Lewisburg, Pa.
For two years, Kendall Jansen ’21 mentored K-12 students in Lewisburg-area affordable-housing communities through the Bucknell Buddies program. When Bucknell’s transition to remote learning brought an abrupt end to those meet-ups last spring, Jansen didn’t dwell on the separation for long; she got to work.

What She Did
Last fall, with help from Department of Education Field Experience Coordinator Ellen Amarante and the Greater Susquehanna Valley United Way, Jansen launched United We Learn, an online tutoring program that pairs Bucknell undergraduates with K–12 students from three nearby counties.

Tutors work with students to craft customized plans to meet their educational needs and goals. As they nurture young minds, the tutors gain the kind of immersive teaching experience that’s become harder to obtain during the pandemic. Nine Bucknell students tutored last fall, a number Jansen hopes will increase as she develops the program through her education-major capstone project this spring.

What They’re Learning
Cara O’Neill ’22, an education and sociology major who tutored last fall, says working with United We Learn has added new dimensions to her skills as an educator, even after completing several in-person student-teaching placements.

“Whether I’m helping them with homework or setting goals, there’s more of an individual relationship — I’m not just another figure in the classroom,” she says.
— Matt Hughes