How Gianna Palmer Gained Job Skills & Life Skills with LPP
Gianna Palmer always knew she wanted to be a teacher. Now, she’s making that dream a reality by studying education at Broome County Community College and pursuing an eventual master’s degree.
“I’ve always wanted to make a good impact on students and do as much as I can for them. My goal is to become a teacher and get my master’s degree in early education and then work in the elementary school,” Gianna said.
But there was one part of her academic journey she didn’t expect: just how integral Liberty Partnerships Program would be.
She first got involved in Liberty as a freshman at Susquehanna Valley High School. Gianna described herself as “a little bit of a troubled kid” at that time. “I didn’t make the best choices,” she added.
Then, one day, she walked into the Liberty classroom. She said she instantly felt at ease with Tracy Parker, Liberty’s academic counselor at Susquehanna Valley. “She was just so kind and welcoming and kind and supportive,” Gianna said.
In her sophomore year, Gianna went to Tracy’s classroom more often to connect with her and other students, as well as to get help with her work. Whenever she needed help getting organized, coming up with a plan, or just needed to talk, Gianna said Tracy was always there.
“There were so many opportunities that were brought to me. It kept me intertwined with the Liberty program,” she said.
“I was just surprised about how much I learned and how much I could grow from just that program alone,” she said. Those opportunities extended outside of school, too – from volunteering and community service to summer jobs and college tours.
When Gianna needed to complete volunteer hours for a class, Liberty connected her to a drive-up food pantry in the area. She was able to get the volunteer hours she needed and also get involved in the broader community and experience the value of helping others firsthand.
But it wasn’t just volunteer opportunities Liberty helped with. Being involved in Liberty also connected her to Gianna to two jobs, both of which made a big impact on her life and future goals while teaching valuable technical and communication skills.
The first was a BOCES program. Gianna spent one summer working at a restaurant, where she got experience in practically every role – from making and serving food to designing a new menu, cleaning, ringing up the orders, and counting the cash at the end of the day.
She said it not only taught her a lot about food service but also about communicating and working together as a team. It was her first job, and she said it taught her a lot about responsibility in a supportive environment.
For the next two summers, she worked hands-on in education as a counselor at one of Liberty’s summer camps. As a Liberty camp counselor, Gianna supervised activities like science experiments and crafts while building relationships with the campers.
“It was nice to be able to sit with those kids who were maybe going through something and cheer them up and see what you could do to make them feel better,” she said. “It was a really nice experience just being able to work with them and get to know each and every one of them for who they are.”
Gianna called it an incredible experience that reinforced her goal of becoming a teacher and working with younger students. “When I was at a young age, I didn’t really have much support. And I just want to be able to support kids however I can,” she said.
When it came time to decide what her post-graduation plans would be, Liberty was also there to help. Gianna went on a college tour organized by Liberty, which took the group to visit SUNY Cortland, SUNY Oneonta, and other colleges.
The tour ended up leading to one of her favorite memories from her entire time with the Liberty program. The day before the group traveled home, the supervisors took them to a rage room. “We got to take out all our anger if we had any and it was just something I’ve never experienced before,” she said.
But it was the people she did it with that made it even more special. “It really does feel like a family once you’ve been so close with them for however many years,” she said.
