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News Release BOISE STATE NEWS RELEASE / November 25, 2008 Editor’s note: Boise State Service-Learning students are wrapping up their semester-long projects with community agencies during the next two weeks. There are a number of opportunities to visit with them about their experiences, including one student who will be presenting a quilt that she made for some young students in a Boise Parks and Recreation program. She will be available for interviews next week. Boise State University Service-Learning Students Doing Valuable Work for Many Local Agencies With economic pressures mounting, vital community agencies and non-profit organizations run the risk of being under funded and under staffed. A record number of Boise State University students are helping to fill the void, and contributing to those organizations’ ongoing success. In more than 60 classes this semester, Boise State faculty are integrating Service-Learning into their courses, making community involvement an essential part of the curriculum. From art to engineering, students are applying coursework to community needs. Service-Learning is offered in 31 departments and in every college at Boise State. That means that about 1,000 Boise State students are regularly and actively engaged with a number of community organizations this semester, through the Service-Learning program alone. And many choose to stay on as volunteers after their academic requirements are fulfilled. “Students provide technical skills and knowledge, as well as manpower, that help us accomplish things we would not otherwise be able do,” said Annie Clayville, program director for ALPHA (Allies Linked for the Prevention of HIV and AIDS). Many of the projects continue semester-to-semester, and through numerous partnerships meet a number of needs. For example, Service-Learning was implemented into a chemistry class that developed bio-briquettes. Made of compressed leaves and paper, they that have potential as a renewable, inexpensive heating source for low-income families. In the future engineering classes may develop an affordable bio-briquette maker. Boise State’s Service-Learning Program is celebrating its 10-year anniversary. Since fall 2000, more than 10,000 students have contributed more than 235,000 hours of service to the Treasure Valley. This includes a record number of students who participated during the past academic year. Boise State’s Service-Learning program is the largest in the state and is being used as a model to establish and grow similar programs at other universities. The goal at Boise State is to continue to add Service-Learning classes in the sciences and business, disciplines that traditionally do not have as strong a community service component as their counterparts in the social sciences or nursing, for example. For more information about Service-Learning at Boise State, including a list of community agencies that participate and a full description of class projects, visit http://servicelearning.boisestate.edu or call (208) 426-2380. Here are some of the projects Boise State students are doing this semester: — Provide tutoring for refugees on English and U.S. job skills with the Agency for New Americans — Survey and then summarize long-term care services in Idaho — Survey health educators to highlight and spread AIDS awareness messaging with ALPHA — Promote healthy pregnancies with Spanish speakers at BabySteps — Teach dance to youth and adults with disabilities at Boise Parks and Recreation — Staff the Garden City Boys and Girls Club “Be a Hero to a Child” program — Research disparities in health for Latino families in southwest Idaho — Create art pieces for exhibits at Deer Flat National Wildlife Refuge — Staff the computer lab for ESL students at the English Language Center in Boise — Provide companionship and art therapy for Alzheimer patients at Friends in Action in Boise — Help the Idaho Children’s Trust Fund put on the annual Prevent Child Abuse and Neglect Conference — Develop an anti-bullying survey for Hillcrest Elementary to measure the success of a new program — Assist the Idaho State Historical Society in archiving life stories of Idahoans from all parts of the state — Create an interactive display for the Caldwell Community Recovery Month rally that celebrates recovery from drugs and alcohol — Help with day-to-day operations at the Interfaith Sanctuary Housing Service for homeless — Help the International Rescue Committee begin a program of developing life skills and literacy for new American women — Help teens learn life skills at Life’s Kitchen — Develop a public service announcement for the Living Independence Network Corporation providing support for individuals with disabilities to live independently — Staff shelter care at Simply Cats — Promote literacy and read aloud to children with the Reach Out and Read Program — Help grieving families with the Touchstone Center for Grieving Children and Adolescents — Assist schools with college and career information with the TRiO Pre-College Programs — Research legislative issues for United Vision for Idaho — Mentor students as lunch buddies at Whitney Elementary School -30- Contact: Sherry Squires, University Communications, (208) 426-1563, ssquires@boisestate.edu Boise State University is “The New U Rising” with record student enrollment, new academic buildings, additional degree programs and a growing research agenda. Learn more at www.boisestate.edu.
Last reviewed on Monday, December 01, 2008
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