Serve and Learn 2012-2013
Serve and Learn
2012-2013
The Serve and Learn journal is published biannually to highlight student, staff and faculty reflections, poems, videos and photographs from
Meramec campus experiences in learning through service. Projects range in scope from single events to multi-year partnerships and with a wide range of community partners and subjects. Enjoy!
7 Themes of Service Learning
Bridges to Healthy Communities
Civic Responsibility
Diversity & Cultural Awareness
Environment & Community Gardens
Hunger & Homelessness
Literacy & Education
Older Adults
This edition is dedicated to Donna Halsband for her 15 years of tireless work in service to St. Louis Community College, Meramec as the Service Learning
Coordinator. Special thanks to Pam Garvey for her dedication to seeing this project through to fruition. Thanks to Lisa Stepanovic for publication design, layout and technical help.
St. Louis Community College is an equal opportunity/affirmative action institution and makes every effort to accommodate individuals with disabilities. If you have accommodation needs, please call 314-984-7234 within two working days of the scheduled event to request needs.
Documentation of disability may be required.
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Table of Contents
Click an item below or use the sidebar on the left side of the screen to go to a specific article.
You may also browse the pages using the arrow buttons.
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Faculty Advisory Council: A Tree Bearing Fruit
Donna Halsband, Service Learning Coordinator
Richard Long, Associate Professor of English, past Chair of Faculty Advisory Committee
Pamela Garvey, Associate Professor of English, past Chair of Faculty Advisory Committee
Over the past three years, St. Louis Community
College-Meramec has developed a three-pronged approach to deepening service through a Faculty
Advisory Council, this online Service Learning
Journal and The Student Philanthropy Project.
This approach has led to more deeply rooted and more fruitful service learning experiences in just a few years.
The Faculty Advisory Council engages faculty across the curriculum; from disciplines as diverse as biology and education to physical therapy and court reporting, faculty have collaborated on methods to deepen our practice. Our diverse perspectives enable us to develop new and interdisciplinary ways to utilize service learning to improve student learning, engage and retain students, cultivate student leaders and connect with the larger community the college serves.
Two projects, funded by grants from Missouri Campus Compact, exemplify the work of this Council. This journal, Serve and
Learn, launched August 2011, contains student and faculty reflections alongside photographs, videos of service and Power Point presentations.
The multi-media journal highlights ongoing and one-time projects, small and large. This issue, the second in a biannual publication of the campus, resides on the College’s Service Learning webpage and will be archived online indefinitely. In it you will read about and view experiences of students, faculty and staff engaged in service learning.
If any student, staff, faculty member or community partner has anything they would like to contribute to subsequent issues of this journal, please submit materials in the following formats: Word or RTF for text and JPEG for photos. If you want us to use a caption you have written, please put it in the file name. PowerPoint presentations and videos may also be submitted; any music or image that is copyrighted must have permission to be used. Send all correspondence to pgarvey@stlcc.
edu or dcorson2@stlcc.edu
The opening to this issue focuses on the student philanthropy project, which encourages students to dig deeper into local issues by determining a community partner’s needs which could be met with a small grant of $200-800. Launched in fall 2011, the philanthropy grants have enabled students to solve real world problems creatively and effectively. The students, after identifying the need, consult with the community partner, then write the grant proposal, which is submitted to the Faculty Advisory Council to review.
If the grant is awarded, the students then work on implementing their proposal. The opening pages here highlight successful grants and underscore the value of these grants to both students and community partners.
Student organizations interested in applying for grants and faculty interested in incorporating the grants into their coursework should contact Debbie Corson at dcorson2@stlcc.edu.
Visit the Student Philanthropy
Grant tutorial at http://www.stlcc.edu/Student_
Resources/Service_Learning/Resources.html
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Integrating Innovative Learning and Community Service through Database and Web Projects
Trey Dembski, Student
From June Zhou Mercer’s Information Systems course
Before I began working with fellow students, faculty, and volunteers on the Service Learning/Student Philanthropy project this year, I viewed my education as a mostly individual experience. My participation began and ended in the classroom. With this grant, the process of learning has changed.
What started with simple discussion outside of class turned into a fully involved effort working as a team. I realized that understanding core concepts of computer programming (my major) were not all that I needed to be effective. The classroom focuses on solutions, but I realized that just as important is understanding the problems real people face.
With the Student Philanthropy Grant, we worked with a real organization facing real challenges: a limited budget, volunteers who weren’t computer experts, and outdated equipment and software. These types of issues are simply not something that can easily be simulated in class, and yet are more important than the technology being used to help them.
The process of determining organizational need and making tough decisions on how to most effectively use resources to help them was invaluable. I feel much more confident as I begin thinking about employment after school, getting a head start gaining experience that most graduates simply don’t have.
In addition to having a new perspective on learning, I got the chance to see how someone’s work could affect others.
Our group was able to make a tangible difference to an organization which helps others with some of the most fundamental human needs, such as food and clothing.
I feel extremely fortunate to have gotten involved and to have the opportunity to use the Student Philanthropy Grant for something meaningful. I hope the program continues to enjoy success and wish future students success in taking advantage of it, both for themselves and others.
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Presentation to the Microsoft Conference 2012
June Zhou Mercer and Angell He, Instructors
Trey Dembski, Student
Click image to start presentation.
Letter from Rock Hills Ministries Executive Director
Edward Johnson, Executive Director
My contact with the Webster Rock Hill Ministries and the Meramec Service Learning Team started in 2007.
The Student Philanthropy Grant enabled students to purchase and install a new file server and software. This purchase helped students and faculty involved in Service Learning in partnership with the Webster-Rock Hill
Ministries to develop the following:
• A client database to help keep track of clients and services for a food pantry.
• A computer networking system to local internet services, shared date files and printing services.
• A website to allow the agency to communicate and promote the programs, services and needs. (2011-
2013). (See website: www.wrhm.org).
• A supporter data base to help manage the agency’s supporter’s information. Then they installed the programs and software on the new computer server system (2011-2013).
The program has made our agency more efficient in helping clients and the administration. The program benefited our clients, our agency, and your students for life. Our agency is more efficient because of the program, which has allowed the students to apply their new learned technology and skills to an everyday community need and problem, then be creative, develop, solve and build on it.
And finally, pass it on to another class of students.
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Reflection on Circle of
Concern
Kit McCallister, Student
Instructor: Pam McGarvey
Writing the grant to obtain the pallet jack for Circle of
Concern was a very positive and rewarding experience.
It is one that I will always remember fondly. Taking
Professor Garvey’s English Composition course, I did not expect to take part in something so fulfilling and philanthropic.
When my group took on the assignment to write a grant for Circle of Concern, I remember it took a little while to brainstorm ideas of what we thought would benefit them.
Once we got a chance to take a tour through the facilities and discuss the opportunities with the wonderful staff, we were able to get a much better grasp of the situation.
We were able to come to the conclusion that a force multiplier, such as a pallet jack, would have a more long lasting effect than buying more food to stock the shelves. It would allow them the capability of receiving and more efficiently transporting items between their warehouse and store. It was nice to be able to apply my prior work experience and knowledge of loading and unloading material to recognize the potential for a long term solution to help Circle of Concern.
When we heard about the grant being accepted we were all a little surprised. I was very happy Circle of
Concern was going to be rewarded with the grant.
It was nice to see them so excited about something they felt could have such a big impact upon their operations and daily life. The grant for Circle of
Concern is something that I am very glad to have been a part of and hope that with this experience I can help other like-minded organizations in a similar way. It was all something that I did not expect out of an English Composition class. I am glad though that we were able to make such positive impact on such a great organization.
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How One Service Project
Leads to Another
Pamela Garvey, Professor of English
How often will students who have already earned their grades for a course return to complete a project?
Summer of 2012, three students who had applied for the philanthropy grant to purchase the pallet jack for
Circle of Concern did exactly that. Because of delays in shipping, the pallet jack did not arrive at the food pantry until summer classes had already begun.
These students, nevertheless, took time out of their hectic schedules to demonstrate for Circle of Concern employees how to use the pallet jack.
During this visit, Sada
Lindsey, volunteer coordinator for Circle, was curious about the food theme I use in my
English Composition I course. As I explained the many facets of food we read, research and write about, she asked if it would be possible for future classes to work on a project to assist the pantry’s clients in choosing healthier food items. Her concern was that too many clients come in and choose the starchy, less nutritious items from the pantry and do not get enough protein, vitamins and minerals.
In response to this request, my fall 2012 section of
Composition I compiled a cookbook for Circle of
Concern. The students visited the pantry to determine which items on the shelves would offer healthier options. Then they researched easy, quick recipes that utilized those options. After finding the recipes, they worked on a cookbook, which required careful attention to layout, visual appeal and conciseness.
