We believe that the power of empathetic practices, critical thinking skills, and close relationships are built upon connections with people who have diverse perspectives, beliefs, traditions, identities, and cultures. We promote the development of meaningful relationships and learning with small class sizes (1:7-9) and practices that support learners to significantly impact what and how they learn.
While we welcome volunteer support for some tasks, there is no required volunteering commitment.
The mission of Amiko Learning Center is to support young people to build knowledge in ways that support collaboration and autonomy, so they can understand the complexity of our world, to make informed decisions and generate innovative ideas, while acting with empathy for others.
We work together to make choices about what and how we learn, so the knowledge we build is personally meaningful.
We develop responsibility and persistence to plan and achieve challenging goals, with accountability to ourselves and to our community.
We create evidence of our learning in a variety of ways, including photography and written means, to enhance our learning process, facilitate reflection, and to share with others, in person, and in digital spaces.
Our collaborative community, built from diverse perspectives, strengthens our learning experiences and helps us to develop empathetic understanding.
The learning center is guided by research that supports people to have empowering learning experiences by promoting autonomy and collaboration. Instead of grades, guides facilitate assessment by providing and encouraging specific and helpful feedback from self-reflection, peers, other guides, and community members. We contribute to our community by documenting our learning and creating artifacts that can be shared with others. Courses are designed to be relevant by aligning activities with longer-term goals, creating connections beyond the learning center, and honoring engagement as the driving force behind learning.
Jennifer has a Masters degree in Art Education from Nazareth College where she earned the Excellence in Art Education Award. She is earning a PhD in Teaching and Curriculum at the University of Rochester, where her research interests center on student autonomy and outdoor education. Previously, she served as the Assistant Head of School at the Montessori School of Rochester, Forest School Guide for the Earthworks Institute and Rochester Museum and Science Center, and owner of Flower of Life Gardening. Jennifer has two children and enjoys cooking and hiking. Jennifer is certified in Wilderness First Aid and is a NYS licensed Hiking and Camping Guide.
We believe that the power of empathetic practices, critical thinking skills, and close relationships are built upon connections with people who have diverse perspectives, beliefs, traditions, identities, and cultures. We promote the development of meaningful relationships and learning with small class sizes (1:7-9) and practices that support learners to significantly impact what and how they learn.
While we welcome volunteer support for some tasks, there is no required volunteering commitment.
The mission of Amiko Learning Center is to support young people to build knowledge in ways that support collaboration and autonomy, so they can understand the complexity of our world, to make informed decisions and generate innovative ideas, while acting with empathy for others.