Chatham Students Honored With Schweitzer Fellowship
Tess Wilson provides writing workshops as a vehicle for building self-esteem and reflection.
In April, the Pittsburgh Schweitzer Fellows Program (PSFP) announced the selection of its 2015-16 Fellows. Twenty-four graduate students will spend the next year addressing health disparities in Western Pennsylvania while developing lifelong leadership skills. Two of these students come from Chatham University.
Nicholas Bender (Food Studies, '16) has been selected as an Environmental Fellow. Nicholas proposes a project working with seniors to help them improve their nutritional intake to combat chronic disease. He will focus on food labels, the importance of eating local produce and a balanced healthy diet.
Jason Lucarelli (Counseling Psychology, '16) is a Traditional Fellow who will work with LGBTQ young adults. He will provide mentorship and counseling services to help promote a positive transition to adulthood.
Two Chatham students are graduating from the Fellowship as well. Hana Uman (Food Studies, '15) and Tess Wilson (M.F.A. in Creative Writing, '15 ) will graduate from the Pittsburgh Schweitzer Fellowship Sunday, May 3rd. We spoke briefly with them about their work:
What is your Fellowship project?
Hana: The site for my Fellowship is Community Kitchen Pittsburgh and the project is called the "Food Education and Empowerment Program." I have created a food education curriculum that I am teaching at Manchester Academic Charter School (MACS) at the Sarah Heinz House with 6-8th grade, and I run a cooking club at both MACS and Environmental Charter School (ECS) Upper School. I also work in the ECS Upper School cafeteria two days a week with the students who work on the cafeteria line (they help prepare and serve food along with the staff), and survey the students about their food preferences and cooking experience.
Tess: My program is a writing workshop for girls in traditionally underserved populations called Inside/Outside, and is hosted by libraries around the city. I began Inside/Outside in October of 2014 at the Millvale Community Library, and have since expanded to the Braddock and East Liberty branches of the Carnegie Library. I teach three classes a week and will continue those until the end of the school year. My hope is to continue at least one of them into the summer and take them up again when school starts in the fall. I'd like to see this class live past the length of the Fellowship.
How did you get the idea for your Fellowship?
Hana: I have a variety of experience working with kids, and when I started interning for Community Kitchen Pittsburgh, who provides culinary training for adults with barriers to employment, I was interested in bringing culinary and food education to a younger population. Community Kitchen Pittsburgh was also interested in having more youth programming, and it was good timing for both parties.
Tess: Being a girl is tough sometimes. There are constant reminders of social standards and expectations, and it can be harmful to keep those concerns bottled up. Each week at Inside/Outside, we read and discuss work that addresses social issues, women's issues, or issues of the body. We then pick out some image, phrase, idea, or technique from the readings that intrigued us and write our own work. If we feel up for it, we share it with each other. Writing is a very powerful medium, and it can prove to be quite therapeutic.
The graduate students I've met through this opportunity are some of the most intelligent, most passionate, most empathetic humans I've ever known. We meet formally once a month and the electricity in the room is truly incredible. I always leave those meetings feeling inspired. It's an honor to be a part of such a forward-thinking group that is so deeply focused on bringing good to the world, and to know that this network will transcend our time as Fellows. – Tess Wilson