Eight new off-campus projects have been added to the successful student-community partnerships coordinated through West Virginia University and funded by the W.K. Kellogg Extending Community Partnerships program.
WVU faculty and students are working with 17 community-focused projects in Braxton, Greenbrier, Jefferson, Marion, Mineral, Monongalia, Randolph, Wayne and Webster counties in West Virginia and in Garrett County, Md..
In its final year, the $1.25 million grant continues to create partnerships between the University and West Virginia communities. Coordinated through the WVU Office of Service Learning, the projects provide students with”real-world”experience, while communities receive faculty-guided assistance.
WVU academic colleges and schools and the WVU Extension Service provide service-learning courses in social work; parks, tourism and recreation; sociology and anthropology; English; foreign languages; psychology; physical education; and journalism.
Major goals of the program are to transform the University, transform the student and strengthen University-community relationships. The Expanding Community Partnerships program pursues these goals by directing students to apply concepts learned in the classroom to community-based projects.
New partnership projects are:
After-School Youth Violence Prevention Program (Monongalia): Mental health professionals, high school and college athletes, college students, teachers and parents develop activities that improve anger management and promote violence prevention in at-risk children. Through assistance from WVU graduate students of counseling and sport psychology, sport and exercise programs will be used as a mechanism for improving self-confidence, developing anger management skills and decreasing violent behavior in children.
Community Revitalization and Historic Preservation Plan (Greenbrier): Forming a new partnership are the Community Revitalization and Historic Preservation Project, Cultural Resource Management Certificate Program, Landscape Architecture Program and the community of Ronceverte to develop a Community and Historic Preservation Comprehensive Plan.
Deckers Creek Stream Monitoring (Monongalia): A partnership between the Friends of Deckers Creek and the WVU Division of Forestry will integrate local water chemistry, insect and fish monitoring into fisheries classes. Students and managers will initiate a monitoring regime that will support the efforts of the watershed association in its mission to improve the conditions in the creek.
Golden Rule Assistance Dogs Program (Monongalia): This program engages”at-risk”high school students in the training of service dogs, which will assist people who have disabilities. WVU students will be involved with the AlternateLearningCenter students as they work to provide these valuable tools for independence.
Linking Forest Heritage Communities through Coordinated Web-page Development (Randolph and Webster, W.Va.; Garrett, Md.): WVU students using computer applications in Forest Resource Management will work with members of three regional communities to generate distinctive but graphically cohesive Web pages to promote the multi-state Forest Heritage Area (FHA) project. Web technology will be combined with graphic arts to provide students a holistic and realistic example of working with municipal representatives in Elkins and WebsterSprings and in Oakland, Md.
Take it to the MAC (Marion): WVU students will engage in one-on-one tutoring of elementary and middle school children in reading and writing. The City Cemetery Project will provide information that the students will use with the children to produce publications that can be offered for sale and made available on the Internet.
TRAILS Project (Jefferson): This project will bring together students and the Harpers FerryNationalHistoricPark staff for the development of community-based interpretation programs that will expand the parks current reach into communities. In addition, students will participate in site development for these community-based interpretive programs.
Writing Heritage II (Monongalia): In this project, students will create a searchable online catalog of historical resources about the Scotts Run community by working in cooperation with the Scotts RunMuseum. A multimedia presentation and a driving tour of major cultural landmarks in the area will accompany the catalog. Students develop the online site through original materials, interviews and close collaboration with local sources.
Continuing partnership projects are:
Bulltown Interpretive Project (Braxton): The partnership between the WVU Division of Forestry, the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers at BurnsvilleLake and the members of the Friends of Bulltown seeks to enhance interpretive programming at the Bulltown Historic Area and to promote heritage tourism development in BraxtonCounty. The project is addressing a wide range of programming, marketing, management and outreach objectives.
Bunner Ridge Riding Club and Camping Facility (Marion): This program focuses on building a horse park and overnight camping facility at Bunner Ridge in Fairmont. Developing plans for the horse park/camping facility will help WVU parks and recreation students understand the principles that guide sustainable park and design decisions. Also they will gain experience in working with concepts in hydrology, soils, vegetation, topography, maintenance, user protection, safety and landscaping.
CityCemetery Restoration Project (Marion): The goal is to continue the reclamation and restoration of the FairmontCityCemetery. WVU and Fairmont State College students and members of the community locate and excavate and then restore or replace headstones. History students will also gather information and prepare a report about the cemetery and its 19th century context.
Community-Based Journalism (Monongalia): WVU news editorial and public relations students learn by experience how to plan, produce and distribute The Compass, a quarterly publication about the Scott
s Run area of rural western MonongaliaCounty. This project exposes students to a rural Appalachian community that is economically, geographically, culturally and racially diverse.
Retention of”At-Risk”Students (Monongalia): The Childrens Home Society of West Virginia, in collaboration with the WVU Honors Program and the WVU Division of Social Work, provide free tutoring services to a minimum of eight local schools in MonongaliaCounty. This tutoring service is designed to help those students who are at risk of falling behind their age group grade level or dropping out of school.
Special Olympics Coaching Education (Monongalia): Through this project, students develop an understanding of Special Olympics. Students identify a coaching philosophy for each participant; apply sports management concepts in recruiting athletes, volunteers and family members; develop plans for conducting sports-specific programs for Special Olympics athletes; identify practical methods of enhancing athletic performance by developing sports confidence; and provide a safe environment for the athletes during training and competition.
Volunteer Trail Maintenance and Monitoring Program, Phase III (Monongalia): WVU students help build community support and awareness of rail-trails and help keep the Mon River and Deckers Creek trails safe through participation in the Adopt-A-Trail and Trail Monitoring Programs. Through its proactive measures, this program can save operating dollars, ensure safety for trail users and volunteers, encourage more trail use and foster trail stewardship while developing program leadership skills of recreation, parks and tourism resources students.
Watersheds and Their Communities (Mineral): Working with their community partner, the Lightstone Foundation, Potomac State College students promote stewardship of natural and human communities in the Potomac River Watershed. The project also introduces high school youths, college students and community stakeholders to sustainable techniques that will improve the environment.
WVU -Guanajuato (Mexico) Language and Cultural Education Capacity Building Partnership (Wayne): This project is integrating foreign language and culture into elementary school curricula through service learning activities in WayneCounty. Activities in the elementary schools include language skill development through instruction for a peer-teacher program and electronic pen pals. Special cultural celebrations and a weeklong Spanish day camp are also part of the learning experiences for WVU students and the elementary school children.