While just a freshman, Social Work student Rachel Funken decided to take on the challenge of service-learning this semester (Spring 2016) to gain more experience in her field of study before pursuing a full internship. She chose to work at Greene County Children’s Division (CD) because it fit her interest of advocating for child welfare and helping families directly. She recently shared more information about her service-learning experience. 1) How has your experience been at CD? It has been amazing! I've learned and gained so much information that I would never be able to get in a classroom setting. 2) What kinds of things do you do at CD? When I'm at CD, I work alongside one or two of the workers in the department while they’re either working on a case, meeting with clients and/or their lawyers, or going out into the field to check up on children after a hotline call comes in. 3) What do you enjoy most about working with this organization? What I enjoy most about working with CD is that it's exactly what I want to be doing when I'm out of college. It also gives me … [Read more...] about Service-learning spotlight: Rachel Funken
To gain hands-on experience in her field of study and at the same time explore her interest of working with children, Social Work student Lindsey Hathaway chose to take on a service-learning course this semester, securing a placement in the Early Child Care & Education program at the Development Center of the Ozarks (DCO). She recently spoke to a Citizenship and Service-Learning (CASL) staff about what it’s like to help teach and interact with a group of energetic toddlers. Why did you choose to serve at the DCO? I was referred by someone from a previous job and I love working with children. How has your service-learning experience been so far? It has been good. I’ve learned new things about teaching children. What have you learned from doing service-learning? I've learned that teachers really do work hard on discipline with children. For example, the two-year-olds I work with have been taught how to sit and wait quietly before doing activities. What kind of work do you do at the DCO? I help entertain the children while the teacher is getting things prepared. … [Read more...] about Service-learning spotlight: Lindsey Hathaway