Tag Archives: CCE Programs

Student Reflection: MLK Day Jr. Legacy Dinner with the CCE

On January 13, 2023, the Center for Community Engagement (CCE), the Anderson Freeman Center, and the Scott Center collaborated to create Food and Fellowship: A Celebration of MLK Jr’s Legacy. The event was an interactive dinner that focused on MLK Jr’s legacy, open to both on-campus and community wide participants and hosted by Justice Elijah, AmeriCorps VISTA with the CCE, and keynote speaker Esther Charlestin.

As an Americorps member, we are responsible for organizing an event around MLK Jr and his legacy for MLK Jr. Day of Service. The celebration of MLK Jr. and his legacy is a prominent memory from my upbringing in southern Georgia. So, when I was tasked with curating a service related project– I wanted the event to feel like home. I wanted folx to be well fed, feel heard, and to learn something. Thus structuring an interactive dinner, a social media campaign and centering the black experience. Highlighting the atrocities and the fight black/brown people still having to face with an attitude described by Esther (the keynote speaker) as “YET, WE DID IT ANYWAY”. 

To help with planning this event, the CCE hired two student interns to help promote the event and provide day-of logistical support: Gabby Chalker ‘25 and Samimah Naiemi ‘26. We asked them to provide their reflections helping to support the event while also participating in discussion with other campus and community members.

-Justice Elijah, CCE AmeriCorps VISTA member 22-23

What were your first impressions and/or your experience attending the event as a participant after helping to plan it? 

Gabby:

As a J-term community service intern for Middlebury’s Center for Community Engagement, I had the opportunity to take part in Food and Fellowship: A Celebration of MLK Jr’s Legacy. I worked with Justice and Shannon at the CCE to assist them with any logistics in the planning of this event, which served to remind us of all of the work that has been done and that still needs to be done regarding racial justice in this country.

In preparation for this event, I researched civil rights leaders less popular than MLK Jr and posted them on CCE’s social media to educate students/community members about important historical figures. I also gathered marketing materials about the CCE to share with guests at the event and curated a donation list of Black-owned businesses in Vermont to put in our program, including food, hair stylists, nonprofits, retail stores, farms/agriculture, and civil rights/BIPOC affinity groups. Further, I helped develop reflection questions for after the keynote speaker’s address, gathered children’s books and games centered around diversity and racial justice for the children’s room, and developed the event program to be put at each attendee’s seat. Helping in this planning definitely helped me to appreciate the small details, like the time that went into the creation of the program, the coordination of catering such incredible food, all of the decorations, and the seating/name cards. If I hadn’t been involved in the planning process I probably would not have taken so much time to really appreciate these small additions and reflect on the effort (and usually collaboration) required for each.

Samimah:

As a J-term Community Service intern, I worked with the Middlebury`s Center for Community Engagement (CCE) that provided me with an opportunity to be part of Food and Fellowship: A Celebration of MLK Jr’s Legacy. I worked with Shannon and Justice in helping them with planning this event. 

Attending the MLK event was my first experience [with this holiday]. As an international student from Afghanistan, I learned about the importance of celebrating this day for the first time. The MLK dinner event played an important role in fighting social and racial injustice by bringing people in the community together to remind them about the existing social and racial injustice. Speakers in this event talked about how they fought for their rights against social and racial injustice and they reminded us that we can all fight it by coming together and discussing it. The MLK dinner provided an opportunity to discuss ways on how to reduce social and racial injustice.

I had not worked on planning a lot of events, so I did not know how much work and effort 

making an event requires. In helping plan the MLK dinner event, I learned how to get different tasks done such as making invitations, drafting emails, and making RSVP forms. I learned that a lot of planning, communications and work needs to be done in order to make an event happen. I would not realize this by only attending the event. I felt very accomplished to see the event that I was working on with my team brought  so many people together. I was inspired by a lot of people at the event, and I felt honored to be part of the planning of such an event.

What was your favorite part of the event planning process?

Gabby:

I feel like I learned most from creating the social media posts about other civil leaders aside from MLK throughout the week. Even if I was familiar with some figures already, doing a deeper dive into their upbringing, education, personal lives, etc. revealed a lot to me and provided me with more context about their work. This really shaped my understanding of civil rights leadership– what motivates/cultivates it, the different paths each took to leadership, the barriers that persisted even after success, how much community and teamwork was required to successfully create change.

