Service-Learning at App State: An Alternative to Spring Break

Posted Sep. 17, 2015 at 12:16 p.m.

Each spring approximately 250 Appalachian State University students choose to participate in a service learning experience focused on sustainability, social justice issues and the environment. Catch students “creating community and giving back to others” in clips from a variety of 2015 Alternative Service Experiences.

About Appalachian State University

As the premier public undergraduate institution in the Southeast, Appalachian State University prepares students to lead purposeful lives as global citizens who understand and engage their responsibilities in creating a sustainable future for all. The Appalachian Experience promotes a spirit of inclusion that brings people together in inspiring ways to acquire and create knowledge, to grow holistically, to act with passion and determination, and to embrace diversity and difference. Located in the Blue Ridge Mountains, Appalachian is one of 17 campuses in the University of North Carolina System. Appalachian enrolls nearly 21,000 students, has a low student-to-faculty ratio and offers more than 150 undergraduate and graduate majors.

Transcript

Female student Voiceover: Every spring roughly 250 Appalachian State University students spend their spring break not on a beach but serving communities around the nation with a focus on sustainability, social justice issues and the environment.

Rachel Wilson, assistant professor Reich College of Education: “We really are here to work with the students who come to Appalachian. It’s useful as a faculty member to think about how can I get them personally invested in what I’m trying to get them to learn.”

Voiceover: So, why do App State students give up their spring break? Why do they participate in an Alternative Service Experience?

Female student 2: I think that the sole purpose that we as humans have is to create a community and to give back to others.

Male student: You can really learn so much about not only yourself but more importantly about how your actions affect everyone in the community.

Female student 3: And it expands your mind and lets you see other peoples’ viewpoint and how other people live.

Female student 4: But going actually somewhere and making a difference in the lives of someone that you can actually see. It’s an amazing feeling. It really does empower you.