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Print PageKU students serve others at Alternative Spring Breaks sites in 10 U.S. locations
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LAWRENCE — Sixty-eight University of Kansas students have returned to school after spending spring break on service-learning projects at Alternative Spring Breaks sites in the District of Columbia, Florida, Illinois, Louisiana, North Carolina, South Carolina, Utah and Wisconsin.
They worked March 18-25 with agencies at 10 locations that address such issues as animal rescue, urban homelessness, conservation, health care, linguistics, environmental preservation, hurricane relief, education and help for people with disabilities.
KU’s student-run Alternative Spring Breaks program offers students a unique opportunity to make service part of their university educational experience. After students are selected for the program, they are required to attend the Special Projects in the Community course. If they complete all course requirements, they can earn two college credit hours.
An Alternative Spring Breaks project counts as one honors unit for the University Honors Program, which now requires students who want to graduate with honors to complete one or two honors units outside the classroom. The program costs participants $225 ($175 for site leaders) and covers their transportation, housing and meals at the sites.
Ashley Bloom, Hutchinson senior, and Katie Jahnke, Shawnee senior, are this year’s Alternative Breaks co-directors. James DiGiuseppe, Danvers, Mass., senior, and Tracy Wineinger, Andover senior, Alternative Spring Breaks co-directors, selected and coordinated efforts for the spring 2007 locations.
Those sites are: Best Friends Animal Sanctuary, Kanab, Utah; Chicago Cares, Chicago, Ill.; Emergency Communities, Buras, La.; Give Kids the World, Kissimmee Fla.; Kettle Moraine State Park, Eagle, Wis.; National Coalition for the Homeless, Washington, D.C.; Newcomer Center, Arlington Heights, Ill.; South Carolina School for the Deaf and Blind, Spartanburg, S.C.; Teach for America, Charlotte, N.C.; and TreeUtah, Salt Lake City, Utah.
The destination sites are described in more detail below. KU participants are listed below by hometown, major, level in school, destination and leadership role, parents and high school attended (when available).
Alternative Breaks was established at KU in 1995 with a spring break trip to El Paso, Texas. It has expanded to include winter, spring and weekend break programs and more sites and volunteer opportunities are being added every year. Alternative Breaks works in partnership with KU’s Center for Community Outreach, a student-run and student-funded organization that runs 12 volunteer programs and is a coordinating group for students and groups interested in volunteer projects.
Advisers for Alternative Breaks are Linda Luckey, assistant to the senior vice provost, and Rueben Perez, director of the Student Involvement and Leadership Center.
Alternative Spring Breaks site descriptions:
Best Friends Animal Society, Kanab, Utah
Seven participants
Best Friends Animal Society’s sanctuary, a 33,000-acre ranch in Angel Canyon in southern Utah, is the largest no-kill animal shelter in the United States with more than 1,500 dogs, cats, horses, burros, goats, birds and other creatures. The sanctuary provides adoption, spay/neuter and educational programs nationally and publishes Best Friends magazine. KU students worked with the sanctuary staff to help dogs become more adoptable.
Chicago Cares, Chicago, Ill.
Seven participants
Chicago Cares is one of the largest community organizations in the Chicago area. It develops 120 hands-on group volunteer projects each month serving children, adults, seniors, the environment, the hungry and homeless. KU students worked with health-related programs. Chicago Cares is an affiliate of Hands On Network, a growing alliance of volunteer management and mobilization organizations across the United States and other countries.
Emergency Communities, Buras, La.
Seven participants
Emergency Communities works to rehabilitate communities affected by Hurricane Katrina and Hurricane Rita by providing nutritional, logistical and emotional support to residents returning to their communities to rebuild their lives. KU students worked at a community center, café and distribution center in Buras in Plaquemines Parish near New Orleans where Katrina first made landfall.
Give Kids the World, Kissimmee Fla.
Seven participants
Give Kids the World Village is a not-for-profit wish-granting resort that creates memories for children who have life-threatening illnesses. Since its founding in 1986, it has welcomed children and their families from all 50 states and 50 countries. Volunteers worked in the village resort doing a variety of jobs such as operating rides, planning family activities or helping at concession stands.
Kettle Moraine State Park, Eagle, Wis.
Seven participants
Kettle Moraine, located in southeastern Wisconsin, is one of the largest of the state’s park and forest areas. KU students performed a variety of tasks, including trail work, removal of invasive plant species and building, staining and installing benches.
National Coalition for the Homeless, Washington, D.C.
Five participants
Founded in 1984, the National Coalition for the Homeless is a network that engages in public education, policy advocacy and grassroots organizing for homeless issues. KU students worked at homeless shelters, preparing and serving meals at kitchen locations and helping with other coalition projects. Volunteers are required to take part in an urban plunge, a real-life immersion program in which participants live on the streets for 48 hours.
Newcomer Center, Arlington Heights, Ill.
Seven participants
Newcomer Center in the northeast Chicago area was originally funded to provide a secondary-school environment as well as a linguistic/cultural cushion for newly arrived students from foreign countries. Individuals attending the Newcomer Center receive support for English as a Second Language for one semester or one academic year, then return to their home schools as their proficiency improves. KU students worked with students from around the world to help orient and prepare them for U.S.high schools.
South Carolina School for the Deaf and Blind, Spartanburg, S.C.
Seven participants
South Carolina School for the Deaf and Blind, a specialized instructional and resource center with outreach centers throughout South Carolina, works with deaf, blind and sensory-disabled individuals of all ages to provide educational, vocational and developmental services. KU students worked at the main Spartanburg facility with visually impaired students 5 years and older; they also worked on projects designed to aid developmental abilities of the visually impaired individuals.
Teach for America, Charlotte, N.C.
Seven participants
Teach for America is the national corps of college graduates from all academic majors who are committed to teaching for two years in urban and rural under-resourced schools. Participants shadowed a member of the Teach for America team in Charlotte’s lowest-income neighborhoods, working directly with elementary school students and staff in classroom, extracurricular and community activities.
TreeUtah, Salt Lake City, Utah
Seven participants
TreeUtah is dedicated to the planting and care of trees in the state of Utah. Among other efforts, the organization oversees plantings at sites throughout the state and educates and trains the public in tree stewardship. Since its founding in 1989, TreeUtah has worked with more than 50,000 volunteers to plant more than 300,000 trees aimed at improving Utah’s quality of life for present and future generations.
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