I also loved discussions with the team (Justice, Shannon, Samimah) because I learned a lot about event planning logistics, as well as navigating discussions about race in Vermont – from a reflective and an administrative standpoint. The team really cultivated a community so quickly (in a matter of 1 week) and in that short time I felt I already had a support system that was extremely helpful in navigating the process of event planning, especially an event on a complex and important topic. This was important to me because I had others to look up to in this process of event planning I was unfamiliar with. Instead of just checking tasks off a to-do list, I was given genuine feedback on each assignment and was able to have honest conversations about pros/cons of different approaches to what was and wasn’t included in the event and about solutions as problems arose.

Samimah:

During planning the event, I learned even more than just attending it. It helped me learn how to plan an event, how to work with a team, and how to get tasks done on time. My favorite part of the planning process was working with the team. The team was supportive and they helped me find ways to [accomplish my work]. Working with them closely rather than just checking the task off from the list helped me feel more engaged with the work and the team. It was a feeling of community and collaboration.  

Where did you see community building at the MLK Day event? 

Gabby:

I was surprised to see so many Middlebury students there and excited to see several community members’ faces who I did not recognize. It made me feel more connected to the wider community, reminding me that it is not just students or our generation that is passionate about these issues. This made me feel more connected to Vermont as a place where justice and civil rights is a shared goal/virtue. The number of people there made me excited at the various stakeholders who were there to learn about, participate in, and celebrate MLK’s legacy. I also think that the different colored seating tags [to vary campus and community members at each table] and the reflection questions really facilitated dialogue and new connections amongst participants. 

The speaker, Esther Charlestin, was also very impactful in the energy that she created which everyone in the room felt. Her vulnerability in sharing her experience as a Black woman in Vermont set the tone for others to share in this open space. It was clear that each person in the room could resonate with at least one of her messages/statements. I feel this really built a community of people willing to listen, learn, and act from/with each other.

Samimah:

During the event I met so many people from different races, different ages and backgrounds- students, faculty, community partners, and so on. I made a good network with a lot of good people from Middlebury and outside of Middlebury’s circle. I found it very valuable that this event really brought so many people together to share about their experiences and hear about others. I felt very connected to the community outside the Middlebury College for the first time because many of us could relate to social and racial  injustice existing in society. When the speaker as a Black woman shared her story of facing racial injustice, many of us in the event could relate to her story. This really brought people in the community together which reminded them that we all relate to painful experiences of each other that were caused by racial injustice. 

What was your biggest learning moment being part of this event (either through the planning process or during the event itself)?

Gabby:

Collaboration is crucial to the facilitation of an event which truly fosters community engagement and collective learning, reflection, and action. This collaboration was fostered through experiential learning about community engagement and event planning via my work with more experienced staff members to learn about the community stakeholders and diverse perspectives that must be represented in justice-oriented events.

Samimah:

Everyone in the team had a role and a voice. Every task was done with good communication and collaboration among the team. I learned that we learn more when we work together. The good result of the team work was what made this event happen and seeing this was the biggest learning experience. 

Throughout the planning, Shannon and Justice were very nice and supportive. This made me feel more comfortable with them. When I had a moment where I did not know what to do, I had the courage to ask them instead of panicking. This helped me feel more motivated to get the task done as well as I felt more confident. 

Conflict Transformation Spotlight: CCE Updates from 2022

Middlebury’s Center for Careers and Internship Students pictured with United States Senator Bernie Sanders in Washington, D.C.

This blog post draws from the remarks of Kailee Brickner-McDonald, Interim Director at the Center for Community Engagement, which were shared at the 2022 Clifford Symposium staff and faculty panel.

In September 2022, Middlebury College hosted the annual Clifford Symposium. This year, the Symposium focused on conflict transformation and the myriad ways Middlebury faculty, staff, and students address conflict at home and around the world. The keynote speaker at the Clifford Symposium was John Paul Lederach, Professor Emeritus of International Peacebuilding at the University of Notre Dame. Author of 22 books, including “The Little Book of Conflict Transformation,” and with experience designing and conducting training programs in 25 countries across five continents, Lederach is known for pioneering conflict transformation work, illustrating conflict transformation requires “both solutions and social change.”

