December 15, 2008
The Scott S. Cowen Institute for Public Education Initiatives at Tulane has named four Tulane graduate students to the Jones Scholars Internship Program. Tulane Law School is proud to say that two of the four honorees, Justin Van Alstyne and David Durand, are third-year law students.
Van Alstyne is a former Teach for America corps member who taught English in LaPlace, La. He hopes to continue to play a positive force in students’ lives. Durand has been very involved in public education and is eager to work with the Algiers community to enhance community school relations.
The program, supported by a gift from the Eugenie and Joseph Jones Family Foundation, pairs the students with public schools in New Orleans to work on high-level academic and strategic projects for an entire semester. The program was created to provide valuable intellectual and human capital to the work of the K-12 public education community in New Orleans, building its capacity and expertise.
The Tulane students will work with public schools to help them make strides toward improving educational achievement. Jones Scholars spend a semester working directly for a charter or traditional public school in Orleans Parish on a project that promotes student achievement, school success, and/or college readiness. The Cowen Institute provides a $6,000 stipend to each Jones Scholar for their work on the assigned project during the course of the semester.
Spring 2009 Jones Scholars also include Nicole Lee, a fourth-year medical and master of public health student, and Edward Crawford, a joint degree candidate in business administration and Latin American studies.
Durand and Lee will be working with the Parents Energizing Parents Community Outreach Program at O. Perry Walker Senior High and John McDonogh No. 32 Elementary schools. The project aims to create a community outreach and resource center in which the schools serve as centralized facilities in their communities where parents, students and community members receive needed services on an ongoing basis.
Val Alstyne and Crawford will be working with the Samuel Green School Library Project. They will work with teachers to develop a resource library to help raise student achievement and encourage students to develop lifelong reading habits.