PennLincs grows greatly, spreads to other schools

As far as community service programs focusing on the learning that occurs in inner-city Philadelphia, PennLincs seems to be the new fad. The University-run program, which includes 230 University students, has jumped from six grade school participants in 1989 to 1000 children just three years later. The program concentrates on presenting scientific information to grade school students, with no tests afterwards. Pennlincs allows the students to actively participate in the experiments which are taking place and come to their own conclusions about what they have observed. "[There's] much more in showing than in telling," said Jean Roberts, a co-founder of the program. "It's not a one-way show, it's a two-way show." The program has caught the eyes of many private businesses and organizations, which are currently contributing just under $1,000,000 towards the ever-growing program. The program, which began with a series of sessions among several small groups of University students, has also interested several other colleges, including Rutgers and Drexel universities and Stevens College. Temple University already has a similar program in place. According to Roberts, the program is successful because the University students use science as the primary topic of presentation and allow children to interact in the learning process. Roberts said the children themselves have become the driving force of PennLincs because they have shown great interest in the program. "They have a lot of power, these children," Roberts said. Roberts said the children are finding the program a positive experience, relating what one child said to her during a learning session. "They don't know it, they don't think they are," the child said. "They're teaching us in there." According to Roberts, the fact that the participating University students are learning as well as the children also contributes to the program's success. Many students are using the program for research towards their own personal degrees. "Penn students are showing interest in community service," Roberts said. "They want to benefit from the faculty and faculty knowledge . . . and bring it to the community." As PennLincs continues to grow, the program's coordinators have set some goals, including establishing an undergraduate site for research education at the University. Roberts believes the program is a positive step, and while making sure the University is given the credit for establishing PennLincs, is enthusiastic about the replication that is taking place on other college campuses. "The richness of the program is something we want to shout out from the ramparts of Penn," said Roberts.

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