Fourteen CCE students funded through the Conflict Transformation Collaborative presented at the student poster session on how their community engagement activities fall within conflict transformation. The Clifford Symposium also included a panel in which Middlebury faculty and staff shared experiential opportunities for Middlebury students to explore conflict transformation across the institution. As a panelist, Kailee Brickner-McDonald explained why the CCE’s mission focuses on providing community-based experiences to students: “Community-based experiences allow relationships and critical moments to emerge into spaces we can consider more expansive questions, social context, and complexity. The Conflict Transformation lens encourages us to build programs and relationships with more intention and support to make the most of those inevitable, challenging, messy spaces.”

Conflict transformation work with communities encourages students to expect and embrace the tensions that arise while working towards a collaborative solution. “This collaborative work,” Kailee said, “prepares students for lives of meaning and impact through community connection.” She outlined how the hopes of the Conflict Transformation Collaborative align well with the CCE’s mission for students to develop their civic knowledge, skills, and identities. Through their connections in communities, students can explore curiosities in three areas:

  1. Civic Identities: How do I contribute to conflict and peace? What are my responsibilities to and choices in my communities? How do my values and experiences drive my personal engagement?
  2. Civic Knowledge: How do I critique the situation from multiple lenses and perspectives? Do I understand the role of power and justice? What resources already exist in the community?
  3. Civic Skills: How can I practice cultural humility in interpersonal communication? How do I approach dialogue across differences? In what ways can I facilitate collaborative relationships? 

In each of these areas, what starts as a tidy-sounding, community-connected experience gets complicated by collaboration, gets real because of relationships, and gets instructive because of inquiry. The conflict transformation lens says to expect and embrace the tensions that arise from working on complex issues among different people and approach them as gifts– spaces where change can happen. Experiential learning opportunities embedded in community building activities offer:

  • Growth points in students’ development of their civic knowledge: students learn to critique their situations from multiple lenses and perspectives; students build their understanding of the role of power and justice
  • Places to apply skills that require practice: students practice cultural humility in interpersonal communication and try out dialogue across differences; students have a chance to facilitate collaborative relationships
  • Sparks that guide students to explore their Identities: students get to ask critical questions like: “How do I contribute to conflict and peace? What are my responsibilities, choices, and positionality in my communities? What do I still need to learn?”

On the panel, Kailee provided several examples of this work, including one from the CCE’s 2022 History in Translation trip:

Students participating in the History in Translation program (Experiential and Intercultural Exploration of Executive Order 9066) visited a “War Relocation Center” for Japanese Americans in World War II. “There they learned the language they’ve grown up using (like “internment camps”) is harmful and sanitizing– to their guide at the incarceration site who’s giving them a tour, and others.”

How did History in Translation explore this conflict on their trip?

CCE staff member Kristin Mullins, Assistant Director of Intercultural and Global Programs, worked with colleagues to bring students from Middlebury College and International Christian University in Mitaka, Japan, together for shared exploration, reflection, and conversation on this piece of US history. Despite the differences in geography, culture, and identities, all participants reflected on who they are and why certain language matters to them. Everyone learned something different about the far-from-homogeneous movement to recognize the impacts of Executive Order 9066 and the nuances and evolution of language choices and memory of the conflicts. Check out the program’s website to see how their work evolved– it captures the documents they collaboratively translated, photos from the experience, and reflections on their learning: History in Translation – Learning through translation (middcreate.net).

The CCE’s work explores conflict not just through topical exploration of current and historical conflicts but also in interpersonal dynamics embedded in all relational programs. Kailee provided another example working with two student leaders of an alternative break program at Middlebury:

The co-leaders/friends were preparing for an environmental justice-themed trip, but after one felt like her voice didn’t matter in their decision-making, their friendship started to erode, and one considered leaving the team. CCE staff worked with them to navigate their interpersonal conflict, support collaboration, and create a positive and affirming space for both students. As Kailee put it, “The collaborative, relational aspect of community engagement work–in this case, the co-creation of a logistically-heavy, team-based learning experience–created a hurdle, and a chance for these students to practice the appreciative inquiry, listening, and participatory decision-making skills they gained in their leadership training and discussed in staff advising conversations, to try out navigating interpersonal conflict in a new, restorative way.”

