Panama, 2015-2016
MCMASTER FELLOW
Alesia Yakos-Brown MSW/LISW, Associate Professor of Practice in Social Work - This project will aid the school in Curundu Central Educativo by conducting an assessment of the families served. This survey may have a positive impact on the schools future goals, interventions, and achievements. Such an assessment could lead to the development of workshops with Latino parents on how to best support their children's education in future visits by McMaster teams.
MCMASTER SCHOLARS
Taylor Gillig, Sophomore, Early Childhood Education - This project will address the need for an increase in parental engagement, improving children's reading skills and improving the students' self-esteem towards their educational success. The project will include the development of a "When I Grow Up" book for each student in my focus grades, K-3.
Kenneth Miller, Junior, Criminal Justice - This project will work to develop healthy living strategies for youth. At the Biblioteca's direction the project will produce programming surrounding increased physical activity, studies that support self-esteem and healthy life skills and nutritional education.
Catlyn Pavel, Junior, Intervention Specialist Mild/Moderate - This project will involve the implementation of a home based reading program, which could really benefit the Curundu community, since many students do not have access to books in their homes and may have parents who have low reading levels themselves.
Susanna Stoepfel, Senior, Restoration - This project will conduct water testing to determine the quality of the water in the rural village of El Congo as well as in the barrio of Curundu specifically in the school that we will be working in. Depending on the contaminants found, methods of water collection and storage information will be provided to improve the conditions identified while on site, as necessary.
Alexis Walker, Junior, Athletic Training - This project will train the communities with which the McMaster team works in CPR, and First Aid based a risk assessment analysis of the sites and resources where the team will be collaborating.
