Summer 2012 - Queensborough Community College - CUNY

The Service-Learner
The Voice of Students, Faculty and Community
V O L U M E I I , I S S U E I I
S U M M E R 2 0 1 2
Looking Back… and Ahead
One of the highlights of last year was
QCC’s participation at CUNY’s 8th Annual
CUE Conference on May 11, 2012. Meg
Tarafdar described the training and
support offered to faculty interested in
service-learning. Sharon Ellerton
summarized the results to date of the
effectiveness of servicelearning.
Over fifteen
faculty led individual
discussions on how
they implement servicelearning
in their respective disciplines. The
OASL will refine these efforts in the
upcoming year by developing generic
reflection activities and rubrics aligned to
various academic disciplines and by
streamlining the existing Institutional
Review Board protocol to make it easier for
more faculty to participate. The protocol
assesses the impact of service-learning on
students’ education, career interests,
attitudes, and interest in community service.
The OASL will also support the work of
the QCC Sustainability Council in the
upcoming year through a variety of
service–learning projects designed to meet
the council’s needs. If you are interested in
joining this exciting effort, please contact the
OASL.
Consistent Growth 2006-2007 2007-2008 2008-2009 2009-2010 2010-2011 2011-2012
Service-Learning Students 42 195 462 750 1013 1629
Faculty Teaching SL Courses 3 9 21 35 45 72
Partner Agencies 6 7 28 10 26 38
Faculty Reflect
on Service-Learning
Towards the end of the Spring 2012
semester, over 50 service-learning
advocates gathered in the Oakland Dining
Room to reflect on the growth and success
of academic service-learning in the past
year. They discussed how to improve,
expand, and tell the story of academic
service-learning at QCC.
Jo Pantaleo, QCC’s Project Director of
Academic Service-Learning, opened the
discussion saying, “Academic servicelearning
uncovers intelligence in students
that doesn’t necessarily come across in
standardized tests and other methods in
Jo Pantaleo addressing faculty at the Reflection Dinner
traditional higher education.” Heads
nodded in agreement.
Round-table conversations touched on
individual motivations for including servicelearning
in a course, the relationships of
service-learning to course material, and the
role of service-learning in the broader
context of the campus.
When the floor opened for discussion,
seasoned service-learning faculty and firsttimers
alike shared stories of watching
students grow as they put the knowledge
they gained in the classroom to practical
use. Some students met challenges and
surpassed expectations with their creative
approaches to problem solving. Other
students became more connected to their
subject material. Faculty
highlighted: Accounting
students who helped their
peers at the QCC Health
Fair learn how to open a
bank account, maintain a
good credit score and
balance a checkbook;
Nursing and Health
students who developed
(From left) Professors Wolston Brown, Jennifer
Maloy, Sharon Ellerton & Vilma Daley
their skills by teaching elementary school
children about cardiovascular disease and
diabetes prevention; an Architecture
student whose solution to a design
problem exceeded the professor’s
expectations.
While slides of students engaged in
service-learning projects from nearly all the
campus’s disciplines glided across a screen,
Jo Pantaleo wrapped up the discussion,
encouraging faculty to continue to
collaborate with each other and to tell the
story of academic service-learning to
professors not yet involved to ensure the
growth and success of the program in the
future.

P A G E 2
Earth Day 2012
V O L U M E I I , I S S U E I I
As nearly 200 participants from the QCC community poured
into the Student Union, the frenetic energy coalesced into an
environmental celebration complete with giveaways and over 20
booths hosted by academic service-learning classes, student clubs
and environmental organizations. The booths aligned with the
mission of service-learning by enabling presenters to share the
knowledge gained from their coursework with the community.
Prof. Larisa Honey’s Anthropology class presented their
academic service-learning project on Fair Trade Chocolate, and it
is no surprise that this booth was one of the most popular of the
event. Students informed shocked guests about the exploitative
working conditions involved in growing and harvesting cocoa
and encouraged them to buy Fair Trade Chocolate that ensures
fair working conditions and wages for farmers. Fair Trade
certification also requires that cocoa growers use environmentally
sound agricultural practices.
Professors Peg McConnell, Patricia Devaney and Connie
Rehor’s Basic Educational Skills students raised awareness about
human trafficking that occurs throughout New York City, even as
close to home as Flushing. The students distributed information
from organizations that serve youth who have
experienced this exploitation; increased
awareness makes it more difficult for operators to
continue and easier for youth to find help. As
Earth Day is also about realizing the potential of
each and every person, this presentation was a
sobering yet hopeful addition to the day.
