HOBOKEN, N.J. (November 28, 2007) – On Wednesday, November 28, the Stevens Duckling Program continued to make in-roads in the city of Hoboken as the men’s and women’s basketball teams visited two fourth-grade classes at Connors Primary School on Monroe Street. A total of 26 student-athletes and three coaches from those teams joined Assistant Athletic Director Brian Granata (Carlstadt, N.J.) and junior John Dennan to launch the program at Connors. Meanwhile, several members of the Stevens women’s soccer and field hockey teams made their third trip to Wallace Primary School to continue their relationship with the four fourth-grade classes there.
The Stevens Duckling Program, which is an initiative that targets student-athlete involvement with the three primary schools – Wallace, Calabro and Connors – in Hoboken, officially launched on October 17 when approximately 30 members of the field hockey and women’s soccer team visited Wallace. The program’s primary focus is to teach children about college and its benefits as well as to impart a basic knowledge about engineering, business and science.
Also, the program is designed so each teacher is given the opportunity to request a service that they would like the visiting team to help them with, whether it’s assisting students with their homework, reading to the class or giving a short presentation on teamwork. Following the initial visits with the schools, the teams will return to the classrooms to develop a mentorship program where they work with the teachers and students on a regular basis. That system is currently being put into place at Wallace. The work with Calabro will begin in the coming weeks and months.
During Wednesday’s visit at Connors, the men’s and women’s basketball teams were intermixed amongst the classrooms of Ms. DeGennaro and Ms. Suyat. After brief introductions and discussions in Ms. Suyat’s class, the student-athletes played a couple of quick games with the children. Afterwards, the players were paired up with one or two students. They were given the assignment of getting to know each other and finding out both similarities and differences amongst them. This was proved to be a wonderful exercise and great way for the student-athletes and children to share experiences.
After introductions and a game of hot-potato in the other classroom, the teams participated in a lesson on bio-mimicry that was led by Ms. DeGennaro. Earlier in the day, the class learned about how observing animals in nature can lead to some great engineering ideas. For example, a bird’s wing most certainly led to ideas of wings on airplanes. Ms. DeGennaro continued to build off this principle and had the men’s and women’s basketball players assist with the lesson.
At the end of the 75-minute session, both classrooms took group pictures. The players handed out packets to each child that included team schedules, vouchers for admission to games and certificates that made the students official Ducklings. The teams also stuck around to sign autographs and handed out a number of cool prizes (T-shirts, Frisbees, backpacks, etc.). All in all, it was a wonderful experience for everyone involved and one that made a huge impression on those that attended from Stevens.
“I can’t thank Principal Linda Erbe and her staff enough for their help throughout the last few weeks,” Granata said. “Ms. Suyat and Ms. DeGennaro were amazing. They truly made this a tremendous day for us. We are certainly very pleased to be working with Connors and look forward to forging a wonderful relationship with the teachers and children.”
Reflections on Day 1 at Connors
“The experience today at Connors was truly rewarding. Watching the expressions on the children’s faces as a member of the men’s or women’s basketball team talked left a lasting impression on all of us. As a team, we enjoyed the time we were able to spend with the two classes, educating them on what Stevens Athletics was all about and an introduction to bio-mimicry. It was nice to see something that John Dennan has been working on since the summer come together so nicely. After such a positive first day at Connors, we are all looking forward to hopefully attending the classrooms again and helping out whenever we can.”
~ Dani Dudek, Junior Guard (Women’s Basketball)
“All the children were extremely excited the minute we walked in the door, which was a great feeling. I really feel that they appreciated us coming. It encourages them to think ahead about college and look forward to it. Overall, the experience went very well.”
~ Victoria Webber, Freshman Guard/Forward (Women’s Basketball)
“It was really great for our players to reach out to the local community and get involved with the students first hand. From the moment our players stepped into the classroom, the children really latched onto them and everything they had to say. You could see an impact was made immediately, and it was great to see so many young children so eager to learn about the education lessons that we were able to touch on.”
~ Jon Hochberg, Head Coach (Women’s Basketball)
“I thought it was great that we could give back to the community in such a positive way. The kids were really excited about having us, and we bonded as a team so it was a win-win situation.”
~ Anthony Passalacqua, Junior Guard (Men’s Basketball)
“Visiting Connors Primary School was a great experience for our team, and it certainly seemed like it was as valuable to the fourth-grade students. It is really special to see how college student-athletes can embrace the opportunity to interact with young kids. Each of our players had inspiration along their path through education that helped them to succeed. We hope that our participation today can serve as the same type of inspiration to these kids. However small an influence we can have, it is great to know that we are giving back to the community and trying to assist children in their education."
~ Josh Loeffler, Head Coach (Men’s Basketball)
