For some college students, summer is a season of surf and sun, but for 10 Yale undergraduates, this summer is a season of service to the city.
The 10 students have been designated as Dwight Hall Summer Interns for 1996 and, as such, are pursuing projects ranging from athletic and educational programs for youngsters to community gardening and English-as-a-second language initiatives.
The program, now in its 29th year, is sponsored by Dwight Hall, with support from local nonprofit organizations. Interns are selected based on the strength of their proposals, which must address critical issues facing New Haven and provide realistic solutions that will lead to volunteer opportunities for Yale students in the future. Stipends and organizational support are also provided.
In addition to working on their proposals during the summer, Dwight Hall interns attend weekly meetings and write reports on their work. They also serve as ambassadors for their programs during the following academic year. Susan Fowler, general secretary of Dwight Hall, is director of the Summer Internship Program.
This year's interns are:
Jimmy Byun '97 of Morse College, who will develop two community gardening projects: one for homeless guests of Columbus House to grow flowers and produce to sell, in order to become more self-sustaining; the other, for children in the Hill neighborhood, to enhance community pride.
Maria Coutinho '98 of Calhoun College, who will set up an academic curriculum for the "I Have a Dream" mentoring program for middle school students at East Rock Community School
Cicely Daniels '98 of Davenport College, who will establish a program to introduce children and teenagers to dance, drama and music, using the Yale gym. Her project is affiliated with Artists Reaching Through --A.R.T.
Randolph Ellis '98 of Trumbull College, who will continue work he began last summer teaching football and baseball skills at Camp 2000, a project of the New Haven Parks Department that is based at Hillhouse High School. The Yale Class of '57, through Attorney Frank Mongillo, is funding this internship.
Meredith Fort '97 of Trumbull College, who is coordinator of the Yale Student Environmental Coalition and will continue a project begun last winter alerting city residents about the dangers of lead-based paint.
Julio Gonzales '99 of Calhoun College, who will work at the Latino Youth Development Center, tutoring, teaching English as a second language and assisting with immigration issues. The Yale Class of 1957, through Attorney Frank Mongillo, is funding this internship.
Nadine Lehrer '98 of Jonathan Edwards College, who will work with L.E.A.P. --Leadership, Education, Athletics in Partnership youth groups to plant community gardens in the Dixwell and Newhallville neighborhoods, through the New Haven Land Trust SPRING Program. She will combine this with hands-on science instruction.
Morgan McDonald '98 of Saybrook College, who will work with L.E.A.P. groups, at Troup Middle School and with youth organizations to provide support and decision-making skills for middle school girls, through Women in Support of Women --W.I.S.E.
Kristen Michaelides '98 of Ezra Stiles College, who will be a counselor at the New Haven Ecology Project's summer camp, helping to create an urban farm near West Rock Nature Center. As a coordinator of Yale Hunger and Homelessness Action Center, she will also do advanced planning for fall.
Leah Quadrino '97 of Timothy Dwight College, who will bring together urban and suburban high school students for intensive training in how to create and run an innovative student newspaper in the fall.