Through the Learn and Serve America STEM grant, WI Campus Compact granted out approximately $250,000.00 to 10 higher education partnerships this year throughout Wisconsin, Michigan, Illinois, Iowa, and Minnesota.  Wisconsin campuses included UW-Barron (in partnership with UW-Stout), UW-Parkside (in partnership with Gateway Technical College) and UW-Superior (in partnership with UM-Duluth and St. Scholastica).  Successes from our campuses include:

UW- Barron and UW-Stout:  Service-learning was implemented into 6 new courses including Biology, Botany, Physiology and Geographic Information Systems.

Among their achievements,  UW-Stout’s Strategies for the Botany service learning project and the hoop house structures have been shared with the larger community garden community and food that is grown is shared with the local food pantry.  This work has been publicized in Stout Quest at http://www.uwstout.edu/rs/upload/SQ_2011_NEW_3-30-11.pdf.  At UW-Barron,  they co-sponsored National Campus Food Day events with the Northwest WI Regional Food Network.  Events included a noon (campus) showing of the film Ingredients and an evening (community) showing of Fresh, both with locally grown refreshments. 20 people attended the noon event and 15 attended the evening event and follow-up discussion.  Project intern Jeannine Zook assisted with event planning and publicity.  As a result of the community movie showing of Fresh attendants asked NWRFN leaders to organize a tour of a nearby vegetable farm for campus and community members.  Six community members attended and learned about Community Supported Agriculture (CSA), biodynamic farming and more about what constitutes a nutrient-rich diet.

UW-Parkside and Gateway Technical College:  Service-learning was implemented into 6 new courses including Environmental Studies, Horticulture, Sport and Fitness Nutrition and Biology.

Among their achievements, The Harvest Celebration event co-sponsored by the two universities was very successful, with more than 125 children and adults dropping by the event hosted at the Center for Sustainable Living. UW-Parkside and Gateway students showcased their research, culinary arts students at Gateway prepared food samples from fresh, locally grown produce, produce grown by Gateway and Harborside Academy high school students were available for purchase, and healthy recipes and website listings for healthy foods were available for visitors to pick up.

UW-Superior, UM-Duluth and St. Scholastica:  Service-learning was implemented into 12 new courses including Global Health, Nursing, Biology, Health and Wellness, Geography, Anthropology and Health, Physical Education and Recreation.

Among their achievements, staff  from UW-Superior were asked to sit on the Community Health Improvement and Planning (CHIP) team for the county and for the new Healthier Douglas County Coalition. This commitment appointment came through UW-Superior’s community partner, Douglas County Health and Human Services Department.   From this work, UW-Stout was invited to partake in a year long, Healthier Wisconsin Leadership Institute working group.  Through this grant, we have been able to develop relationships with our community partners that would otherwise not be possible.

Special Thanks…. to Bobbie Timberlake for serving as Project Coordinator for the Learn and Serve STEM grant this past year.  Bobbi’s experience, passion for service learning and grace keep this project running smoothly this past year during a time of staff transition.  Thanks so much!

Top Ten Reasons to Attend

The Price Is Right – You can bring four people from your campus for the usual cost to send one person to a national conference.

Connect with Colleagues – Share successes, challenges, strategies, and questions [or just Network] with those you don’t know–and those you know but rarely see.

Build a Strong Foundation – New to the field or still building knowledge? Advance your skills in critical areas including assessment, reflection, dialogue, and more.

Take it to the Next Level – Participate in discussions that incorporate the latest research, trends, and ideas in civic engagement to take your practice to new heights and depths.

Skip the Security Line – Participate in a regional conference you can drive to and save time, hassle, and money.

For the rest of the reasons and for conference registration see: http://www.midwestengagementsummit.org/

Amy Diestler at St. Norbert College in De Pere, WI

Amy Diestler, a sophomore at St. Norbert College, has developed a passion for local food issues. Through Students in Free Enterprise, she helps train Hmong growers, and create networks between local growers, Fortune 500 companies, and campus food services. This empowers local growers to expand their sales and increase the level of local produce sold.

Amy Ramirez at Mount Mary College in Milwaukee, WI.

Amy Ramirez, a senior at Mount Mary College, has volunteered at a variety of health related organizations, including an adult day center, the Alzheimer’s Association of Southeastern Wisconsin, CORE/El Centro (a wellness program for the Latino community), and the Milwaukee Area Health Education Center. Her passion is to provide the underserved with better health information and treatment.

