Total Experience Learning Institute has new partner in Alvernia University in Reading

The Total Experience Learning Institute has a new partner in Alvernia University

“Alvernia University is a natural partner as we look toward the future,” Dr. Adelle Schade, founder of the institute, announced last month.

The program’s award-winning methodology encourages interdisciplinary learning through student-led experiences.

The university’s focus on innovation and its experiential-based approach to learning, coupled with its burgeoning downtown campus community will enhance the partnership, she said.

Operations move to the John R. Post Center at Reading CollegeTowne, a 250,000-square foot learning facility at 401 Penn St.

“Innovative partnerships continue to be at heart of our recent growth and recognition as a regional comprehensive university,” said Dr. Glynis A. Fitzgerald, Alvernia president. “The combined strengths of our partnership networks position us to support TExpL’s plans for expansion of its inventive, award-winning programming and the shared impact it will bring to the communities we serve.”

The program’s experiential learning methods resonate with Alvernia’s legacy as a teachers college and its lasting commitment to service and lifelong learning, Fitzgerald said.

The institute was previously housed at Albright College.

Dr. Debra Townsley, interim president of Albright College, thanked Schade for her service to the college over the last four years and wished the newly formed partnership much success.

As Albright welcomes a new leader to its School of Educational Innovation, it will continue its long-standing history of educating teachers through a range of deeply experiential programs, she said in the release.

“Educating future teachers, leaders and innovators in Berks County and beyond is a priority for all of us,” Townsley said.

TExpL at Alvernia also will form a partnership with the Charles D. Close School of Entrepreneurship at Drexel University, Philadelphia, to develop programs to meet emerging needs and create opportunities for educators and students, the release said.

The move to Alvernia is not expected to adversely affect Habitat for Humanity of Berks County’s revitalization efforts in the area of northeast Reading dubbed Innovation Corridor, said Timothy J. Daley, Habitat executive director.

The moniker was coined by Schade to identify the swath of streets connecting the institute’s former home at 1041 Rockland St. to the Reading School District’s planned science, technology, engineering and math, or STEM, academy at North Ninth and Douglass streets.

Habitat will still focus on the Ninth and Douglas area and honor its commitment to the school district to work toward improving the ratio of homeownership to renters in that area, Daley said.

Habitat for Humanity of Berks County wants to build communities, not just houses

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The organization’s role is to improve neighborhoods and make home ownership more affordable for working families, he noted.

Habitat has three homes scheduled for renovation in the STEM school area, he said, and is ready should more houses in the area become available.

“We can and will remediate blighted properties in that area,” Daley said. “But with the absence of Total Experience Learning, now we will probably focus on a more concentrated area.”

The push northward may be pulled back slightly, he said, but Habitat’s engagement in the area will still be there.

Rather than looking at institute’s move as limiting, Daley said, it should be seen as an opportunity for expanding community revitalizations efforts.

He hopes the partnership with Alvernia’s CollegeTowne will ignite housing revitalization in the vicinity of the downtown campus and create a ripple effect extending to the neighbors around the GoggleWorks Center for the Arts, 201 Washington St.; Reading Area Community College, 10 S. Second St.; and Laurer’s Park Elementary School, 251 N. Second St.

Housing rehabilitation in those areas would tie in well with Habitat’s efforts in the Buttonwood Gateway neighborhood to the northwest, he said.

Daley congratulated Alvernia and Schade on the new partnership.

“With what Adelle has accomplished so far and what she plans on doing, I think she’s going to be a superstar,” he said.

Daley said he sees the program’s move to CollegeTowne as an opportunity to enhance the experiences of its students and increase the importance of Alvernia’s downtown campus.

And it could have wider repercussions, he noted.

“So, I’m looking forward to seeing the results,” he said.

The Total Experience Learning Institute will complement Alvernia’s community-focused initiatives, the university said.

Alvernia has grown into a model for how academic institutions engage with business leaders to positively impact communities, notably through its Holleran Center for Community and Global Engagement and O’Pake Institute for Economic Development and Entrepreneurship, the release said.

The institute has more than 80 organizations in partnership, including businesses, industry groups, educational entities and foundations.

Source: Berkshire mont