Finally, they successfully applied for a philanthropy grant to print the cookbooks for distribution.
Copies of the cookbook are available in the bookstore; all of the sale price goes toward printing more copies of the cookbook for clients of Circle of Concern. continued on next page...
This project, therefore, will continue to serve the community even long after the class has ended.
This project has not only enabled students to create a lasting impact on the community, it also gave them practice with many aspects of writing including appeal to audience, research, collaboration, persuasion and publication.
Hands On Kirkwood/Make A Difference Day
Deborah Corson, Service Learning Coordinator
Make A Difference Day is the largest community service effort in the nation. At the national Make
A Difference Day, millions of Americans across the country participate each year in volunteer projects to improve communities and help those in need. The event was created in 1990 by USA WEEKEND and held in partnership with the Points of Light
Foundation. Friends, neighbors and co-workers combine efforts with nonprofit organizations, religious institutions, local businesses, schools and service clubs to take on projects ranging from tutoring students, improving the homes of our seniors to environmental concerns or shelters for the homeless.
Since 2000, St. Louis Community
College at Meramec has participated through the Service Learning Department in a variety of ways to help our community. STLCC-Meramec participation has evolved over the years and we have been in partnership with the City of Kirkwood and area churches and schools since 2011 when Hands On
Kirkwood was born.
In 2012 STLCC-Meramec had the largest presence of all of the partners, including our ENTIRE baseball team, members of the sculpture club, students at large and many PTK (Phi Theta Kappa
Honor Society) members! Over
60 Meramec volunteers worked to remove honeysuckle from
Kirkwood Park, deliver and collect food bags, attach drain to stream signs to protect our waterways, collect clothing, and help with home repairs.
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Reflections from Psychology 205, Human Growth and
Development
Abby Schmitt, Student
Instructor: Sophia Pressman
I currently work in the Healthcare field so I wanted to choose something similar for my service project.
I take great pride in what I do for a living currently, and I think the elderly I work with appreciate things I do for them. In keeping with this sentiment I chose to do my hours at a Catholic church, St. Martin of Tours
Parish. I found this to be a wonderful experience and right along the same lines as what I do for income, only with a religious setting. I grew up Catholic, and while I don’t still practice, I am still a believer in
God. I went to different elderly people’s homes, and I cooked and cleaned with them, straightened up their homes, and sat and kept them company. One of the hardest parts for me was saying the rosary with each of them. I found this more difficult because I don’t practice my religion, so I don’t really tend to believe in that sort of prayer, but as I was in the process of praying with them I realized that this was their lives now. Their journeys are all so amazing, and I love hearing the elderly tell stories of when they were young or how they grew up. It helps me to put my life into perspective and recognize all the wonderful things and opportunities I have now compared to even just 30 years ago. In class we have discussed how over time things change and age groups shift to later or earlier for certain things and it’s hard to place myself mentally in their lifestyle while I was growing up. I love to see the beauty in people different from me because that is truly what I see, beauty.
A main goal of service learning is to show an individual a slightly different one than the world we personally live in, and I think my organization did just that for me. I worked with either bedridden or homebound individuals who just are not capable of going outside or walking down the block or driving to the store. These people I help are solely dependent on the care of others around them to survive and thrive.
They see community in a completely different light than I do. I see it as a part of my life somewhere in the background that becomes more prominent when things go ‘wrong’, such as prayer chains for the ill, but these clients see community as a lifeline. To most of them, this is their only connection to the outside world and that is vital to human beings. We need interaction, love, affection, a sense of belonging, and this organization gives all of these emotions and much more to each client they visit.
In the book we discuss how people age and how they start to slow down, and I think most people forget that patience is a necessity when working with the elderly.
We all have our off days and not all old people are the nicest, but some of them, even the bitter ones, can be fun to work with once you can reach them and get them to open up about their lives and past. The key is to relate something of your life to theirs to make them feel as though you both are on common playing ground. I believe helping the elderly is so vital to our community. They don’t deserve to sit in their homes alone all day every day doing nothing. We can help give these elderly a piece of their lives back in just simply being with them for a few hours at a time. I don’t feel like that’s too big a sacrifice to make.
I think service learning is a great chance for students to think outside the box. While I didn’t so much learn anything new because I chose something I knew I loved, I have to say that I’m sure this was a learning experience for many. Service learning is a way to put your life and all your struggles into perspective for those you care for because you don’t really believe that someone else out there has it worse than you until it is staring you point blank in the face and you cannot ignore it. I believe that’s what service learning does. It is undeniable that you as one small person make up something much larger as a part of community and that your existence matters. People don’t have to recognize you or remember you for that matter for your efforts to count. As sad as it is, most clients don’t remember that they have ever met or seen the individuals who come to help them. But you swallow your sadness and you introduce yourself all over because they need you to ‘forget’ too.
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Kathleen Wagner, Student
Instructor: Sophia Pressman
The organization I had the opportunity to work with is the International Institute of St. Louis. It is incredible what they do for people who immigrate to the St. Louis area. I had not realized there was such a great organization that helped immigrants gain their citizenship and maintain a good socioeconomic status. The International Institute of St. Louis helps
7,000 new Americans from 75 different countries each year. They have established a wide range of programs that fit into three categories: immersion, investment, and inclusion.
Immersion is the first step that is necessary for the new immigrant; the focal points of this are communication, employment, health and the general well being of individuals who have been in the US for only a few weeks or months. Some things offered include
English classes for adults, job search, employment training, and mental health services. Through the investment step many immigrant entrepreneurs are offered help with starting businesses that will lead them and their families on the path of economic success and ultimately to acculturation; this is when immigrants learn and understand the culture of their new country. Business development microloans, small business technical assistance, credit counseling and financial literacy are a few of the things the institute offers to assist the immigrants when starting their small businesses. Under the category of inclusion, the institution presents multilingual communication solutions so companies can expand the global business market and can continue to employ and maintain a multicultural work force. This also helps them build a large multicultural customer base. Small businesses are important to the entire St. Louis community because they create jobs and provide wealth.
I helped the institute at Tower Grove Park one
Saturday in August by volunteering at the festival of
Nations. This event is huge; more than 140,000 people attend the festival each year. It was a great experience; there were so many people of different cultural backgrounds. Booths were set up to display small parts of many different unique cultures to the public.
Food, Clothing, Instruments: they had all kinds of interesting, unfamiliar things everywhere. I worked at a booth selling T-shirts, mugs, and greeting cards.
The shirts had peace printed on them in numerous languages. But my favorite thing we sold was a mug that had love on it in several languages.
I have come to realize that when living in a community it is important to volunteer; without volunteers community events would not be successful. The Festival of Nations is very important to the International Institute of St. Louis; without it they would not be able to offer as much help to immigrants. Even more importantly this event helps raise awareness of cultures; it helps individuals understand and appreciate a multicultural society.
A multicultural society is important because people have a greater respect for others and the way they choose to live. People are not as likely to form social constructions that discriminate against an individual’s physical appearance. In a multicultural society people are less likely to look at ethnic groups as deficits because there are so many people who are different and people are able to enjoy and appreciate the ways other people choose to live their lives. The modeling of a multicultural society for young children is important because children are able to grow up in an accepting society, not giving much thought to the differences or thinking they are better than someone else or that people of different ethnic backgrounds look weird. I know people that have parents or even grandparents that have steered them into thinking lowly of certain races. They make some of the rudest comments; it really disgusts me especially because they do not even know the person they are being rude to or about.
I believe Service Learning should be more fully developed and facilitated through college course work because I think it is important for people to be active in the community and take pride in where they live and the society that they are a part of. I think it is important that we know what our community supports: to see and understand what is happening in the society around us. I feel like these days many young adults do not care about their communities; they care more about their individual lives than anything else.
It is important that a community works together and appreciates and respects those around them. I feel that involvement is something that most people overlook and lack today. I think it is inspirational that other countries focus on the society and everyone as a whole, whereas here we focus on ourselves.
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Physical Therapist Assistant Service Learning at
Bethesda
Julie High, Professor of Physical Therapy
“Educating the mind without educating the heart is no education at all.” ~ Aristotle
…and therefore the Physical Therapist Assistant (PTA) students participate in Service Learning during the very first physical therapist assistant course, PTA 100. For the past eight years first year students have partnered with residents of Bethesda Nursing Home to spend time together. During the semester long project students visit with residents and journal what they are learning about themselves as future healthcare providers and compassionate caregivers.
