This week, 141 University of Connecticut (UConn) students and 12 staff members are off campus on service trips to eight different areas around the US. These students are all involved in Alternative Break programs with the Office of Community Outreach (CO). These programs are designed to prepare students to successfully serve their communities throughout college and beyond. Students are participating in weeklong service-learning projects in Beards Fork, West Virginia; Washington, D.C.; Philadelphia; New Orleans; Hartford; New York City; Pine Ridge, South Dakota; and Spotsylvania, Virginia.
Alternative Breaks are immersion service-learning projects designed to give students in-depth understanding of contemporary social issues through learning from the people whom they affect. UConn provides students with these types of programs to heighten participants’ awareness of critical social issues, enhance their individual growth and prepare them for lifelong social action.
The Alternative Break movement has been progressing forward since 1991 when the national organization Break Away brought together college programs from across the country to work towards becoming active citizens. This integration of service into student’s education is becoming increasingly popular and has affected a shift in out-of classroom learning.
The Southern Appalachian Labor School in Beards Fork, WV is hosting students from the Community Service Learning Community (CSLC) and teaching them the history of the Beards Fork community. Specifically, they are considering the economic, historical and social factors that contribute to poverty in Appalachia. Students are also volunteering their time to perform home repair and weatherization services.
In Washington students are working with Rachel’s Women’s Center, a local homeless shelter; children’s after-school programs such as The Fishing School; and Café Capitol Hill, a local food bank. They are learning how the widening economic gap, and subsequent poverty, in the area contributes to other social problems such as poor health, low school performance, violence and teen parenthood. They are focusing on the ways in which women and children are disproportionately affected by these problems.
Students traveling to Philadelphia, a foremost area for United States heathcare resources, are working with several local organizations such as Shriners Hospital, HMS School and St. John’s Hospice to perform community service and learn about the United States healthcare system. The key educational goals of the trip are to examine flaws in the current healthcare system, recognize the affects these have on society and consider possible solutions. Students specifically plan to focus on learning how a lack of quality health care affects not only physical well-being, but also education, employment and other aspects of society.
For the fifth time since the 2005 hurricane, a Community Outreach group is in New Orleans to help restore the city. Working with the National Relief Network, they are planting Cyprus trees along the Levee system in Chalmette Louisiana. These trees will help to strengthen the levee system and help prevent against damage from future storms. This experience will teach the importance of restoring the environment in the aftermath of natural disasters and the steps that can be taken to lessen the effects of future storms in the region.
Students studying Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual and Transgendered rights are traveling to New York City and Hartford. They are working with local organizations including the Empire State Pride Agenda and the Hartford Gay and Lesbian Health Collective to raise awareness for LGBT concerns. March 12 and 13, the will attend the 17th annual True Colors Conference at the UConn, Storrs campus. The True Colors Conference is the largest LGBT youth conference in the world. It brings together over 2,000 local LGBT youth, professionals and community members to discuss LGBT issues in an accepting, fun academic setting.
On the Pine Ridge Lakota Reservation in South Dakota volunteers are working with Re-Member to build houses on the reservation and learn about the Oglala Lakota culture. Re-Member is a non-profit organization based on the Pine Ridge Reservation that works to improve the quality of life on the reservation largely through immersion education, volunteer services and relationship building. Lakota guest speakers will teach the students about the historical, cultural and political roots of poverty on Pine Ridge. This is the second annual CO service trip to the Pine Ridge reservation.
Students living in the EcoHouse Learning Community are working in Spotsylvania Virginia’s Lake Anna State Park to help restore trails and learn about sustainability in the area. On this trip participants are reviewing different national sustainability models and identifying key characteristics of natural restoration.
About Community Outreach – Community Outreach is an office in the University of Connecticut’s Department of Student Activities. CO is committed to offering students opportunities to engage in service related activities that enhance the quality of life of others in the community while enriching their own learning experience at the University of Connecticut.
To learn more about UConn’s Office of Community Outreach, see their Web site: http://www.volunteer.uconn.edu.
