. During pull-out periods, the Fellow will tutor students through math games or directed practice. Tutoring will focus on math fundamentals such as multiplication tables and the steps of multi-digit division.

Skills Sought: The Zankel Fellow should be conversant with elementary mathematics instruction and comfortable working with small groups of students. The Fellow should be self-directed in communicating with the school mathematics facilitator. The target school is in Brooklyn, so the Fellow must have a flexible daytime schedule 1-2 days a week that allows them to travel to and from Brooklyn (noting that the school day starts early in the morning).

Sponsor: Dr. Beth Rubin

Department: Arts & Humanities 

Fellowship Site: East Harlem Scholars Academy High School

Number of Fellows: 2

Project Description: The Civically Engaged Districts (CED) Project is a community-engaged research-practice partnership led by Dr. Beth Rubin that is dedicated to supporting schools and districts to become more nurturing spaces for youth civic development. Youth-centered civic action research projects - on issues selected by and of concern to young people - are at the heart of the initiative. At every stage, these projects propel civic conversation throughout schools and districts, shifting adult understanding of young peoples' civic experiences and capacities and fostering civic belonging and agency among youth. The CED Project currently includes students and educators in school districts across New Jersey. We are actively beginning to work with New York City partners and would like to pilot the implementation of civic action research within a few New York City schools next year. This will include supporting youth in developing and carrying out school and community-based inquiries and connecting youth to school and community members and leaders as they investigate, share findings and advocate for change. As facilitators, the fellows will plan and carry out activities with young people to move them through the civic action research process. The facilitators will also coach the students on effective collaboration and communication with peers and adults so they can effectively share their ideas beyond the classroom walls. Alongside this primary responsibility, the Zenkel Fellows will be part of the team of graduate students, educators, and researchers creating curricular resources for the project. The fellows will also collaborate with the rest of the CED team to create an on-campus event where youth investigators will share their work with the larger community. This is a vibrant, ongoing project with great potential for mutual benefit for the Fellows and the participating schools. There is a solid support structure for the Fellows and the opportunity for them to expand their skills and knowledge and make their own unique contributions to the project.

Skills Sought:  Teaching or youth work experience, particularly in settings that value youth voice. Curriculum development experience. Ability to work collaboratively with people from diverse backgrounds with various perspectives, roles, and experiences. Comfort with ambiguity and change. Flexibility and adaptability. Creativity and humility. Enthusiasm for teaching. Commitment to youth empowerment. 

Sponsor: Dr. S. Garnett Russell

Department: International & Transcultural Studies; International and Comparative Education

Fellowship Site: Newtown High School, International Community High School (ICHS), Dual Language Middle School (DLMS)

Number of Fellows: 4

Project Description: In two high schools, Zankel Fellows will implement Human Rights Education (HRE) curricula developed by Zankel Fellows over the past five years, and also work to modify the curricula in discussion with the school and students to attend to current needs. The curricula are focused on developing knowledge and action around human rights but also include modules on socio-emotional learning (SEL) and literacy skills to fully access and exercise their rights. In DLMS, the fellows will provide English language literacy support through an after-school program (3 days a week) for newcomer students who have arrived in recent months. For the recently arrived newcomer students in the middle school, Zankel Fellows will utilize an English-language curriculum that is trauma-informed and fits the needs of these newcomer students.

Skills Sought: Familiarity with human rights frameworks and human rights education pedagogy, familiarity with the New York City public school system, experience working with high school students and vulnerable youth, such as newcomer and refugee students, experience with curriculum design, adaptation, and evaluation, the ability to confidently liaise with teachers and school administrators, advanced facilitation skills, familiarity with teaching English as a Second Language (ESL) to newcomer students, foreign language skills (ie. Spanish, French, Arabic) would be an asset.

