Project SHINE (Students Helping in Naturalization and English) offers Hamilton students the opportunity to help local refugees & immigrants. Student participants work one-on-one or in small groups with adult learners in English or citizenship classes at the Utica Board of Cooperative Education Services (BOCES) ACCESS Site and the Adult Learning Center at the Mohawk Valley Resource Center for Refugees (MVRCR). While Hamilton students provide a much needed service to the Utica area, many find that they learn just as much as they teach. Students generally participate in Project SHINE through an academic course, though students who have participated in project SHINE through a course are allowed to volunteer in subsequent semesters.
In 2004 Project SHINE was brought to Hamilton through the efforts of the Arthur Levitt Public Affairs Center with support provided by a grant from Temple University's Center for Intergenerational Learning and Learn & Serve America. Here at Hamilton, Project SHINE continues to engage students in the local community, as students, and immigrants & refugees build intercultural and intergenerational relationships.
