Center for Academic Engagement celebrates service-learning
This is the third year USD and the CAE collaborated with the Jimmy & Rosalynn Carter Partnership Foundation and W.K. Kellogg Foundation to award three CASE grants and one CASE Certificate of Merit. CASE grants were awarded to Malene Little of Aberdeen, S.D., and Head Start; the National Student Speech-Language and Hearing Association (NSSLHA) and the National Association for Future Doctors of Audiology (NAFDA), Jennie Bellis and LeighAnn Dunn; and the Social Work Club and Social Work Practice 2 class, represented by Jennifer Frederickson, Danielle Hollmann and Megan Zweber. Each CASE grant is $1,000. The CASE Certificate of Merit, which is $500, was presented to Nicole Albers and Dustin Pratt for their proposed project to collect food for the Vermillion Food Pantry through a campus-wide competition.
Little and Head Start plan to use their grant to teach children about healthy lifestyles while NSSLHA and NAFDA will partner with Disabled American Veterans to host a speech and hearing fair for veterans and their families. The Social Work Club and Social Work Practice 2 class will work with the Welcome Table in Vermillion to serve meals for community youths at the Welcome Table.
During the event, CAE also presented its Community Partner of the Year Award to the Vermillion Area Arts Council (VAAC) for their dedication in providing service-learning engagement opportunities for students and community members. The VAAC has partnered frequently with the CAE for several years, including the artists’ biography project – an IdEA Program capstone course where students interview local artists and display the biographies at the VAAC.
Additionally, two service-learning projects were highlighted by students and staff: the CAE’s Alternative Week of Off-campus Learning (AWOL) and the upcoming Martin Luther King Jr. Day community service opportunity. Jacquie Lonning, Coordinator of Academic Engagement and Jane Gullickson, a senior at The U from Brandon, S.D., discussed AWOL, a program that engages students in intensive service-learning projects during their winter or spring break, and the newly formed student executive board. Tina Shantz, AmeriCorps Volunteer in Service to America (VISTA) and CAE staff member, and Isabelle Lankhorst, a USD junior from Beresford, S.D., gave an update on the Jan. 19, 2009 holiday and a $2,500 grant from the North Carolina Campus Compact that will be used toward community service projects. The goal, Shantz says, is to recruit more than 500 volunteers for the day.
A photograph of Little with Head Start representatives Carmen Stewart and Julie Viet is available for download at www.usd.edu/urelations/images/CASE_award08.jpg.
You May Also Like
Third Academic All-America honor for Duffy
AUSTIN, Texas — South Dakota senior guard Ciara Duffy was one of five Division I women's basketball players selected to the Academic All-America first team selected by the College Sports Information Directors of America (CoSIDA). Duffy earns Academic All-America honors for the third consecutive season.
Perfect Finish Coyotes beat Jacks for Summit crown
SIOUX FALLS, S.D. — All five South Dakota starters scored in double-figures and the Coyotes completed perhaps the greatest regular season in Summit League history with a 63-58 win against rival and second-seeded South Dakota State in the tournament championship game Tuesday inside the Denny Sanford PREMIER Center.
