Scholars News Desk
College Park Scholars Announces its 13th Annual Service Day
August 1, 2008
College Park, Md. - A throng of University of Maryland freshmen, each in a red t-shirt emblazoned with the signature College Park Scholars’ sunspot, will be welcomed to campus by President C. D. (Dan) Mote, Jr., then disperse from Cole Field House throughout Prince George's County, Montgomery County and the greater Washington metropolitan area, on Friday, August 29. Nine hundred incoming freshmen will team up with approximately 30 local schools, parks and community-based organizations, to deliver over 3,000 hours of community service through work on projects designed by neighboring communities.
College Park Scholars is an innovative, two-year living and learning community for academically talented first- and second-year students. According to Executive Director, Dr. Greig Stewart, "In an era when our youth are perceived as being less civically engaged, Service Day is an opportunity for our students to demonstrate their commitment to others and connect with the people and services of the greater metropolitan Washington area."
Service Day underscores College Park Scholars' commitment to active learning and civic engagement. Two of the key missions of College Park Scholars are (1) to integrate the curricular with the co-curricular, and (2) to integrate the campus with the community. Service-learning is a natural outgrowth of these goals.
Students participating in Service Day will work with established partners including the Beltsville Agricultural Research Center, Capital Area Food Bank, World Arts Focus and Kenilworth Aquatic Gardens. Additionally, College Park Scholars will continue its strong collaboration with the Maryland-National Capital Park and Planning Commission (M-NCPPC), with students working at six sites around the region. For the second year, students from our Life Sciences program will be involved with a clean-up of the nearby Paint Branch, a subwatershed of the Anacostia River. College Park Scholars will also make their mark in places including nine Prince Georges County Public Schools, the City of Takoma Park and Interfaith Works.
Though Service Day is an annual effort, it challenges new students to seek out ongoing service opportunities while at the University of Maryland. One example of this continuing mission is Lakeland Stars, an after-school tutoring program coordinated by College Park Scholars, in collaboration with the City of College Park and Paint Branch Elementary School. This partnership is in its 12th year. Scholars students also have an opportunity to enroll in a unique Community-Based Discovery research class, in which they tackle a community’s issue of concern over the course of an entire semester.
Students engaging in structured and meaningful service-learning projects benefit in a variety of ways, according to Martha Baer Wilmes, College Park Scholars' Associate Director for Student Affairs. "Service-learning is where students make the connections between what they learn in the classroom with the needs and opportunities in our communities," said Wilmes.
As a result of the past 12 Service Day efforts, College Park Scholars has engaged over 10,000 students, faculty and staff in delivering close to 33,000 hours of service to area schools, parks and public service agencies. Scholars has also cultivated long-term relationships with several of the organizations for which the program has performed service. These efforts were recognized both by Maryland’s Office of the Governor and House of Delegates at Service Day’s 10th anniversary, in 2005.
For more information on this press release, contact Kevin Baxter at (301) 314-1522, or bax@umd.edu.
