Balancing roles as an early childhood education major, local teacher assistant and T-ball coach, Amanda Zellman attests that her Greenfield Community College coursework has challenged her to think deeply and connect her academics to real-life experiences and community activism. \u201cAll of these experiences have helped me better understand child development, communication, teamwork and the importance of creating supportive environments for children.\u201d<\/p>\n
GCC\u2019s\u00a0 Honors Scholar Program in particular has had a major impact on Amanda\u2019s academic journey, encouraging her to dive deeper into topics she is passionate about. \u201dMy honors research project explored the relationship between happiness and learning in early childhood education. I wanted to better understand why emotional well-being is often treated as separate from education, even though research and classroom experiences show they are closely connected,\u201d she explained. Her project incorporated academic research, classroom observations and interviews with parents to analyze how emotional safety, belonging, movement and positive relationships impact a child's ability to learn.<\/p>\n
The honors project also helped Amanda think more intentionally about how classroom experiences impact children beyond academics, revealing a larger conversation about mental health, inclusion and educational support systems. That knowledge was put to the test when her local district's finance committee proposed budget cuts that would eliminate critical services, including special education, sports and preschool programs. She decided to attend a meeting to speak publicly on behalf of the students and educators. She used the knowledge she obtained from her GCC classes to describe\u00a0 the importance of a positive early school experience, arguing that failing children at this critical stage of development leads to negative outcomes later in life. Thanks to Amanda and others\u2019 impassioned arguments,\u00a0 the budget ultimately passed, saving the programs.<\/p>\n
Amanda\u2019s experiences at GCC prepared her for that moment by strengthening her research, writing, communication and critical thinking skills. \u201cThe Honors Scholar Program especially helped me build confidence in presenting ideas, conducting research and exploring topics that genuinely matter to me as both a student and future educator,\u201d she says. The project showed her that everyday experiences in classrooms and communities can lead to important conversations and positive change. \u201cSometimes, meaningful impact starts by simply paying attention, asking questions or contributing your perspective and experiences.\u201d<\/p>\n
Amanda credits Brian Kapitulik, co-coordinator of the Honors Scholar Program, for being highly supportive and helping her through the research and presentation process. She also expresses immense gratitude for Dr. Peggy Martalock, whom she calls an absolute inspiration in the education department. \u201cDr. Martalock taught me that it's never the learners who are incapable; it's the environment that needs to shift to fit the needs of its learners.\u201d<\/p>\n
Amanda\u2019s long-term goal is to run her own preschool or kindergarten classroom within a public school system, where she hopes to create environments where children feel emotionally safe, supported, included and excited to learn. To anyone considering GCC, Amanda\u2019s advice is simple: \u201cDo it! I promise you won\u2019t regret it!\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
Balancing roles as an early childhood education major, local teacher assistant and T-ball coach, Amanda Zellman attests that her Greenfield Community College coursework has challenged her to think deeply and connect her academics to real-life experiences and community activism. \u201cAll of these experiences have helped me better understand child development, communication, teamwork and the importance […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":4307,"featured_media":4654,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":"","_links_to":"","_links_to_target":""},"categories":[18],"tags":[57],"class_list":["post-4653","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-student","tag-ece"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.gcc.mass.edu\/newsroom\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/4653","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.gcc.mass.edu\/newsroom\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.gcc.mass.edu\/newsroom\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.gcc.mass.edu\/newsroom\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/4307"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.gcc.mass.edu\/newsroom\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=4653"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/www.gcc.mass.edu\/newsroom\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/4653\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":4655,"href":"https:\/\/www.gcc.mass.edu\/newsroom\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/4653\/revisions\/4655"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.gcc.mass.edu\/newsroom\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/4654"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.gcc.mass.edu\/newsroom\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=4653"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.gcc.mass.edu\/newsroom\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=4653"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.gcc.mass.edu\/newsroom\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=4653"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}