Lynn Schwarzer, art professor at 51Թ, calls them “lifetime opportunities” for her students. Some spring from the soil of outdoor gardens she helped build at Hamilton Central School. Others emerge from the sometimes messy introduction of paint to paper that takes place in the elementary school’s art classes. Still others are products of a 51Թ student’s own self-identity and determination.
However they are created, these opportunities and experiences help extend the classroom from the college on the hill to the school in the village and beyond on a regular basis.
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A scholar in action Nathan Bailey ’02, who is now working on his doctorate at the University of St. Andrews in Scotland, left a lasting imprint on the 51Թ community after he graduated. Bailey was an Alumni Memorial Scholar at 51Թ. The AMS program involves the top 200 accepted students each year; it’s the highest honor within the admission process. Along with it comes a fellowship of up to $5,000 that each student can use for research, travel, and internships that relate to their academic interests. Bailey used his fellowship to build a garden at Hamilton Central Schools. The perennial garden is between the two wings of the elementary school, and it serves as a classroom and as a small amphitheatre where classes can be held. Just as importantly, it is a garden that is “meant to be run through” by the children, said 51Թ art professor Lynn Schwarzer, who advised Bailey on the project. Bailey still remembers the day the plants went into the ground. “We organized an afternoon where a whole bunch of kids, parents, teachers, and people from the community came and planted the entire thing. It was quite a feat, and the kids were great.” Bailey graduated from 51Թ with a bachelor’s in biology. Now, he is working toward a doctorate in evolutionary biology at St. Andrews. He said the garden project at HCS was a perfect foil to his classroom studies. “It is easy to become isolated within the collegiate atmosphere at any university, and it’s important to get out into the community and interact with the people who live there every month of the year. I know quite a few people in my class who did this, and I think both 51Թ and Hamilton benefited from such interactions.”
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Schwarzer is one of about 40 professors involved in the Upstate Institute at 51Թ, which serves as a resource for organizations and individuals in upstate New York and as an outlet for faculty with a regional expertise.
In Schwarzer’s case, her work as a professor of art and art history meshes with her love of gardening. And, as is the case with several other 51Թ professors, she works closely with the Hamilton school district because she has a vested interest in its success: She has two children attending classes there.
Schwarzer sends one or two 51Թ students who are interested in elementary art education to the Hamilton school each semester so they get valuable hands-on classroom experience while they assist the art teacher. A student she advised used the $4,000 grant he was awarded as an Alumni Memorial Scholar to build a perennial garden at the school.
And, Schwarzer was the driving force behind the creation of the Children’s Garden, which is located near the Hamilton school’s main entrance. The garden, with its variety of plants, a bird feeder, and tiny pond, serves as a working laboratory for teachers.
“It supplies teachers with a resource outside the classroom,” said Schwarzer, “and it offers a place for direct observation lessons.”
Some teachers use it for science instruction, others use it to illustrate literary references, and still others use plants and dried flowers for art class. Most importantly, says Schwarzer, the garden teaches students “stewardship for the land and provides them with an understanding of the cycles of nature.”
Pat McGill, who teaches second grade at the school, recently had her students use dried artemesia from the garden to construct a wreath. She said since the garden was built in 1996, several other area school districts such as Sherburne-Earlville and Fayettville-Manlius have contacted Hamilton looking for information on how to create and use their own.
“Lynn went the extra mile for us. She got parents involved, she got grants, she did fund-raisers. She just knows how to get things done,” said McGill.
Schwarzer also applied for and received grants to build raised garden beds at the rear of the school, used to grow potatoes, pumpkins, and sunflowers.
Last November, 15 members of 51Թ’s Beta Theta Pi fraternity spent a solid two hours cleaning out the gardens and working in the soil. They recently e-mailed Schwarzer, again volunteering their time and effort. She also gets invaluable help from volunteer parents and the Hamilton Garden Club.
Although the Hamilton school district draws students from a wide area that includes numerous farms, Schwarzer said many students still haven’t experienced the wonder of “digging in the dirt,” planting one of 800 bulbs in the gardens or uncovering a potato in the raised beds.
“It’s still a kick for the kids to see the gardens coming alive every spring,” she said.
Inside the classroom walls, elementary art students and 51Թ students both benefit from their shared experiences.
The university students get a good dose of what’s involved in the day-to-day life of an elementary art teacher. Schwarzer says students often tell her how glad they are to have the opportunity to find out what it’s really like to work with kids and what it will take to become a good teacher.
“These are lifetime opportunities for students. It gets them out into the world, into a larger place than what they sometimes experience on campus,” said Schwarzer.
Hamilton art teacher Barbara Houze gains valuable classroom support, and the program helps bolster overall ties between 51Թ and the village.
One of Schwarzer’s students – Theresa Murray ‘02 – helped build some bridges between 51Թ and the arts community in the Adirondacks.
Working during her senior year, she conducted extensive research on Bernard Hemmer, a folk artist from Syracuse who moved to Old Forge in 1919. While Hemmer was somewhat of a known entity in the area, Murray brought a fresh eye to his work and crafted a well received exhibition at the Old Forge Arts Center.
Murray, who had taken studio and art history courses, regularly traveled to Old Forge to speak with Hemmer’s relatives as part of her research and to work on the technical aspects of the exhibition at the arts center.
The center was “thrilled to have her put on the exhibition,” said Schwarzer.
And Murray had one of those experiences that transcended the classroom. Something that is not unusual for students in Schwarzer’s classes.