The CCE’s programs, reflective and inquiring spaces, and interpersonal dynamics contribute to how we address conflict transformation here at home and abroad. Kailee provided one last example to demonstrate how conflict transformation shows up in our work with students who are engaging with various communities:

A student in a Privilege & Poverty summer internship was working with a community organization that addresses housing access. After multiple experiences seeing clients return to the shelter due to factors beyond which the organization can support, the student zooms out to question the policy choices and social constructions that make houselessness a possibility in one of the wealthiest countries in the world. They bring these questions back to their internship cohort gathering and, through reflective conversation, realize they’re not alone in questioning the adequacy of direct service and their role in social change. Students begin to marvel at the interconnectedness of their work across different social services organizations and begin to identify how much they don’t know that they want and need to know, with an eye to the next semester’s course catalog. Students also build connections and develop mentors at their internship sites, allowing them to connect with others about how they’re sustained in doing this challenging, necessary work.


In closing, Kailee remarked, “Working with students to develop their civic knowledge, skills, and identities certainly leads to personal change, but that change also translates into how students engage as humans strengthening communities and contributing to the public good– at the personal, interpersonal, local/community, and national/global levels.”

The CCE is excited to be involved in this challenging and far-reaching work alongside other partners at Middlebury and to see how our work with communities grows and develops throughout the Conflict Transformation grant. For more information on the Conflict Transformation Collaborative, visit the Conflict Transformation website and Instagram.

Student Reflection: Dia de los Muertos

Damaris Neaves ’24 (she/her/ella) has provided this reflection about her work organizing the 2022 Dia de los muertos celebration as a Community-Connected Project Assistant at Middlebury College. Damaris helps lead Juntos and the Compañeros program, which provides English language tutoring to local migrant workers. Find more information about Juntos and Compas on Presence. To learn more about our Community-Connected Project Assistant program, visit our website read or our previous blog post written by two Community-Connected Project Assistants, Student Reflection: Teaching Assistant (*note: since this blog was written, we have renamed our Teaching Assistant to Project Assistant). 

The Día de los muertos Celebration and Procession was a collaborative interdepartmental, interdisciplinary, and community effort that aimed to gather as an inclusive Middlebury community to honor our ancestors and departed loved ones through art, song, dance, togetherness, and creativity. This project included many workshops and events that led to the main November 2nd celebration: an hour-long community procession that went all throughout campus and included song, dance, artistic performances, and community altars. 

As the Project Based Learning Community-Connected Project Assistant, the role was to aid in the creation, production, and coordination of an immersive campus-wide celebration for all. This meant collaborating with both on and off campus groups interested in participating; curating educational and recreational workshops and events in the weeks prior to the main celebration; being a liaison for students, student organizations and clubs, and external community groups; sourcing local musicians to participate in the Nov. 2nd procession; working closely with external community members and find ways to collaborate; and, ultimately, including the participation and performance of the students in ARDV 0116A The Creative Process instructed by Prof. Olga Sanchez Saltveit within the Nov. 2nd procession.

Throughout this process, we formed many connections with external organizations, communities and individuals. Whether it was leading a fun workshop, catering Mexican food for community members, supplying traditional sweet bread for altars, or organizing a Spanish-language mass for the public, we were able to bridge the gap between the Middlebury College and surrounding community, offering a welcoming space. In all, this celebration came to fruition with the support and participation of 6 Middlebury College academic departments, 6 external community entities, 7 Middlebury College centers and resources, 10 student organizations and clubs, and the attendance of over 200 people in the Nov. 2nd celebration. 

At its core, the Día de los muertos Celebration and Procession was a way to engage in reciprocal community connectedness, create new traditions among the college and students, provide a space for the Middlebury College community and beyond to heal from the universal experience of loss, and, fundamentally, celebrate the living and dead.

