Summer 2001 - Wayne State College

Above, Wayne State students involved in the Habitat for Humanity spring breakproject included, front row from left: Stefanie Siedschlag, Christina Rutten, LauraPeterson, Lisa Lange and Erin Granberg. Second row: Nick Tramp, NessaPeterson, Lark Cunningham and Sister Jeremias Lee. Not pictured is Mark Hammer,advisor (photo by Mark Hammer).At right: Students participating in the plastic recycling project on campus are, fromleft, Brent Janzen, Jared Jansen, Jerry Liewer and Mark Ayers.Service Learning an Important Aspect of ClassesService learning, a teaching/learningmethod that connects meaningfulcommunity service with academic learning,personal growth and civic responsibility, ispart of a growing number of courses atWayne State College.During the 2000-’01 academic year,service-learning coordinators Dr. JeanKarlen and Jon Kendall worked withfaculty members to plan service-learningprojects for their classes. “Service learninggrew markedly this year with at least 15projects undertaken by 14 facultymembers,” said Karlen. “Eleven facultymembers submitted applications for subgrants to the Nebraska Consortium forService-learning in Higher Education toassist in integrating projects into theirclasses. Whether funded or not, manyfaculty members undertook projects ontheir own.”Service-learning projects includedhuman resource management classes taughtby Dr. Patricia Arneson, in which threegroups of students wrote Personnel PolicyHandbooks for employers in the northeastNebraska area. Students interviewedemployers several times regarding their8policies, desired handbook style, andpresented the completed handbook to them.Another project was headed by Dr.Mark Hammer, associate professor, math/science. Several service-learningexperiences involving resourcesustainability were completed in the firstsemester. Students in EnvironmentalConcerns for General Education providedthe background for initiating a reusable cupprogram and for reducing food waste at thecampus food service. Students alsodeveloped an infrastructure to begin aplastic bottle and white paper recyclingprogram.A third project involved students in Dr.Tami Worner’s Pre-calculus Topics class.The premise for the service-learning projectwas to change a perceived negative attitudetoward mathematics that is often passeddown from parents and teachers to theirchildren and students.To begin to change this attitude, Dr.Worner’s class led mathematical activitiescentered on children’s stories to children inthe Wayne Head Start program. Forexample, the story “The Doorbell Rang” byPat Hutchins dealt with dividing a setnumber of cookies among friends. Thedoorbell would ring, bringing more friendsand necessitating dividing the cookiesagain. WSC students replicated thisactivity with the Head Start children,introducing the concept of division.Responses to the above-mentioned andother campus projects have been verypositive, with more activities being plannedfor next year. In addition, Wayne StateCollege has been selected as a “LeaderCampus” for a national pilot projectdesigned to promote teaching as aprofession. The program, called the“Teacher-to-Teacher Initiative,” providesan opportunity for college students tobecome part of a mentoring relationshipwith a high school student who has shownan interest in or a talent for teaching.“Service-learning initiatives are animportant part of our College mission andgoals,” said Dr. Sheila Stearns, WSCpresident. “Not only do students learnacademic concepts in the classroom; theyalso are given opportunities to use whatthey learn in their classes to help meet theneeds of individuals and communities inour region.”WSC Magazine Summer 01810/2/01, 2:48 PM