In the last couple of years, Drexel faculty, professional staff and students have been going back to middle school for an hour or so. Specifically, they go to Science Leadership Academy Middle School (SLA-MS), a public middle school housed on Drexel’s campus, to teach a myriad of mini courses in health sciences, Japanese, IT careers and more.
These Dragons have been teaching — and designing — these classes to expand the young students’ horizons and provide support for the SLA-MS community. Each “cycle” of courses compliments the SLA-MS school experience and the Drexel teacher’s areas of expertise while sharing new experiences and resources with kids.
It’s all part of an almost decade-long connection with the school, which opened in the University’s Dornsife Center for Neighborhood Partnerships in 2016 and moved to its current building, which was constructed with funds raised by Drexel to house both SLA-MS and Samuel Powel Elementary School. The partnership is led by the University’s School of Education, but students and faculty in other Drexel colleges and schools have volunteered their time and talent.
The College of Medicine and College of Nursing and Health Professions are two of the biggest collaborators — which makes sense, since they’re located in Drexel’s Health Sciences Building next door to SLA-MS. In those courses, students in the fifth to eighth grades learned all about health sciences, as most — but not all — courses are geared toward professions or academics. A “Drexel Experience” course, for example, brought SLA-MS students to Drexel to sample daily campus life: visiting the athletics facilities to meet with student-athletes and touring Drexel’s Mandell Theater to meet with dance faculty and students.
“The goal for me is to try to introduce students to different colleges, majors and career opportunities. That way, they can start thinking about that path,” says School of Education Director of Strategic Partnerships Andrea DiMola, who oversees the Drexel partnership. DM
