This summer, the awarded the junior government major its annual , which he is using to conduct a qualitative research project on the role of play in childhood education. He is conducting this research while teaching preschool-age children at the JumpStart program in the Columbia Heights neighborhood of Washington, D.C.

CREATIVE TEACHING

Play as an academic interest comes naturally to Dyson. A native of Rochester, N.Y., he worked in high school as a tour guide at the , where his father also works as vice president for exhibits.

“My father worked at the Play Museum, and I’m the oldest of 3 siblings in a neighborhood full of kids,” Dyson said. “I think play was something I was familiar with already, and it’s developed over time as an academic interest.”

An avid fan of Aaron Sorkin’s long-running TV show The West Wing, Dyson originally sought out Georgetown because fictional presidential daughter Zoe Bartlet attended school here during her father’s administration. Once he visited the real thing, he was sold.

“I got in, and I visited during GAAP weekend, Dyson said. “It was the most halcyon weekend you could imagine — the cherry blossoms out and the Potomac looking great — and I just fell in love with the school and the town as a whole,” Dyson said.

Dyson thrived on the Hilltop, joining the Carroll Fellows Program and eventually rising to become editor-in-chief of , the student research journal affiliated with the Tocqueville Forum for Political Understanding.

But it was at the CSJ that Dyson kept alive his passion for integrating play and education. He originally found the DC Reads program while looking for a work-study job; before long, he was a deeply invested coordinator for kindergarten and first-grade tutoring.

“The minute I got into the classroom I knew this was something I wanted to stick with,” Dyson said. “I loved figuring out creative ways to teach — what makes the kids learn well? What helps pique their interest? Am I doing a good job getting to know these kids and helping them succeed?” Dyson said.

EMPOWERING STUDENTS

CSJ staff took notice of Dyson’s leadership and encouraged him to apply for the Andretta Fellowship, awarded annually since 2012 to a rising senior to conduct research on a social justice issue during the summer.

For the Andretta Fellowship project, Dyson incorporated his work with the Jumpstart Summer Program — also facilitated by the CSJ — into his research. Through focus groups, interviews, and observational data, Dyson aims to publish a report on the ways play can be incorporated into the classroom.

“Everyone on the committee liked the creativity and engagement level of this project,” said , Director of Research and Evaluation at the CSJ. “Jake would both be participating as an educator — really getting to know the students — at the same time that he’d be studying them.”

Dyson hopes that observing how students choose to play will help him develop best practices for teachers that incorporate games and entertainment into early childhood education in productive ways.

“I’m looking at the way play can be used as a pedagogical tool, empowering students to express themselves in the classroom,” Dyson said. “It’s such multifaceted thing — it can be purely therapeutic, but also didactic. How can we incorporate the ways children play into the skills and concepts we’re trying to teach?”

THE ADVENTUROUS SOUL

The Andretta Explorer Fund, which provides funding for the fellowship, was established by the Andretta family in memory of their son David (C’99 M’04), who died in a tragic rock climbing accident in 2007.

“David’s parents, brother and I spent a lot of time talking about the best way to honor his life, and three main themes kept coming up — his commitment to social justice, his aptitude for problem solving and his love of exploration,” said Melissa Andretta (B’99), David’s wife.

Each year, a committee selects one rising senior who presents a clearly defined research proposal that serves to advance social justice, engages local cultures and peoples, incorporates outdoor activity, and is conducted with the intention of publication.

Dysons’ project reflects many of the values that the Andretta family envisioned their fellowship funding.

“That’s very much the type of person Dave was, in a way,” Melissa Andretta said. “He did a lot of tutoring in D.C. schools and summer programs. He also saw a lot of value in play — he was quite the adventurous soul.”

November 21, 2016 — Baltimore-based writer and poet Kondwani Fidel visited campus earlier this week for a spoken word poetry performance and conversation with students.

Kondwani Fidel (born Kondwani Fidel Russell) was invited to speak by Anthropology and Youth Culture course, which examines the ways in which youth influence cultural movements and vice versa. Excerpts from Russell’s 2017 book feature prominently in Önder’s lessons, and videos of his poetry have been assigned to students throughout the semester. Önder was glad to bring him to campus, with the help of faculty funding from the .

“I have been trying to get my students to consider how anthropology is written by living people whose identities shape their research and writing,” Önder said. “I want them to think of an author as more than just a name to be properly cited.”

Önder’s students enjoyed getting to know a poet they had studied.

“It’s not often that I get to meet the people that I’m reading about in class,” Jerome Smalls (B’19) said. “Kondwani was every bit as real and authentic as his words I read before meeting him.”

Russell has starred in several moving performances about life in his native Baltimore that have gone viral on social media in recent years. he gave for a class while substitute teaching has reached nearly 3 million views on Facebook, and his August 2017 essay “” has received recent critical attention. He’s now pursuing his MFA from the University of Baltimore.

In Raw Wounds, his first published book, the 24-year-old Russell “uses youth-friendly language to explore the dynamics of social oppression and social justice.”

At his appearance in the Healey Family Student Center last week, Russell candidly discussed his own background, including the ways he’s been able to express past traumas in poetic language.

“He did not hold back any emotions or try to sugarcoat the issues he faced,” Trevor O’Connor (C’20) said. “Being able to listen to an artist perform his art — and discuss his life in an unfiltered and vulnerable way — spoke not only to his creativity and artistry, but also of the work that needs to be done to fight for racial, economic, and social justice.”

Önder hopes that Russell’s appearance will help students better understand issues of racial justice and systemic oppression, as well as the role youth activism can play in cultural change.

“I think it’s easy to compare your struggle to those of others and think that yours isn’t important enough or tough enough to be worthy of sharing,” Nicole Rose (C’18) said. “Even though our experiences and struggles may be different, sharing them reminds us that we are not alone.”