Empowering Parents Through Play

The Empowering Parents through Play Project aims to implement and evaluate the delivery of parenting education workshops designed to improve early child language acquisition and spatial skills development and to address achievement gaps experienced by children in marginalized communities. The newly developed “Growing and Learning Together through Play” curriculum translates recent applied research findings to an engaging and playful curriculum designed for parents and caregivers of children between the ages of 2-5 years. The curriculum has been piloted in bilingual community settings in New York City. The student intern will support the team by reviewing and updating curriculum materials and integrating new program strategies for implementation with city agencies and community partners. The student intern will also support approaches to assessing the impact of the curriculum on parents and their children.

Roles and responsibilities 

The student intern will be responsible for assisting in multiple project tasks and will work with a multidisciplinary team of faculty researchers, educators, and child development professionals. The student intern's role and responsibilities may include, but are not limited to the following:

1. Aid in developing new program strategies for implementation with city agencies and community partners.
2. Support parent educator at CUCE-NYC in implementing remote sessions for the Growing and Learning Together Through Play Workshop Series.
3. Assist in reviewing and editing curriculum materials and assessment tools as needed.
4. Attend team Zoom meetings and schedule weekly check-ins with the field supervisor and faculty mentor.
5. Provide general administrative support for team members, including assisting with scheduling workshops and program recruitment.

Qualifications and previous coursework

This opportunity is available to non-graduating students in Cornell University's College of Human Ecology.

We are looking for a student intern who is completing an undergraduate program in a field related to the concepts explored in the project. Fields might include human development, psychology, childhood development, public health, and policy. Previous course work in Human Development: Infancy & Childhood is preferred. Bilingual in spoken and written English and Spanish, and previous experience and continued interest in working with children and/or families in an educational setting is a plus. The ideal intern will demonstrate enthusiasm for working with families and can flexibly adjust to project demands.

Learning outcomes 

The student intern will have the opportunity to engage in the process of developing and implementing a parenting education curriculum. The student will also have the opportunity to learn about the various projects and community programs currently taking place in CUCE-NYC.