Mount Saint Mary College graduate students Britany Dones (left) and Kayla Williams (right) co-coordinate the free Saturday Morning Enrichment Program at the Newburgh Armory Unity Center, providing educational opportunities for children from toddlers through sixth grade.
Mount Saint Mary College graduate students Britany Dones ’23 of Middletown, N.Y. and Kayla Williams ’24 of Hillburn, N.Y. are bringing excitement to the classroom by co-coordinating the Saturday Morning Enrichment Program (SMEP) at the Newburgh Armory Unity Center.
SMEP is a free program open to Hudson Valley communities – primarily Newburgh and New Windsor – that offers a variety of classes for children from toddlers through sixth grade. Programs include traditional subjects like literacy and science courses, to unique opportunities like drone programs and flight simulators.
As co-coordinators, Dones and Williams are deeply involved in the operational success of the program. Their responsibilities are extensive, encompassing behind-the-scenes tasks such as creating flyers, managing promotions, and setting up registration links.
“We’re there early in the morning doing planning, prepping, making sure there’s people in every class, creating materials, all that,” noted Dones.
Both Dones and Williams are pursuing a Master of Science in Education (MSEd) in Literacy. As future educators, a key aspect of their work is making the program accessible to families who speak Spanish.
“We take everybody, but we definitely want to cater to the population of Newburgh, many of whom are Spanish-speaking,” Williams explained. “We make sure everything’s accessible. For any fliers we do, we make sure everything’s in English and Spanish. And there’s always someone in the building who can help any family out, speaking English or Spanish.”
The students agree that they would not be where they are today without the tutelage Janine Bixler and Rebecca Norman, professors of Education at the Mount. As undergraduates, Dones and Williams collaborated with Bixler and Norman on their Summer Undergraduate Research Experience (SURE) projects, developing books focused on the Hudson Valley and the City of Newburgh. Bixler and Norman also helped the students to land their current jobs at the Armory.
“They’ve helped us immensely,” said Dones. “We can’t thank them enough. What they have, they give to us.”
Their hands-on experience at the Armory is proving invaluable for their future careers as teachers. For example, the duo frequently interacts with students, parents, and instructors, building relationships and applying their classroom knowledge to a real-world scenario.
“We get to work a lot with the parents and a lot in the admins, so it gives us those abilities and the skills to be able to handle those situations,” Dones said.
Williams echoed her sentiment: “I think it’ll definitely help that we’re in this community of English and Spanish speakers. I feel better equipped to go out and teach now.”
When they’re at the Armory, Williams hopes that students “get that feeling of a community and what it’s like to be a part of a community…hopefully they know that they’re loved, and this is a safe place for them.”
Having started at the Armory in July of 2024, Dones and Williams are committed to their roles for two years, with an expected graduation in Spring 2026.
Looking ahead, both aspire to be teaching in elementary schools, with Dones hoping to work back in her hometown of Middletown and Williams considering teaching within the Newburgh area or Rockland.