Finding Your Place

For many students, beginning college can be an exciting, albeit challenging time. In addition to the new academic expectations and experiences, new students are often discovering an entirely new community both on campus and in a new town or state. At Middlebury College, first-year students, 97% of whom come from another state or country, join a thriving campus community of more than 2,500 students in a town of more than 8,500 people. A vital part of integrating into the Middlebury community is finding your place, whether that be through a tight-knit group of friends formed during New Student Weekend, a program hosted by the Anderson Freeman Resource Center, or weekly club meetings organized by one of the student organizations on campus. 

At the Center for Community Engagement, our goal is to support each Middlebury College student in finding their place on campus, locally within Middlebury and as a global citizen. We offer a wide array of programs, courses, and clubs that can fit into any schedule, focused on a multitude of interest areas like civic leadership, youth & mentoring, global engagement and language programs, and more. Many of our student leaders are varsity athletes or work-study students, and we find ways to help them find community engagement opportunities that fit with their busy schedules. While each of our program areas may speak to a different skill set or passion project, each shares a similar goal: to encourage students to engage in self-exploration, self-expression, and consider their place and power in whatever community they belong to. 

For many students, CCE programs provide a space for students to make friends, build a support network, and find personal and professional growth opportunities. Madelyn Lander ‘23, who founded the CCE supported community engagement organization Yellow House Community Club shared the following quote about her experience at Yellow House Community, which inspired her to start the Middlebury club:

 “Every day was different, and every week I discovered a new part of our community here in Midd that I had never known existed before. With Yellow House I traveled to farms in the area, volunteering with Yellow House residents to give back to the community which supports us, went on more hikes than I could count, and spent hours in the kitchen making lunches and helping to prep dinners with everyone.” 

In addition to the experiences available through student-led organizations, community connected learning courses provide an experiential learning opportunity that encourages students to engage in hands-on community building activities. CCE staff teach a Community Connected Learning course (INTD 121), which is a great way for new students to start building community with project support. Emily Carfi ‘21, who served as a Community Connected Learning Course Project Assistant said:

“[Community Connected Learning] was a great way for me to pursue community work with great guidance during such a difficult time of year. I learned about fellow Midd students’ involvement in the community, and I also learned about different organizations that are located in Addition County, which I hadn’t heard of before. It was so inspiring to see how all these students contributed to different organizations meant to serve different groups of people in need.” 

For students who would like a more individualized connection with the CCE, we offer Find My Place meetings, which students can schedule by visiting go/FindMyPlace. Find My Place meetings provide an opportunity for students to meet with any CCE staff member to talk about options for volunteering that work best for their schedule and capacity. Through these meetings, students can see first-hand how customizable community engagement opportunities are at Middlebury College. We strive to ensure that students can choose their own adventure, with structure and support from the CCE every step of the way. 

The Center for Community Engagement is intentional about creating a diverse set of experiences available to students interested in getting involved, but the possibilities aren’t limited to what we’ve already created. Each year, the CCE provides flexible funding through the Community Engagement Organization leadership group so that students can work on individual or group projects which may or may not lead to the development of a new student organization. This year alone, we’ve supported students in creating five new student organizations focused on collaborating with community partners. We also support grant programs like the Cross Cultural Community Engagement Grant that encourages students to dedicate their time to intercultural dialogue and exchange. We fully believe that every student should be able to find their place here at Middlebury, and if it doesn’t already exist, we’re here to help you create it.

A yellow house with white trimming sits with a copse of trees on one side and a green grassy lawn on the other. Two yellow Adirondack chairs sit facing the camera in the grass.

National Mentoring Month

What is National Mentoring Month? 

Each year in January, organizations and programs around the nation celebrate the meaningful relationships that mentorship provides. Throughout the month, there are workshops, conferences, training, and more dedicated to teaching mentors vital skills and strategies for improving their mentorship relationships. There are also plenty of opportunities to get involved with mentorship for the first time or connect with a local or national organization dedicated to fostering relationships.

A group of Middlebury college students gather on the green grass outside the Center for Community Engagement. They're standing in pairs, talking with each other.
Community Engagement Leaders gathered in the fall to brainstorm goals & ideas for their organizations.

Why is mentoring an important aspect of community connection/engagement?