Student Journal Reflections from Service Learning at
Bethesda
Julie High, Instructor
I am really starting to enjoy our visits. Before I started this assignment, I wasn’t so sure I would like coming to a nursing home, but this experience has changed my perspective on nursing homes, and how comfortable I feel talking with the elderly. I also noticed that every time I visit, people talk to me in the hallways, both the staff and the residents. This makes me feel very welcome. ~ Katie
I planned on only staying for an hour again, but we really hit it off and by the time I looked at the time it had been
2 1/2 hours. I hung out with her in her room for a while and there were pictures all over. I enjoyed listening to her explain who everyone was. I could see how happy she was that
I was there. It wasn’t so much her saying it, but her non-verbals showed me how happy she was to see me. I really feel good inside knowing that I can brighten up someone’s day just by visiting them. I’m learning that when I get out of school, I may want to work with older people. I was so set on outpatient therapy but
I’m learning that maybe I will try something else. I was also able to get my partner to eat almost all of her dinner. That made me realize I am making a difference. We agreed that you have to take advantage of everyday you are given and you always have something to live for. I learned that I love getting to know new people, and I really do think that will help me being a PTA.
~ Ryan
I had dreaded this assignment because of my past experience with a nursing home. I watched my grandmother die in her nursing home bed after she lived in a home for four years. She had a bad case of Parkinson’s and severe dementia that led to her death. It was a very traumatic and fresh experience for me because it occurred from
2005-2009. I had planned on not returning to a nursing home ever again due to the memories of this experience.
With that being said, I made myself visit my partner today with an open mind and tried not to remind myself of my grandmother. I walked up to the resident and smiled and said “Hi, I’m Kyle from St. Louis Community
College, it’s nice to meet you!” She responded with a smile and shook my hand from the chair she was sitting in.
continued on next page...
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My resident then startled me by grabbing my hand and saying, “Let’s travel down the road here and see where it goes.” At this point I realized that she may have a moderate case of dementia due to her Alzheimer’s. Everything made sense to me at this point due to her scattered thought pattern and lack of conversation. I said, “Ok, we’ll see where the road goes, I’ll go with you!”
I held her hand the whole time knowing she was much more comfortable, and it made me feel good to put her at ease.
This project will be a key step for me to progress my life and to get over the fear of returning to a nursing home.
My resident is such a nice woman, and I know her Alzheimer’s and dementia will progress over time, but I won’t let that get in the way between us. For me to be a successful PTA, my skills with dealing with dementia will prove superior to those who don’t know how to handle it. The bottom line is to care for people as if they’re your own family, and know they will love you the same if given the chance. ~ Kyle
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Classroom Assignments, Lessons in Living: Try Service
Learning
Carole Watson, ESL Specialist
Grammar at 8 a.m.? That’s right. Advanced Grammar III, twice a week. And to my utter amazement, most students showed up every single time. I had never incorporated a service learning project into my ESL classes before, but I was determined to do so this time. I wanted my students to use their improved sentence writing skills to report on a real-life experience. Moreover, I decided that, given the early hour of our class, I wouldn’t try a class project; I would let each student choose his own place and time to volunteer. These students, aged from
17 to 48 years, represented nine different cultures from around the world; some had lived and gone to school in St. Louis for years, while others had been here only a few weeks. Only one student had volunteered before, inspired by her son’s high school community service. With a “How To” assignment sheet and some guidance from me, each student contacted the agency of their choice and spent a minimum of two hours volunteering there.
Did this “do it yourself” approach work? Eleven of the twelve students in the class completed their service learning projects, and all but one had an extremely positive, even inspiring, experience.
Although I think that developing a class project is what I will try next, I believe my early birds benefited greatly from their volunteer exposure. Here are a few of their comments...
“What I learned from this experience [at the Scholar Shop] is maybe that I can get this opportunity for my future. The impact of this would be great; in my opinion, it would put me out there in adulthood, as I know I have to pay them back someday. It would push me to work hard and teach me how to appreciate money . . .
In the end, the volunteer service was more excellent than I thought it would be . . . the experience showed me that affluent people still do care for the misfortunate and still give to the community.
Overall it was a good experience and made me feel like doing this more often.” ~ B.J.B., Mongolia
“To be perfectly honest, I have never volunteered for a job in Cambodia, and this is my first time here in the
United States. I have [learned] a lot about myself, such as patience, hardworking, and helpfulness . . . I have already committed that I will follow what I have learned and use it to get some benefits to help my own country.
Last but not least, I love being here in the United States and volunteering for a useful job at Operation Food
Search. Although I cannot help the poor with my money, I can use my energy and strength to satisfy them.”
~ M.E., Cambodia
“I learned from this experience [at the Scholar Shop] that I do not want to work in a store because it was boring, but I did help a lot of customers. I might need to work at a store if I do not study well in my classes
. . . I learned that I need to study hard to increase my GPA; I know that there are many challenges waiting for me in the Saint Louis community . . . It is wonderful for students that the United States wants to support its children to help them get a quality education.” ~ T.E., Mongolia
“When I got to the Circle of Concern on Friday morning, I was a little bit scared. I never have done anything like that before. But after a few minutes I felt like I was part of a big and very important machine. All people who were working at Circle of Concern were very friendly. Thanks to them, I stopped feeling like a stranger after a few minutes . . . I learned a lot from my experience working at Circle of Concern. It was very exciting.
I learned that people even in these tough economic situations still remain kind and help each other. Those low income families do not need to worry about what to eat while Circle of Concern exists . . . I felt good by helping them; however, I also was a little bit jealous that they do not do similar stuff in my native country.”
~ A.R., Russia
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continued on next page...
“From this experience I have learned that there are a lot of families in St. Louis that need help, that aren’t homeless . . . I have learned that there are a lot of good people in St. Louis that come in and volunteer all the time. I’ve learned that the US culture is very fair and helpful to everybody, no matter what your nationality is .
. . During this experience I have learned a lot about myself. I’ve learned that I’m much more open-minded and nicer than I thought I was. I have learned that I actually like volunteering and helping those in need. I’m much happier when I know that I have helped someone. The whole experience was really fun, and I would love to go back to Circle of Concern and volunteer again.” ~ A.O., Bosnia
“I picked this center [Delmar Gardens] because it’s very close to my home, and my son did his volunteer work in the center when he was in high school . . . Finally, working in Delmar Gardens was a wonderful experience for me. I love to talk to senior citizens and learn from their experience, but it is hard to see them seriously ill
. . . I feel good when I help them.” ~ F.H., Pakistan
“One of the reasons I chose St. Patrick Center to do my volunteer work is because I’m fascinated by St. Patrick’s
Day. I wanted to learn more about the holiday; therefore, I decided to contact them and see it for myself, but when I got there, it was not what I expected . . . It was my first time doing any kind of volunteer work . . . The day
I spent at St. Patrick Center has given me a lot of inspiration in life; I have noticed that our community really could use some help from anybody who is willing to work . . . My learning experience at the center was great; just by looking at the happiness on other’s faces made me feel good, and it also helped me appreciate the things
I have and the friends around me. It has made me a better person. I’m looking forward to doing other kinds of volunteer work for the community.” ~ K.H., China
“I have learned some special experiences from this volunteer service [in St. Louis County Parks]. I think I like to volunteer because I have never done this kind of service before. I feel great to volunteer with other people.
It’s better than staying at home and hanging out with my computer. I will go there another day.” ~ G.H., China
By my reckoning, the ENG 080 service learning project accomplished the following:
1. Students practiced the grammar from class by writing about a meaningful life experience. That was the main academic goal.
2. Virtually everyone learned how good it makes you feel to help someone else – and this was a revelation to many of them, a true “aha” moment.
3. They learned so many things about themselves, especially the younger students who are just discovering who they are and what enormous potential they have. Service learning experiences undoubtedly contribute to students’ future academic and career choices.
4. They learned about the St. Louis community which this college serves. They now understand that there are people in need and people willing to meet that need – and that they have a place in this process. They are linked to the community in new and stronger ways.
5. They now understand the larger U.S. culture a bit better, and their native culture as well by comparison. This helps immigrant students connect to their adopted country, and it gives international students fresh ideas to take back to their own culture. It makes the whole world a better place.
6. They helped other people feel better; perhaps they even gave them hope, the greatest gift.
And virtually everyone wanted to go back and volunteer another day. Not to put too fine a point on it, I will never again teach a class that does not include a service learning project.
