Neighborhood North was fortunate to hire Genavieve Coleman as the first-semester Supervisor for the Neighborhood Learning Pods. Genavieve brought with her training as an educator and a variety of teaching experiences with young children, ranging from the Beaver County YMCA Preschool program to Disney English in Shanghai City, China. She, along with the rest of the staff helped to establish a creative learning environment for our remote learners in Beaver Falls. We asked Genavieve to share some reflections from those first months. Her thoughts are below:

“Working with Neighborhood North has been a blessing and a fantastic opportunity to cultivate hopes and dreams in a community fighting for its future. Serving as a Learning Pod Supervisor in the midst of the Covid-19 pandemic, it’s been easy for me to see lots of hopes and dreams dying out. But NN’s presence in the midst of it all is changing that for the children of our community.

The NN space encourages children to put feet to their dreams with hands-on learning and play. Children challenge themselves by using museum materials to solve their own problems (like building a strong stand). They interact with nature’s cycles in the garden and take home tools that enable them to connect to their environment anywhere. They craft powerful words in crazy and creative stories – and then discuss what it means to have a voice in the world. In normal times, providing space for these skills is crucial to a community. During a pandemic, it’s dire.

NN’s staff had the opportunity to “play it safe” and not get so entangled in something so intimidating as picking up half the work week with local schools to provide asynchronous learning. But NN leadership doesn’t think that way; they scheme ways to get into the fray. They fight for the chance to be where the most hurt is – and to be the arm of support. The results have been life itself: a provision of safe places for the children of Beaver Falls. Safe places where children know they can try new things without rebuke. Safe places where children know an adult will support them. Safe places where children don’t have to think about if they’ll be allowed to play.

The emotional and relational health this is creating is beautiful to see. One young student’s confidence flourished as he was encouraged to build and create whatever his mind could think up. His mechanical skill and inquiring intellect often got him in trouble when used inappropriately. Without an appropriate outlet and setting, he wasn’t encouraged to use these skills. But the Learning Pod provided the setting for him to explore, open up, and dream BIG.

Another student discovered how to use her words well to make her voice heard on a team. The result? Many great projects initiated by this new young leader who now knows how to connect with others to solve problems as a group.

Another student, in great excitement, wrote his first book – then outlined the sequel. Another’s eyes were opened to the limitless world of computer coding. Another discovered she had talent in teaching others.

These are the children of Beaver Falls. But unless these children have room to dream and stretch their wings, their future is dim. Neighborhood North’s team is fully dedicated to not letting that happen in this community, and because of that they’re bringing life to areas that would otherwise die away.”