For Immediate Release: August 23, 2000
Contact: Sarah Grolnic-McClurg413-538-2030[email protected]
NEW ORIENTATION PROGRAM AT MOUNT HOLYOKE COLLEGE LINKSSTUDENTS TO THE PIONEER VALLEY REGION:
"Second* Saturday" to Take Approximately 300 Students to More Than 30 Off-Campus Sites on Sept. 16
South Hadley, Mass.—-When Mount Holyoke College’s choral director left a meeting one day last February concerning the experience of first- and second-year students, she had one idea on her mind: connection. Twenty-four hours later, Cathy Melhorn had the basic outline and a list of 19 project ideas for a new orientation program at Mount Holyoke, and Mount Holyoke’s "Second* Saturday" program, a new initiative for entering students, was launched.
On September 16, the third Saturday of the month (but the second Saturday of every new Mount Holyoke student’s experience this fall), approximately 300 students will have the chance to make multiple connections through the new "Second* Saturday" community orientation program. The new initiative, which involves more than 30 localities scattered throughout the Pioneer Valley region of western Massachusetts, will introduce new students to a wide array of activities and people.
A fleet of rented buses, College vehicles, and private cars will transport students to six hours of off-campus activities. Mostly community service projects, along with a few recreational pursuits, activities will involve an urban afterschool program, local soup kitchens, a wildlife sanctuary, Habitat for Humanity, and the Food Bank Farm. Travel within the region will range as far north as Ashfield and Buckland (home of College founder Mary Lyon); as far west as Cummington, a small hilltown in the area; as far south as Springfield; and as far east as the Quabbin Reservoir, the large body of water that supplies eastern Massachusetts with its drinking water.
Students will bond with one another in small groups of eight to ten and learn about the region as they rollerblade on a bike trail through farmlands, canoe the Connecticut River with members of the local police department, or participate in one of 22 community service projects that range from cleaning up playgrounds in Springfield’s inner city to exercising stray dogs at the Dakin Animal Shelter in rural Leverett.
"All activities will locate students within the greater community, as each project is designed to introduce students to some of the rich resources and opportunities available in the region," Melhorn says. "The Pioneer Valley is a special place affording a rare mix of nature and culture. The planning committee for Second* Saturday, which includes faculty, staff, students and alumnae, hopes that Mount Holyoke students will start off with a better sense of where they are through this new program."
Each student will set off with a mini-map of western Massachusetts, a souvenir water bottle, and a brown bag lunch. Volunteers, drawn from the upper-class student body, college staff and faculty, and local Mount Holyoke alumnae, will guide the groups.
Response to the new program has been overwhelmingly positive. The College received more than 350 registrations from an initial mailing of 650 letters.
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