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The Powerful Impact of the Alternative Spring Break Trip to New Orleans
Debbie Corson, Service Learning Coordinator
After three years of taking STLCC-Meramec students to New Orleans for the alternative spring break week of service I see that the underlying motivation for me personally is watching a diverse group of students grow and become cohesive with a sense of purpose and friendship. Each year we begin with a cross section of students who reflect the diversity of our campus. Most do not know one another or only have one friend or acquaintance attending. Some have never been away from home, while others have traveled extensively. Some are campus leaders and others are part of the silent majority attending classes but not standing out. Each student wants to go for the fun and is committed to the service they plan to give. Each comes home with a new group of friends and a new sense of leadership and empowerment.
The majority of service this year was centered around the International High School of New Orleans, who we met last year. IHSNO has embraced us with enthusiasm and hospitality and we hope to return next year. IHSNO board member, Jamilah Peters-Mohammed has officially adopted STLCC-Meramec and given permission to call any time. We are truly making a difference for this charter school and our service this year kicked them over the 100,000 volunteer hours of service. This year we helped to renovate the basement fitness center by dry walling and painting the space that had been flooded during Hurricane Katrina. We also had other painting projects around the school to help them prepare for their annual audit and painted a newly constructed closet.
Three of our international students, Jeffrey Chin, Margarita Tsza and Oscar Zomarra, presented in classrooms to foreign language and ESL students about their home countries. Each took a risk, shared their story, and inspired and motivated the NOLA students.
Benefits to our students:
• Making connections with people they might not normally seek out.
• Becoming a tight community with a shared bond.
• Adapting to struggles and challenges and making it through successfully.
• Seeing new cultures and expanding their thinking - One student said that the culture of New Orleans was so different she was surprised that it was in the US.
• Gaining practical life skills - Another student said, “Yesterday I didn’t even know how to put up drywall and now I do.”
• Acting as peer teachers.
• Experiencing lessons in patience, frustration, tolerance, empathy, sharing, working together, being innovative.
• Cooking, sharing showers, getting a meal on the table for 30 people.
• Realizing their potential as leaders through real world experience.
Thanks to faculty members Donna Zumwinkel, Joe Chesla and Richard Long for giving up their time to relax and instead working for the good of our students and our sister city!
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NOLA Student Reflection
Brian Cardona, Student
You learn a lot of things from going to a place you’ve never been before. In my case, my learning experience was in New Orleans. Prior to the trip,
I knew almost nothing about what had gone on during the aftermath of the Hurricane Katrina. Let’s be honest with ourselves, how much would someone care about something that doesn’t affect them?
Everybody cares about tax increases because it has a direct impact on their money, which is extremely precious to them. Another example that people know of but don’t directly care that much about has to be the international debt that America owes to other countries. Yes, it is an area of great importance, but you do not see people scrambling to help America repay their debt. So in my case, one thing I didn’t care much about was Hurricane Katrina.
When I heard about the trip to New Orleans that the school was hosting, I wanted to participate not because of the volunteer service, but just to get out of St. Louis for at least a little while. Once the bus reached the city of New Orleans, my mind immediately thought of the great hurricane and I saw that yes, a hurricane did hit this great city, but I noticed a big difference in the people in New Orleans to the people in St. Louis.
It almost seemed like they had a connection between one another, regardless of not knowing each other.
That was something very intriguing that I’ve never witnessed before. When noticing that, I also noticed that same sort of bond forming within our group of volunteers. But for me, the bond arose through the work that I participated in.
I greatly enjoyed the volunteer work that I was doing. I felt like my work had a direct impact in the renovation of the International High School of New Orleans. I learned skills that I could take with me.
So all in all, this trip was an amazing experience for me. I learned about how people connect after a natural disaster and how they “roll with the changes.”
This trip also gave me inspiration to volunteer more often. I now know the amazing feeling you receive from helping others in a great way!
NOLA Video, Day 2
Richard Long, Associate Professor of English
Video: Renovating
International High
School of New Orleans
Click image to start video.
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NOLA Video, Day 3
Richard Long, Associate Professor of English
Video: The renovation continues at the high school with wall work, closet work, and a trip to Home Depot.
Click image to start video.
Hands-On New Orleans
Reflection
Clarusse Hernandez, Student
The trip to New Orleans was an unforgettable experience. I’m glad I took advantage of going to
New Orleans during spring break, and I truly believe it was very meaningful. The experience from the trip is almost un-describable, but I will try to sum it up in about a page or two. From meeting new people to seeing the culture of New Orleans and doing community service, it was all a great experience. The people that went on the trip were so nice to each other, and it was something I rarely see on campus. Students went out of their way to cook for others, and everyone was open to talking and hanging out with each other.
The culture in New Orleans was also very diverse and the characters we met there are pretty memorable. One thing I greatly noticed about New Orleanian culture was the type of architecture they had, especially in the
9th Ward. It almost felt like a different country in New
Orleans. However, New Orleans was still in a state of recovery and there was still plenty of work to be done.
One way we helped out at New Orleans was by working at the International High School, where students did things such as retouching the paint on the ceiling, or hanging up drywall, and painting full rooms. Although I already knew how to do most of this stuff it was great to do it with people who had the same goal of giving back to the community and it formed an even stronger bond between each of the students. The best part is after everyone did their community service everyone would be able to go out and most people went to the French Quarter, which was the heart of New Orleanian culture. However, I believe that I have only barely experienced that part of New Orleans and I wouldn’t mind going back for another trip. All in all, this trip had an impact on me; it made me comfortable to talking to other people more and it also expanded my horizons and views on life. It has empowered me to take a better grip on life and experience more of the world, even though it was hard to go back to being in school.
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NOLA Video, Day 4
Richard Long, Associate Professor of English
Video: Adding the finishing touches to the high school.
Click image to start video.
New Orleans Service Trip
Michael Rojewski, Student
The New Orleans service trip was amazing.
Throughout the trip I met numerous new people from Meramec, New Orleans, and several other states.
I enjoyed helping the International School of New
Orleans because I was able to use my construction skills to meet some of their needs. Everyone at the school was extremely hospitable; they made lunch for us each day and did not complain about us crowding the halls with equipment. Cleaning the cemetery grounds was also gratifying. It was nice to see the graves after we removed weeds and trash. Lastly, exploring the French Quarter was awesome. I was able to explore their culture and hang out at local hot spots. One thing that re-occurs during each mission or service trip that I attend, is, dependability. The group becomes family throughout the trip because we work side by side every day and learn each other’s strengths and weaknesses. I will definitely go on the service trip again because I enjoyed helping out and making new friends. This trip showed me how privileged I am to be in a college building that has not been flooded.
NOLA Video, Day 5
Richard Long, Associate Professor of English
Video: Cleaning up
Holt Cemetery
Click image to start video.
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The Very Hungry Catepillar Presented in German
Gudrun Sherman, Adjunct Faculty of German
In early November of 2012, ten of my students in
German 201/202 and I visited Dr. Tarren Fritz’s first grade at Sappington Elementary School. We were invited to present the German version of
The Very Hungry Caterpillar by Eric Carle to the elementary students. The
German text lends itself well to a presentation because
Eric Carle wrote the story in German, and most elementary school students are already familiar with the
English version. First, the students and I taught the first graders German numbers from 1 to 10, as the numbers occur in the book. Then, while
I was reading the book in
German, my students showed pictures and props for each of the items mentioned in the story. During the second reading, when four of my students were reading different parts of the book in German, the first graders were asked to hold up smaller pictures and props each time a different item was mentioned. This way, we engaged them in the storytelling and could see whether they understood.
The project was to benefit both the elementary school students and the community college students.
The younger students learned some German and experienced the telling of a familiar story in a language that is normally not taught at that level.
Because of their exhibited enthusiasm in learning a foreign language (they actually thought that this was fun!), the teacher extended another invitation to us. The community college students, on the other hand, could witness the younger students’ strengths in foreign language learning – the general lack of inhibition, their seemingly effortless pronunciation when saying numbers, and their relatively quick memorization of words - all challenging areas for the older students.
The project was also intended to be an opportunity for the college students to grow in accountability, independence, creativity, and team work, as they had to decide who is going to read what part of the story, as well as divide up the tasks of creating visual aids and props for themselves and the children. Despite the extra work and reading practice, everybody involved loved this learning experience!
Read their reflections here and on the next page...
“The German 201/202 students were impressed with the younger students’ memory and cognitive skills, and we had as much fun presenting the book and seeing the younger students connect with the story. When the teacher asked if we would be interested in returning and doing a similar presentation for other first- grade teachers, I was honored that I was part of something so well done and engaging. The idea of involving people at different levels of learning to enjoy similar parts of the process is something I feel I can use in creating and executing future programs in the workplace . . .” ~ Winnie Dale-Wright
“During my experience at my old elementary school, Sappington Elementary, it was particularly nice for me to return and give something back to the community. Even though it seems small, my involvement with helping children be introduced to German will hopefully make an impact on getting children involved early to learn a foreign language. I have heard about the importance of learning a foreign language at a young age, but I have always wondered, would this actually work? Would children be able to grasp what was going on and apply what they learned? After this experience, I totally believe that children have the ability to grasp a foreign language.”
