The July sun may be blazing over Colgate’s campus, but Denniston “Dimension” Reid ’94 and his STEM and Shakespeare Institute staff have 38 young people inside Ho Science Center classrooms, blazing their own paths to college.
In its fifth consecutive year, the STEM and Shakespeare Institute (SSI) brings rising eighth through twelfth graders to Colgate for a week-long immersion program that exposes them to the rigors of college-level academics and the rewards of a residential collegiate experience.
The program is the brainchild of Reid — who is the new chief schools and innovation officer for Excellence Community Schools (ECS) — and his wife, Charlene, the CEO and founder of ECS, a charter school management organization serving students and families in Bronx, N.Y., and Stamford, Conn.
Many of the institute’s participants came from Beginning with Children Schools (where Denniston was president and founder) as well as ECS schools and are first-generation college-bound students. Other program participants are the children of alumni teaching in the program.
“For many students of color, the initial struggle at college is coping with ‘culture shock.’ One of my greatest regrets was having to spend so much time negotiating that before I could focus on my academics. It took a couple of years,” said Reid. “My intention is for these black and brown children to be able to forego that adjustment period and function at a high level academically from the start.”
What better place to do it than back at his own alma mater?
Reid, who has participated in Colgate’s Common Good Professional Network as well as Mosaic planning, has tapped four alumni compatriots for their unique expertise to serve on the 10-person institute staff. “Many of my fellow alumni of color had similar experiences, and that led us to become social workers, educators, and advocates,” he said.
Shewanda Cole ’00, teaching Live By Design, Not by Default for the STEM & Shakespeare Institute at Colgate. Photo by Mark DiOrio
Shewanda Cole ’00, a relationship educator with More than Conquerors — a faith-based positive youth development organization in metropolitan Atlanta — brought Live By Design, Not By Default, a curriculum of her own design, into the institute. Through presentations, an interactive workbook, and role playing, the students explore values, develop self-understanding, and build skills in intentional decision making and interpersonal communication to help navigate family and other relationships.
“A lot of kids are put in situations they don’t have the life skills for,” Cole explained. “This course is a foundation to ride the valleys in relationships, and they wouldn’t get this in a school setting.”
In the Mock Trial classroom, three students are portraying lawyer, witness, and judge in a questioning sequence while instructor Jacques Michel ’95 provides feedback and explanations of the proceedings. “I’m not making this too technical, but I do throw in elements of what takes place in the courtroom,” said Michel, a former New York City Department of Education attorney who represented homeless students in receiving services to which they were entitled. (Today, he’s ECS’s chief operating officer.) “These are super-talented, smart kids. I want them to have some fun and open up to debate and legal experience.”
Mock Trial class, led by Jacques Michel ’95. Photo by Mark DiOrio
Other course material runs the gamut from science, mathematical economics, and coding to American politics and Shakespearean literature. The schedule is packed, with classes and presentations as well as activities like swimming and ropes courses. Expectations are high — assignments are college level, with 50 to 75 pages of reading each night — and there are elements of practicum, as well. In the coding course, for instance, the students create an app and have an opportunity to pitch it to a venture capital group. Two Colgate professors, Margaret Maurer (English) and Jun Yoshino (psychology and neuroscience), have served as advisers and appeared in classes over the years. Lawrence Evans ’92, economist at the Government Accounting Office, and Michelle Smith, a professor at Barnard College, have also taught in the program.
Last year, Darin Kenley ’95 taught public speaking; this year, he’s co-program director, handling operations and program logistics. “One of the things I learned is the importance of setting high expectations,” said Kenley, whose day job is client partner with the school improvement and leadership development company Franklin Covey. “As middle schoolers doing college-level work, this group has proved that.”
“I learned time management, and that college is hard work, but it pays off,” said 10th-grader Zuriel Enoe. “Also, that when you work hard, you have to make sure you take breaks and have fun as well.”
Kristine Rivera ’96, director of family and community engagement at ECS, has been part of the institute since its beginning. She serves as head resident adviser, TA, and athletics director. While on campus in July, she and Cole took time to visit the Office of Undergraduate Studies in La Casa. “We talked to the students about how we survived,” said Rivera. “It is important for alumni of color to connect with current students. They can say, ‘Look, I’ve been through this. I’ve done it, and you can, too.’ I want them to feel the support of a network that is invested in their success.”
Alumni of the SSI program have gone on to prestigious colleges like Vanderbilt, RIT, RPI, Seton Hall, St. John’s, and Yale, and Reid remains hopeful that one day some will end up at Colgate.
“I’m stealing from Jay Z, who was quoting Hamlet when he said, ‘We know who we are. Yet we know not what we may be,’” said Reid. “My hope is that our kids are developing requisite skills and mindsets they can leverage to ensure their success in and beyond college.”
Denniston “Dimension” Reid ’94
- Co-founder, STEM & Shakespeare Institute
- Day job: chief schools and innovation officer, Excellence Community Schools
- Founder and former president, Beginning with Children Schools
- Fun fact: Proud soccer dad to Kennedy and Denniston III
Shewanda “Aquaya” Cole ’00
- Faculty member, STEM & Shakespeare Institute
- Day jobs: relationship educator with More than Conquerors; event planner; leadership trainer
- Enjoys chocolate cake with milk
- Favorite movie: The Notebook
Jacques Michel ’95
- Faculty member, STEM & Shakespeare Institute
- Day jobs: private practice attorney, chief operating officer, Excellence Community Schools
- Pastimes: youth basketball coach; deejay; photography; playing, listening, and creating music
Darin Kenley ’95
- Co-director, STEM & Shakespeare Institute
- Day jobs: client partner, Franklin Covey; leadership development and training consultant, Global Leadership Design
Kristine Rivera ’96
- STEM & Shakespeare Institute head resident adviser, TA, and athletics director
- Day job: director of family and community engagement, Excellence Community Schools