partner with us
Higher Education
We work with colleges and universities to connect their students to the communities around them.
College students work alongside our teaching artists as interns and work-study staff in our after-school programs. Others study the work itself. In the Spring of 2026, five first-year students from the College of the Holy Cross spent a semester as ethnographers in our classes inside the Worcester County House of Correction and presented their research at the college's academic conference in April. Three more presented a case study on sustaining student engagement with our programs at the Non-Profit Careers Conference; two later joined us as summer interns.
For students, it is real classroom experience and a first encounter with community-engaged work. For our programs, it is more adults in the room. For the colleges, it is a lasting connection to the city they sit in.
What College Students Do
TEACHING EXPERIENCE. Students work directly with elementary, middle, and high school students and with incarcerated adults in our partnering facilities, leading classes alongside our teaching artists rather than observing them.
RESEARCH AND SCHOLARSHIP. Students study the work itself. This spring, five first-year students from the College of the Holy Cross spent a semester as ethnographers in our classes inside the Worcester County House of Correction and presented their findings at the college's academic conference.
ENTRY INTO THE FIELD. Students who start with us often come back. Three Holy Cross students who first worked with us as interns or case-study consultants have since returned in paid roles.