Since fall 2015, more than 50 undergraduate social work students have delivered more than 1,000 hours of service. The students have played a central role in allowing Easterseals to deliver an intergenerational art program, “Opening Minds through Art,� which helps people with neurocognitive disorders. The program is one of many art-based activities offered at Easterseals’ Winter Park adult healthcare facility, Day Break at the Miller Center.

“Students have an opportunity to apply the knowledge they are learning in the classroom regarding cognitive and physical impairments later in life to learn how adult daycare services are delivered,� said Denise Gammonley, an associate professor of Social Work who started the partnership as a service learning experience for her students.

While most of the students participating are juniors, Gammonley says, they haven’t had many opportunities yet to practice their skills outside of the classroom. Through this partnership, students get hands-on training with Day Break members and staff members, in addition to better understanding social work principles.

“It has helped to confirm my career goal of wanting to work with elders and people who have dementia or Alzheimer’s,� said Nicole Shea, a senior in Social Work. “I really enjoy working at Easterseals and have become close with some of the members.�

Easterseals Activity Director Jose Santana says Â鶹ӳ»­´«Ã½ students are a great benefit to the facility. Because the art program is a one-on-one activity, the facility wouldn’t be able to provide it without student volunteers.

“They get so connected,� he said of the students and members working together. While initially some students are unsure about how they’ll interact with the Day Break members or what they’ll talk about, Santana says they quickly develop deep bonds. “I see that all the time,� Santana said. “I would love to see more of it.�

Sanatana can relate, since he also is a Â鶹ӳ»­´«Ã½ student, expected to graduate this week with a bachelor’s degree in Health Services Administration. He began working in the kitchen at Day Break while still in high school. “It truly changed my heart,â€� he said. “When you’re in a room with members here, you fall in love with it.â€�

After earning an associate degree from Valencia College, Santana transferred to Â鶹ӳ»­´«Ã½ with the intention of pursing an engineering degree. But his job led him down a different path, and he will be promoted to center director at Day Break upon graduation.

Suzanna Caporina, senior vice president of innovation and impact for Easterseals Florida, also underscores the importance of the partnership with Â鶹ӳ»­´«Ã½. “The interactions between students and members are powerful, and it makes them happy,â€� she said. “Several of our members have cognitive impairments and struggle with agitation. Our job is to engage them, make sure they are safe and happy – enhancing their quality of life. The students bring a lot to that.â€�

Similarly, Gammonley praises partnership and its future. “Day Break has a very committed staff and is very motivated to see this program work,� she said. “Students who have participated in the program have gone on to volunteer afterward and even been employed after their service learning experience there.�

Veolia Transportation has donated 90 bus trips annually to the service-learning sites visited by Honors students during the fall Honors Symposium. The symposium is a required course that combines lectures and service-learning for Honors students, who visit Orange County public schools and teach five hands-on student success lessons to children in grades one through five.

The company has also donated 13 bus trips for the “ACE: Achieve a College Education Day” event that takes place annually in the spring. The ACE program brings 500 local fifth-graders to campus, where they become college students for a day. Nearly 180 Burnett Honors College and LEAD Scholars students participate.

The ACE Day event has been called a game-changer by many. “The ACE program plants the seed. If you set goals and work hard to achieve them, you too can have the opportunity to attend college,” says Â鶹ӳ»­´«Ã½ parent and donor Sandra Jackson, who has supported the program.

Veolia Transportation’s gift represents a commitment of $306,000 over five years.

Private donations helped offset the cost of the trip, leaving students with a fee of just $1,500 each, including airfare, food, lodging and transportation.

One student on the trip, film production major Zachary Lambe, made a short video about the experience, in part to thank the donors who had made it possible:  

The university won two awards and Women’s Studies instructor Leandra Preston-Sidler won a third award.

Â鶹ӳ»­´«Ã½ won the Campus-Community Partnership Award because of the College of Business Administration’s Cornerstone Project with Boys Town of Central Florida. Since 2005, more than 1,100 students in the Cornerstone Project have worked with Boys Town, said Amy Zeh, Â鶹ӳ»­´«Ã½â€™s program director of Service Learning. The project offers hands-on experience in professional-skills development and involves a semester-long service project addressing a need in the community.