~ Carole Wellmann
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“This service learning [project] made me want to continue my German education, and hopefully I can study abroad in Europe. [It] also made me think about going into education.” ~ Amy Hirsch
“This activity made me want to become a teacher and do more with German. … I took a whole new appreciation for teaching and learning from this experience.” ~ Kayla Tatum
“Personally, I wish I had been taught a language starting at a much younger age. If children are taught languages throughout school . .
. the likelihood that they become fluent in a language by high school is much higher.
The other issue is retention. If they grow up with a language, then they are more likely to keep it with them throughout their lives.”
~ Coy Bunyard
Student Missouri National Educators Association Makes a Difference
Larry Spaulding, Student
At the beginning of the 2013 spring semester the
Student Missouri National Educators Association
(SMNEA) Meramec chapter decided we were determined to make a difference on campus. We thought of many projects that would not only give to the community but also have a meaningful impact as well as reflect the enthusiasm for learning. As club president, I suggested we should seek out book donations to be given to kids of Meramec students registered with TANF (Temporary Assistance for
Needy Families). Not only would the club hand out books but also the club members would be available to read books to kids as well as have a deli sandwich bar available for guests to enjoy. Doris Durgins-
Johnson, Director of TANF and club sponsor Dr.
David Shields, approved the idea.
As the weeks progressed leading up to our event, we still didn’t have the books we were looking for; however,
SMNEA member Molly Vagen had a contact come through and come through big. We now had two large boxes of brand new books. Not only were the books new but also the books were cool, current and relevant.
We were so proud of these books and we couldn’t wait until our event date which was Friday April the 5th to arrive. The day of the event was great; students showed up early with their children to choose books and have lunch. SMNEA members Stacie Mathew, Molly Vagen, and Larry Spaulding volunteered at this event and had a truly rewarding time reading books to the children.
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The Veterans’ History Project
Patti Ziegler, Associate Professor of Information Reporting Technology
Students in IRT 169: Information Reporting I have been participating in the Veterans History Project sponsored by the Library of Congress. All interviews are recorded and archived at the Library of Congress. For more information about the national project visit http://www.loc.gov/vets/about.html
The following reflections are from the fall 2012 class:
“I chose to interview my son, Gregory Travis
Thompson, for this very important and revered assignment for the Veteran’s History Project. It was a great insight to listen to what he had to say, not only as a mother of a Marine, but as a patriotic citizen who believes very strongly in our freedom and the fight for that right and privilege.
I know the day the Marines came to our home and picked up our son to haul him off to Boot Camp in
San Diego, California, I had an emptiness in the pit of my stomach. I wouldn’t allow myself to think of the what-ifs; I just knew that this is what my son wanted to do. He chose this service, and I respected that he was doing something in his life he felt was so important that he was willing to leave behind his life here in Missouri to go serve his country in whatever way he was needed. I feel so very blessed to have my
Marine, Gregory Travis Thompson, back home in the
United States, but my heart goes out to the families that were not as fortunate to have their loved ones return home alive.
I am so proud to have been able to participate in the
Veteran’s History Project. I think it is very important for this generation and generations to come to read the stories these veterans have to share, to view the photos, and to record this treasured history that shall never be forgotten. We should all be reminded each day of the sacrifices they have made for us.”
~ Tammy Ballew
“For this project I interviewed my dad Carl Kuelker, who served in the Vietnam War in Army infantry. This was a great experience and I was especially excited to be able to share it with my father. I learned that he was almost finished with law school and only married two short weeks before he was drafted.
This experience meant a lot to me because my dad and many veterans don’t talk freely about the time they were at war. They are honorable men that don’t feel like heroes or want to be honored.
I think that’s why the NCRA has taken on this wonderful project, because many men from the wars in the past are passing on and their stories are going untold. The NCRA has a talent to be able to transcribe, and they want to make sure these men and their stories are not forgotten.”
~ Kasey Bickel
“I learned that it was uncomfortable and alienating to be a soldier during an unpopular military action
(Vietnam). It makes me sad to think of all the people who sacrificed years, or even their lives, and that their sacrifice was not appreciated until long after we were out of Vietnam. My conversation with Rich reinforced my gratitude for those who serve and sacrifice for our country.” ~ Holly Fox
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“My service learning experience was a lot of fun. My interview was with a friend of mine from high school named Justin Knott. We went to dinner at a restaurant in Eureka, MO . . . and after, had the interview outside on the patio.
After talking with Justin, I learned how important it is that people like him are willing to risk their lives for our nation and for the benefit of other nations.
He believes strongly in the military and encourages anyone who is considering it, to join. I think it’s a great thing that NCRA took on this project because the stories of our veterans shouldn’t be forgotten.
I think this made me appreciate where I live a lot more, and appreciate all the freedoms that I have and take for granted. There are places in the world where life is not nearly as easy, and that makes me happy to be in America.” ~ Sara Brennan
“I just want to say that I’m so glad I got to participate in this awesome project! Our troops are so loved by everyone and it makes me happy to do something for them. Here is the brave man that I interviewed . . .
“My interview with Mr. Jerry Roesener went very well.
He is a polite, well-spoken and disciplined gentleman.
He credits the Army for giving him the tools to become the well-rounded individual he is today.
Taking part in the Veteran’s History Project has been an honor. I am thankful to have been given the opportunity to aid in preserving just one, of many stories, of a U.S. veteran protecting the lives and freedoms of others. I hope that present and future generations can fully comprehend what our veterans have done to ensure a promising future for our country.” ~ Miranda Dagner
“This experience means a lot to me. I have gotten so much out of it. I have learned so much more about my own Grandfather, and knowing my own relatives is very valuable to me. I have earned even more respect for my Grandfather. I never thought he went through quite this much. I am so thankful that I was able to spend it with my Grandfather. I remember after I gave the interview, I thanked my Grandfather for serving our country. It was very brave of him.” ~ Tess Hoffman
This experience meant a lot to me. It showed me how tough it can be to do what they do, and all the struggles they have to go through. I don’t take anything for granted anymore, and when I think I’m struggling, I just remember the great people we have serving our country and think about how hard they are working for us. I’m so grateful for them.” ~ Karly Guetersloh
“I can see why the NCRA wanted to be a part of such an important project. The military is so crucial to our country that these brave men and women’s stories, both past and present, should be saved for generations to come. We, as a country, couldn’t have gotten where we are today without all of their service. This experience has really opened my eyes. Going forward, I will try not to take so much for granted and thank any military personnel that I happen to come in contact with. I also think I will encourage others to look into the Veteran’s
History Project and how they can also be a part of it.
I very much enjoyed the experience and would be glad to do it again. Payton is a very respectable young man and his story will stay with me for years to come.”
~ Natalie Johnes
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Volunteer Income Tax Assistance
Aori Inoue, Student
Ruth Angeli, Student
Spring 2013, I learned how to prepare tax returns through the Volunteer Income Tax Assistance
Program. The VITA program is a cooperative effort by the Internal Revenue Service (IRS) and the Missouri
Department of Revenue to prepare basic income tax returns for free. The student can receive internship credits (3) and honor credits as well. This is my last semester to study Accounting, so I chose to challenge myself and see how my classroom knowledge about
Accounting could be applied to real life.
First, we took a training session for a month. The first half was to learn basic and intermediate level tax returns via lecture and reading books outside the classroom. The latter half of the training session was how to use Tax Wise, which is tax return software.
We reviewed the computer training session online, as well. It was really interesting to know what kind of expenses and contributions would be deductible, what kind of interest and income we needed to file and how we could do them. Especially as a student, the tactic regarding a student loan and tuition and its related expense chapter was useful. I learned that sometimes it is more tax friendly to use tuition expenses than getting tax credit in the end. Now I know how to track mileage for work, moving costs and charitable contributions, as well.
Secondly, it was interesting to see how the business culture differs from U.S and my home country, Japan.
In Japan, the worker, including the intern and the volunteer, are not supposed to chat with the client; we do not cross our legs during work, we do not dress in business casual because it is considered lazy or rude.
Also we are not allowed to say “I am not sure.” Instead, we need to say “I will check it now and get back to you as soon as possible.” Even when we are sure about the fact, we still need to make sure of everything again and again, then go through the process. In contrast,
U.S business culture seems to be more casual and frank. The task and process was more flexible and quick. I learned how to talk to the clients, get useful information from the client, feel relaxed via normal conversation, and deal with numbers most effectively from the interaction with the clients and my American partner who works at a bank.
