Community Fellows Lend a Valuable Helping Hand to Local Nonprofits
Sitota Blomquist ’26 provided support this summer for MASS Design Group, an architecture and urban design nonprofit organization that works with other nonprofit agencies in several Hudson Valley communities. Beatrice Messaris ’26 performed a variety of tasks at DAY ONE Early Learning Community, an innovative early education center for City of Poughkeepsie children aged 18 months to 5 years. Jeffrey Portillo ’28 monitored local court proceedings and helped to plan community-based events for End the New Jim Crow Action Network (ENJAN), a Poughkeepsie-based organization that advocates for racial justice within the criminal justice system and works locally to end mass incarceration.
Blomquist, Messaris, and Portillo were a part of a cohort of 10 Vassar students enrolled this summer in the College’s Community Fellows program, administered by the Office of Community-Engaged Learning (OCEL). Each of the students is paid a stipend by the College.
“Now in its 28th year, the Community Fellows Program is a powerful example of what sustained, ethical community engagement work can look like,” said OCEL Director Elizabeth Cannon. “By working full time on community-identified projects, our students not only gain hands-on experience in the work place but also build meaningful relationships with local leaders and organizations. Our partners serve as co-educators, helping students connect their academic interests to real-world impact. It’s a model rooted in reciprocity, reflection, and a shared investment in the future of our local community.”
Sitota Blomquist ’26
Blomquist, a geography major with a French and Francophone Studies correlate, decided she wanted to learn more about the local community after she returned from study abroad in Cameroon during her junior year. She spent some time attending meetings of the local chapter of the NAACP and found other ways to become involved in local initiatives.
That’s why Blomquist applied for an internship through the Community Fellows program with MASS Design Group. “I realized that it was about to be my last year at Vassar, and I didn’t want to leave without getting to know more about Poughkeepsie,” she said.
Blomquist used her academic knowledge of a mapping technique called Geographic Information Systems (GIS) to identify vacant land in Poughkeepsie that could be suitable for affordable housing. “My project was finding out which spaces might be available for future development,” she said. “I had learned GIS in my sophomore year, but in this job, I learned a lot about its practical applications.”
Blomquist also carried out capacity-building projects as MASS Design Group assessed applications from local nonprofit agencies and other groups seeking funding contained in a $9 million community improvement grant that had been secured by the City of Poughkeepsie.
MASS Design Group Director Heather McArthur said Blomquist had made many contributions to the firm’s work this summer. “Sitota hopped all over the place in our office and was exposed to many facets of our work,” McArthur said. “Her knowledge of GIS really helped us map spaces for affordable housing projects, and she engaged the local community in Kingston on a smaller project that involved renovating an old barn into a maker space for seniors and others in the community. She was excited about our work and was a real asset. We would certainly welcome the opportunity to host another Community Fellow in the future.”
Beatrice Messaris ’26
Messaris, a cognitive science and Japanese double major from Baltimore, MD, supported DAY ONE in a variety of ways. She helped develop lesson plans for the teachers there, organized the school library, and conducted research on the pros and cons of using digital tablets as a teaching and learning tool.
“My research showed me why tablets are not for kids aged 2 to 5,” she said. “The technology can be a limited form of learning and potentially hazardous for their development.”
Instead, Messaris researched other ways to teach the children language skills, such as having them trace letters in sandpaper. “Tracing letters this way gives the children a level of sensory feedback,” she said. “It’s especially helpful for dyslexia. As a cognitive science major, language acquisition is something I like to study.”
Messaris said she learned so much from DAY ONE’s approach to education through play. “It’s like sneaking vegetables into the spaghetti,” she said. “And using music can be fun and an effective way to sneak play into learning.”
Messaris said she created her own music-based lesson for the children one day by expressing syllables through music. For instance, instead of just saying the word “elephant,” she and the students would sing and clap the syllables of the word together.
DAY ONE’s administrators said Messaris’s presence at the school this summer had been a genuine asset. “Vassar students are so flexible and able to assemble various components into a whole, and by working here for the summer, they get to see that magic happen,” said Julie Riess, the school’s co-founder and education officer.
Indra Ong, coordinator of curriculum and program development, said she was impressed with how quickly Messaris had connected with the children she worked with. “Bea brings such an aura of calmness to the room in the same way other Vassar students (she is the fourth Community Fellow to work at DAY ONE) have done in synthesizing language and literacy,” Ong said.
Site Director Chanel Whitaker agreed. “Every Vassar student we’ve had here has been excited to do this work. They all add a spark to our classes.”
Messaris said she was certain she would be able to apply her Community Fellows experience to her post-Vassar career. “I’m sure I’ll use a lot of what I learned there,” she said. “I can see myself working with children after my time at Vassar, especially in the field of language development.”
Jeffrey Portillo ’28
Portillo, a resident of Carthage, MO, who plans to pursue double majors in mathematics and political science, said he was eager to work for ENJAN in part because he had been interested in criminal justice issues prior to coming to Vassar.
In addition to his court-monitoring duties, Portillo traveled to Albany to urge Jonathan Jacobson, the state legislator who represents Poughkeepsie, to support a bill that would allow incarcerated people serving long prison sentences to seek parole when they reach age 55. He also attended community events to publicize ENJAN’s work. “Our goal is to make the community more aware of what we do,” he said.
ENJAN Co-founder and Vassar Professor of German Studies Jeffrey Schneider said Portillo had brought many useful skills to his work with the organization. “Jeff has learned some community organizing skills this summer, and he is fluent in Spanish which has helped us reach out to that segment of Poughkeepsie’s population,” Schneider said.
Portillo said he was grateful for the opportunity to work for ENJAN. “Having this chance to be deeply involved in the community and seeing how dedicated everyone in the organization is and how close-knit so many in the Poughkeepsie community are is a beautiful thing,” he said. “I can see myself staying active in the community for the next three years.”
In addition to MASS Design Group, Day One, and ENJAN, this year’s community partners were:
Prisoners’ Brain Trust, Community Matters 2, Arlington Partners Against Racism, Exodus Transitional Community, The Art Effect, Dutchess Outreach, and Celebrating the African Spirit.