From an internship at an elementary school to celebrating the 50th anniversary of the moon landing on the Washington Mall, junior Jen Andres had a summer like no other.

Her experience also broke the path for some new intercollegiate cooperation.

Junior elementary education major Andres, Newton, spent 10 weeks at the Washington Community Scholars’ Center (WCSC), administered by Eastern Mennonite University, which immerses students in cross-cultural urban studies and community living while they serve in an internship.

“We want students in our sister schools to have opportunities for the kinds of competitive internships available in D.C.,” says Kimberly Schmidt, professor of history at EMU and co-director of WCSC.

Schmidt has worked with WCSC for 21 years and was instrumental in transitioning it from Washington Study-Service Year, or WSSY, to WCSC in 2002. Among other changes, the program went from a 9-month school year to offering the fall or spring semester or a10-week summer term.

“We called it ‘Center’ because we wanted to involve all the Mennonite schools,” Schmidt says.

Bluffton (Ohio) University students have been joining EMU students at WCSC for about the past decade. Bethel and EMU signed a memo of understanding last year that allows Bethel students to remain that (not having to transfer temporarily to EMU) and to get Bethel credit for their work.

Schmidt – who happens to be a Bethel graduate – has long hoped to have Bethel students come to WCSC, but needed someone to lead the way.

Andres has known Schmidt (a peer of her parents) all her life and has visited the D.C. area many times, so she wasn’t a hard sell.

“I heard about it when Kim came to speak in a couple of classes about the Bethel-EMU cooperation,” Andres says. “I’ve enjoyed the times visiting Washington, D.C. I loved the city and I thought it would be fun to spend the summer there.

“I want to teach in an urban setting, so I thought it would be helpful to [get some experience] in an urban school.”

“To my knowledge, we are the only small school that has its own independent internship program in D.C.,” Schmidt says. “We are also different in that while we emphasize typical ‘D.C.-esque’ skills such as networking, we also [focus on] community connections, community building, leadership skills including servant leadership, discipleship and peacebuilding.

“We work to match students’ vocational interests and requirements for their major with the internships,” she says. “About half our internships are new each year.”

For Andres, that meant spending the summer at St. Anthony Catholic School in the Brookland neighborhood, which is also where the WCSC house is.

Brookland has two universities within it or adjacent – Howard University (a Historically Black College/University) and Catholic University. It’s an economically and ethnically diverse neighborhood, Schmidt says.

Andres arrived when classes were done at Bethel in May but before school was out for the summer at St. Anthony, so she spent her first few internship days in the classroom before moving into a role with the summer day camp program.

In addition to accompanying the children, ages 3 through Grade 2, to their many activities – such as splash park time at a nearby community center, playground visits or field trips – Andres worked on planning and directing craft activities every day.

“The main teacher, who also ran the camp, would get the classroom ready,” she says. “I had to come up with different crafts each week to go with a theme – like the moon landing, or the Fourth of July, or animals. They designed their own airplanes, they made masks and head-bands. We created an erupting volcano, and we made ‘slime.’

“I know I want to teach in an urban school – that was confirmed,” she says. “When I’ve observed in schools here [in Newton], even though kids are open and friendly, they’re a little skeptical of ‘this new person,’ but even from the first day I was at St. Anthony, I felt like the kids accepted me right away as ‘just another teacher.’

She also felt welcomed and valued by school staff.

“From the first day I was there, they were asking for my feedback and opinions on what to do – they threw me right in and trusted me.

“They had known me for a just month, and they threw me a surprise birthday party. They knew I liked Indian food so they had some made by an Indian woman who worked at the school.”

She hopes to do part of her student teaching in D.C. next year, she says.

In addition to the internship, WCSC is also about community. The house was at capacity with 15 students (13 from EMU and one from Bluffton, in addition to Andres).

“We did planned activities and we did things on the weekends,” Andres says, “just hanging out or doing free activities, of which there are lots in D.C.

“On July 4, there were fireworks on the Mall. On the summer solstice, the Smithsonian museums were open until midnight.

“We went to the Mall on the night of the 50th anniversary of the moon landing, when they projected a rocket onto the Washington Monument. I’ve never seen so many people in my life. The Metros were packed. But it was really cool.”

There were also group meetings and classroom time for the course Multicultural History of Washington, D.C.

“Sometimes Kim lectured, and sometimes we went on walking tours around the city to different neighborhoods. It was nice to be able to be outside the classroom, experiencing the city as you’re learning about it.”

Now that fall semester is underway, Bethel has two more students at WCSC, senior social work majors Sarah Balzer, Inman, and Akiyaa Hagen-Depusoir, Salina.

“I love having Bethel students,” Schmidt says. “They are strong students, good writers and hard-working.

“D.C. internships are competitive. They have to be strong students. I’ve had nothing but positive reviews from all the internship sites.”