Aaron Johnson (right), a third-grader from the LACC, teaches UD student Jackie Cresswell the game of Pokémon. photo: KATHY FLICKINGER

Five "visiting professors" from the Latin American Community Center (LACC) in Wilmington came to the Willard Hall Education Building on Tuesday, May 8, to instruct a classroom of education students on using the fine art of playing Pokémon cards as a math resource.
   Luis Diaz, Jean Espinosa, Sergio Gomez, Aaron Johnson, and Angie Karduss, all elementary school students, each got a turn in front of the classroom, using a projector to explain the intricacies of the game. They then split off into groups, each walking several college students through their first rounds of card "battle."
   Some of these young students are failing math, but ask them how many damage points a Psyduck can do to a Charmander and they can do the multiplication and subtraction in their heads. Some are reluctant readers and writers in their regular classrooms, but entice them with a chapter book featuring their favorite Pokémon characters, and they’ll fight over who gets to read it first.
   How can this phenomenon be explained? Winning a popular game among peers makes for excellent motivation. "You’re not gonna let the other person beat you," Angie said. "You remember what [numbers] you had and what the other person had."
   UD professors Eugene Matusov and Maggie Matthias team-teach the course "Instructional Strategies and Literacy Methods" to undergraduates in the School of Education. Through this event, they said they are hoping to introduce their students to the idea of inviting children’s culture and activities into the classroom as a means of stimulating and encouraging learning. Matusov and Matthias hope that events such as the "visiting professor" program can help produce a generation of educators who take note of their students’ interests and use them to further learning–instead of merely confiscating their cards and sending them back to their workbooks.
   "We want to teach our students, preservice teachers, how they can bridge home and school," Matusov said. "We also want to illustrate to our students that they can and should learn from children about how to develop learning activities that are relevant to kids’ lives."
   Another goal of the program is to encourage young learners from socioeconomically disadvantaged backgrounds and difficult academic histories to value themselves as knowledgeable individuals. Along these lines, all of the children at the May 8 program received official ‘Certificates of Appreciation’ from the University in recognition of their teaching contributions.
   "Unfortunately, many LACC kids have negative experiences in their schools," Matusov explained. "We want to make a point that UD is their University, a place where their mastery and knowledge are welcome and appreciated."
   The LACC has long been a haven for children from disadvantaged Wilmington communities, providing a variety of programs for kids who need guidance and structure in their lives. Steve Villanueva, a computer lab instructor at LACC who accompanied the Pokémon players on the visit, described the center as a place where "we try to help the kids build better school work skills."
   In fact, some of the center’s programs go far beyond that. Along with afterschool help in reading, writing and mathematics, LACC offers classes in dance, karate and computers. In Villanueva’s lab, the kids learn how to build computers from scratch, which they get to keep at the end of the program.
   The community center’s computer lab has been supported by the University of Delaware through donations of computers and through La Red Magica/The Magic Web mentoring program which brings UD education majors to the LACC to work with youth.
   "We are good…friends and partners with LACC," Matusov said. "We are involved in planning together educational activities for UD students and LACC kids…. At UD, we treat [LACC staff members] Gladys Coto and Steve Villanueva not only as partners and consultants but also as ‘community faculty’ and ‘community professors.’ They both are frequent speakers in my class on cultural diversity and a part of the CBTE initiative."

–Jeanine McGann