UMR’s Community Collaboratory (CoLab) course welcomes local 9th graders to campus.

9th grade students from John Marshall (JM) High School had the opportunity to visit UMR and learn more about the campus, participate in a university learning experience and determine how UMR aligns with their future goals. This visit was a collaboration between Cradle to Career (C2C) and UMR’s Community Collaboratory (CoLab) course taught by Dr. James Ford. UMR Alumni, Misk Al-Zahidy ‘20 works with C2C and was responsible for this experience coming to fruition. 

JM students received a tour of campus, attended classes led by UMR faculty and participated in a session hosted by Sr. Student Success Coach Grace Nelson, Capstone Faculty Dr. Jen Wacek and Director of Community Engagement and Career Jenny Casper on possible careers of interest that align with UMR degrees. UMR CoLab students helped lead the day as a part of their community engagement learning experience in the course. The CoLab course is team taught and covers concepts related to health disparities, social determinants of health, intersectionality and cultural humility. UMR students are matched with community partners in Rochester that engage in work relevant to these topics. The course provides UMR students with opportunities to develop their skills and experience course concepts inaction.