Teaching English to at-risk fifth graders in New Orleans the summer following his freshman year at Duke helped Dan Kimberg decide where to channel his energy in college and beyond.

“It taught me about problems in the public schools in our country,” said Kimberg, now a senior, from Westchester County, N.Y. “When I saw there were some of the same problems in Durham, I felt the desire and responsibility to do what I could to help. I know I want to start a charter school someday.” 

When Kimberg returned to Durham as a sophomore, he visited David Malone, a professor in the Program in Education, who in turn connected him with Duke’s Office of Community Affairs and Carter Community School. The tiny K-5 school with about 150 children is housed in a church community center a few blocks from Duke’s East Campus and receives support from the Duke-Durham Neighborhood Partnership in the form of board members, a playground, volunteer cleanup days and tutoring. 

At Carter, Kimberg saw the real-world effects of what he studied at Duke -- education practice, theory and structure -- but also encountered something that surprised and dismayed him.

“I asked about the students, their backgrounds, other schools they had attended. I asked about the non-academic side of school: what kind of phys ed classes are offered? Is there an art program? Any electives?”

“I believe electives are so important,” he said. “If you can do well in Spanish, it helps give you the confidence to do the same in your math class.

But, Kimberg got a lot of “nos.” There was no money. “As I walked, I filled my yellow sheet with notes and observations -- opportunities for change,” he said.

Change is what Kimberg made happen. He worked with classmate Susan Patrick to organize “CARE for Carter,” in which university students teach electives. As a Robertson Scholar studying at both Duke and the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, Kimberg was able to pull in peers at both schools to serve as teachers. “For three years now every kindergartener has had gym twice a week, Spanish twice a week and music once a week,” he said. “

Kimberg found the experience invigorating. “I began to understand how possible it is to make a difference, ,” he said. “I’d never have done this without spending a lot of time really asking and learning what people wanted.” 

Sam Miglarese, director of community engagement in Duke’s Office of Community Affairs, found Kimberg’s multi-year commitment to Carter inspirational. “Dan defines his Duke experience in light of these connections between university learning and the kinds of projects that make a difference in the world,” Miglarese said. “The projects Dan embraces get a kind of kinetic energy that make people join them. I think it stems from deep within him.”