Release Date:
March 2, 2010
Worcester, MA - The Colleges of Worcester Consortium presented its annual Community Engagement Awards as part of a community-based learning workshop held at Clark University.
Community Engagement Awards are presented to students from Consortium member institutions that provided exemplary service to their communities within the last year.
The workshop, "Community-Based Learning: Effective Practice & Partnerships - A Dialogue," was led by Dr. Randy Stoecker, professor of sociology at the University of Wisconsin-Madison.
2010 Community Engagement Awards:
Photo slideshow of award winners
Anna Maria College:
Anna Maria has been involved in Habitat for Humanity for a number of years on both a local and national level. In 2008, students formalized the College's participation by establishing the HABACATS, which stands for - Helping Advocate Building Awareness & Community Advancement Through Service. Students in the club help with fundraising events during winter and spring breaks; educate the community regarding the mission of Habitat for Humanity; and help with builds all across the United States. HABACATS is represented by students: Andrew Goodreau, Ben Ash, Kyle Green, Danielle Ride, Alyson Smith and Amelia Richard.
Assumption College:
Kimberly Cohen has led several community efforts that have addressed hunger, homelessness, and poverty. Kim has served as a Service Director for two years in Assumption's Reach Out Center where she facilitates volunteerism at Abby's House, St. Paul's Food Pantry, and the PIP Shelter. In the last year, Kim has recruited, trained and led reflection for eight volunteers working with these programs. These volunteers have contributed more than 100 hours of service in the last year. All three of these organizations work tirelessly to meet the needs of the hungry and homeless in the downtown/ Main South areas of Worcester.
Becker College:
RN Elizabeth Rekowski initiated a hand hygiene education campaign entitled "Wash Our Hands" with the Boys & Girls Club of Webster-Dudley. She was successful in getting corporate donations of foam and supplies to sustain hand hygiene. Elizabeth involved the children in activities to promote hand washing, held question and answer sessions and drew more than 225 children and staff to an event to cap the campaign and review what had been learned. She is currently working on a grant to continue her work and expand the program.
Clark University:
Youth Outreach Worcester is led by Clark undergraduate students and promotes acceptance, tolerance, and non-violence to middle and high school-aged youth in the Worcester Public Schools. Through the program, Clark student volunteers facilitated sessions at Burncoat Middle School and Doherty High School. The curriculum aims to encourage youth to think about issues such as name-calling, bullying, stereotyping, discrimination, and violence: if and why they do it, where it comes from, and how it can be prevented. In the 2008-2009 academic year, the program facilitated sessions in 27 classes at Doherty and Burncoat working with 615 students. Student coordinators for the program are: Robert Donnelly, Madeline Mitchell and Hilla Benzaken.
College of the Holy Cross:
This past fall, students Matthew Grace, Andrew DeVivo, and Harry Chiu helped develop a homework help center at the Refugee and Immigrant Assistance Center in Worcester. The students worked with Burmese children of a variety of ages and English language abilities. Sessions were designed primarily for homework help, but as the children rarely brought homework to work on, the students developed informal ESL and cultural immersion activities. The students even volunteered additional time to help set up apartments for new families. All three students are working with RIAC to implement a similar project this semester and secure resources to run this program continuously.
Cummings School of Veterinary Medicine at Tufts University:
Last April, three teams of about 20 Cummings School representatives worked with volunteers from Worcester Animal Rescue League to vaccinate 200 dogs and cats owned by residents in several Worcester Housing Authority complexes. Rabies and distemper vaccines were administered to cats and dogs as part of a global effort to prevent and contain these diseases. This effort most benefited elderly WHA residents who are often more limited in their ability to travel from their homes, especially when accompanied by a pet. In addition to vaccinations, veterinarian-supervised wellness checks, nail trimming, and cat grooming were offered. Students who helped lead the program were: Karen Alroy, Amy Vlazny and Annie Shea.
