Seeing Things Eye To Eye

On Friday afternoon in an art classroom at the Franklin Elementary School six college students assisted six fourth and fifth graders as they decorated capes and masks.

In his instructions to students, Marcus Soutra, Project Eye-to-Eye program director, said, "Decorate [the cape] in how it makes you feel good about school...What makes you feel like a superhero?"

Keene State College is one of 16 colleges and universities nationwide participating in Project Eye-to-Eye and one of two in New Hampshire - Dartmouth College being the other.

Project Eye-to-Eye is a non-profit program founded by writer Jonathan Mooney about eight years ago at Brown University. The program has college and high school students with labeled learning disabilities or Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder mentor elementary and middle school students with similar learning disabilities.

"It's awesome. The parents love it, the kids love it," said Junie Pereira, Franklin Elementary School principal.

The objectives of Project Eye-to-Eye include improving a child's self-esteem, encouraging self-advocacy, taking school seriously and believing in oneself said Soutra, a 2006 graduate of KSC.

The goal was to have five meetings a semester, the first of which was Oct. 20. At the meetings students did art therapy, said Steve Bigaj, associate professor of education at KSC and the faculty liaison to the program.

A professional artist wrote up the activities curriculum for the program each year, and this year it was M.P. Landis, said Soutra.

Also new this year, each child would have the opportunity to donate one piece of artwork to be auctioned off at Landis' gallery in the SoHo section of New York City, he said.

Half of the proceeds would go to Project Eye-to-Eye to pay for the event, while the remainder would go to the child in the form of a scholarship.

The KSC program currently had seven mentors matched with seven students, said Soutra.

"It's easy to find the kids, but hard to find the college kids," he said."It's a real commitment on the part of the college student to be a mentor in the program."

What was discovered was college students with learning disabilities went through similar situations in school that children with learning disabilities were experiencing, said Soutra.

Junior Samantha Quick said she had been through the special education program as a child, and wanted to help children currently going through it.

"This program is so good at helping a child's confidence, and letting them know they are not alone," said Quick.

Often children with learning disabilities got discouraged because they didn't have someone to stand up for them, said Soutra.

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