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February 5, 2002 SERVICE-LEARNING ANSWERS PRESIDENT’S CALL FOR VOLUNTEERISM Boise State University is meeting President Bush’s call to increase volunteerism by encouraging students to apply what they learn in class to real-life community needs. Boise State currently offers 30 service-learning classes per semester in which approximately 300 students serve the community while gaining hands-on experience. This is the fourth year service-learning has been offered at the university. Currently all colleges offer some form of service-learning opportunity. The university partners with more than 50 community organizations to teach students how history relates to homelessness, economics relates to GED tutoring and nursing affects farm worker health. Other examples include:
U.S. News & World Report’s America’s Best Colleges 2001 called service-learning a "hot trend on college campuses these days." It attributed the trend, in part, to the rise in high school volunteerism. "In 1999 a record 75 percent of college freshmen arrived on campus as experienced volunteers," the report said. Kara Hartmann, Boise State’s service-learning coordinator, said Bush’s pledge to increase funding for university community service programs will help "facilitate several hundred more student volunteers over the next two years." Nicole Gornall, a student majoring in psychology, called her service-learning experience a highlight of her college experience. "Because of my service, I found myself much more interested in course material because I was having real-life experiences to apply it to," she said. "Service-learning is definitely worth the time." Patricia Fredrickson, a Boise State political science professor, said "service-learning, if properly integrated into the course objectives, makes abstract concepts come to life. When students learn about a concept and then see it applied in their own community with people they know, it becomes real and they have truly learned." For more information on service-learning, contact Hartmann at 426-2380. Contact: Media contact:
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