IC-FDA Partnership

Established in 1997. the Ithaca College-Frederick Douglass Academy (FDA) Partnership is a collaboration between the College and FDA, a public middle/high school in New York City's Harlem community. This partnership emphasizes collaboration on four major goals:

• To use the unique strengths and resources of each institution to enhance the learning environment of both and to help support one another's goals;
• To foster a deeper understanding of the issues facing black and Latino students by encouraging students and faculty from both institutions to cross cultural, social, and economic boundaries to work together;
• To have Ithaca College serve as a consistent college "presence" for FDA students and faculty and find practical ways to help students with their stated goal of acceptance to college;
• To provide Ithaca College teacher education students with hands-on experience in inner city teaching, and to encourage urban education teaching.

As we continue to find ways to push the limits of this partnership, we really do, as Marian Edelman writes, "creat our own opportunities." Crossing the boundaries of race, culture, and economics with actions, not just words, is what this collaboration is all about. Everyone wins.

FDA Q and A's:

Why work with a school in Harlem?   To run a quality teacher education program, students need opportunities to experience urban education with all its challenges and opportunities, and with the rich ethnic diversity it offers our students. FDA offers us a chance to introduce our students to an urban school where there is a vision. Up until we began our work with FDA, this was not happening at Ithaca College.

We also believe that it is a moral imperative to be actively involved in work around equity and access issues in education. We have something to offer in this regard. Children in our urban schools deserve the same opportunities as children in our suburban schools, and our students need to see us engaged in this work so they will see it as important.

Where did we find out about FDA?   The founding principal, Dr. Lorraine Monroe, was interviewed by Steve Kroft on a segment of 60 Minutes. I happened to see the segment and knew from listening to Dr. Monroe talk about her philosophy that important things were happening at FDA. I called the school the very next day and began a series of phone calls that led to a visit several weeks later. I spent three days at FDA, touring the building, meeting teachers and administrators, observing classes, meeting with students, and generally picking up the ethos of the school. I came away impressed and excited about what I saw. FDA has a philosophy, and while it has challenges to face, it is the philosophy that every child can and will succeed that continues to draw us in. Students are held to high expectations and they are not allowed to use poverty, race, or social status as a reason for failure.

How do you structure partnership activities?   During the academic year, Ithaca College students and faculty travel to FDA during fall, winter, and spring breaks for scheduled activities at FDA. During the summer months, FDA students and teachers enjoy time on the Ithaca College campus taking classes in the Summer Program for High School Students or participating in specially designed workshops. Occasionally, during the academic year, there are specially planned partnership activities that bring FDA students and teachers to campus.

What are some of the activities that the partnership has undertaken at FDA?   In Humanities and Sciences, all of our teacher education students participate in a week-long experience at FDA where they observe classes, work with small groups of FDA students, and then actually teach classes under the supervision of an FDA teacher and an Ithaca College faculty supervisor. Many of our students also participate in special events like teaching the novel The Color Purple and then taking FDA students to see the Broadway play; helping to supervise a trip to the Metropolitan Museum of Art; assisting in the supervision of  FDA students at a celebration at the Apollo Theatre with Ossie Davis and the Fisk University Singers; helping to organize a visit to FDA for Commissioner Richard Mills and other representatives of the New York State Education Department so that he could see the partnership in action; visiting  Harlem firehouses after 9/11 with FDA students and teachers to thank them for their service during the crisis; teaching FDA students about both the novel and the opera, The Great Gatsby,  and then taking them to see the debut of the opera at the Metropolitan Opera House; enjoying a performance and talk-back at FDA by Ithaca College theatre majors of  For colored girls…; a “professor in residence” program where selected FDA teachers and their students work on projects over the year that include opportunities to work directly with College faculty who are “in residence” at FDA at various times throughout the year.

What are some of the events that the partnership has undertaken on the Ithaca College campus?   Every year FDA students participate in the Summer College for High School Students. Some of the other activities have included: a media literacy workshop to explore subliminal messaging in television programming; a communication skills institute where FDA students selected an important topic of interest to youth today, researched their topic, wrote a five minutes speech and then presented their speech to an audience of Ithaca College students and faculty; a biology seminar where student compared the ecology of New York City to that of Ithaca; a writer’s workshop where FDA students practiced the art of essay writing; a video and newspaper workshop for FDA students that ended in the viewing of an original video and the publication of a newspaper created entirely by the students;  a drama workshop that ended with FDA student performances of scenes from famous plays like  For colored girls…; a careers in science hands-on workshop to explore opportunities in the sciences; an “I know my rights!” workshop where students learned the history and the challenges to some of our legal right today.

How do we assess the work we do?   Every partnership activity has an assessment piece that includes: a pre-activity skills and knowledge assessment by each student participant, a concluding self-assessment by each participant, and a presenter’s assessment of the activity. In addition to individual event assessments, the partnership holds a yearly final assessment meeting to review all programming for the year and to plan for the coming year. We also ask every Ithaca College student to complete a perception survey before they undertake their work at FDA.

Who knows about this work?  The partnership has been featured in The Chronicle of Higher Education. It has also been featured on New York 1 News and WSYR.  Funding support has come from the 3M Corporation, The ASCAP Foundation, NYNEX-Bell Atlantic, New York State’s 21st Century Learning Grant, Zurich Financial Markets, the Friends of FDA Board, the Starr Foundation, and several anonymous foundations and donors.

How long have we been at this work and who from IC has been involved?   This is our eleventh year of partnership activities. Some of our IC participants have been Peggy Williams, Cynthia Henderson, Susannah Berryman, Martin Sternstein, Elizabeth Bleicher, Ed Cluett, Louise Donohue, Paul Hansom, Gary Fountain, Steve Brown, Tim Nord, Liz Begley, Mary Pitti, Cindy Scheibe,  John Wolohan, Keith Kaiser, Laurie Keegan, Gossa Tsegaye, Mead Loop, Joe Tempesta, Shaianne Osterreich, Susan Barbehenn, Howard Erlich, Art Ostrander, Arno Selco, Marian MacCurdy, Zenon Wasyliw, Bruce Henderson, Scott Thompson, Terry Michel, Linda Hanrahan, Warren Schlesinger, Kathleen Rountree, Letha Henry.

 written by Pat Tempesta, Director, IC-FDA Partnership