Research has indicated that mentoring provides a plethora of educational, behavioral, and social-emotional benefits,  for both mentees and mentors of youth. On average, kids who are involved in meaningful mentoring relationships have better academic performance, better school attendance, and more positive attitudes about school and classroom participation. They’re also less likely to partake in illegal drug and alcohol use and show decreased rates of violent behavior. Likewise, mentoring relationships improve the lives of mentors as well! Studies show that individuals engaged in both informal and formal mentoring often have increased self-esteem, a sense of accomplishment and pride, insight into youth experiences, increased patience and supervisory skills, and a network of volunteers. These benefits can be personally fulfilling and also contribute to career development and success, especially for college students who are developing vital interpersonal work skills. 

Through mentoring, each and every student at Middlebury college has the opportunity to make a positive impact on the lives of young people. By dedicating just about an hour a week to a mentoring program (less time than most of us spend scrolling through TikTok!), you can provide a sense of stability and connection to a kid or teen in the community.

What opportunities are there for students to get involved in a mentoring program at the CCE?

The Center for Community Engagement supports a variety of mentorship programs that can fit most student schedules and interest areas. If you are interested in joining one of the organizations described below, their contact information has been provided. In addition, you can reach out to either Shannon Lyford (slyford@middlebury.edu)  or Gabi Cuna (gcuna@middlebury.edu) who advise the Youth & Mentoring organizations. 

For individuals interested in volunteering with elementary aged youth, Community Friends, Page One Literacy Project, DREAM, and Nutrition Outreach & Mentoring (NOM) provide opportunities to work with kids aged kindergarten through fifth grade. Programs like Community Friends and DREAM match college students to kids directly and support 1:1 mentorship relationships, whereas Page One and NOM use group programs to support children’s literacy and access to nutritious foods respectively. 

Left: DREAM Mentors hula hoop with their mentees.
Right: Page One volunteers make Halloween themed arts & crafts with local kids.

If you’re looking for opportunities with middle school aged kids, Brother to Brother and Sister to Sister provide group mentorship opportunities. They host fun activities throughout the school year, accompanied by discussions about middle school issues like healthy masculinity, self-esteem, and bullying. NOM also hosts in-person cooking classes at Middlebury Union Middle School during the school year. 

For opportunities with high school students, check out Middlebury College Access Mentors (MiddCAM) who lead a 1:1 mentorship program that pairs middlebury college students with Addison County high school students so that they can learn more about their post-secondary options and the college application process. Mentors are paired with their mentees during the spring semester of their junior year in high school and stay paired for three semesters, until their mentee graduates high school. NOM also hosts group mentoring programs focused around nutrition and access to healthy foods in collaboration with Addison Central Teens. This program relies on a consistent group of volunteers who visit the teen center biweekly and host cooking classes and activities. 

As you can see from the variety of programs and activities offered, the Center for Community Engagement supports a multitude of ways for you to get involved in mentorship. These programs can fit a variety of schedules and time commitments, age ranges, and focus areas. For more information, click through and check out the Presence page for each of the organizations discussed, or contact Shannon or Gabi to discuss ways to get involved.

Semester Highlights!

As the year comes to a close and the winter break approaches, the Center for Community Engagement would like to As the year comes to a close and the winter break approaches, the Center for Community Engagement would like to take time to reflect upon and appreciate all the opportunities we had this semester to lead impactful initiatives, build lasting relationships between students and community partners, and connect with one another.

Student Activities Fair

First-year students visited CCE student-led Community Engagement Organizations and local community partners at the Student Involvement Fair to learn how they can get involved in the community! The Center for Community Engagement prepares students for lives of meaning and impact through local, national, and global community connections. By strengthening students’ civic identities, knowledge, and skills, our programs work to strengthen communities and contribute to the public good. Students at this year’s fair had the unique opportunity to meet community partners from local organizations and learn more about how to make connections with the Middlebury community both on- and off-campus. 


The Involvement Fair was just one of the ways the CCE connected with new students this fall. The CCE also hosted over twenty programs during Orientation that reached over 200 students in the incoming class to connect them with the broader Middlebury community and ways to get involved in community-connected programs. For more information visit the CCE website or follow us on IG @MiddCommunityEngagement.

Three students sitting outside the CCE enjoying pizza at sunset at the Privilege & Poverty pizza social.
Privilege & Poverty pizza social.

