Class Year: 2022
Program Major: Master of Social Work (MSW) with a Certificate in Trauma-Informed Practice
Katherine “Rinn'' Ramcke had yet to earn her bachelor’s degree when she began graduate study at the Jack, Jack, Joseph and Morton Mandel School of Applied Social Sciences.
As an undergraduate at Wittenberg University, she already knew she wanted to make a positive difference in the lives of others. Because Wittenberg participated in the Mandel School’s 3+2 Social Work program, she had the chance to start her master’s degree program while completing her final year of college.
Because no one from Wittenberg had yet participated in the 3+2 program, Ramcke worked with the university to create her own transition plan, which now can serve as a model for students who follow. The leadership skills she developed there came with her to Cleveland—she quickly engaged at the Mandel School and now serves as the executive director for the Mandel Council for Student Leadership. Through that position, she hosts guest lectures and seminars, creates and runs programs for fellow students, and brainstorms ideas with other CWRU Graduate Student Council leaders.
In her first-year field placement at Bellefaire JCB, Ramcke assisted adolescents in their transitional-living residential program with group programming, links to resources and opportunities to develop general living skills.
Her second-year field placement is with New Directions, an addiction treatment center. That experience has given her the opportunity to train in dialectical behavioral therapy, become certified in therapeutic crisis intervention and serve on a trauma-informed committee.
“I feel compelled to change systems for the better,” said Ramcke. “The Mandel School challenges its students to play an active role in their communities and to continuously reevaluate their roles as times change and as we evolve. I’m really looking forward to continuing to grow as a social worker this semester.”
This story appeared in The Huddle on October 7, 2021.