The university also earned the Engaged Campus Award, which is given to honor an institution of higher education for advancing the purposes of education, improving community life and teaching students about civil and social responsibility. In 2011-2012, there were 9,786 University of Central of Florida students who participated in service-learning courses, Zeh said. They completed more than 210,000 service hours in projects with more than 350 partner organizations, saving community partners more than $4 million. Also, 145 faculty members across the campus implemented 55 academic courses in more than 300 classrooms involving service for 2011-2012.

Preston-Sidler won the Service-Learning Faculty Award for the state university sector. The award was given because of her dedication to working with nonprofit community partners to enhance student learning.

Florida Campus Compact said the award winners “are the folks who are in the trenches, forging sustainable campus-community partnerships that enhance the collegiate experience and help our students become stronger and more active citizens.�

The awards were presented Nov. 8 at the University of Tampa.

But the trip, part of the President’s Scholars Program offered through the Burnett Honors College, proved to be more than a talking point on her résumé. She said it was an immersive experience that allowed her to broaden her global awareness and cultural sensitivity through a variety of academic and community service projects.

“I think the Honors College has a great emphasis on interdisciplinary learning and this program really embodied that in terms of combining the different disciplines in the projects we did,� said Crawford. “It was interdisciplinary studies in action.�

Â鶹ӳ»­´«Ã½ President John C. Hitt initiated the The President’s Scholars Program in 2004 to provide a study abroad experience to Â鶹ӳ»­´«Ã½â€™s highest-achieving students. Initially, the program was focused on European culture and history. It took students on study abroad trips to areas such as Cambridge, England and Bergamo, Italy.

The program evolved into a two-week trip to St. Kitts and Nevis in which up to 12 honors students participate in an interdisciplinary approach to service-learning.

The trip followed five weeks of lectures at Â鶹ӳ»­´«Ã½ that focused on the environmental challenges small island nations face. The study abroad element challenged students to tackle issues head-on, considering policy solutions and recognizing the impact tourism and agriculture have on the environments of Caribbean nations.

This year’s scholars participated in a variety of activities, including snorkeling among sea urchins and attending the St. Kitts Music Festival.  The majority of the trip, however, was spent working on service-learning projects in conjunction with Clarence Fitzroy Bryant College in St. Kitts.

Kevin Meehan, an associate professor of English at Â鶹ӳ»­´«Ã½, became involved with the program in 2008, the first time the President’s Scholars traveled to St. Kitts. In 2009, Meehan became a trip leader and combined his community contacts on the island with the professional contacts of the other trip leader Martin Dupuis, assistant dean of the Honors College.

“Between the two of us, I think we created a powerful combination of networks so that the students would have access to everything, from top to bottom,� Meehan said. “One of the strengths of this program is that we have built up really strong partnerships over there in the past four years. This opens up a lot of doors to collaboration and service projects.�

This summer’s trip divided students by major, challenging them to work on projects related to agribusiness, construction and public health.

During the second week, the students regrouped in Nevis to work together on an oral history documentary on local agriculture practices. Students interviewed farmers and fishermen, then compiled and presented their findings at a roundtable discussion with representatives of the Nevis Department of Agriculture.

“The trip benefited my leadership and academic skills, and it also gave me the opportunity to look into the government policies, public opinion, history, entertainment, and journalistic outlets of the islands,� said junior Jessica Gottsleben, whose team developed and hosted a four-day workshop for the new agribusiness department at Clarence Fitzroy Bryant College.

Meehan said he and Dupuis tailor the projects to meet the needs of their partners on the islands, creating work that is just as relevant for participating students as it is for the communities. This year, the program also offered full participation to four students from St. Kitts and Nevis.

Â鶹ӳ»­´«Ã½ was one of 22 institutions in Florida and 642 nationwide to be selected by the U.S. Department of Education and the Corporation for National and Community Service.

“These institutions are creating the next generation of leaders by challenging students to tackle tough issues and create positive impacts in the community,� said Robert Velasco, acting CEO of CNCS. “Service and learning increase civic engagement while fostering social innovation among students, empowering them to solve challenges within their communities.�

The CNCS is federal agency that engages more than 5 million Americans in service through its Senior Corps, AmeriCorps, and Learn and Serve America programs, and leads President Obama’s national call-to-service initiative, United We Serve.

