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Students help solve social problems through community service

Katie Kingsbury at the Lexington Office on Youth

Senior Katie Kingsbury volunteered at the Lexington Office on Youth. Kingsbury is just one of many students participating in the service-learning program. Photo courtesy Katie Kingsbury.

by Nicole Mooradian

During the first week of school, Professor Leslie Cintron offered her Sociology 202 (Understanding Social Problems) students a choice: write a research paper or participate in service-learning. More than half of the students chose the service-learning option.

To participate in service-learning, students were required to perform 20 hours of volunteer work at an assigned community organization. At the end of the term, students would write a short response paper detailing their experiences.

Cintron said that the service-learning has several benefits.

"[The students] become the participant-observers in these areas and locations in the community," Cintron said. "They're doing service but at the same time they're actually acting as researchers about social problems."

Service-Learning Coordinator Aubrey Shinofield agreed.

"Service-learning classes encourage students to make...connections between their field work and the academic objectives of their course," she said. "It helps students see that issues that they are merely reading about in a book or hearing about in a lecture are real and happening right outside of our front door."

Students chose to participate in the service-learning program for a variety of reasons. Senior Chris Tittle spent the term volunteering as a tutor at the Natural Bridge Juvenile Correctional Center.

"I decided to participate in the service learning option because I am in the Shepherd Poverty Program," he said. "I felt like this was a great opportunity to become more involved in the community and to observe poverty-related issues in the field."

Senior Megan Hunt appeared to have similar reasons.

"I feel that I should have been doing a lot more volunteering at W&L than I have been doing and realized it's never too late to help out," she said.

Hunt spent her term volunteering at Mountain View Elementary School.

Other students volunteered with organizations like the Rockbridge Area Free Clinic, Natural Bridge Manor, and Virginia Head Start.

Junior Court Nexsen worked with both the mentally and physically handicapped at Hoofbeats Therapeutic Riding Center.

"Hoofbeats was a very positive experience," Nexsen said. "I believe the program is extremely beneficial and unique for both riders and volunteers."

Suzanne Sheridan from the Rockbridge Area Free Clinic expressed her appreciation for the service-learning volunteers.

"It's great to have them here," she said. "[There is a] need for dedicated, caring people...They provide a valuable service to us [and] we hope we're providing a positive experience for them."

Many students participating in the service-learning program said they would continue to volunteer.

"Overall, it's been such a good experience that I don't see why I necessarily have to stop now that the class is over," said sophomore Erica Carson, who volunteered at Yellow Brick Road Child Development Center.

Junior Robert Walker, who worked at the Magnolia Center, agreed.

"I would do service-learning again," he said.

Cintron's Sociology 202 course is just one of several courses to offer service-learning options.

"Generally, there are anywhere from two to six service-learning classes going on in one semester," said Shinofield.

The other service-learning classes are part of the Shepherd Poverty Program, a concentration that offers students the opportunity to learn about the effects of poverty.

For more information on the Shepherd Poverty Program, visit its Web site.

Professor Leslie Cintron explains service-learning placement