Community Engagement

The UNC Charlotte colleges of Education and Health and Human Services are partnering with the nonprofit Aldersgate retirement community to establish the Center for Health, Education and Opportunity, an outpost directed at reshaping Charlotte’s eastside community.

The 6,000-square-foot center is the first venture of an overall master plan to improve the physical and economic health of the area.

Public health sciences professor Beth Racine is working with a local childcare center to teach young children to eat well and stay active.

A two-hour family friendly Carnivorous Plant Carnival will be from 11 a.m. to 1 p.m., Saturday, June 25, at McMillan Greenhouse.

Organized by the UNC Charlotte Botanical Gardens, this event will feature hands-on games and activities suitable for children ages 4 to 12 – including the chance to feed a Venus flytrap.

A multi-year effort by Department of Educational Leadership Professor Debra Morris has significantly improved instruction and faculty development at the Charlotte Islamic Academy, according to that organization’s leadership.

The academy contacted Morris in 2012 to seek help with classroom observation and professional development. In the years since, she has led efforts to set up a beginning teacher’s support program and assisted the school in establishing a relationship with the North Carolina Department of Public Instruction to facilitate teacher licensure.

Students in the School of Architecture’s AIAS “Freedom by Design” chapter recently completed the first of a two-phase project at the Cabarrus Bilingual Preschool, run by Families First in Cabarrus County, a nonprofit organization that serves low-income families through bilingual (Spanish and English) programs for children and parents.

The finished phase of the project includes a privacy fence weave of colorful nylon strips woven through the existing chain link fence, a series of interactive wooden panels attached to the fence and a large gardening area.

An unfolding partnership between an interdisciplinary team at UNC Charlotte and the Camino Community Center is helping to address the mental health needs of Charlotte’s Latino community.

A large crowd gathered Friday, May 6, at the gazebo in the UNC Charlotte Botanical Gardens to listen to a musical interlude by a five-piece ensemble from the Charlotte Symphony Orchestra.

The mini-concert, presented by the symphony in partnership with the College of Liberal Arts & Sciences, was made possible through a gift from an anonymous donor in memory of University founder Bonnie Cone.

More photos from the event are on the college’s Facebook page.

MAX, the UNC Charlotte Mobile Arts & Community Experience, is in residency throughout the month of May at Aldersgate Retirement Community in east Charlotte, where the mobile classroom/meeting space is the site for daily workshops for all ages.

If it’s never too early to start thinking about college, then 145 local third graders are off to a good start after acting as honorary 49ers during the annual “Literacy Alive! Read-in” at UNC Charlotte.

Hosted by the Kappa Delta Pi International Honor Society in Education and offered as an extension of the North Star Reading Partners Initiative, “Literacy Alive!” is meant to be a first step in preparing students to be college ready. Through a series of hands-on events, students from Newell Elementary got a firsthand look at college life and the importance of education.

 In recognition of national Small Business Week, Congresswoman Alma Adams (NC-12) toured UNC Charlotte’s Partnership, Outreach and Research to Accelerate Learning (PORTAL) facility on Wednesday, May 4. During her visit, she met with Robert Wilhelm, vice chancellor for research and economic development; Paul Wetenhall, president of Ventureprise; and Henry Rock, executive director of City Startup Labs.