GEP 101 is an integrative and interdisciplinary seminar designed to introduce students to the public affairs mission, improve students’ academic skills, develop a foundational knowledge of university resources, and facilitate students’ successful transition to Missouri State University’s community of scholars.  As part of GEP 101, first-year students are able to connect with each other and the community through service.  This community engagement piece of the First Year Programs GEP 101 curriculum promotes experiential learning opportunities and enriches the college experience.

On Saturday, February 25, 2017, more than 50 GEP students joined their instructors and exemplified the Public Affairs Mission by creating positive social change alongside two awesome agencies: the Watershed Committee of the Ozarks, and Ozarks Food Harvest.

At Watershed Committee of the Ozarks, students spent the morning learning and serving at the Watershed Center, located at 2400 East Valley Water Mill Road.  At this center, groups of all ages can learn about water resources.  Our MSU students rolled up their sleeves to mulch portions of the Watershed’s 2 miles of trails.  After a quick break, some coffee and snacks (thanks to the staff’s generous hospitality), the group spent time shoveling and hauling rocks to create paths close to the creek.  A great sense of teamwork was evident amongst these first-year students and their instructor, Justin Roberts.

Another large group of students worked with GEP Instructor, Mike Mizer at the Ozarks Food Harvest Glean Team.  The group prepared garden beds for planting carrots and radishes and one of the volunteers harvested spinach from the high tunnel.  Many students spent most of the time removing the woodchips from some of the beds, weeding others and filling compost in the carrot beds for planting prep. Some also helped move several cinderblocks from our old compost area out of the way and helped spread mulch to spruce up the area.

Christy Claybaker, the Community Engagement Coordinator at Ozarks Food Harvest provided a great deal of education and direction for students.  Christy explained the importance of volunteers – “We are excited to grow to full capacity in our garden for the first time this season. Our garden is approximately an acre and a half and consists of two high tunnels, 76 raised beds and a 30’x50’ watermelon patch. To date, our glean team volunteers have helped us grow and harvest over 60,000 pounds of local produce between our garden and partnering farms and gardens since the program was revived in June of 2014. We couldn’t do this important work without our volunteers!”