Binta Sidibe 2012 at University of Wisconsin-Superior in Superior, WI

Binta Sidibe is a Junior at the University of Wisconsin-Superior double majoring in International Peace Studies and Economics. She participates in College Student for a Day,  a one recruitment program for African American high school students to shadow UW-Superior students of color.  Binta is a mentor for the college preparatory program GEARS (Gaining Early Awareness and Readiness in Superior), which combines tutoring and mentoring activities for local adolescents struggling to succeed academically.

Kathleen Bauer at University of Wisconsin Fond du Lac in Fond du Lac, WI

Kathleen (Kate) Bauer, a second year student at the University of Wisconsin-Fond du Lac,  organized the campus chapter of Habitat for Humanity. The chapter assists with local chapter house builds, and with Shantytown, a fundraising partnership with Marian University. This spring, the Habitat for Humanity chapter will travel to Georgia for the collegiate “Blitz Build.” As the president of the Multicultural Club, Kate led a community-wide fundraiser to support a scholarship. Kate serves as the student representative on three faculty committees as well.

Spencer White at Madison Area Technical College in Madison, WI

Spencer White is an active member of the Madison College community who serves as the President of the Volunteer Center. He educates his peers on HIV awareness and prevention, and advocates for the rights of the homeless population living in the community. He was an active member of the Alternative Spring Break Trips to New York City to deliver meals to individuals living with HIV. He also served as a Director of the play “Bums,” recollecting firsthand accounts of life in the street.

Sydney Nelson at University of Wisconsin-Whitewater in Whitewater, WI

Sydney Nelson, a UW-Whitewater junior, serves as an America Reads volunteer, and a Warhawk Ambassador. As a ULEAD and King/Chavez Seminar counselor, Sydney helps high school students and college freshmen recognize their individual abilities and goals. After service trips to Ghana and Brazil, Sydney Nelson used her language skills to create presentations for speakers of other languages.

Vanessa Hope at University of Wisconsin – Parkside in Kenosha, WI

Vanessa is the founder and president of the UW-Parkside chapter of Active Minds, a student-run mental health awareness group that aims to reduce stigma around mental illness. She is also a member of the pre-Health Club at UW-Parkside, which focuses on giving back to the community through activities such as Make a Difference Day and purchasing and serving meals at area homeless shelters

As a Newman Civic Fellow, these students will join a network of Fellows around the country. Together — sharing ideas and tools through online networking — the Fellows will leverage an even greater capacity for service and change, and will continue to set examples for their classmates and others.

Through service-learning courses and other opportunities for community engagement, colleges are developing students’ public problem-solving skills, such as the ability to analyze community needs, the willingness to participate in public processes and debate, the commitment to raise awareness about challenges, and the ability to inspire others to become part of solutions.

“Dr. Frank Newman, a founder of Campus Compact, had a tremendous impact on American education and its role in the development of citizens who are eager and prepared to make a difference,” explains Campus Compact President Maureen Curley. “He dedicated his life to creating systemic change through education reform and this new group of Newman Civic Fellows would have inspired him. They are reflections and affirmations of his life’s work.”

Amie Arnoldussen receives her award on March 15th. From left: Simone Mishler (WiCC VISTA Leader), Amie Arnoldussen (WiCC VISTA), Kelly Knox (WiCC VISTA Leader), and Stephanie Jung (WiCC VISTA Program Director)

Madison, WI—3/9/12—Wisconsin Campus Compact (WiCC) is celebrating the recognition of its AmeriCorps VISTA (Volunteers in Service to America) member, Amie Arnoldussen, who is a recipient of one of the Governor’s Service Awards for 2012. Arnoldussen will be receiving the award for VISTA participants at a reception on March 15.

The Governor’s Service Recognitions are presented to programs and individuals participating in organizations funded by the Corporation for National and Community Service (CNCS) through AmeriCorps, Senior Corps, and Learn and Serve America.  AmeriCorps VISTA is the national service program focused on alleviating poverty in America. This presentation recognizes organizations and individuals that help solve serious social issues and help strengthen their community through service.

“I was very surprised that the work I have been doing was noticed when so many other people are working towards change,” said Amie about hearing she had been selected. Amie is one of the 34 AmeriCorps VISTAs serving on college campuses across the state through the WiCC program. She is serving on the St. Norbert College campus developing pre-college programming. “I really believe in the power of our youth and the service I do,” noted Amie about the mentorship programs she coordinates for Green Bay area elementary schools.

The WiCC team nominated Amie based on her dedication to serving with AmeriCorps VISTA and the excellence of the programs she coordinates. This is the second year that Amie has served as a VISTA. She coordinates three mentorship programs for St. Norbert College which includes The Village Project, Connections, and Michels Hall volunteers. These projects have resulted in over 1300 volunteer hours performed by college students with elementary youth.

