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The Tolles Pavilion was abuzz with laughter, children’s music, and scribbling crayons this week during Hamilton Sidekicks’ annual Meet and Greet. Launched in 2012, Hamilton Sidekicks works to match college students with 1st through 4th grade students from Clinton Elementary School in pairs to foster lasting mentorships.

This past semester, 18 Hamilton students taught Spanish to students at Clinton Elementary School. These Hamilton students attended a two-day training workshop prior to beginning the program to learn about teaching methods and share ideas for activities. The program began on February 9 and continued until the end of April. 

A routine meeting about a school visit to the Wellin Museum between representatives of the museum and a Clinton Middle School art teacher has led to a rewarding collaboration for both Hamilton College students and Clinton middle schoolers.

The Andrew W. Mellon Foundation has awarded the Ruth and Elmer Wellin Museum of Art a two-year, $100,000 grant to study the museum’s educational programs for local public schools. The study will help the Wellin Museum work more effectively with public school educators to supplement school curricula within the structure of the Common Core requirements. Study results will be used to create new programming for the museum. 

The Hamilton College Town-Gown Fund made $65,000 in grants to eight organizations last week, bringing the total disbursed from the endowment to more than $570,000.

For the third year, Hamilton students taught Spanish to children in grades K-5 at Clinton Elementary School. The students taught multiple groups of approximately 25 Clinton children during lunch and recess this semester. Teaching Fellow in Hispanic Studies María Gabriela Portal, Elisa MacColl ’16, and Emily Hess ’16 coordinated the project.

Hamilton’s Sidekicks Program celebrated its third year anniversary on Oct. 21 with its Welcome Pizza Party. This year, 55 Hamilton College students were matched with 55 Clinton Elementary School students, ranging from first to sixth grade. With 18 pizzas and 10 bottles of soda on hand, students anticipated an enjoyable evening.

Colyer Woolston, a senior with a passion for the natural sciences, had an opportunity to share his interest in paleontology recently when he mentored John Musante, a first grade student at Clinton Elementary School.

Seventeen Hamilton science majors and two faculty members served as judges at the Clinton Middle School Science Fair on Feb. 9.  More than 180 projects were judged. Professor of Physics Gordon Jones and Professor of Biology Herm Lehman were faculty judges.

A group of Hamilton College students are sharing their knowledge of the Spanish language with some very young learners this year. They’re volunteering their time to tutor first grade and kindergarten students in Spanish at Clinton Central Schools (CCS). Organized by Associate Professor of Hispanic Studies Edna Rodríguez-Plate, the program began at the start of this academic year.