By Charles Whitaker and Ethan Gambriel There are many things in life that make wildly successful, yet unlikely combinations: dessert and breakfast, chocolate and peanut butter, Romeo and Juliet. Kermit the Frog and Miss Piggy? Yeah, we’ll stand by that. In other words, life often reminds us that, despite our differences, our uniqueness can bring new opportunities that encourage us to grow as humans together. This was exactly what two roommates discovered when they took an Honors College service-learning course taught by CASL’s very own, Dr. Kathy Nordyke, in Spring 2023. Abby Bennett and Vaeya Nichols have fundamentally different academic interests. “I’ve always wanted to do [something] with biology,” says Abby, a microbiology student who grew up on a farm about an hour north of Springfield. On the other hand, Vaeya, who has a background in art and design and majors in Illustration, is interested in working on children’s books. One could argue that there are typically not a lot of easy to identify pathways for combining these academic interests. But one of service-learning’s … [Read more...] about Dynamic duos, cross-disciplinary combos, and finding connection through composting
By Taylor Ware “I signed up for service-learning because it was an opportunity to do something good. I never thought I would end up a published author,” said junior Missouri State student, Sarah Hinkson. Last spring, Sarah took part in the National Literacy Project in its mission to provide reading and writing resources to children and families. Being a theater major and a Spanish minor, Sarah developed the perfect idea to combine her educational background and desire to support literacy. I signed up for service-learning because it was an opportunity to do something good. I never thought I would end up a published author These factors lead to Príncipe Alejandro; an original children’s book featuring both English and Spanish translations of the story. Príncipe Alejandro is about a little boy that faces adversity in his attempts to socialize with the other kids in his school. Sarah wrote this book to show children that they are not alone in their challenges with social identity. Alejandro is inspired by a real person: the child of Sarah’s high school theater teacher. … [Read more...] about Service-learning to self-publishing: student works to improve child literacy and cultural competence