Mira T. Joos
I am Mira T. Joos, a doctoral candidate in Educational Psychology and Learning Systems in the College of Education, Health, and Human Science at Florida State University.
This summer, I am honored to be part of the Education Team at WFSU. I am enthusiastic about developing programs around educational resources created by PBS KIDS and their partners. Research about children and media has robustly shown that watching and discussing video shows with children can effectively teach literacy, numeracy, basic cognitive skills, etc. WFSU has been committed to offering high-quality experiences for children and their families during the summer across Tallahassee neighborhoods.
My research as a doctoral student of learning and cognition focuses on learner engagement and transfer of learning. I am particularly interested in researching how teachers work with inherent complexity, change, and variability of student engagement in educational settings.
Engaging children in various activities and media on a chosen topic may contribute to a deeper type of learning. In a forthcoming WFSU camp about languages and alphabets, we take our attendees on a journey around the world thanks to several multilingual families from our local communities who share about the languages they speak and their alphabets. Through various hands-on activities, including calligraphy and lettering art, children explore new alphabets, practice fine motor skills, and meet multilingual children who speak the languages introduced during the camp.
In addition to Educational Psychology, I am passionate about learning languages and developing instructional design to teach them to children and adults in a fun, engaging, and effective way. I am excited to use my professional experience as a language instructor (French, Spanish, English, Romanian) and work alongside local enthusiasts of early education, such as the WFSU Education team. As a Montessori-trained educator, I passionately believe children effortlessly absorb the learning around them. Therefore, our mission as adults is to care for and develop robust research-informed experiences for learning content and skills aligned with children’s developmental needs and interests.
Tione London
Hey there, reader! Allow me to briefly introduce myself. I am Tione London, a native of the lovely state of Pennsylvania, and a student at Florida A&M University to study English. I have always been fascinated by language and words, which eventually inspired me to get an English degree. I can still clearly recall how happy I was to receive my admission letter from the university I am now enrolled at. It seemed like a dream come true!
Prior to enrolling at my university, I served two years at City Year Jacksonville in 2020. While serving with the organization, I would help students discover their gifts, and in the process, I discovered my own. I discovered my calling to help children in underserved areas. I learned to give the next generation the hope that my educators, family, and community offered me. While students played a part in my journey of self-discovery, educators and the Duval County community also taught me a lot about being proud of who I am and where I came from.
The journey is not over; as I continue my education, I am increasingly astounded by the power of literature. It has been a genuine pleasure to be able to evaluate and examine these works in my classes and offer them to institutions such as WFSU/PBS KIDS. Whether it is staying up late to finish a challenging assignment or taking on leadership roles in various extracurricular activities, I have always been on a mission to revolutionize education and ensure that every child has access to quality learning opportunities.
I am building connections with people that I believe live the lives that I see for myself. My dream is to put my dedication towards serving my community and I will depend on my faith to take me where I need to go.
Dana Liberto
Hi, my name’s Dana Liberto, and I have been pleased to join WFSU as a summer intern!
I’m currently preparing for my fourth and final year of my undergraduate studies at Florida State University, majoring in Creative Writing and Advertising, with minors in Film Studies and Psychology. My main goal with my studies is to become a nuanced storyteller. I have always loved writing and want to incorporate that skill into my future career path, whether it means I am working on creating jingles and ad campaigns, or I am screenwriting for the next big sitcom or narrative video game. I never want to limit myself when it comes to future opportunities.
At FSU, I like to keep myself busy with club activities. I am the Nonfiction Editor for The Kudzu Review, Head Captain for the dance group Seoula System, and a writer for HerCampus’ FSU chapter. Each of these extracurriculars has given me experiences and friendships that I will take with me after graduation. I am so thankful to feel as if I have made beneficial use of my time at FSU.
Aside from club activities, in my free time I love playing video games, watching new TV shows, and going to concerts. I will take any opportunity I can to see live music, even if I do not know the artists. Discovering something new is part of the fun when it comes to local music shows!
I chose to intern with WFSU because I admire how much they do for Tallahassee as a community. Growing up in a family that frequented our local library and took advantage of those resources, it is rewarding to be involved in similar activities to ones I remember from my childhood. Helping organize and run Summer Challenge camps has allowed me to step out of my comfort zone when it comes to public speaking and working with children.
The team at WFSU has been nothing but kind, and I am glad I was able to work with such a supportive group this summer. I look forward to more opportunities with WFSU and having an exciting final month of summer!