The ceremony, held at the Carvel State Office Building in Wilmington, included remarks by several Public Allies affiliates, as well as comments from members of the 14th graduating class.
Antonia De Luz (AS '07), Twanna Howard (CHEP '07), Julia Janes (AS '07), Morgan Meszaros (AS '06), Shaquona Meyers (AS '07), Christopher Moore (AS '06), Kim Showell (AS '07), Alison Willey (AS '07), Jacque Williamson (AS '07) and Brooke Lamenza, a continuing studies student, were in this year's Public Allies graduating class.
All Public Allies 2008 graduates completed 10-months in public service. The ceremony that marked their completion of these apprenticeships honored their activism in youth education, social outreach, health-care reform, literacy, art awareness and environmentalism.
“I wanted to help others and serve society, while gaining skills and professional experience,” said Janes, a native of Hockessin who worked with both Girls Incorporated of Delaware and the Delaware Community Reinvestment Action Council during her Public Allies stint. Now planning to pursue a second bachelor's degree, in psychology, at UD and then a master's degree, Janes added that her experience with Public Allies, in addition to fueling her quest, also taught her the importance of good communication and teamwork to all social endeavors.
“I learned that societal change is usually a gradual movement with efforts of many,” Janes said, “but at the same time it is possible to make an impact on individuals' lives. I learned that effective interpersonal dynamics in teamwork are critical to getting a job done well.”
De Luz, who completed her Public Allies apprenticeship at the Rodel Foundation of Delaware, an agency focused on improving public education, said that what she learned through the experience only deepened her commitment to education.
“I am very passionate about education and youth,” De Luz said, “and because of this passion, I decided to work at Rodel Foundation of Delaware, where I created a visual presentation and essay contest for the state of Delaware called 'Your Vision, Your Voice.' I also planned a statewide youth summit called 'Your Vision, Your Voice,' with the main goal of both being to get students' ideas on how their schools could be improved.”
De Luz, along with nine other Public Allies interns, also organized a resource fair in April for Wilmington's west center city residents, during which the YMCA Resource Center and many other nonprofit organizations provided social reform information to those who attended.
“'If you don't like something, change it, and if you can't change it, change your attitude,'” De Luz said, quoting Maya Angelou. “I feel that Public Allies has reinforced this mindset for me, because I've learned that if I don't like something that is occurring in my community, I need to get involved and help fix it. Public Allies has taught me the skills to do this successfully.”
Kim Showell, who double-majored in sociology and women's studies with a concentration in social welfare, worked with Children and Families First while enrolled in the Public Allies program, where she served in the foster care and adoption unit transporting children to family visits and providing post-adoption services.
“It is difficult to sum up in one statement what I learned throughout the program,” she said, “but one thing I have really come to appreciate is something that my high school biology teacher and now Delaware AmeriCorps employee, Rob Schroeder, likes to say, which is that 'The journey is the destination.' In life, it is not so much about getting from point A to point B so much as it is about the process itself. The struggles that we experience and the challenges that we face...teach us the greatest lessons.”
Shaquona Meyers, who served her Public Allies apprenticeship as a program coordinator for women at the Women's Opportunity Link, said that the experience both opened up horizons and gave her a new awareness about the difficulties of social work.
“During the months I spent doing service projects and training, I discovered that I was being given tools for preparation of something far bigger than Public Allies of Delaware,” Meyers said. “In the past seven months, I have reaffirmed that service and leadership exist in the same realm; there are always opportunities to serve, and there are always opportunities to lead. What you do with those opportunities is what connects you to your community.”
Since the program's inception, Public Allies students have worked for organizations as diverse as the Alzheimer's Association, Delaware Theater Company, 4-H after-school programs, Newark Senior Center, Metropolitan Wilmington Urban League, AIDS Delaware, Women's Opportunity Link and Delaware Money School. Students have served more than 26,908 people and worked with more than 812 volunteers statewide.
A presentation of the Public Allies Delaware Changemaker Award to Erastus Mong'are, a UD (AS '03) and Public Allies alumnus, rounded out the event.
Article by Becca Hutchinson
Photo by Duane Perry