These are just two examples of how is incorporated into science courses at the Â鶹ӳ»­´«Ã½. These projects and others will be shared at the Eighth-Annual Service-Learning Showcase at the Student Union today, April 13. The free event runs from 12:30 to 2:30 p.m. in the Pegasus Ballroom. The public is invited.

Service-learning provides opportunities for students to enhance their academic experience by applying what they learn in the classroom to the community, promoting civic engagement and helping to address a community need.

“The children felt like movie stars and were so excited,� said Wei Sam Yuan, a master’s student in biology who participated in the Carillon project.  “They all knew the material and the importance of recycling, and they wanted to help ensure our oceans stay clean.�

While service-learning has long been recognized as instrumental in achieving learning goals in the social sciences and humanities, there is a new push to bring it into science, technology, engineering and math (STEM) disciplines. Thirteen institutions of higher learning were given grant money in 2010 to help bring the benefits of service-learning into the hard sciences, according to the National Service-Learning Clearinghouse. Some states have even adopted rules that require service-learning in their science programs.

“There are some things you cannot learn effectively in the classroom,â€� said Melody Bowdon, an associate professor and director of Â鶹ӳ»­´«Ã½â€™s Faculty Center for Teaching and Learning who has earned several grants to help expand service-learning projects into the hard sciences. “Service-learning invites students to actively engage with their course material and helps them to understand the relevance of their education to the communities where they live and work. Nothing solidifies theoretical learning like sharing your growing knowledge with K-12 students.â€�

Brittany Bilak and her classmate Jaclyn Sisko presented photos and a memory matching game about creatures in the Indian River Lagoon in Brevard County. They also brought a touch tank to the school so the children could experience the lagoon and realize why it is important to preserve it.

“What I learned was how to better communicate the science I know to people outside the field,� Bilak said. “I feel that scientists need to do a better job of that so people will understand and make good choices.�

And sometimes service-learning projects help expose something that college students need to improve.

For example, students in an Honors Chemistry II lab course partnered with Corner Lake Middle School to collect and analyze water samples. The eighth-graders collected samples from their homes, nearby ponds and the beach, and chemistry students at Â鶹ӳ»­´«Ã½ analyzed them. The Â鶹ӳ»­´«Ã½ students had to write letters to the middle schoolers explaining their findings.

“The instructor found that many of the students couldn’t concisely communicate their findings to the general public,� Bowdon said. “So now the instructor is expanding the writing component in all of the lab work in that particular class.

For more information about the showcase or to get tips on getting started with service-learning, visit the .

Â鶹ӳ»­´«Ã½ has one of the largest partnerships with JA in the nation. Â鶹ӳ»­´«Ã½’s JA program sends college students to more than 120 Central Florida elementary and middle schools, where they teach underserved youths. Last fall, 1,604 Â鶹ӳ»­´«Ã½ students taught 30,698 children.

Â鶹ӳ»­´«Ã½ students teach youths about work readiness and entrepreneurship while encouraging them to stay in school and become successful. By acting as role models, Â鶹ӳ»­´«Ã½ students learn more about themselves and gain invaluable critical thinking, leadership and communication skills.

Each Â鶹ӳ»­´«Ã½ student’s commitment is typically a few hours per week during the semester.

The Â鶹ӳ»­´«Ã½-JA partnership began in 1992 in the College of Education with a group of 20 student volunteers. About 600 education students now participate annually.

The Burnett Honors College set up a partnership with JA in Fall 2004, resulting in the Honors Freshman Symposium, a program that requires all honors freshmen to participate in the JA program during their first semester.

The College of Business Administration also incorporates JA into its curriculum, involving nearly 300 students per semester. As part of their cornerstone class, students spend at least 25 hours teaching JA classes and completing projects for elementary schools and middle schools.

