Woodside Collaborations
Photo: Dr. Erna Brodber at home.
Woodside Community Collaborations
I have over 20 years of experience working with Dr. Erna Brodber and the Woodside community. During this time I organized the emancipation summer school (2001-2008), assisted in organizing Brodber’s b l a c k s p a c e symposiums, led two study abroad programs to the community, published an interview with Erna Brodber in Small Axe, collaborated with Brodber to do a series of lectures at the College of William and Mary in 2017 and recently was a consultant, production assistant and interviewee for the documentary A View from the Field focused on Erna Brodber’s life, work and scholarship. During my time in Woodside I forged relationships with elders, children and young adults. I have seen some of the children grow and transition into adulthood.
Woodside Articles
Caribbean Organic Intellectual: The Legacy and Challenge of Erna Brodber's Life Work (PDF)
From Nielsen Estate to Africa House: Ed“we”cation and Male/Female Relations in Rural Woodside, Jamaica (PDF)
Student Testimonial
T. 123-456-7890
CORRINE BINNINGS
I first met Dr. Catherine John in the summer of 2001 when she began to assist in the teaching and organizing of the Woodside summer school. Twelve years later, On August 8, 2013, I flew from Montego Bay, Jamaica to a small town in Southwest Oklahoma with a determination to earn a college degree. The Fitz and Fay John Family Foundation, (started by Mrs. Fay John, Dr. John’s mother), promised to cover the cost of tuition and housing for my first semester. The Foundation fulfilled its promise and went even above that initial promise by further assisting me with the tuition cost throughout the program. Though I had planned to work and cover the cost on my own after the first semester, doing so on minimum wage from a 20 hour per week campus job proved impossible. Over the next three years, the Fitz and Fay John Family Foundation picked up where I fell short; I would pay as much of my tuition as I could, and year after year the Foundation would pay the difference.
Despite the difficulties associated with navigating life as an international student in unfamiliar territory, I was able to successfully complete my degree in three and half years, thanks to a lot of determination and a promise kept and exceeded by the Fitz and Fay John Family Foundation. After completing this degree, I went on to completing a master’s degree on a full tuition waiver. this would not have been possible without the initial financial aid provided by the foundation. I can confidently say that my life was drastically changed because of the help I received from the Foundation.
