Service
Graduate students spearhead Saturday classes at Newburgh Armory
Photos by Lee Ferris
Graduate students Britany Dones ’23 and Kayla Williams ’24 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 range from 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 of 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 with 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.
Habitat Newburgh’s Walk for Housing at the Mount draws more than 100
Photos by Lee Ferris
Habitat for Humanity of Greater Newburgh’s 26th annual Walk for Housing, this year in partnership with the Mount, raised critical funds and awareness for Habitat’s affordable homeownership program this spring..
Themed “Building Tomorrow Starts at Home,” the walk drew more than 100 participants from Newburgh and beyond. It consisted of a 2.8-mile walking route that both began and ended at the Mount’s campus.
The event showed off Habitat Newburgh’s past accomplishments, as well as some of its current build sites. Walkers were guided by students from Newburgh Free Academy’s Junior Reserve Officers’ Training Corps (JROTC), and members of the district’s Goldbacks cheering squad performed before the walk began. City of Newburgh firefighters were on-hand to give out water and candy to walkers about halfway through the walking route.
The Walk for Housing T-shirts given to walkers and fundraisers, and sold at the event, were designed by Mount student Issiah Figueroa of Newburgh, N.Y.
“It has been an honor to work and walk side by side with the staff, faculty and student body of Mount Saint Mary College,” said Maureen Lashlee, Interim Executive Director of Habitat Newburgh. “Since 2015 we have been in lockstep making safe and affordable home ownership a mission and priority of our organizations. We are blessed with this partnership and look forward to many more years of building together.”
The Mount recently donated two properties for the construction of affordable housing for local families to Habitat Newburgh. The properties, located at 417 and 419 Liberty Street just behind the college, will be the site of two new Habitat homes. Mount students, faculty, staff, and alumni will partner with Habitat through several Build Day events to ensure the progress of these homes and others like it in the Newburgh area.
“Mount Saint Mary College and Habitat have had a long and strong relationship,” said Fr. Gregoire Fluet, vice president for mission and ministry at the Mount. “I would like to believe and know that Habitat and you all here, in so many ways, live the words of scripture: ‘I was hungry and you gave me food, thirsty and you gave me to drink, naked and you gave me clothes, alone and you visited me.’”
Mount creates ‘Little Free Library’ for the community
The Center for Academic and Career Services at the Mount recently established a Little Free Library on campus.
Situated on Powell Avenue, just outside the college’s main entrance, the Little Free Library contains several dozen books that members of the college and local community can borrow whenever they would like.
The books in the Little Free Library are made up of donations by Mount students, staff, and faculty for a book drive the Writing Center held this past December. More than 100 books total were donated to the Orange County Office of Aging and the Little Friends Learning Loft in the Newburgh Jewish Community Center, a Montessori-inspired preschool and kindergarten. The remaining books were used to jumpstart the new Little Free Library.
“We spent the spring semester literally constructing this,” said Gina R. Evers, Coordinator of Tutoring Services and Writing Center. “We looked for the right kind of plywood, had it cut to size, and came together a few times to put it together. We’re so excited to share this with the campus community and local community.”
Not just clowning around: ‘Pie Your Professors’ raises funds for local shelter
The Beta Beta Beta (Tri Beta) Biology Honor Society hosted a hilarious fundraiser during the Spring 2025 semester where faculty, staff, and students paid to hit brave participants in the face with pies.
Mount faculty members came prepared with jackets and ponchos for “Pie Your Professors,” which featured volunteers like Evan Merkhofer, Vice President for Academic Affairs and associate professor of Biology; Doug Robinson, associate professor of Biology and Study Abroad Academic Coordinator; James Moran, associate professor of Biology; and Jennifer Bready, Dean of the School of Arts, Sciences, and Education.
What might have seemed like a pie-in-the-sky idea on paper turned out to be a successful fundraiser for the honor society, with proceeds going to the Tri-State Warming Station in Port Jervis, N.Y. Located in St. Peter’s Lutheran Church, the Warming Station offers meals, showers, clean beds, and clothing to individuals in need from late Fall through early Spring. It’s open nightly during this time.
Since 1975, Tri-Beta has been the National Biological Honor Society at the Mount. Students who have completed their first semester of sophomore year and maintain a 3.0 or higher cumulative average in biology courses are eligible to join.