Students in the Privilege & Poverty (P&P) academic cluster gathered over pizza to discuss what they’re learning in class about systems of oppression and how power and privilege impact social change. The Privilege & Poverty Academic Cluster integrates coursework with experiential learning to critically examine the causes and consequences of economic inequality. 

This fall, students had the opportunity to take a variety of classes like American Consumer Culture, Culturally Responsive Pedagogy, Environmental Justice in the Anthropocene, and more. P&P students apply theory to practice by pairing their classroom experiences with a hands-on internship which can take place either locally or away. Local internship opportunities include working with organizations within Addison County including Helping Overcome Poverty’s Effects (HOPE), WomenSafe, Open Door Clinic, and more. For more information on the P&P Academic Cluster, visit the P&P Website!

Five students participating in Language in Motions mini-MAlt trip.
Language in Motion (LiM) Mini-MAlt Trip!

Aniketan (AK) Pelletier ’25 enjoys a break at the West Rutland Art Park with Rutland High School (RHS) students during the fall Language in Motion (LiM) Mini-MAlt trip. The trip was a culmination of a pilot LiM/RHS collaboration, bringing global perspectives to the study of local history. 


Language in Motion (LiM) is an educational collaboration that connects Middlebury’s international, study abroad, and upper-level language students with Addison County elementary, middle, and high school teachers, students, and classrooms. With support and training, Middlebury College students prepare and deliver lessons that promote global awareness, intercultural competence, and world language acquisition. This semester, 24 new and returning undergraduates and teaching assistants (and two alum) participated in the Language in Motion program. They collaborated with 11 teachers at five different Vermont schools to develop and deliver 17 classroom presentations. For more information about LiM and how to get involved, visit the LiM website!

Middlebury student and their mentee posing with their name necklace at Community Friends match day.
Community Friends Match Day.

New Community Friends mentors met their mentees for the first time as part of Match Day, an annual event that has been held virtually since the start of the pandemic. Community Friends, a one-on-one mentoring program that has been around since 1960, matched 20 new students with youth in mentoring relationships this semester. The program got special permission to hold Match Day in person with COVID precautions. Mentors, mentees, and families spent time talking, making crafts, and playing games with each other. 

Community Friends is a one-on-one mentoring program that matches Middlebury College students with children ages 6-12 in Addison County. The pairs meet regularly, often on campus, to play games, make arts & crafts, visit fun areas around campus, and sometimes attend group events. Throughout this experience, students make long-lasting meaningful relationships with kids in the community.  For more information about how to get involved in Community Friends, go to the Community Friends page.

Three Juntos board members in a meeting at the CCE with a CCE advisor's dog, Flash.
Juntos Board’s Compass Sub-Committe Meeting!

The Compas sub-committee of the Juntos Board met to set goals for their remote and in-person English language tutoring for the semester, with the support of their CCE advisor’s dog, Flash. The mission of Juntos is to build a strong, safe, respectful, and socially just community with the long-term vision of equal social, economic, and human rights. Juntos seeks to uproot discrimination, exploitation, violence, and human rights abuses on Vermont farms. Through education, advocacy, and action for policy, Juntos works to support and be in solidarity with the migrant community. 

This semester, Juntos met weekly with Compas participants, collaborated with Allianza to host a Dia de los Muertos dinner, brought on new Board members, and connected members with advocacy opportunities. For more information, go to Juntos Presence Page!

Four students cooking in the CCE kitchen for the community supper.
Charter House Coalition Student Organization cooking community supper. 

The Charter House Coalition Student Organization works closely with Charter House Coalition, a local social service agency that provides emergency shelter, meals, and essential items for individuals experiencing homelessness. The Charter House team provides many supportive services to help people reach their goals of finding and keeping permanent housing. 

Throughout the semester, student volunteers meet in the Center for Community Engagement’s kitchen to prepare hot meals to take to Charter House. For more information about Charter House Coalition, you can view the Charter House Coalition’s Meal Schedule, or learn more about how to get involved with the Charter House Coalition Student Organization, you can visit their Presence Page!

Middlebury NOM participants posing for a picture while working in the community garden located Mary Hogan Elementary School.
Nutrition Outreach and Mentoring (NOM) working in the community garden at Mary Hogan Elementary School.

