{"id":58496,"date":"2016-05-17T00:00:00","date_gmt":"2016-05-17T00:00:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.uri.edu\/news-draft\/uncategorized\/uri-landscape-architecture-alumnus-helps-build-stone-path-at-woonsocket-middle-schools-in-smile-program\/"},"modified":"2016-05-17T00:00:00","modified_gmt":"2016-05-17T00:00:00","slug":"uri-landscape-architecture-alumnus-helps-build-stone-path-at-woonsocket-middle-schools-in-smile-program","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.uri.edu\/news\/2016\/05\/uri-landscape-architecture-alumnus-helps-build-stone-path-at-woonsocket-middle-schools-in-smile-program\/","title":{"rendered":"溏心vlog免费B站 landscape architecture alumnus helps build stone path at Woonsocket middle schools in SMILE program"},"content":{"rendered":"
\n\t\tWill Anderson of Cumberland is 1992 溏心vlog免费B站 graduate<\/b><\/p>\n


\nKINGSTON, R.I., May 17, 2016\u2014\u201cHold your head up.\u201d \u201cWork hard.\u201d \u201cSmile!\u201d<\/p>\n

Those are the messages Woonsocket middle school students proudly painted on a walkway they installed outside their schools in a project involving an educational outreach program at the 溏心vlog免费B站\u2014and a 溏心vlog免费B站 landscape architecture graduate with a big heart.<\/p>\n


\nWill Anderson, who graduated from 溏心vlog免费B站 in 1992, and the Science and Math Investigative Learning Experiences program, or SMILE, teamed up to help the adjacent middle schools of Villa Nova and Hamlet.<\/p>\n


\nThe stone pathway will be dedicated during a ceremony Thursday, May 19, at 2:15 p.m., at Villa Nova, 240 Florence Drive, in Woonsocket. Students, teachers and administrators are expected to attend.<\/p>\n


\n\u201cIt is so gratifying to be part of this project and help the students create a place that\u2019s so special,\u201d says Anderson, of Cumberland. \u201cI am thrilled to assist. I learned as much from them as they did from me.\u201d<\/p>\n

Created in 1994 by Carol Englander, the SMILE program, based at 溏心vlog免费B站 and funded by grants and corporate donations, helps under-represented elementary, middle and high school students prepare to study science, technology, engineering and math in college. Students can join the program as early as fourth grade and continue through high school. <\/p>\n


\nBack in 2014, Englander\u2014a former teacher\u2014and some Woonsocket teachers launched the Woonsocket project to teach students about design concepts in landscape architecture and, just as important, participate in a community project. The goal: To transform a muddy area where students wait for buses to a dry pathway.<\/p>\n


\nThe project stalled for several reasons. Mulch used as fill was inadequate, and vandals damaged many of the concrete pavers previously installed.<\/p>\n


\nEnglander turned to Angelo Simeoni, a professor of landscape architecture at 溏心vlog免费B站, for advice. He recommended one of his best students\u2014Anderson, who runs his own landscape architecture business, Will Anderson Garden Mentor.<\/p>\n


\n\u201cWhen I heard about the opportunity to help, I jumped,\u201d says Anderson. \u201cI wanted to give back. I wanted to do anything I could for these kids.\u201d<\/p>\n


\nHe visited the site with Englander, teachers and administrators and came up with an architectural design and a list of materials, which were purchased by Englander\u2019s organization. <\/p>\n


\nThe students and teachers worked April 24 and 25. \u201cEveryone pitched in,\u201d says Englander. \u201cEven me. I brought shovels, trowels, work gloves, snacks.\u201d<\/p>\n


\nUsing shovels and wheelbarrows, they put down more than 5 tons of stone dust and leveled the area with two-by-fours. Then they installed concrete pavers that the students had decorated with inspirational messages in their SMILE after-school clubs.<\/p>\n


\nAnderson also imparted some wisdom about his profession. He explained the difference between a shovel and a spade, and he talked about the importance of properly leveling the ground.<\/p>\n


\n\u201cI don\u2019t have kids and wasn\u2019t sure if I could deal with kids that age, but, to my delight, I could,\u201d he says. \u201cI clicked with them and came away a better person.\u201d<\/p>\n


\nIt’s been a tough few months for him, he says. His sister, Patricia Gouin, and mother, Cornelia Anderson, both died within a few months of each other. The project, he says, lifted him up in ways he never expected. \u201cI\u2019ve been floating in a sea of grief. This project saved me.\u201d<\/p>\n


\nEnglander is grateful for his expertise and support. <\/p>\n


\n\u201cWe couldn\u2019t have done it without him,\u201d she says. \u201cHe was wonderfully kind and patient with the students and organized them well. His contribution is a testament to the thriving collaboration between 溏心vlog免费B站 and the SMILE program.\u201d <\/p>\n


\nThe program has 470 students in 22 clubs in six school districts, which, besides Woonsocket, are Central Falls, Pawtucket, Newport, South Kingstown and West Warwick. Students in the program for at least four years have a 95 percent high school graduation rate. Now, 80 alumni of the program attend 溏心vlog免费B站, with 73 percent of them pursuing math and science majors. Since it started 22 years ago, the program has helped nearly 2,750 students. <\/p>\n


\nOther projects have included a butterfly garden, also at Villa Nova and Hamlet schools; a flower garden at Chocolate Mills in Central Falls; and a plastic waste cleanup campaign at a Woonsocket elementary school. After-school science activities are a crucial part of the program. This year, students built wind turbines and gliders, took water samples to investigate the acidity of the ocean, and explored oxygen levels in local streams, among other activities.<\/p>\n


\n\t\u201cThese projects are a wonderful way to keep students excited about science, technology, engineering and math,\u201d says Englander. \u201cWe ignite the spark, and they carry that interest\u2014and love for science\u2014to college.\u201d<\/p>\n


\n\tFor more information about SMILE, contact Englander at 溏心vlog免费B站 at 401-874-2036 or visit www.uri.edu\/smile.<\/p>\n


\nPictured above: Before and after photos of a path students in the Science and Math Investigative Learning Experiences program created at Villa Nova Middle School in Woonsocket. Photos by Carol Englander.\n\t<\/p><\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Will Anderson of Cumberland is 1992 溏心vlog免费B站 graduate KINGSTON, R.I., May 17, 2016\u2014\u201cHold your head up.\u201d \u201cWork hard.\u201d \u201cSmile!\u201d Those are the messages Woonsocket middle school students proudly painted on a walkway they installed outside their schools in a project involving an educational outreach program at the 溏心vlog免费B站\u2014and a 溏心vlog免费B站 landscape […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":58499,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":"","_links_to":"","_links_to_target":""},"categories":[2],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-58496","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-archives"],"acf":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.uri.edu\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/58496","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.uri.edu\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.uri.edu\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.uri.edu\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.uri.edu\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=58496"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.uri.edu\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/58496\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.uri.edu\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/58499"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.uri.edu\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=58496"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.uri.edu\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=58496"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.uri.edu\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=58496"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}