Sponsor: Dr. Sandra Schmidt

Department: Arts & Humanities

Fellowship Site: Schomberg Center Junior Scholars Program (NYPL)

Number of Fellows: 1

Project Description: The Junior Scholars Program at the Schomburg Center for Research on Black Culture is a historical literacy, art, and inquiry-based program that invites 125 youth, ages 11 to 18, to explore Black history through the lens of the Schomburg's vast collections, exhibitions, and educational resources. The Junior Scholars Program is a tuition-free Saturday program promoting historical literacy through college-style lectures, presentations, and project-based learning. Zankel Fellows will support Junior Scholars as they conduct individual research and create original art inspired by their intensive study of the Schomburg Center's archives, exhibitions, and educational resources. Through this program, the Schomburg's Junior Scholars increase their knowledge of Black history and cultivate themselves to be the next generation of intellectual, social, cultural, and artistic influencers. The program runs for ten months on Saturdays, from October through June, culminating with an annual Youth Summit presentation to the public. The Zankel Fellow will support the Schomburg Education Department's mission to provide high-quality learning experiences related to the Schomburg Center's archival collections for students, educators, and people of all ages by building on the long Black community tradition of education for liberation. Through the Schomburg's programs and activities, learners of all ages can gain new perspectives on Black history, culture, and politics. They can acquire inquiry skills, critical thinking, creative expression, and social action. The Schomburg Education Department also works with all types of educators to share and develop best practices for teaching and learning. Our programs provide, for people of all identity expressions who share an interest in Black history, culture, and politics, a dynamic, holistic, and engaging way to access the rich resources of the Schomburg Center.

Responsibilities for the Zankel Fellow may include:

- Conducting curriculum research
- Facilitating small group cohort discussions
- Leading guided tours for school groups & youth programs
- Assisting instructors/scholars with research projects
- Attending weekly youth programs on Saturdays
- Supporting digital exhibition of youth projects

Skills Sought:  The Fellow must have skills in facilitating individual and small-group discussions with youth and working collaboratively with instructors and the program director to support the Young Scholars Program. The Fellow will also need to have skills in supporting individual youth projects, including archival research and the creation of original art. The Fellow must also be comfortable leading guided tours of the Schomburg Center for school groups and youth programs. Skills in archival research, digital media, and curriculum development would also be an asset. The Fellow will also need to be reflective about their own racial identity and how it shapes their understanding of Black history and culture.

Sponsor: Drs. Lalitha Vasudevan & Jacqueline Simmons

Department: Mathematics, Science & Technology; Communication, Media and Learning Technologies Design

Fellowship Site: Hudson Cliffs, PS 187

Number of Fellows: 6

Project Description: Fellows will be placed in three 5th grade classrooms at PS 187, a K-8 school. Fellows will meet with classroom teachers, develop an understanding of ongoing curricular goals, and develop a plan for designing media engagement activities and projects that complement classroom goals and students’ interests. This work can take the form of critical media literacy, meme generation, and media creation. At the end of the academic year, Fellows and Sponsors will convene a Community Celebration that will showcase the range of artifacts and inquiry taken up by the students throughout the year, and will offer a chance for the students to engage their peers, teachers, families, and community members about the social issue topics they explored through media. This Fellowship will function as a cohort model inviting the Fellows to meet together regularly during the academic year, visit each other’s classrooms, and reflect on media and justice from a variety of perspectives.

Skills Sought: Interest in contexts for learning, literacies, media, and forms of representation. Experience teaching or facilitating workshops with children or youth – experience inside or outside of schools welcome. Experience with and willingness to experiment with a variety of technologies and media tools, social media platforms, commonly used applications (Google drive, Dropbox, Mac iLife suite). Strong communication skills, as this position will require fellows to be engaged in writing, speaking, listening, and creating media for multiple audiences with children and youth from diverse linguistic and cultural backgrounds. Ability and willingness to work collaboratively in a team setting and demonstrate strong interpersonal skills. Ability to work independently to problem solve and demonstrate strong organizational skills. Willingness to be flexible and responsive to dynamic teaching and learning circumstances. Sense of humor.

Sponsor: Dr. Tyler Watts

Department: Human Development

Fellowship Site: First Workings 

Number of Fellows: 1

Project Description: The Fellow will assist in expanding the partnership with First Workings. The Fellow will help to coordinate an annual college application workshop designed to help high school students with their college essays. The Fellow will also work to continue to build up the mentorship program through First Workings in which TC graduate students will mentor first-year college students. TC students meet monthly with their matched mentee and provide advice on navigating college life. The Fellow will directly work with students by taking on multiple mentees and interviewing high school students for participation in the program. 

Skills Sought: Interpersonal skills, research skills, organizational skills.