Contact: Stephanie Jung

Office phone: 608-890-3223

Email: stephanie.jung@uwex.edu

Participating in Gateway’s recent wellness event showed me once again why Gateway students make me proud.  You achieve high academic success while volunteering and supporting community organizations.  You learn to improve yourself and utilize what you’ve learned to improve your community. As a Gateway student, we value your community involvement and have confidence in your ability to build a brighter future for all of us.
- President, Bryan Albrecht, Gateway Technical College

An analysis of pre and post-surveys of middle school students participating in the program indicates that in the first quarter, 21% of student’s grades were at the failing mark compared to only 9% in the fourth quarter.  Overall, 6th grade students in GEARS improved their grades by 75% and 7th grade students improved their grades by 63% during the 2010-2011 academic year.  A survey at the end of the GEARS summer program found that 75% of students who responded strongly agreed with the statement “Since I have been in GEARS I believe education is important.”  Eighty percent of students strongly agreed to the statement, “Since I have been in GEARS I believe I will go to college.”

The GEARS program also has a significant impact on the M3C Members who serve in the program.  “Since working in the GEARS program, I have learned about the community I live in, how to appreciate what I have, and how much I mean to the kids I mentor. It is amazing to have these kids run up to you and give you hugs and have them wanting to tell you how their day was!” said AmeriCorps M3C Fellow Ashley Striegel. M3C Members working in the GEARS program completed over 2,900 hours of service while also recruiting 45 of their peers and community members to assist with GEARS programming.

“GEARS is a great way to gain understanding of and get involved in the community.  GEARS not only helps the kids grow, but helps the mentors grow and gain new skills.”  –Stephanie O’Brien, M3C Fellow

GEARS supports the academic, social, and emotional growth of at-risk adolescent students and to assist in preparing them to be successful in all aspects of life, especially in the pursuit of a higher education.

The Midwest Campus Compact Citizen-Scholar (M3C) Fellowship Program is an AmeriCorps Education Award Program funded by the Corporation for National and Community Service.

“Usually a STEM discipline [course] feels very lecture oriented or class oriented. Community Service projects actually allow the students to go out, have hands-on experience, and actually apply the knowledge they are taking in through lecture.”

-Stefanie Straus-Thomkins, UW-Parkside

“You can tell sombody, ‘This is how a pepper grows,’ but until they see that pepper growing on a plant and watch it develop and watch it grow – you don’t get the full experience. I get hands-on experience of learning and doing it and then I go and teach somebody else that too.”

- Charis, Student, Gateway Technical College

Check out this short video highlighting the project’s successes:

The project is part of a grant funded by the Corporation for National and Community Serve through their Learn and Serve initiative. Wisconsin Campus Compact is a lead agency in a multi-state grant with goals to increase student engagement, participation, and persistence in the STEM disciplines while helping to address local community concerns about: 1) food, its production, and its distribution; and 2) about nutrition and related health issues. Projects across the Midwest are connecting campuses and communities unique ways.

The Wisconsin Campus Compact AmeriCorps*VISTA Community-Campus Partnership Project was funded in 2010 by the Corporation for National and Community Service. In 2012, 25 AmeriCorps*VISTA members will serve as change agents throughout Wisconsin. The primary objective of this project is to increase the capacity of local community organizations that provide services to members of low-income groups in order to help them escape from poverty. The AmeriCorps*VISTA members’ focus will be on facilitating, and assisting to maintain, community-campus partnerships that result in the intellectual, human, and material resources of institutions of higher education being mobilized to address community-identified issues of concern related to poverty.

We are currently accepting host site applications.  Applications are due on March 2, 2012

Click here for more information and application materials.

Newman Civic Fellows are recommended by college and university presidents to acknowledge motivation and ability in public leadership.

The deadline for recommendations is Tuesday, February 28, 2012.

To nominate a student at your college or university click here.

Film Presentation
“At the River I Stand” (1993) documents Dr. King’s last two months alive and his work with the sanitation workers’ strike in Memphis, 1968. This powerful film illuminates the connections between economic and civil rights through these public employees’ fight for
dignity and justice.

Featured Speaker
UW-Madison Associate Professor of History, William Jones. The discussion will focus on the intersection of race, class, and labor.

LIMITED SEATING– ONLY 50 SPACES AVAILABLE
Click here to RSVP!

Quenstions/Concerns Contact:
Jaryd M. Spann
spann2@wisc.edu
(414) 807-3447