STUDENTS CAN CHANGE THE WORLD WITH JUST 15 MINUTES
Students' volunteerism meets professor's hope for a community of service
Andrew Pantazi
Issue date: 4/21/09 Section: News
Tschirki said that the club is looking for more people who are willing to come and serve.
Recently, the club helped raise funds for United Way by selling clothes at the South Campus spring fling on April 9.
The Students for Community Involvement is also helping professors involved in Service Learning. According to LearnandServe.gov, Service Learning gives students the opportunity "to get involved with their communities in a tangible way by integrating service projects with classroom learning."
Ryan Reid, the student learning specialist at South Campus, said "Service Learning is growing; we usually have anywhere between seven and eight classes doing Service Learning,"
Reid also said, "I see Service Learning as not being such a narrow field but something that could be potentially broadened to any discipline. Anyone can do Service Learning, and I think it is the students' responsibility, I think, to discover the relevance of the service to the class."
Reid believes that students shouldn't just go to college just to study a specific field but also to learn about themselves, the world around them, and their civic responsibility.
Dirk Wendtorf, a humanities professor who taught a class on poverty, performed a project with Jacksonville's City Rescue Mission, a Christian ministry designed to help the homeless.
The Students for Community Involvement hopes to help students and professors in their community service projects by using social networking tools such as Facebook and Myspace.
"Part of the way that we are going to help facilitate community service projects is to make known to students what possibilities exist, to foster any new possibilities that they come up with, and to promote what students are doing by giving them a Facebook page. By having an official (group) page to highlight what students are actually doing in the community, we can let people know what they are doing," said Morian. "Instead of saying, 'I'm going to a movie on Friday night, who wants to go?' On the Facebook page, it says I'm going to Habitat [for Humanity], who wants to go?"
At the end of the semester, while other students are focused on many things: graduation, summer, finding a job, and finals, several students are focused on something larger than school or work; they are working to create a community of volunteerism at FCCJ.
For more information about Students for Community Involvement, contact Candace Tshirki at 904-646-2011, go to the blog at http://media.fccj.edu/blog/SCI/, or search "FCCJ SCI - Students For Community Involvement" on Facebook.
For more information about Service Learning, contact Ryan Reid at (904) 646-2272.
Recently, the club helped raise funds for United Way by selling clothes at the South Campus spring fling on April 9.
The Students for Community Involvement is also helping professors involved in Service Learning. According to LearnandServe.gov, Service Learning gives students the opportunity "to get involved with their communities in a tangible way by integrating service projects with classroom learning."
Ryan Reid, the student learning specialist at South Campus, said "Service Learning is growing; we usually have anywhere between seven and eight classes doing Service Learning,"
Reid also said, "I see Service Learning as not being such a narrow field but something that could be potentially broadened to any discipline. Anyone can do Service Learning, and I think it is the students' responsibility, I think, to discover the relevance of the service to the class."
Reid believes that students shouldn't just go to college just to study a specific field but also to learn about themselves, the world around them, and their civic responsibility.
Dirk Wendtorf, a humanities professor who taught a class on poverty, performed a project with Jacksonville's City Rescue Mission, a Christian ministry designed to help the homeless.
The Students for Community Involvement hopes to help students and professors in their community service projects by using social networking tools such as Facebook and Myspace.
"Part of the way that we are going to help facilitate community service projects is to make known to students what possibilities exist, to foster any new possibilities that they come up with, and to promote what students are doing by giving them a Facebook page. By having an official (group) page to highlight what students are actually doing in the community, we can let people know what they are doing," said Morian. "Instead of saying, 'I'm going to a movie on Friday night, who wants to go?' On the Facebook page, it says I'm going to Habitat [for Humanity], who wants to go?"
At the end of the semester, while other students are focused on many things: graduation, summer, finding a job, and finals, several students are focused on something larger than school or work; they are working to create a community of volunteerism at FCCJ.
For more information about Students for Community Involvement, contact Candace Tshirki at 904-646-2011, go to the blog at http://media.fccj.edu/blog/SCI/, or search "FCCJ SCI - Students For Community Involvement" on Facebook.
For more information about Service Learning, contact Ryan Reid at (904) 646-2272.