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With more than 800 staff and students invited on May 2 to a poster session, 23 students from two different Interpersonal Communication courses had cause to celebrate, describing where they volunteered for their Service Learning projects.

This Spring semester, both Megan Rector and Keeley Hunter’s students created posters to illustrate how they connected with their communities while learning more about themselves and their Communication courses.

According to Megan, her students “chose their own service sites and many chose places that were personally meaningful for them or were in alignment with their career goals. I was very impressed with their creativity in finding places to volunteer and they even taught me about some nonprofit organizations I hadn’t heard of. Several said they plan to continue volunteering at the place they chose.”

And Keeley had this to say, “I had numerous students tell me that they were skeptical about service learning and even our class organization, which was Dress for Success (an organization committed to serving women by empowering them to reach their career goals). My students were not sure that clothes could make a meaningful difference in someone’s life and even questioned the value of working in the community. By the end of the semester, the students’ mindset changed completely. They LOVED serving in the community and learned that the value of community engagement is in the relationships. What better lesson is there to teach Interpersonal Communication? The semester proved rewarding for all involved!”

Students from both classes explained their projects and why they were so rewarding.

Staff took some time to appreciate this High Impact Practice teaching and learning approach which has been proven to increase student retention.

Some high-quality posters represented what the students accomplished all semester in these two Service Learning Designated courses, building their communication skills and applying various course learning outcomes.  

These Service Learning assignments were hands-on, place-based projects where the Communication students went out into the world to learn more about social injustices, biases, advocacy, and community engagement in order to clarify their personal values, enhance social experiences, and discover career opportunities.

For more information about Service Learning, see our webpage or contact the Service Learning Center Coordinator at diana [dot] hornick [at] arapahoe [dot] edu.