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Syracuse University’s Student Association will host a Syracuse Wonder Bubbles volunteering event this Friday as part of SA’s annual Fall Into Action programming.

Around 25 SU students will go to Seymour Dual Language Academy, in Syracuse’s Westside neighborhood, to work with kindergarten and first grade students. The volunteers will do a variety of projects aiming to improve the students’ art and literacy proficiency, said Kate Richter, SA’s community engagement and government affairs chair.

The initiative, first proposed by SA assembly member Belinda Chan in mid-October, is managed by the association’s CGA committee. It will connect SU students with Syracuse-area elementary schoolers and offer an opportunity for service outside of SU’s campus, Richter said, which SA leadership has hoped to further emphasize this semester.

“We want to involve ourselves more outside of campus,” Ritcher said. “Being a part of community engagement, we have to reach out to more than just our on campus, students and faculty. We want to touch the Syracuse community.”

Recent standardized test results show that many schools across the city of Syracuse yield low scores in reading and literacy, according to the New York State Education Department. NYSED’s latest report ranked Syracuse City School District at number 644 out of 661 districts across the state in English language arts. Richter said the initiative is an effort to help improve those numbers.

Chan, a junior social work major and member of SA’s CGA committee, said she first came up with the Wonder Bubbles concept after participating in United Way of Central New York’s Book Buddies program. The program partners volunteers like Chan with local students to read together over the course of a semester.

Chan said her experiences working with children made her realize SU students could do more to help in the local community. She said that, because of her connections at UWCNY, SA has been able to work with the organization and share its resources, including books.

The Wonder Bubbles service day is this Friday, Nov. 15. SU volunteers will visit Seymour from 9:30-11 a.m., according to SA’s Instagram.

Volunteers will work with a total of 167 students, from kindergarten through first grade, Chan said. The elementary schoolers will be split into “table groups,” where volunteers will read books to them and lead discussions. Following the literacy segment, students will do arts and crafts.

“On game days, we see the locals of Syracuse coming, supporting and cheering on (SU),” Chan said. “It’s important to flip that and have us go outside and support the local community as well.”

As of Sunday, SA had registered 26 volunteers to participate in this week’s visit to Seymour, Chan said. Though the association has stopped accepting new volunteers for the event, she said students can sign up to be substitutes through the initiative’s Google Form in case of absences.

SA President German Nolivos, who formerly served as the vice president of the CGA committee, wrote in a Sunday afternoon statement to The Daily Orange that the Wonder Bubbles event represents the association’s commitment to serving both the campus and city communities.

“The CGA office hosts ‘Fall and Spring Into Action’ events each year to connect with the Syracuse community,” Nolivos wrote. “This semester, the CGA team has worked incredibly hard; they are a dedicated group of remarkable students.”

Nolivos also said the CGA committee helped organize this week’s “Harvest Festival,” an annual celebration hosted by SA since 2022 where students can participate in a variety of fall traditions, like pumpkin painting, a chili cook-off and a clothing flea market. This year’s festivities will take place on Shaw Quadrangle on Tuesday at 4 p.m.

Published on November 10, 2024 at 8:42 pm

Contact Duncan: digreen@syr.edu