-- the Forum Summer 1995 --
GWCC's Service Learning Initiative: Building Intentional Communities Through
Service Learning
Michele Bush, GWCC
When two GateWay Community College students signed up to participate in service-learning
projects, they were surprised by their experiences.
"The service-learning experience enabled us to fill in some gaps, [and, at the
same time, we] opened some naive eyes, ached a couple of hearts and definitely
touched a few lives...Every one of us felt we gained more than we gave."-GWCC
nursing student.
"Before my service-learning experience, I simply expected to tutor some children
for a few extra credit points. Now, I know it [is] so much more."-GWCC math
student.
In July of 1994, GateWay Community College was awarded one of 69 service-learning
grants for higher education institutions from the Corporation for National
Service. The funding supports colleges engaged in starting service-learning
initiatives on their campuses.
The service-learning initiative at GateWay Community College enhances academic
learning while promoting social responsibility and civic skills through the
integration of a service-learning option into existing occupational and liberal
arts courses. The Student Activities Office documents and tracks participation
hours and issues a community service transcript to students engaged in service-
learning. During the 1994-95 school year, five discipline areas were involved in
service-learning and students performed about 500 hours of community service.
Examples of Students' Service Learning Projects
- Students from the Heating, Ventilation, and Air Conditioning department, in conjunction with the Arizona
Foundation for Senior Living, provided maintenance to the evaporative coolers of
30 low-income elderly residents in metropolitan Maricopa County.
- GWCC math students tutored below grade-level children at Wilson Primary
School.
- POWER (People Open and Willing to Experience Renewal), a college readiness
program for at-risk students, was expanded to incorporate a mentoring component,
which allowed successful graduates of the POWER program to mentor newly enrolled
at-risk GWCC students.
- WCC student nurses were matched with pre-nursing students to deliver
preventative health care services to children at the Pappas School for homeless
children, teen mothers at Young Families Can, and elderly residents at Brighton
Gardens.
- Students from a Spanish class prepared and read Spanish stories to classes of
bilingual children at Wilson Primary School.
The Role of Faculty in the GWCC Service-Learning Initiative
One all-faculty orientation session and three training sessions have been conducted for faculty
interested in learning about service-learning and who want to investigate course
implementation options. A project coordinator is assigned to assist faculty in
identifying community service sites and integrating service- learning options
into existing courses. Eighteen GWCC faculty will be participating in
service-learning development projects during the summer and implementing
service-learning into one or more of their courses beginning fall semester, 1995.
The Labyrinth-Forum: Summer 1995
Maricopa Center for Learning and Instruction (MCLI)
Maricopa County Community College District
The Internet Connection at MCLI is
Alan Levine --}
Comments to alan.levine@domail.maricopa.edu
URL: http://www.mcli.dist.maricopa.edu/labyforum/Sum95/sum95F4.html