Nutrition Outreach and Mentoring (NOM) partners with local schools and organizations to provide education and mentoring focused on access to nutritious foods and building healthy habits. NOM is a student organization at Middlebury College that aims to create community and connect people through food and food education. Our student-run group organizes volunteering events and classes with the purpose of both exposing young people to healthy local foods and food practices, and to acquire the independence and knowledge that comes with this life skill. The aims of our initiatives are to establish healthy eating and cooking habits and to raise awareness about nutrition and current food issues among the youth population. 

This semester, NOM hosted over 20 meal kit prepping events, in-person and virtual cooking classes, and community garden events with Mary Hogan Elementary School, Middlebury Union Middle School, and Addison Central Teens. For more information go to NOM’s Website!

Three Page One students pose for a picture as they work on making craft kits for the Ilsley Public Library.
Page One Literacy Project making craft kits for Ilsley Public Library. 

This semester, Page One Literacy Project made over 50 craft kits that Ilsley Public Library will give out to local youth to encourage a love of literacy.  Page One Literacy Project aims to foster a love of learning in local elementary school students through weekly programming and community events like read-a-thons with Mary Hogan Elementary School and the Halloween Spooktacular. As mentors, organizers, and program leaders, Page One volunteers take an active role in promoting literacy in all of its forms. For more information about how to get involved, visit the Page One Presence page!

Ashley Laux (L) meets with, from L to R,  Lisa Viau and Phil Geier of DUWCSP, and Betsy Vegso and Antonio Baker-Médard the incoming staff for Projects for Peace, now based at CCE.

Projects for Peace, a global program which encourages young adults to develop innovative, community-centered responses to the world’s most pressing issues, is now headquartered at Middlebury’s Center for Community Engagement. Each year, Projects for Peace provides funding for around 100 projects. The program was formerly administered by the Davis United World College Scholars Program. 

Middlebury students who are interested in getting involved with Projects for Peace can reach out to the Projects for Peace Campus Liaison within the Innovation Hub. For more information on Projects for Peace, you can visit their new website! 

Alumni Highlight: Kenzo Okazaki ’21

The following reflection was written by Kenzo Okazaki ‘21 as a follow up to his previous blog feature, which you can read here. Kenzo has been kind enough to share his understanding of community and the ways in which he’s managed to stay in touch with Middlebury after graduation. Kenzo is currently pursuing a Masters of Philosophy in Political Thought and Intellectual History at University of Cambridge, but has stayed connected with Middlebury College and the Center for Community Engagement through the Service Translation Project that he started in 2020 in collaboration with the Service Learning Center at International Christian University (ICU) in Tokyo. If you’re interested in learning more about the ways in which language can be used to forge long-lasting community relationships, you can visit the Language in Motion website or contact Kristen Mullins at kmullins@middlebury.edu. 

My introduction to Middlebury was at convocation in 2017. I remember two points from President Patton’s speech: 1. Middlebury College cannot exist without our community, and 2. Middlebury is not just in Vermont; we are all Middlebury, and it is wherever we go. As a first year, I had no idea whether this speech would remain with me or what shape it would take, but as I reflect on my time at Middlebury it has become clear that these lessons truly were at the core of the time I spent there. These words conveyed responsibility upon myself and my classmates, and watching them take up the challenge of building communities within the college and serving the needs of the communities that they chose has profoundly shaped my aspirations today. My contributions have been modest in comparison to those of many of my friends and classmates, but the fact that so many of us took it as our responsibility to help others never fails to astound me. It’s difficult to say it without sounding trite or like I am writing an advertisement for our school, but I do feel that I was surrounded by people and groups who felt a social responsibility to do good and that my own efforts were bettered by my interactions with them.

Going to graduate school was always part of my plan, and Middlebury’s international focus (through language/study abroad) was key to my decision to begin my postgraduate studies in the UK.

I have been staying connected to Middlebury College mostly through the Center for Community Engagement and the students working on the project I started last year. We now have to account for EST, GMT, and JST time zones, so it is very challenging setting up Zoom meetings! I am very happy that my relationship to Middlebury and that of my project are stable and in good hands respectively, and I hope that this partnership will continue to grow. It is so important that students are involved in making use of Middlebury’s resources (which includes its community of students!) and connections because they allow us to influence communities in ways that we could never do on our own.