It should come as no surprise that the national leader in experiential, hands-on learning recognizes achievement in that area.

And this year, the recipients of the College’s Experiential Learner of the Year Award are Brittany Bridenbaker and Heather Graff.

Bridenbaker, a junior criminology/criminal justice major from Tully, received the upperclassmen award, while the freshman award went to Graff, a freshman unified childhood/special education major from Amsterdam. The awards were presented at Honors Convocation, a highlight of May Day Weekend (May 1-3).

To be eligible for the Experiential Learner of the Year Award, students must maintain a minimum grade-point-average of 2.5, secure their adviser’s approval, and submit an essay and portfolio that includes Field Period learning contracts, evaluation tools, experiential resume entries, letters from off-site supervisors or faculty members, or examples of relevant class work.

Bridenbaker

In her nomination letter, Chief Operating Officer and Executive Vice President Carolanne Marquis says Bridenbaker embraced each opportunity presented during her January 2009 Field Period.

^{Brittany Bridenbaker (l) and Carolanne Marquis}

“Brittany completed her Field Period at the Onondaga County Department of Mental Health Day Treatment Program,” said Marquis. “She worked with children who had been physically, sexually, or emotionally abused. I believe Brittany learned how to open herself up to these children with special needs, to asses their situations and earn their trust.”

Bridenbaker worked with children ages 5-12 who had been expelled from public school and “need a place to receive the education to which they are entitled with the supervision that they require.

“Most of these children come from broken families, or from families who have one or more members incarcerated or addicted to drugs or alcohol,” said Bridenbaker. “Without appropriate intervention, the child will end up in the criminal justice system as an adult.”

Graff

According to Valerie Webster, co-curricular transcript coordinator, Graff is not the typical freshman.

^{Heather Graff (l) and Valerie Webster}

“As a Field Period peer assistant within the Center for Experiential Learning, Heather has shown a high level of dedication and maturity I don’t find in other freshman,” said Webster, who nominated Graff. “Heather is a member of the dance team, Campus Activities Board, and Chorale, and serves as treasure of Rotaract and vice-president of Keuka China Care. She is proving to be the type of student who is always involved.”

During her January 2009 Field Period, Graff was in a second grade classroom at the Barkley Micro Society Magnet School in Amsterdam.

“The classroom reading center was in significant disarray, with no order to the books,” said Graff. “I realized that the students would have a difficult time finding a book of interest since there was no way to identify what was there.”

On one of the school’s snow days, Graff took the opportunity to inventory, sort, classify, organize, and rearrange the reading center.

“I labeled sections, highlighted some authors, and set some books out in a more obvious section to draw attention to them,” said Graff. “For example, I selected Tomie DePaola books in a separate basket on top of the bookshelf, and put up a picture of Mr. DePaola at a book signing with me when I was in second grade.”

^{The 2009 Experiential Learners of the Year nominees, flanked by
College President Joseph G. Burke (far left), Sally Ann Swartley,
and Anne Marie Guthrie (far right).}

Other nominees included:

Katelyn Barnhart, who completed her Field Period at the Wyoming County Community Health System( nominated by Tom Carroll);

Matthew Connell, who completed his Field Period at the Rome City School District (nominated by Sally Daggett);

Jessica Devericks, who completed her Field Period at the Moi Teaching and Referral Hospital in Kenya, Africa (nominated by Jean Wannall);

Elizabeth Meyers, who completed her Field Period in the Office of Student Activities (nominated by Jennifer Furner);

Kate Speckin, who completed her Field Period in the Office of Admissions (nominated by Webster);

Katharine “Allie” Waye-Walker, who completed her Field Period at the PuntaCana International School in the Dominican Republic (nominated by Daggett); and

Kelin Wheaton, who completed his Field Period at the Prince of Wales Medial Research Institute in Australia (nominated by Joan Magnusen).