By: Julian Winters
Service learning classes designed to benefit students and the community around them are an important part of instruction at colleges in Rochester.
Take, for example, a course titled Social Change through Service taught by Lynn Donahue, director of the Center for Service-Learning and Civic Engagement at St. John Fisher College. This semester Donahue’s class is partnering with three local organizations to help rebuild the Rochester community.
“The purpose of this class is introduce students to the process of engaging in the community and addressing needs and understanding the sort of complexity of those needs,” Donahue said.
According to her, this course is designed to impact the community and the students enrolled in it. Throughout the semester, students not only work with the community but they learn what is affecting the community they are engaging in plus learn about themselves inside and outside of the classroom. Donahue shared her thoughts on what students usually gain out of not just her class but other service learning courses too.
“Certainly, I hope they have a broader understanding of all the different issues,” she said. “I think it’s understandable to go into the class with a particular perspective and particular frame of mind based on your background, your experiences, and knowledge.”
Her students are currently working with the Rochester City School District’s School 57, Catholic Family Center LaFayette Supportive Living, and Junior Achievement. This semester’s work continues partnerships between Donahue and these organizations from previous semesters.
Amanda Hoock, program manager of Junior Achievement, maintains Junior Achievement’s community relationships but also attempts to create new ones. She emphasized the importance of these relationships, including the one with Fisher.
“We saw a natural alignment of JA’s mission with the service learning work being done at St. John Fisher College,” she said. Hoock also acknowledged why the organization has been impacted in a positive way through Fisher and Donahue’s class. Throughout their long-term but consistent relationship, this partnership has been able to grow in the right direction, according to Hoock.
Hoock said “The service learning classes offer a great opportunity for students to explore the organizations in the community that are trying to make a difference,” she said. “The students are able to give back to the community while simultaneously gaining knowledge of services that are offered in the community.”
St. John Fisher College is not the only institution in the Rochester area that offers service learning courses. Nazareth College offers at least 200 courses with a service learning theme according to the director of Nazareth’s Center for Service Learning, David W. Steitz. “A major component of my service-learning courses involves the identification of a need within the community and the subsequent identification of a community partner with whom we can work,” Steitz said. He teaches three of those classes: Adulthood and Late Life, Issues in Aging, and Aging and Community Service.
Steitz believes that service learning classes should be taught in all colleges and universities. Like Donahue and Hoock, he agreed that service learning courses are important to everyone involved.
“Service-learning courses are not to be undertaken simply for the sake of engaging in service,” Steitz said. “The student, faculty, community partner, and those served by the community partner should all be afforded an opportunity to reflect upon the experience and its impact, both personal as well as professionally.
“I cannot imagine teaching my courses in any other way,” he added. “It is essential that my students engage with those with whom they will be working with….If done well, a service-learning course should give students first hand, real world experience. The course should require the student to think about what is happening throughout the semester and how those experiences are impacting their learning and personal and professional development.”
Donahue noted the same themes when she spoke on the importance of not just her class but all service learning courses.
“I think the outcomes for service learning in general are that students get to enhance their understanding of the material,” she said. “It results in a lot more increase meaningfulness so a lot of students say that it becomes more than just a grade for a class.”
This story by Julian Winters is part of a journalism collaboration between WXXI and St. John Fisher College, giving aspiring student journalists the opportunity to report on and create stories for WXXI listeners, viewers, readers.
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