Tag: Connected Lane County Aspirations Project Community Planning Workshop

Meet CPW GTF: Jay Breslow

Posted on by Julia Havens

Jay Breslow GTF CPW Community Planning Workshop Connected Lane County AspirationsWhat is your name? Jay Zuelke Breslow

Favorite word? My favorite word is onomatopoeia (it just took me three tries to spell it correctly though).

Where were you born and where do you call home? I was born in Bend, Oregon, grew up as a small child in Red Bank, New Jersey and spent my other formative years in Hillsboro, Oregon. Currently Eugene is my home as I recently realized that I have lived here for more of my life than any other place.

Something fun you like to do? During the Summer I am a Whitewater Rafting Guide. I got into rafting during graduate school in 2005. I was working on a Master’s degree in School Counseling and it seemed like a good idea to have something to do with my summer times. I have been guiding and running rivers ever since.

In which graduate program are you enrolled? I am currently enrolled in a Doctoral program in Education Studies. I am in the Critical and Sociocultural Studies in Education program specializing in Creativity Studies.

What project are you working on for the Community Planning Workshop? As a GTF with the Community Planning Workshop, I am currently coordinating the Middle-High Bridge listening session project. Our client is a group called Connected Lane County. I am coordinating and facilitating a series of listening sessions with middle school aged youth regarding their post-secondary aspirations. (Connected Lane County Aspirations Project)

What are some of the project outcomes you hope to gain that will assist you professionally? I hope to become a more skilled facilitator, specifically in designing and facilitating discussions that are engaging and productive both for the youth and for the adults charged with their education and care. I hope to learn from the youth of their aspirations whether those are to go to college or towards some other goal. The information gathered from this work will help inform the way schools structure their support for students as they progress towards graduation.

How does your involvement with the Community Planning Workshop relate to or inform your education? I have been lucky to be a part of the CSC. As a departmental outsider I have gained valuable experience as a student in project-based learning environments. In my time in the Community Planning Workshop, I gained valuable experience as a member of a student-directed team, working on a project that I had very little experience in (that being good stewardship of the McKenzie River). As a teacher, I have been part of structuring project-based learning opportunities for my students but I had never participated in one as a student. This perspective in valuable in that I came to understand various approaches to leadership, the power of a steep learning curve, and the importance of group communication.

What is your favorite quote?  “An optimist isn’t necessarily a blithe, slightly sappy whistler in the dark of our time. To be hopeful in bad times is not just foolishly romantic. It is based on the fact that human history is a history not only of cruelty but also of compassion, sacrifice, courage, kindness. What we choose to emphasize in this complex history will determine our lives. If we see only the worst, it destroys our capacity to do something. If we remember those times and places–and there are so many–where people have behaved magnificently, this gives us the energy to act, and at least the possibility of sending this spinning top of a world in a different direction. And if we do act, in however small a way, we don’t have to wait for some grand utopian future. The future is an infinite succession of presents, and to live now as we think human beings should live, in defiance of all that is bad around us, is itself a marvelous victory.”   — Howard Zinn

What advice would you give to your ‘younger’ self just beginning as a graduate student? I would tell myself to hold the goals that I have for myself in mind as I work through the program. It is easy to get lost in the academic shuffle and lose focus of your original intent. Every book or article you read and every paper you write should bring you towards a more complete understanding of what and how you want to be as a professional.

Meet CPW’s Research Assistant: Jacqueline Fuentes

Posted on by Julia Havens

Jacky Fuentes Connected Lane County Aspirations Project CPW Community Planning WorkshopAlias: Jacky

Where were you born and where do you call home? Born and raised in southern California and still consider it home.

What did you get for your birthday? Flowers, chocolate, Missouri frame, and study snacks. My birthday always falls during winter finals, so the fact that people take the time to give me presents in the midst of stressing is greatly appreciated.

In which graduate program are you enrolled?  I’m enrolled in the new Master’s program of Education in Counseling, Family, and Human Services (CFHS) with a specialization in Prevention Science.

What is your role with the Community Planning Workshop? I will be working with Jay Breslow and Jill Kornelis on the Connected Lane County Aspirations Project, exploring middle school student’s aspirations. During our middle school visits, I will take notes and help lead listening sessions. We’re hoping to learn more about middle school students’ aspirations and ways to improve current support systems to help them achieve them.

What are some of the project outcomes you hope to gain that will assist you professionally? I believe this job opportunity will help me learn about the importance of inclusion of key individuals when providing interventions. I’m excited because this is more of a bottom-up approach where we will be taking the time to ask students firsthand about their aspirations. I’m also looking forward to getting out into the community and visit various schools.

How does your involvement with the Community Planning Workshop relate to or inform your education? I am currently working with Dr. Ellen McWhirter on my capstone project that focuses on Latina/o high school students’ dropout intentions and college aspirations and have learned school related factors are important and need to be recognized when understanding students aspirations.

The Connected Lane County Aspirations Project overlaps with my current project and takes an additional step back to focus on middle school students. This is really neat and something I have not really seen done before. This type of approach can be considered as being an upstream approach and one that overlaps with prevention science.

What’s your favorite pig-out food? In-N-Out Burger

What advice would you give to your ‘younger’ self just beginning as a graduate student?  “Take it one day at a time and focus on the journey, not the destination.”