Students in Professor Trish Schade and Professor Clare Thompson-Ostrander’s learning community this semester decided to do more than just read about social injustice.

The class was so moved after reading Jonathan Kozol’s “Savage Inequalities: Children in America’s Schools” that they decided to create a class project that would help address the disparities in education which Kozol highlights in his book.

As a result, the group spent a month this fall collecting children’s books for the Tarbox Elementary School in Lawrence. After collecting five full boxes, they delivered the books to the school, which was delighted to receive them.

“The class came up with the idea for this project and organized it,” said Schade. “I’m very proud of them.”
Schade and Thompson-Ostrander teach a learning community titled “Reading and Writing Toward Home” which incorporates two courses, College Reading and College Writing. In learning communities, two classes, taught by two instructors, are linked or integrated with a focus around a particular theme, often with common readings and activities.

To learn more about learning communities at Northern Essex, visit https://www.necc.mass.edu/academics/enrichment/learning-communities/