The greatest advantage of this program is we can have many kinds of clients, so we can learn about taxes from the situations we may be in later. Through the different ages, incomes, and backgrounds of clients,
I calculated their taxes as if I were them. Every time
I dealt with different clients, I felt like living their lives for a moment and never felt bored. It is the most exciting moment to tell them how much of a refund they’ll get from the federal and state governments.
The second exciting moment is to see they are excited to know how much they got this year. I felt really rewarded every time I saw a happy face.
Finally I would like to say thank you to the help from my partner Ruthie, my great tutor Kathrine, and
Professors Amy and Robyn. Thanks to them, by the end of program, the world definitely looks different for me. Now I am more careful about collecting receipts regarding my education. It was fun to read my tax class text book because I can imagine what situation the book is talking about. All number and tax forms look really dry, but now I love them as some type of organic creature. I recommend all students have this experience because tax class is not required to participate in this volunteer opportunity.
~ Aori Inoue
Being part of Saint Louis Community College’s
Volunteer Income Tax Assistance (VITA) team has been a rewarding experience. The intense study early in the semester encouraged me to grow as an accounting student. The complex nature of the current tax system required me to learn how to study in new and different methods. Working with clients throughout these past couple of weeks has been very enlightening. As part of the VITA team, I witnessed a diverse group of clientele. Every tax return provided its own unique set of challenges. The challenges were tackled as a team. I would find myself seeking advice from the other VITA team students. We held mini debates over the translation of the tax code.
Overseeing our work was Robyn Barrett C.P.A., Amy
Monson C.P.A. and Kathryn Ladendorf C.P.A. continued on next page...
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In also providing direction, they reviewed the tax return before it was officially filed. The VITA team owes its success to each instructor.
As an accountant student, it was exciting to complete real tax returns, under guidance of the instructors, which allowed me to taste firsthand the realities that involve clients and their accounting needs.
~ Ruth Angeli
Know Your Vote
Larry Spaulding, Student
As president of two clubs on campus, TRIO Student
Leadership Board and Student Missouri National
Educators’ Association, I have the distinct privilege of being extremely active with other students. During the spring of 2012, I was surprised at how little students were discussing politics, especially being an election year. I felt the elections of 2012, both locally and nationally, would have real impact on the interests of students but for some reason I just couldn’t ignite discussion among my peers.
Something had to be done.
I began dialoguing with my fellow TRIO SLB members stressing the importance of voting and political awareness. Admittedly,
I myself am not a news junkie; sure I listen to NPR every day and sit in front of a computer throughout the day, but my main focus is on schoolwork. The SLB identified with this issue and they, too, believed the school was out of the loop when it came to current events. We felt that must be why students were not filling the quad bringing attention to the possibilities of budget cuts that could impact our ability to attend college. as sign up as many students as possible to vote. We soon realized that this project was huge and required partnering with Meramec Staff, professors, clubs and organizations on-campus and off to make it happen.
Our plan was twofold. We started by rebooting
Constitution Day and holding an event with politicians called Know Your Vote. Constitution Day, to me anyway, always appeared as an event for the political science enthusiast. There would be a small table somewhere between Communications North and Communications South with three or four people going on about the Whig party while handing out copies of the United States Constitution. S/he would also allow anyone who felt as if they knew American politics to take a Constitution quiz for pride and prizes. I liked the idea of a table and a quiz for prizes, but I felt we could do more. The TRIO SLB tossed around ideas eventually deciding to go with a bazaar or carnival like atmosphere that would include 9 tables, hotdogs, apple pie, voter registration, an issues scroll for students to exercise free speech, a United
States military HUMVEE and much more to promote
Know Your Vote. So much planning and preparation went into both events, and it was in this process that I saw my own involvement grow.
Truthfully I hadn’t been involved in anything like this before. Volunteering wasn’t something I did much of. In my younger days I did acts of service such as cleaning beaches on the East coast and working with youth, but nothing so complex and certainly not something with so many moving parts. This was truly a team effort and many hands were working to make both events happen.
In our first meeting about this need to bring awareness
I wanted to invite Tavis Smiley to the campus; however, that proved to be a bit ambitious. The SLB with the guidance of Sanela Mesic decided to generate a plan to invite local and state politicians to come to the school and take part in open discussion with students, as well
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Know Your Vote was a tremendous success. Each candidate was given a platform to represent their views and answer tough questions. Students were given an opportunity to speak directly to people who wanted their vote. While the main event was impactful, it was the dialogue that came after the official dismissal that was most dynamic. Students and politicians formed small break out circles discussing and debating real continued on next page...
issues. It was this dialogue that captured the original vision for the event. I was so pleased and amazed when I realized people did not want to leave. This proved to me the deep need for events such as this to take place as a campus-wide initiative. I would like to someday see events such Know Your Vote take place every election year. I learned so much while taking part in this and so many times I wish I could turn back the clock and do something over and better. I feel opportunities like this are not only about achieving great results and producing awesome events but also to be stretched and gain new skills while learning and working with others in the process. If I were given the opportunity I would do it all over again, just bigger and better, and I would find a way to get Tavis Smiley to visit the campus.
Prom Revisited at Rose Hill House
Residents at Rose Hill House were treated to a fabulous dance given by Sophia Pressman’s PSY 202 Human
Growth & Development students. First, students learned about theories and conducted research. They decided to motivate the senior adults to participate by having a dance and inviting participants to share photos from when they were young. It was a big hit and participants danced to favorite songs from their youth. On subsequent visits, residents were interviewed about their lives and were presented with moving tributes in the form of stories, poems and acrostics. Residents requested that her class come back in the fall!
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I Have A Dream
Deborah Caby, Student
“I haven’t had an apple in years and I love apples,” said
Charles. We were sitting in a peer-editing group in
Spring 2011. Fast forward to early Fall 2012 at a Phi
Theta Kappa fellowship picnic. We were packing up the leftovers when Jennifer turned to me and said,
“These leftovers will help a lot! I don’t have any money for food until my Pell grant funds come in.”
People are starving to stay in school with a promise of better jobs after the completion of college. There is nothing romantic about living on Raman Noodles while being a student! In study after study, proper nutrition is shown to be imperative to learning.
While the federal government has made it possible for most people to attend college with grants and low interest loans, these funds do not allow “for frivolous expenses” such as food or housing. Choices often are made either to give up some food or to cut back on housing.
The minute I stepped onto this campus in the Fall of
2010, I have had a dream for this college. I have wanted a garden to feed the students healthy food to sustain their learning environment. From that point on, when I was able to write or research on a subject of my own choosing within the academic process, I focused on cooperative, interdisciplinary education with healthy food and a garden as a laboratory.
After all, I had already started a food garden at our church to grow food for the poor. Trying to find a food pantry that would accept fresh food was another matter. I did locate one. Through another member of our church, we were able to send fresh tomatoes to
Meals On Wheels, and through the grapevine, we were able to furnish another church with fresh vegetables to feed their community on a Saturday evening.
Mid-term in the fall of 2012, there was a convergence of conversations that formed a catalyst that sparked the idea of a food pantry, which resulted in the Brown Bag
Café. I was in the TRiO office where Melissa Wilmore and Sanela Mesic had began filling a box with food for students in need of food. I had heard professors saying they were either feeding students out of their desk drawers or giving them money for the cafeteria.
I remember saying, “This has to stop! There is a bigger problem here! We are starting a food pantry for the students.” The solution needed an organized approach and while my dream was for a garden, that original dream needed to be put aside to focus on the immediate problem at hand. How do we take care of our students? It would take the cooperation of many departments to make this a reality. I asked my professor in English, Pamela Garvey, if I could write a formal proposal for a food pantry and garden for our campus. With her help, I was able to talk to Service
Learning, TRiO, Phi
Theta Kappa, the Student
Assisted Program, Student
Government Council,
Campus Life Office, the
Horticultural program and various professors to gather research and write my paper to propose a food pantry to our Vice-
President of Student
Affairs.
After meeting with the head of a local food pantry, it was decided in the TRiO office to just start with a small lunch much like Mr.
DeGuire of Feed My People had shown us in his office that day. This was the birth of the Brown Bag Café with one of the students mentioned above having the rare privilege of naming a project.
More importantly, this process has encouraged students to work for changes to benefit society. Maybe the end result is not what you originally wished for, but big changes can happen in small increments. As for me - I still have a dream, but perhaps it will start with an apple in that Brown Bag lunch.
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Brown Bag Cafe
Maxine Beach, English Professor
When I announced the Brown Bag Café concept to my students, they were in full support for the project.
A few students confessed to me privately they come to school hungry and often go all day without eating because they can’t afford cafeteria food, don’t have the money for fast food, have no place to store their own food from home, or are just running short on money for groceries.
My students’ enthusiasm for the project inspired me to assign students the task of writing a political poem about the state of America or about hunger. Then,
I offered extra credit to any student who would be brave enough to read their poem at the food drive kick-off. Many of my students produced profound and/or passionate pieces, but only three students were able to attend the kick-off to read.
Shannon Geary was especially driven to tackle the issue of hunger and wrote a moving poem about citizen responsibility to help those in need. Taylor
Bockhorst took a political stance about America’s twisted values.
I learned from this assignment. I learned more about my students’ day-to-day struggles, about their belief systems, their frustrations, and their compassion and courage. Perhaps I learned more from my students than they did from the assignment.
Hunger
Shannon Geary, Student
There comes a time
When you’re hungry
When the amount of food doesn’t matter.
No amount can satisfy you if you don’t know when you’ll eat again.
Hunger is a way of life: constant fear, reluctant acceptance and pain.
But hunger doesn’t hurt the way you think it would it’s not just the pang in your stomach, the trembling hands and wobbling knees.
Hunger is a degradation of the soul.
The crippling knowledge that you are not enough.
Even this one basic necessity.
If you can’t get food what can you get?
What can you, pathetic, mewling, starving thing accomplish? What do you deserve?
I will tell you what the hungry deserve! They need our help not our pity don’t just feel bad, do something!
I will raise my voice to aid those in need.
Will you?
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America the Beautiful?
Taylor Bockhorst, Student
America who am I within your walls?
Am I just another number or do I matter at all?
America who do you say that I am?
You say wear the clothes.
I say wear the ball caps.
America I gave you everything am I something now?
Am I going to let my life be ran by Top Model or dragged down by the lies of fashion and game?
America when will you accept me?
America I refuse to be run by your lies any longer.
America I will wear hoodies and my skirts.
I wear the flowers in my hair and run in the dirt.
I will be me and I will be true.
I watch Top Model everyday!
The beautiful women stare at me.
Their eyes edging into my soul.
Stop with the lies.
I’m not ashamed.
America I’m beautiful just the way I am!
I count the pounds day in and day out.
The women laugh at my act.
They’re becoming me.
They tell me I’m never right.
They whisper perfection into my ears.
They are perfect.
Everyone is perfect.
Perfect. . .
Everyone is perfect except for me.
America who do you say that I am?
America?
. . .
America are you listening?
. . .
America have you turned off all your TV’s?
. . .
America can you hear me?
. . .
America?
. . .
America?
. . .
America?
. . .
America where has your beauty gone?
You say I’m not right.
I say that I’m just right.
You say to wear the make up and masks.
I say take down the defense!
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The Impact of Hunger
Students in Pam Garvey’s English 101 646 Course
Click image to start presentation.
A Deeper Look into Hunger
Sarah Spaulding, Student
Pam Garvey, English 101 Instructor
Whether you find yourself in the mountains of
Virginia or in the plains of the Dakotas, in the Arizona sun or in the cold frost of Massachusetts, or right in the middle of it all one thing is sure — hunger is not far away. Hunger may even be right next to you and you don’t even know it. The troublesome thing about hunger is it exists with or without our permission as if it’s taking on a life of its own. Hunger indeed has many faces and many disguises. Our perception of who is hungry may include the skinny, frail, emaciated child or someone in tattered clothes. The student who is well dressed, for instance, may not appear hungry, when in fact he or she is. Overall, college students have high percentages of hunger all across the nation.
There are ways that we can lessen the impact of this serious issue.
When I look right next to me at a few students, who have already said they are hungry. They said they are juggling school with a full-time job and kids with little help from families and friends. In the article,
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“It’s Not Just Genetics” by Bryan Walsh, I found that there are many things that contribute to hunger and obesity such as not being able to live in close proximity to parks, stores, or friends. The stores that lower income families have close to them only offer a small selection of healthy food choices. These families work long hours and are very tired at the end of their day.
They do not always have the luxury of time to enjoy cooking a wonderful spread of food and then spend an hour cleaning it all up. I don’t know about you, but that seems reasonable to me.
When I finally make it in the door of my home between 5 and 6pm, I want to crash. Making dinner usually includes cleaning and cutting vegetables and pulling together a main dish. All of which has to be done after having to wash dishes and clean the kitchen up from breakfast that morning. This is typically a two-hour process. All things that require me to be on my feet…that are tired. After the meal is finished around 7 or 8pm, I have to prepare for the following continued on next page...
morning, and then we have bath and bed time. If I am really lucky, I get a little bit of reading in for one of my classes. The last thing I want is to spend more of my time in the evening cooking and cleaning it up. I really have to be motivated to eat at home.
We are gone too long during the day to have a crock pot going or I would enlist a wonderful array of soups, stews, and such that would ideally make this an easier task, but that hasn’t worked out for our family’s schedule. It has been my experience that when I am the hungriest, I will settle for just about anything close to me. The faster and cheaper it is the better.
Then I won’t have the guilt of spending an extra dollar on food that could have been used for gas or rent or anything else more important than my stomach.
I imagine if I were in these shoes, I might feel a bit of guilt for eating, especially if I have taken the time to think about things my son needs or other obligations like the rent, phone bill or car insurance payments coming up. Consequently, I would think that I would much rather not feel that guilt and forego a meal or two and know that other needs are being met than justify my body’s need for nourishment any day. My needs whether they are food, shampoo, or the most basic of needs are not my priority and come second to whatever else the family needs. I imagine that if I feel this way, many others feel this way. Things need to be done to help people prioritize meeting one’s basic need for food.
Not all students qualify for FAFSA because they can still be claimed as dependents. But, their parents only help to cover school expenses not every day needs such as housing, transportation, and medical expenses.
These students range from 20 to 25 years old and carry a full semester of classes. According to the graphs given to us from the graph, “Mean Household Income by Quartile: 1967 - 2009” this would most likely be the groups in the lower three fifths making an average of $49,534 and lower (U.S. Census Bureau). These are the groups who qualify for financial aid and who would struggle the most after monthly obligations are met (Johnson-Durgans, interview March 19th, 2013).
After a survey was taken of a small percentage of the school’s students, we found that out of 279 students, approximately a third of those go without a meal three to five days out of the month and about 30 out of 279 go without 3 full meals a day 3 to 5 times a week. I thought these were startling numbers seeing that this
29 percentage would only go up if the entire student body of about 9000 were to be surveyed.
Students reported that other things in their budgets are more important than eating three meals a day like tuition and rent. We know that many students are sacrificing their meals for the sake of their children and loved ones. Still others said that they would not use a school food pantry because they didn’t want to take food from less fortunate people than themselves or because they would be “too embarrassed” or had “too much pride” to use one. The students represented here are from varying levels of income either in the lower under $49,000 range or in the higher over $80,000 range, not many at all in between.
When I checked other sources I found according to
Hunger in America: 2013 United States Hunger and
Poverty Facts, “In 2010, 17.2 million households,
14.5 percent of households (approximately one in seven), were food insecure, the highest number ever recorded in the United States (Coleman-Jensen 2011, p. v.)”, and, “In 2010, about one-third of food-insecure households (6.7 million households, or 5.4 percent of all U.S. households) had very low food security
(compared with 4.7 million households (4.1 percent) in 2007. All of this proves that low income families of course suffer. But those who have to pay tuition out of pocket coupled with their monthly obligations are also finding themselves with little to nothing left over for food.
There are ways to effectively help by being proactive.
We can take the resources we have and make something work with, like the students in Rigby’s article “College
Food Pantries” who did just that. Take those of us who need an outlet to help others combined with a practical easy way to access food and donations of food, and put them all together working to address this issue. Now suddenly, it doesn’t look like such a tough problem to take care of.
Through educating and providing a discreet and easily accessible way to offer the hungry at least one healthy meal when they are at school would be a great way to tackle this head on. We should be aware of those who may need this type of help, not to embarrass them, but to offer a helping hand that we all have or, most likely, will have need of at some point in our own lives. By building and offering a program that is efficient, we continued on next page...
also, by its very nature, encourage other campuses in the community to follow suit to help their students
(Durgins). That is my hope -- to see a program that the students and faculty at St. Louis Community College at Meramec put into action and work effectively to reach both those in need and those who thrive at helping others in a practical way. Help the hungry.