Prof. Marcia Coulton-Morrison’s Sociology
students addressed hunger in New York City.
They revealed to guests appalling facts, such as
that over 400,000 people in the city suffer from
hunger. They collected non-perishable food for a
local food pantry, receiving an overwhelming
level of contributions.
Prof. Franca Ferrari’s Speech students used their
academic service-learning project to address the issue of recycling
at QCC. They entertained guests by screening a video they
QCC’s new recycling bins
produced called “Captain
Campus,” which features a super
hero who teaches students how
to recycle. They also interviewed
students, faculty and staff
throughout the campus to
identify what respondents know
about recycling on campus. The
results of the survey will help
administrators in charge of the
QCC recycling program improve
recycling rates on campus.
Prof. Eugene Harris mentored an
Honors Biology student who
Fair trade chocolate
Interim College President Diane B. Call visits Prof. Eugene Harris’s
Biology Honors Service-Learning exhibit
created an impressive slide show on the ecosystems of Oakland
Lake. Photographs of bird species and their habitats at the lake
graced the lounge’s large screen while accompanying musical
selections provided an elegant backdrop to the hum of voices in
the room.
Many QCC student clubs and environmental
organizations also hosted informative booths.
Guests who came to QCC College Discovery’s booth
were met with a six-foot sculpture made from plastic
water bottles to illustrate plastic waste. The
Queensborough Bridge Research Club suggested a
solution to plastic waste by educating guests about
decomposable corn-based containers and had
guests create their own corn-based polymer. The
African Student Union took another approach to
reducing waste by showing off fashionable purses
they made from cardboard and scraps of fabric they
had in their homes. For the scraps of waste that
could not be used to make trendy accessories, volunteers from the
NYC Composting Project taught visitors how to make nutrient-rich
soil from kitchen scraps and yard waste. Ross Ber, a local
beekeeper, dispensed amazing information about bees, honey
and pollination in Queens and Nassau County. Mel Rodriguez and
Dexter Williams from QCC’s Sustainability Council introduced
QCC’s new recycling bins. In addition, students from the
Chemistry Club, CSTEP, Foreign Language Society, Hillel Club,
MALES , NYPIRG, SOUL, Student Government Association,
Students’ Health Club, and QCC Bridge Research Club contributed
creative energy and passion for environmental and social issues to
the day.
By 3:00 p.m., it seemed that the two-hour celebration had
flown by. Guests left with their stomachs full of fair trade
chocolate, arms full of environmental giveaways and their heads
filled with new knowledge on environmental and human issues.
Special thanks to Ziomara Zamora of Student Activities for making
the day such a success!

V O L U M E I I , I S S U E I I
QCC Family Day at the Farm
P A G E 3
QCC Family Day at the Farm, held on Saturday, March 31, 2012 at the Queens
County Farm Museum, was an opportunity for members of the QCC community as
well as children, parents and staff from Saratoga Family Inn (SFI) to come together to
learn about growing food and
sustainable farming practices.
The day was inspired by the
multiple service-learning
projects involving SFI’s
vegetable garden. SFI, one of
QCC’s long-standing servicelearning
partners, is a
transitional housing facility in
Queens operated by Homes for
the Homeless.
Despite the rain, nearly 300
guests came out to enjoy the
Kids enjoy doing crafts with QCC student volunteers event, and 30 student
volunteers from QCC helped keep the day running smoothly.
Through colorful posters, models, and hands-on activities involving dirt, paint
and other child-friendly materials, museum educators gave demonstrations on
composting, garden planning, companion planting and bee-keeping. These lessons
were immediately applicable for the Saratoga Family Inn and their on-site garden. The
Farm Museum also gave hayrides and walking tours that showed the uses of
sustainable practices in growing fresh produce and raising free-range chickens for
eggs.
QCC Academic Service-Learning students also participated. Prof. Lana Zinger’s
Nutrition students taught guests about healthy eating and distributed nutritious
snacks. Prof. Isabella Lizzul‘s Massage Therapy students offered free chair massages to
teach stress reduction.
From the reactions of the visitors, it was apparent that both QCC and the Queens
County Farm Museum furthered their missions with this event:.
This was a special day! Rare is the
opportunity to bring QCC faculty/staff
families, students, and other friends
together.
Amy Traver, QCC faculty
The Queens County Farm Museum created
many informative displays.
ALL the students were fantastic--
especially the two who did the Healthy
Pyramid display [Dave & Kevin]. We
also loved Lisa (farm employee) who
taught us things about bees and cows
and all the other animals at the farm!
