Linfield was recently recognized by the President’s Higher Education Community Service Honor Roll for its outstanding volunteer work in 2009. This is the second consecutive year the college has received this award.
“This is an honor to be shared by everyone across campus,” Community Service Coordinator Jessica Wade said. “Being named to the Community Service Honor Roll pays tribute to the deeds and service of Linfield’s students, faculty and staff who connect learning, life and community every day.”
The President’s Honor Roll Award recognizes colleges and institutions that have contributed time to helping communities. This award is used to increase public awareness to those institutions that truly deserve it, according to the National and Community Service Web site.
Linfield submitted an application to the honor roll in the fall for the 2008-09 school year, and the college was named a recipient Feb. 25.
“Community service learning, whether performed through a one-day volunteer event or a semester-long service learning project in a class, provides Linfield’s students with hands-on learning opportunities, greater awareness of the needs in our
community and civic and leadership skills so that students can be engaged for a lifetime,” Wade said.
Linfield applied for both the General Community Service Award and the Special Focus Area. Specific areas highlighted on the applications included Kid Fit (to fight childhood obesity and encourage healthy choices), Campus-Community Partnership to End Homelessness and after-school programs including SMART, America Reads and several others.
A total of 590 students participated in the academic service-learning — 450 students in forms of community service other than academic service-learning.
Other forms of
community services included AmeriCorps Students in Service and the Homeless Youth Reading Program and mentoring students through America Reads, Upward Bound and Kids on the Block.
Volunteering resulted in more than 1,000 students contributing a total of 25,236 hours of community service throughout the 2008-09 school year.
Linfield was one of nine Oregon schools recognized for its achievements. Other colleges included the University of Portland, Warner Pacific College and Western Oregon University.
“It was a blast working with the kids twice a week, teaching them how to live a healthy physical life,” sophomore Zach Spencer said.
Spencer volunteered 30 hours for his Fundamentals of Education course in the 2008-2009 school year at Sue Buel Elementary School.
“I plan to volunteer more time in the coming year,” he said.
Senior Becca Williams, a Linfield volunteer, said that volunteering for Yamhill Community Action Partnership means giving Linfield students the chance to interact with and become more aware of the diverse community.
She said students have been volunteering at the YCAP Transitional Housing Shelter for the past three years. Once a week, six to eight students go the shelter to read to children. Williams said that, in the future, there is a possibility that YCAP will be taught at the college. The YCAP organization, along with Linfield volunteers, will teach basic life skills to children.
Samantha Johnson
News reporter Samantha Johnson can be reached at [email protected]