I found that hunger is not so far away and it actually is much closer to me and much more severe than I had imagined. I understand more fully that this is an extensive problem that has a workable solution. The reasons for this problem are much deeper than simple laziness or lack of income. Everyday lives of who we consider “average” are affected all the time by crammed schedules, lack of family support, and incomes that do not provide for the daily needs of families. Through active participation in local programs this issue can be easily addressed. Basic hard work and dedication of just one person can make a huge difference in many lives. As a result, a large issue becomes a little bit smaller and more manageable as more and more relief programs are created. Bringing revitalization to our communities through common sense and generosity can help people through their days.
Starving College Students
Matthew Gewinner, Student in Pam Garvey’s ENG
101 class
People hear the term hunger and immediately they think of an image of a child in a developing nation, wearing little clothes that are tattered and torn. The commercials a person sees ask them to donate ten cents a day to help a starving child. When I think of people living in poverty I picture multiple people living in a rundown apartment where nothing works, the lighting is low, and the entire place is dirty.
If someone looked at me they might not have thought I have had personal experiences with hunger myself. First that was by choice; now it is due to lack of income while attending college. When it was by choice that was when
I was in the military and attended certain training during which I knew I would be forced to skip meals.
An average college student might not look like s(he) is skipping meals, but might be. Some colleges are addressing this issue. They are starting food pantries for the students who need the meals, and it is even happening on my college campus at St. Louis
Community College. Hunger is hidden on college campuses and impairs learning which will be affected by the food choices college students make, and the solution is making food available to hungry college students.
People like me who are attending college can be living in a decent apartment, but still can be considered living at the poverty level. College students may be skipping meals or barely making ends meet and
30 people might not know about it. It’s not like people see college students digging in a dumpster for food, so people may say college students are not going hungry, but without talking to them a person does not know how many meals students are actually skipping. Just because students do not act hungry it does not mean they are not hungry. Someone can look at me and may not think I am going hungry at times, but after starting college I am always sitting in class thinking about food.
A person’s surroundings will affect how they choose food and what food they choose to buy; college students who are hungry between classes might get items from a vending machine versus eating a healthy apple. Often, students might have limited options on the types of food they can buy. For example, they can go to the cafeteria and overpay for food or just go across the street to the gas station for food that is much cheaper.
Furthermore, lack of transportation is another issue people face when they make and choose where to purchase food (Walsh). When transportation is the issue, college students may decide on fast food they can pick up close to campus, which is not the best choice. It is easier for them to get fast food because there is an abundant amount of fast food restaurants compared to the number of grocery stores around campuses. For example, at my college there is a gas station right across the street and it is easier to continued on next page...
go there for food when I have a break between classes.
Junk food may taste delicious, but is it not worth the time and costs to eat it. In Bittman’s article, “Is Junk
Food Really Cheaper?” he makes many points of how junk food is not cheaper and how people consider cooking work. For college students after a full day of school with homework to do and projects to be worked on students do not want to take the time to cook a meal and they might prefer a meal that is quick and easy, such as fast food. Bittman makes a great point about the time people take to get fast food that would be the same time or less if a person stayed home and cooked a meal. Furthermore, Bittman explains how it is cheaper to make a home cooked meal verses buying takeout. I agree with Bittman on making a decision to skip junk food. For example, I was home one night studying and I found myself hungry with no food around. I considered going for fast food, but then thought about the cost of one meal for fast food verses getting three meals from Schnucks for the same price and after thinking about it there was no question if I was going to the grocery store or getting fast food.
I know hunger affects learning because what I have seen in myself over the last year of starting college and going from a couple of meals a day down to maybe a meal, if that, or maybe just a snack to get me through my day. I have seen my studying time go down because I am tired and lose the effort to study, despite my 3.9 GPA because I want good grades and manage my time. I just do not have the energy I had when I first started college. Before I started college and I was working full time, my food options offered plenty of meals. Then I left my job to go back to school full time. I was fine with my studies in my first semester, but after a few months of limited meals my energy and focus have dropped due to being hungry and feeling fatigued.
There are advantages to being a full time student though. I only have to focus on my Studies, and I do not have to juggle work and school together. In addition, that cuts my stress down to just focusing on my school work, but at the same time my stress is slightly increased due to lack of food and a tight budget. Furthermore, without working and just going to school my meal options are limited due to income, which may compromise some of my grades because of being hungry. I can get by on hardly eating due to my training I had with hunger while in the military, but as a student I do not eat the healthiest foods; instead I eat pizza, chips, ramen, and cheeseburgers.
Some colleges are seeing this issue in America and they are finding a way to fix this problem of hunger for students. The solution to this problem is making food available to hungry students who need proper meals every day. The students who need these meals will use these pantries when it is necessary (Colleges
Open Food Pantries for Hungry Students). These students may improve their grades and they will be able to be proactive students. St. Louis Community
College is starting a brown bag lunch program to help students who need a meal.
Another solution to campus hunger is students need to make cooking fun. Making cooking fun would show students the proper way to be eating healthy food and leading by example (Bittman). Students could try getting together for meals that they cook when they study together. This would allow each student to support each other in eating healthy foods and reinforce studying.
One of my college classes is making a huge effort to spread the word about the available food on campus so students living in poverty who are going hungry and skipping meals will be aware that food is available to them. It will be easy for them to get a free meal when it is needed. Furthermore, my class put together a presentation in order to make students aware that this service will be available on campus. Hunger is a problem that Americans should recognize and address to help solve this issue for hungry college students.
Works Cited
Bittman, Mark. “Is Junk Food Really Cheaper.” The
New York Times Sunday Review. The New York
Times, 24 September. 2011. Web. 26 March. 2013.
“Colleges Open Food Pantries for Hungry Students.”
ABCNews.com. ABC News, 12 February. 2011. Web.
1 March. 2013
Walsh, Bryan. “It’s Not Just Genetics.” Time.com.
Time Inc., 12 June 2008. Web. 20 March. 2013.
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Meramec’s Donna Halsband Wins Community
Engagement Professional of Year Award, 2012
Pamela Garvey, Professor of English
As a member of the Faculty Advisory Council to
Service Learning as well as a faculty member who teaches service-learning courses, I have worked extensively with Donna Halsband and witnessed the talent, dedication and passion she brings to all projects. Because of Donna, our campus has been transformed from one in which the occasional faculty member utilized service-learning in the classroom to an institution that supports campus-wide initiatives and in which we typically see about 800 students per semester engaging in over 3,600 hours of service.
Donna created innovative partnerships with organizations throughout the area, ranging from the St. Louis Zoo to Gateway Greening (an urban community garden) to cultural programs for seniors at nursing homes. Three years ago she created the Faculty Advisory Council to further institutionalize servicelearning, and, along with that council, she spearheaded specific goals for deepening our engagement and successfully recruited new faculty to service-learning.
Donna consistently supported faculty members in the many diverse ways they incorporate service-learning into the classroom and in campus-wide programs such as Cancer Awareness Day, Hunger Awareness and Know Your Vote. As can be noted from those titles, these programs involve increased engagement within the community and a deepening of students’ classroom learning about subjects as diverse as biology and political science. Everything Donna did campuswide and with individual students and instructors always served that dual purpose of educating the student as a citizen and serving the community. As an example, during Hunger Awareness, students served the community by bringing in thousands of canned goods for the food drive; there were also numerous on-campus activities with community partners to educate students about the causes and consequences of hunger as well as the larger political and social forces that underlie poverty.
Donna always worked creatively to promote servicelearning as a tool across the disciplines, including traditional academic coursework in the liberal arts and sciences as well as career programs such as court reporting and physical and occupational therapy. Her talent for working with faculty and students across the curriculum is exceptional. Last year at the Conference for College Composition and Communication, the largest conference dedicated to Composition and
Rhetoric, I presented about the service learning sections of English
Composition that I teach. An audience member noted that I had mentioned Donna in my presentation and stated that her university did not have such a coordinator; though she’d love to implement a course like mine, she doesn’t see how it could be feasible without a coordinator.
This observation reflects the value of Donna’s work: without Donna’s outreach, connections to community partners and ability to institutionalize service-learning, our faculty would not be able to incorporate the projects that have changed students’ lives profoundly, and most of what you’ve read about in these pages would never have occurred. We all are indebted to Donna for fostering a climate in which higher education is not merely a stepping stone to a job but is an education in what it means to be a citizen.
In October 2012, Donna received the Community
Engagement Professional of the Year Award, right before her retirement in January 2013. She is greatly missed, but her legacy continues through the passion and commitment of current coordinator, Debbie
Corson, as well as the faculty and students whose minds have expanded and lives have changed, thanks to Donna’s tenure at Meramec.
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