Marta Jimenez , QCC staff
Visitors meet the animals on a walking tour
of the farm
My daughter and her two little friends
had so much fun. It was so
educational and the arts and crafts
were so enjoyable for them.
Camille Testa, QCC staff
Mr. C., from the Saratoga Family Inn and Mary
Bandziukas from the OASL display some of the
produce harvested from the Saratoga garden
In late July.

P A G E 4
Getting Young Minds Excited About College
V O L U M E I I , I S S U E I I
The Office of Academic Service-Learning develops
opportunities to inspire middle and high school students to work
hard in school and consider college as part of their future. QCC
students across disciplines support this goal by carrying out
academic service-learning projects with these young students. In
the spring of 2012, the service-learning office was able to expand
these opportunities by including a tour of the campus and a
meeting with QCC’s Admissions Office staff.
The visiting students built and tested robots in Prof. Hamid
Namdar’s Computer Control Systems class; learned how to apply
the scientific method when
“Although some of my students
testing water quality with
were initially tentative about the
Prof. Monica Trujillo’s
college tour, they have since
environmental science
thanked me for giving them the
students; saw germs on
experience of seeing the insides of
their hands glow under an
the Nursing Program facilities and
ultra-violet lamp and other
learning why QCC might be a good
amazing phenomena with
financial decision for two years before
they decide to go away to col-
Prof. Regina Sullivan’s
biology research students;
lege. I really think this trip raised the
puzzled over real-life
level of both my students’ engagement
and the participation of their
applications of algebra and
geometry with math
college mentors.”
students of Professors
Adam Sacher, teacher at World
Mercedes Franco, Steven
Journalism Preparatory School
Cheng, and Kostas
Stroumbakis; and discussed the college application process and
college life with Prof. Mike Dolan’s English students. They
received chair massages from Prof. Isabella Lizzul’s massage
students; learned yoga poses from Prof. Sue Garcia’s students;
and observed Prof. Lana Zinger’s Health students engage in the
collaborative process of planning future academic servicelearning
projects.
After working with the QCC students, classes accompanied
staff from the Office of Academic Service-Learning across the
campus, seeing some of QCC’s unique features, such as the
Harriet and Kenneth Kupferberg Holocaust Resource Center and
Archives, the beautiful sculpture garden, the solar panels atop
Anthony Davis, QCC Admissions Office,
addresses students from World Journalism
Preparatory School
the technology
building, and the
planetarium
dome atop the
science building.
Students were
wowed by QCC’s
virtual hospital,
explained in
detail by Audrey
Maroney, Senior
Lab Technician.
They marveled
over the 3-D
models “printed”
by state-of-the-
art equipment in
QCC’s
manufacturing
lab, and they
were
encouraged by
Bernard Hunter,
Senior Lab
Technician, to
picture
themselves learning how to produce such models themselves.
Under the guidance of Aaron Deetz, College Lab Technician,
they saw the work underlying the creative process in an art class
studying color theory and in QCC’s photography dark room.
The highlight of each tour was a workshop with Anthony
Davis, Associate Director, QCC Office of Admissions and
Recruitment, and Edgar De Castro, Senior Admissions Counselor,
QCC Office of Admissions and Recruitment. Tony and Edgar
explained the financial aid and application process, and how it
may be a good financial
decision to obtain an
Associate’s degree
before transferring to a
four-year college. They
assuaged the students’
concerns about applying
to and attending
college, as many would
be the first in their
families to do so, and
invited students to keep
in contact if they had
additional questions.
This year, students
from Hillcrest High
School, Queens Satellite
High School for
Opportunity, World
Journalism Preparatory
School, and from the
Saratoga Family Inn after
school program visited
and toured QCC’s
campus. The Office of
Academic Service-
Learning aims to
maintain these
partnerships and to add
additional schools in the
upcoming year.
Learning about the QCC admissions process
QCC Office of
Academic Service-Learning
222-05 56th Avenue
Humanities Building, Room 246
Bayside, NY 11364
718.281.5612
servicelearning@qcc.cuny.edu
www.qcc.cuny.edu/servicelearning
Project Director
Josephine Pantaleo
Project Associate Director
Sharon Ellerton
Center for Excellence in Teaching &
Learning (CETL) Director
Meg Tarafdar
Perkins Project Coordinators
Arlene Kemmerer
Mary Bandziukas
Cristina DiMeo
Adjunct Multimedia Specialist
Albert Cardinale
Project Coordinator
Katherine Rakowski
Support for the development/production
of this material was provided by a grant
under the Carl D. Perkins Career and
Technical Education Act of 2006
administered by the New York State
Education Department.
All projects and events supported by the
generosity of: