This school year, we had the wonderful opportunity of working with Sarah Hallmark who spent the school year interning with our educational programs. Sarah brought so much to our team through over 100 hours of volunteer work, and we would like to take a moment to recognize all that she has accomplished this year.

Sarah began working as a volunteer educator in the fall of 2015 bringing a strong background in education through her previous (and on-going) work with Lane County 4H and Eugene Parks and Recreation. As an assistant educator, Sarah worked with almost all of our in-school programs and staff during the school year. Sarah shares, “I like that I was able to go to all of the schools (SGP) works with and that I was working with many age groups. In my other volunteer work I have mostly worked with kids 5 and younger and it was nice to gain experience with different age ranges.”

Through her passion for creating equal education opportunities, especially for women in science, Sarah brought to our team insight and expertise surrounding equitable language, practices and common areas of inequity specifically pertaining to gender in education. During the spring, she also completed a Youth Program Quality Assessment (YPQA) of our in-school education programs which will be used to inform our programs for the 16-17 school year. The assessment goals aim at increasing student learning, engagement and overall program strength. “For me, (this internship) provided skills in teaching that apply to my life goals. I learned a lot from the entire education staff, their different styles, and the way they all interact with students. It helped me to learn more about how I teach and to find my own authentic teaching style.”

Sarah graduated this June from the UO with her major in Women and Gender Studies and will be heading out into the world to visit Morocco, backpack through South East Asia, and return to Morocco to teach English in the coming year. We have been so thankful to have her as a part of our team, and as they say in Morocco, “Have a peaceful trip” طريق السلامة (ṭṭreq ssalama) and thank you for all of your amazing work!