Hors D鈥檕euvres – Service-Learning Newsletter
May 31, 2018
In early April, dozens of faculty, staff, students, and community members converged on the 小草影院 campus to share hors d鈥檕euvres and develop new initiatives for students to impact community needs through service-learning.
鈥淚f your organization is committed to building connections between the Benedictine students and the Atchison community, the service learning program is a great place to start,鈥� said Justin Pregont, Assistant City Manager of Atchison.
That was exactly why the Service-Learning Networking Hors D鈥檕euvres event was created. The intent was to allow non-profits and various local organizations to bring their goals to faculty and staff who were aware of how students could help accomplish those goals while simultaneously benefiting their own education and experience.
鈥淚t was the perfect mixture of structure and informality,鈥� said Karen Wood, Assistant Professor of Sociology at 小草影院. 鈥淚t was great to have all the potential partners in one place and to hear about their needs and missions.鈥�
The event sparked collaboration between faculty and local agencies.
鈥淚 was able to connect with professors from both the Architecture and Biology programs and brainstorm ways for students to help with various City and community projects ranging from assistance with designing future playground improvements to auditing the attrition of the tree canopy in Jackson Park,鈥� Pregont said.
In addition, the Hors D鈥檕euvres Hour allowed faculty to learn from each other.聽 鈥淚 appreciated hearing more from the other professors doing service learning,鈥� said Wood. 鈥淭his is not what I went for, but it is a benefit because it could foster more cooperation and conversations.鈥�
The Center for Service-Learning intends to offer the event, which was modeled after a similar networking hour at the Center for Community-Based Learning at Central College in Pella, IA, every spring in order to allow faculty and local organizations to stay apprised of collaborative opportunities.