By Service-Learning Program Assistant & Co-op Asta MacKie
Service-Learning can take many forms depending on the goals of the community partner and learning goals of the course. While many courses and groups on campus took place in weekly service this past semester, such as tutoring or office support, others spent their service time creating deliverables for their community partners, such as websites or campaigns. Take a look at what some groups were able to create in partnership with one another!
Scout Labs:
Scout Labs is a multidisciplinary team of students at Northeastern University who partner with local organizations as design consultants for social good. This semester, they partnered with Everyday Boston, a community building organization that uses storytelling and journalism to connect people in Boston. Students Sabrina Kantor, Ciara Selders, Katerina Stephan, and Noah Appleby worked closely with their partner to define the role that Everyday Boston’s website plays in the organization’s larger goal of promoting curiosity and connection in Boston. Their final deliverable is shown below as the development and design of the new Everyday Boston website, which will be released in the beginning of January.
First-Year Writing
First-Year Writing is a course for first-year students designed to create more informed and engaged writers. Students are expected to utilize the skills learned in class with their respective service partners, often through tutoring or writing workshops. This semester, students Zach Galeaz, Michael Foose, Jonathan Groves, Han Mac Kim, and Eliezer Meraz from Dr. Bret Keeling’s section of the course took their service one step further and created a campaign to promote their community partners’ efforts to other Northeastern students hopes of recruiting more volunteers. Additionally, Han Mac Kim, Eliezer Meraz, and Muhammad Ghafoor built an advocacy poster, titled “Students for Students,” to bring awareness to the gaps that often occur when high school counselors are not able to provide all the opportunities possible to their students.
*Please note that all projects have been shared with permission of the students, faculty members, and partners involved.
Service-Learning partnerships usually only last a semester, but these students are able to leave something behind for their partners even after their semester of service has ended!