The Â鶹ӳ»­´«Ã½-JA program hosts College Shadow Day every spring, when hundreds of local seventh-grade students visit Â鶹ӳ»­´«Ã½ to experience college life first-hand. In March, the Â鶹ӳ»­´«Ã½-JA program will introduce a similar program for fifth-graders that focuses on science, technology, engineering and math.

The event will be held at the Lighthouse headquarters at 215 East New Hampshire Street (near College Park). Approximately 40 guests will experience dining, drinking, listening to music, and social interaction in a whole new way: without the benefit of sight.

The evening of activities begins at 6:30 p.m. with a pre-party and appetizers on the patio. Then the guests will be escorted through a tunnel and into a completely darkened dining room, where they will be served a leisurely, three-course meal, including wine. Guiding them to their tables and waiting on them will be volunteers from the Orlando Police Department’s SWAT team outfitted in night-vision goggles.

“The Â鶹ӳ»­´«Ã½ students have arranged this event without any assistance from us—other than providing the venue,â€� said Lee Nasehi, Lighthouse’s president and CEO. “We’re honored that they selected our organization for this service and learning project—and of course we are gratified that they’ll be raising much-needed funds for the critical services we provide.â€�

John Darnell, 20, one of eight students on the Â鶹ӳ»­´«Ã½ project team, said Dining In The Dark was his group’s first choice for a service project. He said the team was further inspired after visiting Lighthouse and attempting simple tasks such as buttering bread or pouring water into a glass while wearing eye equipment to simulate blindness or low-vision.“That just kind of inspired all of us to do the best we could because we realized how tough these people have it and how much Lighthouse needs to raise money,â€� Darnell said.

Cost for the event is $25. For more information call Scott Harju at (407) 898-2483, ext. 42.

During the first week of school, Â鶹ӳ»­´«Ã½’s first-semester nursing students go out into the community in their designated Community Nursing Coalition clinical groups.

The students are assigned the task of using the public transportation bus system to navigate the community. This inital exercise allows them to become better acquainted with the area they will serve during their student nurse careers while enrolled in Â鶹ӳ»­´«Ã½’s nursing program.

“Most of these students have never had to rely on public transportation, but the patients they will be caring for probably use the bus daily,” notes Dr. Pamela Ark, coordinator of the college’s service-learning Community Nursing Coalitions (CNC) program.

The eager students print bus routes and time schedules trying to prepare for their tour. The route takes them to several major sites in their assigned community, including health care centers, shopping plazas, and local schools and churches. If one bus is late, or if the students fail to board on time, their planned route for the day would need to be carefully mapped out again. Cautious to board the correct buses in the correct locations, the students navigate the area with a greater understanding and appreciation of their patients who probably travel by public transit.

The free health care services offered by Â鶹ӳ»­´«Ã½’s nursing students are sometimes the only chance some locals have to receive a blood pressure reading or body mass index assessment. The important services offered to the community will greatly improve the quality of life for most.

“Members of the community instantly recognize our nursing students and greet them with respect and appreciation,” explains Erica Hoyt, a nursing clinical instructor for the college’s Apopka CNC. “In the community, their nursing uniforms signal to others that they are there to help.” The students answer questions about their program and happily chat with the patrons on the buses. On a recent bus tour of the Apopka community, one young lady inquired about how she could return to school and become a nurse herself. “It is clear the people in the community feel comfortable reaching out to our students and asking for help,” says Hoyt.

“After taking the bus tour around our community, my clinical group and I got a better understanding of the community and people that we have the opportunity to work with in Apopka,” says Â鶹ӳ»­´«Ã½ nursing student Chelsea Wallace. “The bus ride made me realize that not everyone can afford their own transportation, let alone health care or the treatment that they may need.”

This exercise is a testament to the students’ dedication to the community and their willingness to learn notes Dr. Ark. “By ‘walking a mile in someone else’s shoes’, the student nurses are able to better understand the obstacles that may be in place for some people who attend the free health care events,” she says. “They are now able to understand why a patient may be late, frustrated and overheated after navigating the city all day and experiencing multiple bus transfers,” adds Hoyt. Â鶹ӳ»­´«Ã½’s nursing students continue to gain trust in the community and to inspire others with their generosity and kind nature toward others.

Contributing Writer/Photographer: Heather Robbins, communications intern