Two themes which run through a majority of education reform reports are the need better to prepare teachers for cultural diversity and to forge partnerships between universities and public schools. In an effort to fill these needs a collaborative project was undertaken between the University of Central Florida and a local elementary school (in Seminole County) in which 80 percent of the students were from families living at or below the poverty level, and 80 percent were of minority status. The purpose of the working partnership was twofold: (1) to provide the school with teacher education student interns; and (2) to offer future teachers the opportunity to begin studying the problems of educating at-risk students. Interns tutored individual students, worked with small groups, and in some cases, conducted units of study in classrooms. In addition, they kept personal journals to encourage reflective thinking and accentuate personal attitudes, beliefs, and affective reactions to classroom experiences. Analysis of interns' writings suggested overall positive outcomes for both the interns and the elementary students; however, the student teachers expressed frustration at their lack of prior experience with diversity. The report concludes with 13 major themes identified in synthesizing student reactions, and a suggestion that a field-based approach wherein future teachers are immersed into a culture different from their own is likely to develop a new appreciation and awareness of students as individuals and an understanding of the importance of diversity to a quality learning environment. (Contains 15 references.) (LL)