Jay Bernal and Analía Ivanier will Lead High School and STEM Mentoring Programs for CSV
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
MEDIA CONTACT:
Meg Ramsdell
Executive Director
(o) (617) 349-6794
(c) (617) 686-2237
[email protected]
JAY BERNAL AND ANALÍA IVANIER WILL LEAD HIGH SCHOOL AND STEM MENTORING PROGRAMS FOR CAMBRIDGE SCHOOL VOLUNTEERS
Cambridge School Volunteers, Inc. (CSV) has announced the appointment of its new director for volunteer programming at Cambridge Rindge and Latin School (CRLS). Incoming CSV Director of High School Programs Jay Bernal starts his work at CSV with more than 10 years of experience at the Museum of Science, Boston (MOS). He most recently worked in the youth education department at the museum. Bernal's experience at the MOS includes management of both the school year and summer youth employment programs, designing workforce development workshops for high school students, and developing field trip experiences for high schoolers.
Bernal has a bachelor’s degree in physics from Suffolk University. In his spare time, he is a freelance stage manager, most recently for “The Drowsy Chaperone” at his alma mater, Suffolk University.
CSV Executive Director Meg Ramsdell says “Jay's previous work providing students with support, enrichment, and career exploration is a great fit with the mission of Cambridge School Volunteers. We are delighted to have him bring his experience at the Museum of Science to CRLS .”
CSV has also promoted Analía Ivanier from program coordinator to director of its NetPals Program. Ivanier joined Cambridge School Volunteers at the start of the 2015–16 school year. She brings over twenty years of experience as an education researcher in both the United States (where she earned a Master of Arts in Sociology and Education from Teachers College, Columbia University) and in Argentina (where she earned a Licentiate in Education from the University of Buenos Aires). Prior to joining CSV, Ivanier worked at Project Zero at the Harvard Graduate School of Education. Having been program coordinator for the NetPals Program at Rindge Avenue Upper School, and coordinator of CSV’s Learning Centers at both Vassal Lane Upper School and at Amigos School, Ivanier will move into her new role with extensive knowledge of the needs of Grade 6–8 students and the coordination of volunteers for students at this grade level.
"Analía has been an integral part of our 7th-grade community as she always considers the needs of our students while managing 90+ adults in our partner companies," said Jay Mahoney, 7th-grade science teacher at Rindge Avenue Upper School. "Who better to head up the program than someone who has worked on it from the ground floor and has certainly displayed a passion for helping and inspiring students in Cambridge?"
CSV Executive Director Meg Ramsdell says “Analía’s experience assures that we will be able to maintain the high level partnerships and programming that NetPals is known for.”
Bernal will be director of all high school programs open to students in Grades 9–12 at Cambridge Rindge and Latin School (CRLS). CRLS is the city’s one district level, comprehensive public high school, with an enrollment of almost 2,000 students. Students at CRLS come from a wide variety of backgrounds, with 25 percent speaking a language other than English as their first language. Cambridge School Volunteers operates the CSV Tutoring Center at CRLS, a College & Career Mentoring Program, SAT Prep, and credit-bearing academic support classes, as well as providing volunteers to help in classrooms and volunteer mentors to advise the Science Olympiad and robotics teams. CSV also offers summer internships at Audible.com’s Kendall Square location through a partnership with the company.
Bernal says “What I like about working with high schoolers is challenging them to reassess what they think they are capable of and empowering them to reach for goals beyond that. Young people spend a lot of time hearing about the things they can't do yet and don't spend to spend too much time reflecting on what they can do. I’m driven to help them explore that.”
The NetPals Program headed by Ivanier was launched in 2012 to meet the needs of students in the new upper schools, but was modeled on a longstanding mentoring program operated by CSV in the old K–8 schools. Cambridge School Volunteers will onboard 286 NetPals in the current school year. The program is a cooperative effort between 15 corporate partners, Cambridge School Volunteers, and the Cambridge Public Schools Science Department. One-to-one matches of seventh-graders to mentors who work in STEM fields are the core of this early career exploration program, which combines mentoring in person and through supervised email correspondence.
“I am excited about this challenge and about taking the NetPals Program to the next level,” says Ivanier. Ivanier is a Cambridge resident and public school parent of one upper school student and one elementary school student.
Founded in 1966, Cambridge School Volunteers (CSV) is an independent, non-profit organization supporting the academic and personal success of Cambridge public school children. CSV develops programs that match caring and competent adults with students of all needs and levels.
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