Allston Students Present Projects at Ed Portal Showcase

Last summer, eight-year-old Allston resident John Paul Franks told his mother that he wanted to learn more about computers.

“I wanted to write about computers—and take them apart,” Franks said.

And so at his request, Franks began spending an hour each week this semester disassembling and writing about old computers with the help of his mentor Stewart O. Pine ’14 at the Harvard Allston Education Portal.

Franks and Pine were paired through the Ed Portal’s academic mentoring program, which matched 24 Harvard undergraduate mentors with local youth this year to explore their fields of interest.

On Sunday afternoon, Franks was one of a handful of local elementary school students who presented their projects at a science fair-style showcase and open house event at the Ed Portal.

Franks stood quietly behind his display table as parents, mentors, Harvard administrators, and fellow elementary school students mobbed around his handbook, titled “The Major Parts of the Computer,” and several disassembled motherboards.

Other student projects included a creative writing piece about a type of whale called a narwhal, an analysis of the Occupy Wall Street movement, and a science demonstration that modeled lava lamps with chemical flasks, food coloring, and Alka-Seltzer tablets.

Harvard administrators and Allston residents alike point to the Ed Portal’s active engagement and collaboration with the community as a primary reason for its success and popularity amongst local residents. Other University programs in Allston have received more lukewarm responses.

In Dec. 2009, the University halted construction in Allston due to fallout from the previous year’s financial crisis in a decision that left many Allston residents suspicious of the University’s intentions.

But the Ed Portal, which was founded in 2008 at the intersection of Western Ave. and North Harvard St., has helped the University bridge the gap to disgruntled residents by seeking their input.

“The Ed Portal is an example of what we want to do more of in consultation with the community,” said Associate Vice President for Public Affairs and Communications Kevin Casey. “The Ed Portal is organically rising up from the community through positive interactions with undergraduates.”

Brighton resident Lisa Lee said the Ed Portal mentorship program was responsive to her daughter Olivia’s personal interests. Although Lisa originally signed Olivia up for math tutoring, her daughter presented a science project in the final showcase.

“I think that was Olivia’s showing a little more interest in science experiments,” Lisa said.

According to University Executive Vice President Katherine N. Lapp, the collaborative spirit of the Ed Portal is “basically what we hope to build up as we bring more of our activities into the community,” adding that the University “tried to replicate this kind of concept in the I-Lab”—a new space at Harvard Business School designed to foster innovation and entrepreneurship.

Ed Portal Faculty Director Robert A. Lue, who delivered remarks at the event, said he hopes the new annex to the Ed Portal—which will open near the start of next semester—will broaden the Ed Portal’s programming to include recreation and wellness.

“We’re about to see the universe in this building really expand,” he said.

—Staff writer Rebecca D. Robbins can be reached at rrobbins@college.harvard.edu.