What we learn from each other: inside Cornell's CLASP program

At Cornell, learning isn't confined to classrooms. It emerges through conversations, relationships, and shared curiosity - and it belongs to everyone. That idea sits at the heart of the Community Learning and Service Partnership (CLASP), a program that connects Cornell students with staff in collaborative, one-on-one learning partnerships.

Each student-employee pair meets weekly throughout the semester, often during the employee's paid work time, to pursue a learning goal shaped together through mutual interest and shared growth.

"We're empowering both sides," said Annalisa Raymer '00, '07, CLASP director and senior lecturer, who has been part of the program since 2014. "We are bridging different positions in the work world and promoting lifelong learning. Because that's how we navigate situations and how we learn to appreciate one another."

CLASP began in the late 1980s, rooted in a national push for adult literacy. Early efforts focused on supporting community members, both on campus and throughout the surrounding area, in building foundational reading and writing skills through partnerships with local organizations.

Over time, those needs evolved - and so did CLASP.

"What I heard," Raymer said, reflecting on her early years rebuilding the program "was that it wasn't just about understanding vocabulary for your work anymore. People had wider interests and different needs."

Today, the program supports a broad range of learning goals, from English language development and digital literacy to creative skills, career exploration, and personal growth.

For CLASP Program Liaison Sasha Endo, that commitment to access and lifelong learning is what initially drew her to the university in 2019. Endo, who grew up in Ithaca, brings extensive experience in adult education. As a founding member of Open Doors English, she continues to teach adult English language learners in Ithaca and Tompkins County in addition to her work at Cornell. Since joining CLASP, Endo has worked alongside Raymer to expand the program's offerings.

"Joining the program was a way to support adults in Ithaca accessing educational resources and developing skills and confidence in learning," Endo said. "I really wanted to help people pursue their goals and meet their needs. CLASP seemed like a meaningful way to support adults in continuing to learn in the workplace."

For many participants, that support translates into deeply personal learning experiences - like those longtime staff participant Leilani Maneé has found through CLASP.

After arriving at Cornell in 2012, Maneé began working in a bakery in the basement of Willard Straight, scooping muffin batter and laying trays of cookies, before transitioning to her current role as a cook at Alice Cook House. With a goal of renewing her arborist certification, she first turned to CLASP for support and was paired with a graduate student.

"I may not be able to get into Cornell academically, but if I can tap into Cornell's culture, knowledge, and teaching, then I feel like a student by way of employment and by way of this program," Maneé said.

Over the years, she has used CLASP to build a wide range of skills - from revamping her résumé and learning to use Excel, to creating personal budget spreadsheets, exploring Instagram Reels, playing the piano, and even researching the history of symphalangism, a condition she has in which she is missing knuckles.

"I try to enroll a semester every couple of years," Maneé said. "I like getting to know the new generation of students and it keeps me grounded in the reality of the student life. Getting to know each new class reminds me of their struggles, what they're going through, and their backgrounds."

At its core, CLASP is built on a simple but powerful idea: learning goes both ways. Students are not simply tutors, and staff are not simply learners. Instead, both are co-learners, each bringing knowledge, experience, and perspective to the partnership.

"We are really grounded in that mutual learning model," Raymer said. "Students are asked every week, 'What did you learn from your partner?' And they often share that they had no idea what truly happens on the staff side of Cornell to keep the institution running. They begin to realize that we are all Cornellians here. We are a community."

For many students, the experience is unlike anything else in their academic journey. It offers the opportunity to engage in weekly, meaningful conversations with someone from a different background, walk of life, or cultural or linguistic experience. For employees, it provides the chance to build meaningful skills that extend beyond the workplace and into their everyday lives.

When Maneé was recertifying her arborist certification, she had the opportunity to show her CLASP student-partner her skills from reaching new heights - quite literally. With a personal passion for climbing trees using ropes and harnesses, she introduced her partner to the activity by demonstrating the techniques.

That spirit of mutual learning extended beyond the trees. When Maneé began learning piano, her student-partner sought to better understand her experience by taping his fingers, simulating what it might feel like to navigate the instrument with symphalangism.

"I'm able to see Cornell as a community," she said. "And not just a corporation that's selling a brand. I see myself retiring from Cornell, so I want to learn things while I'm here so that I have things to keep me engaged later in life. CLASP is part of my retirement plan - mentally. As a lifelong learner, this is the best place to do that."

At a large and complex institution like Cornell, CLASP creates opportunities for connection that might not otherwise exist. For employees, participation can feel like recognition and investment. For students, it offers something equally valuable: a chance to build relationships across roles, experiences, and perspectives, and to better understand the community they are part of.

That shift toward recognition, curiosity, and connection is what makes the program stand out.

"At the forefront, there's a human side to it," Endo said. "I've had students reflect that they now say hi to the employees that they pass in the hallway. They start to feel very curious about employees' lives as people."

As CLASP continues to evolve, it does so at a moment of transition. Raymer, who has led the program for twelve years, is set to retire at the end of the semester, closing out a career dedicated to expanding access to learning and building connections across the Cornell community.

Even through periods of change, CLASP has continued to adapt - shaped by the needs of its participants and sustained by the people who believe in its mission.

"CLASP has really grown and strengthened in recent years, largely from word of mouth," Endo said. "A lot of students and employees have shared with their peers that they've had a great experience."

That growth underscores CLASP's enduring impact, rooted in the belief that learning is lifelong, collaborative, and deeply relational - bringing Cornell's "any person, any study" to life.

"We really can build a beautiful world together," Raymer said, "if we have a collaborative attitude and an inquiring mind."