At the Carol J. Greer Community Learning Center, they have a mantra that is repeated by the children that participate in their programs. It goes:

“I must dream big because I don’t have to settle for less.
I must work hard because I want to be among the best.
I must have self-discipline because achieving my dream depends on it.
I can do all these things because I am intricately and wonderfully made and so are you.”

Each child then points to one of their peers after the concluding line.

“Then they practice saying the word intricately because, after all, it is a very large word,” said Pat Barnes-McConnell, Greer Center coordinator and former College of Agriculture and Natural Resources faculty member.

The words of empowerment that the kids recite are especially important now in a time of uncertainty and challenges for children and those who teach them everywhere. To deem those challenges as intricate, that big word, would be an understatement.

The center provides a place for children ages 9-13 to learn and grow outside of school, supporting families and parents in the greater Lansing area who have limited access to resources.

“Our goal is to help them raise the kind of kids they would like to raise,” Barnes-McConnell said.

For many years, long before the pandemic, the Greer Center has collaborated with MSU. The children have visited the Abrams Planetarium, MSU Dairy store, and Wharton Center, but the MSU students also traditionally come to them to teach them about a variety of topics in a fun and engaging manner.

In 2019, Lisa Yun and Hannah Parks, two graduate students in the College of Natural Science, led a class on microbes titled “Bugs that Live On and In Us.” Many students have enjoyed the opportunity to share their knowledge with the kids at the center.

“For our graduate students it provides an opportunity to show leadership and use imagination in conveying the excitement of science to younger generations,” Natural Science Professor David Arnosti said.

As learning was forced to move online in the spring of 2020, it did not stop students from wanting to be involved. Students quickly brainstormed ways that they could engage virtually with the children, since they could not meet in the classrooms at the Greer Center.

For Fall 2020, the graduate students in the College of Natural Science once again started a sign-up to volunteer with the Greer Center, and, according to Arnosti, there was more interest than ever in helping out.