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 “The more I got involved with the service-learning office, the more engaged I became in my education and my community,” said Missouri State Physician's Assistant student, Regan Wilson. Regan is currently a full-time master’s student, busy with plenty of studying and attending clinicals. However, not long ago, he was a cornerstone of the Citizenship and Service-Learning program. From service-learning student to Bonner Leader to graduate assistant, Regan has followed an admirable path. In 2017, Regan learned about service-learning from a presentation given in Human Genetics. He instinctively jumped on the opportunity to participate in the program. That semester he worked in tandem with his close friend, Nick Lantz, to facilitate two after-school programs at Robberson Community School: FENLE and Club Med. Read Nick’s story. FENLE is aimed at younger children while Club Med is for 3rd, 4th, and 5th graders. At FENLE, Regan and Nick taught the students about healthy choices and played related games. At Club Med, they taught about career options in … [Read more...] about Missouri State grad student reflects back on professional development in service-learning
By Taylor Ware Last week, we followed Anneliese Kerr on her journey from service-learning to Springfield Community Gardens (SCG). Anneliese’s story is not an outlier. Other service-learners have had similar journeys. So, this week, we speak with Missouri State alum, Amanda Drewel about her experience. Amanda Drewel opted into a 1-credit service-learning course in the spring of 2018. She was placed with Robberson Community School— an elementary school that supports children in finding their purpose and developing long-term skills – while also providing resources to their family. As a Math and Science Education major, Amanda fit in well at Robberson. “I was excited to have my first self-directed project. It was empowering to see a need and be able to implement a solution" She ran a club called Math LegoLand, where students replicated the Springfield community built out of Legos. Their activities involved learning about the community, identifying civil issues, workshopping solutions, and developing their math skills. The following year, Amanda created the school’s robotics … [Read more...] about From service-learning course to career – part 2: how math and science education got Amanda Drewel a job