Living Education Since 1970 — Celebrating Over 40 Years of Service
For over 40 years Project U.S.E. has been enriching the educational experiences of students in communities throughout New Jersey. Many of these students would not otherwise have access to the kinds of transformative experiences that Project U.S.E. provides.
What do we mean by “living education”?
For us, living education is a phrase that conveys the richness of the experiential programs that Project U.S.E. provides.
It describes the context of our programs:
Project U.S.E. programs immerse students in a “living classroom”. Whether we are taking a group on a multi-day retreat at our 50,000 acre wilderness center at Wildcat Mountain, in a classroom engaging in a hands-on boat building project, or teaching urban gardening at our educational center in the heart of Newark, we get students in touch with the wonders of the world around them.
It describes the approach of our leadership and staff:
Our staff members are professional educators who are highly trained, highly motivated, and engage in ongoing professional development. Experiential education is their life’s work.
Most importantly it speaks to the educational process in which we engage our students:
Our programs address the development of the whole person in preparation for life. We awaken curiosity, instill confidence, teach ethics and build character. We begin a process that lasts for a student’s whole life.
What Do You Want To Be When You Grow Up?
It is perhaps the most common and important question any of us was asked when we were young. While the answers were not always profound, the act of answering the question always was. It reminded us to imagine our future and, more importantly, it was delivering a subtle but critical message: “You can be anything you want to be.”
Imagine if nobody ever asked you that question. Imagine further that your experience of the world was limited to the two square miles around your home, and the only possibilities you could envision for your future were contained in the people and places in that small area. Where would you be today? What would you be doing? Could you have made your dreams come true?
Project U.S.E. programs encourage students to imagine a future they never knew was possible, and then provide them with the tools and skills that can help them turn their dreams into reality.
At the Grand Opening Celebration of our Newark Hub, Emmanuel, a former resident of our Costello Prep program, said it well: “When I think of one word that describes my Project U.S.E. experience I think of ‘exposure‘. If I hadn’t been sent to Costello Prep, I never would have been to a museum, or camping in the woods, or gone on a college visit. Project U.S.E. exposed me to all those things and more, and that has made all the difference.”
Javon, a student at North Star Academy Charter School in Newark spoke at our most recent October fundraiser and articulated how Project U.S.E. helped give him the courage to listen to his instincts and share his voice with fellow students. Honing his keen observation and sketching skills on Project U.S.E. expeditions, Javon has developed a passion for botany and plans to pursue it in college. You can see Javon and other students tell their stories on our YouTube channel here.
On Thursday Lamar, one of the participants in our Parks Re-Entry Program, while discussing the next phase of his re-entry process said it best: “You took us from a crawl to a walk. Now it’s on us to keep on walking.”