Massachusetts College of Pharmacy & Health Sciences:
Pharmacy student Lam Le volunteered his time and talent to senior citizens at the Worcester Senior Center. He became familiar with the Center and helped elders with their medications at Rite Aid Pharmacy. Many of the senior citizens he worked with were on multiple medications and were confused by the different schedules and dosages of their medications. Lam hosted brown bag events and gave presentations on subjects such as medication safety. By taking time to explain the side effects of certain medications and how to take them correctly, Lam helped prevent potential medication errors.
Nichols College:
The Nichols College Bison Athletics Council Sophomore Class sponsored a coat drive over the last few months that provided over 100 coats to Abby's House in Worcester, and to the Free Winter Coat Closet at the Holy Trinity Episcopal Church in Southbridge. Participating students were: Lauren Correia, Alexa Boucher, Dan Saucier, Mike Salis, Lena Fracassini, Reggie Belizare, Richie Burke, Dylan Courtney, Nick Bettano, Courtney Carey, Haylie Carter, Andrew Ella, Molly Ferraro, Jay Gove, Zach Hendrickson, Eric Kelly, Chris Kerrigan, Jeremy McAuley, Josh Paulhus, Arianna Perrotti, Savannah Thibault, Brittany Tremont and Chelsea Shaughnessy.
Quinsigamond Community College:
Fifteen students in the QCC Dental Program worked with the Free Masons and Boy Scouts of America on the CHIPS Program, a child identification program that creates profiles for lost or missing children. Students and four faculty members took tooth prints of children at the 100th anniversary of the Boy Scouts of America, as part of the Child Identification Program offered to Boy Scouts and their families at the DCU Center. A tooth print is like a fingerprint and is unique to each person for identification purposes and DNA swabs. The tooth print not only serves to identify a victim, but is also used in search and rescue efforts. One hundred and seventy-five children were processed bringing the count to over 277,000 children since 1988, when the program first began. Participating students were: Denise Sangenario, Kyeremaa Addo, Alexandra DeSaulnier, Carolina del Rosario, Sarah Fenlon, Heidi Ebers, Flavia Bernardo, Kristen Malley, Anni Coloma, Caroline Luzi, Teresa Ryan, Ilda Bixho, Gina Kennedy, Flor Piedrasanta and Elda Kureta.
University of Massachusetts Medical School:
Third year medical student Thomas Peteet has spent over two years as a leader in service-learning, working with Great Brook Valley to establish the Center for Healthy Kids, an afterschool program for children living in the GBV housing development. Medical student volunteers were recruited and worked together to develop innovative programs and were given a space to create a permanent Center. In the first semester alone, students were able to work with 500 children. Volunteers provided nutrition and exercise advice and activities, as well as tutoring, mentoring and other enrichment programs for disadvantaged youth, such as yoga, art and writing.
Worcester Polytechnic Institute:
In completing their Interactive Qualifying Project (IQP) on green energy issues at the Worcester Art Museum, students Travis Collins, Chris Gowell, and Aaron Hall-Stinson performed exemplary work. Their IQP had three main goals: first, to determine and evaluate energy usage and billing strategies for the museum's Higgins Education Wing; second, the team was to research possible funding sources for green technologies; and third, the museum administration asked the students to investigate the feasibility of green roofs and photovoltaics. With a mind to greater energy savings, the IQP urged greater use of smart power strips and desktop occupancy sensors to control desktop lighting in the Higgins Wing. Sensors will pay for themselves in a mere eight months.
Worcester State College:
Student Jenkins Macedo contributed over 200 service hours in the fall working with children of African refugees and immigrants as a mentor for the African Children Education Organization (ACE). Jenkins also inspired his fellow students to be involved in some of the causes he was working on for their Social Change course such as Teach Someone About Refugees Day, a clothing drive for ACE Children and a letter he wrote to the Mayor of Worcester concerning the placement of refugee students within the Worcester Public Schools. Jenkins came to the U.S. as a refugee himself where being involved in programs like ACE has helped him succeed.
