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Sarah Lawrence, Beczak Join Forces For Environmental Education

YONKERS, N.Y. – Some Sarah Lawrence College students are set to get a much more hands-on approach to their education.

Karen Lawrence, president of Sarah Lawrence College, announced the school's partnership with the Hudson River Valley Environmental Education Institute Wednesday in Yonkers.

Karen Lawrence, president of Sarah Lawrence College, announced the school's partnership with the Hudson River Valley Environmental Education Institute Wednesday in Yonkers.

Photo Credit: Matt Bultman

The college announced Wednesday its newly-formed alliance with Yonkers’ Hudson River Valley Environmental Education Institute, the umbrella name for programs at Beczak Environmental Education Center on Alexander Street.

As part of the partnership, the college will create a Center for the Urban River, a one-of-a-kind research facility along the Hudson River where students can conduct studies and get an up close look at nature.

“Education in the classroom should also be connected to society,” said Karen Lawrence, president of Sarah Lawrence College. “And there’s no better place for studying the environment and environmental education than this incredible location on the Hudson River.”

Working from the Center for the Urban River, Sarah Lawrence students and faculty will collect research on the ecology of the Hudson River and the newly daylighted Saw Mill River. They will also join forces with other environmental groups in the area, collaborating and participating in studies of the bodies of water.

“People best learn when they are working, when they are interacting with others, when their engaging with the community. And they learn by doing,” said Dean of the College Jerrilynn Dodds. “And there’s no better place for our students to learn by doing than here at Beczak.”

While a hands-on approach is central to the university mission, Dodds said it is especially important for ecology students.

“You need a field station to do research in ecology,” she said. “You can’t do that research in a domestic lab. This provides a real field station.”

In addition to their research, Sarah Lawrence will also administer already existing Beczak programs for Yonkers school groups and community organizations.  

Sarah Lawrence College trustee Vicki Ford, who helped fund the alliance along with her husband Si, said her idea for a partnership between Yonkers students and Sarah Lawrence was born while she was a teacher at nearby School 25.

“It was my awareness in that year of teaching in Yonkers that there was infinite potential for Sarah Lawrence to work with students from this very wonderful city,” she said.

Rochelle Odesser, president of the Board of Directors at Beczak, said they welcomed the alliance as a way to expand the reach of the center’s existing educational programs.

“We’ve talked about how we could take these programs and move it to reach a larger audience,” she said. “So we’re very excited about this.”

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