The Center for Democracy and Humanity at Mount Wachusett Community College in North Central Massachusetts envisions a world where the values of democracy are embodied in the daily lives of individuals and communities.

In the fall of 2002, MWCC President Daniel M. Asquino announced the “Decade of Civic Engagement,” a college-wide effort to foster increased civic responsibility among its students, faculty, staff and greater community.

The Center for Democracy and Humanity was recently established to oversee the many programs and services offered by the college as part of the Decade of Civic Engagement. The Center coordinates programs and activities to ensure optimum efficiency and collaboration. In addition to the college’s many outreach programs, college faculty are committed to infusing service learning into their curricula and academic endeavors.

To promote civic engagement within the college and its broader community, the Center for Democracy and Humanity employs four strategies:

• Student engagement
• Resident engagement
• Capacity building and
• Systemic change.

In the Classroom

With civic engagement and service learning in the classroom, students gain practical experience that sets them apart in a competitive job market, communities benefit and classroom learning is reinforced. Students also become more knowledgeable, self-confident, active and engaged citizens with effective critical thinking skills. this effort is guided by a team of faculty advisors.

The Center’s Academic Programs

Citizenship Academy – The Citizenship Academy introduces high school students to higher education, civic engagement and community service. While earning college credit, students learn the basics of thinking and writing with clarity as well as how to become engaged in their communities. The academy offers Composition, Economics, Political Science and Sociology courses–all with a civic engagement/service learning component. The academy’s unique curriculum allows students to focus on issues pertinent to their lives and communities.

Service Learning – Service Learning programs involve students in organized community service that addresses local needs, while developing their academic skills, sense of civic responsibility and commitment to the community. by developing reciprocal partnerships, the program strives to serve the community and enrich the students’ educational and civic engagement experiences. Over 1,200 MWCC students have participated in Service Learning experiences, performing more than 7,000 hours of service to the community. In the coming year, faculty mini-grants will be awarded for new and innovative integration of service learning within the curricula.

AmeriCorps Scholars – Through the AmeriCorps, a number of students are chosen each year for the Scholarships for Service program that engages students as part-time AmeriCorps members. The program is designed to both acknowledge and advance campus civic engagement efforts, placing students at the core. Students are required to complete 300 hours of service with a local non-profit organization during the school year as an intensive means of meeting critical needs in education, public safety, health and the environment.

In the Community

Center for Democracy and Humanity Community Development and Outreach Programs:

Community Builders and Project Volunteer – Community Builders is a partnership between the United Way of North Central Massachusetts and MWCC to educate, inform and inspire a greater community involvement through new and innovative strategies. Community Builders’ activities increase community action through volunteer promotion and recognition, and by providing tools, awareness and training to community organizations that depend on volunteers for their success.

Institute for Nonprofit Development – To build a more vibrant North Central Massachusetts, the Institute for Nonprofit Development supports organizations to strengthen their capacity to fulfill their missions and impact their communities. A membership-driven organization, the Institute provides training, technical assistance, resource libraries and coalition building services to nonprofits serving the region.

Molly Bish Institute for child Health and Safety – The mission of the Molly Bish Institute for Child Health and Safety is to ensure the health and safety of all children in the Commonwealth of Massachusetts. To meet this mission, the Institute provides hands-on, practical learning opportunities for parents, caregivers and children, and provides a clearinghouse of child health and safety information.

Twin Cities Latino Coalition – The Twin Cities Latino Coalition is a cross-sector collaborative effort involving local educational institutions, private business, public institutions and non-profits to achieve: increased Latino parental involvement, increased Latino K-16 student educational success and sustainable educatinoal systemic change through the implementation of a strategic plan. The Coalition actively works with Latino young people, parents and multicultural leaders to support parents and children’s independence, academic achievement and active civic engagement.

United Way Youth Venture – Youth Venture aims to change society’s views of youth by catalyzing a mass movement of young people who have the vision and drive to make a difference. Youth Venture emplowers young people ages 12-20 by providing them all the tools necessary to create “ventures” – civic-minded organizations, clubs or businesses to change schools and communities. Unique to North Central Massachusetts is Youth Venture’s partnership with ten schools, which work with educators, administrators and students to integrate Youth Venture into their curricula and achieve a graeter impact across the community.

What’s Next Speaker Series – Born out of a plan to bring several notable experts in the field of social change under a single theme, hundreds of residents have attended the What’s Next Speaker Series – public forums that introduce students, residents, community leaders and decision-makers in North Central Massachusetts to innovative thinkers and doers from around the country and world. The goal of the series is to show change is possible, spark creative problem-solving and inspire action.

Contact

Lea Ann Erickson
Assistant Vice President of Public Affairs
(978) 630-9322
l_erickson {at} mwcc.mass(.)edu

Amy Casavina Hall
Director of Civic Engagement and Outreach
(978) 630-9201
a_casavina {at} mwcc.mass(.)edu

Fagan Forhan
Coordinator, Center for Democracy and Humanity
(978) 630-9595
f_forhan {at} mwcc.mass(.)edu

Joanne Foster
Coordinator, Institute for Nonprofit Development
(978) 840-3221 x200
j_foster {at} mwcc.mass(.)edu

Andrea Hart
Program Assistant
978) 840-3221 x197
ahart {at} mwcc.mass(.)edu

Karin Olivera
Coordinator, Community Builders and Project Volunteer
(978) 840-3221 x201
k_olivera {at} mwcc.mass(.)edu

Sayra Pinto
Executive Director, Twin Cities Latino Coalition
(978) 840-3221
spinto {at} mwcc.mass(.)edu

Rebecca Cyganiewicz
United Way Youth Venture AmeriCorps*VISTA
(978) 840-3221 x203
youthventure {at} mwcc.mass(.)edu

The Center for Democracy and Humanity’s offices are located at

110 Erdman Way
Leominster, MA 01453
Tel. (978) 840-3221 x197
Fax (978) 840-4398

The IUPUI Center for Service and Learning began an America Reads tutoring in 1997. Annually, more than 60 IUPUI college students serve over 350 preschool and elementary students with one-on-one tutoring at eight community sites. Youths receiving this tutoring assistance demonstrate an average increase of 1.4 reading levels each year. In January 2003, the Center for Service and Learning expanded its Federal Work-Study-based service programming with the America Counts program. In its pilot semester, this program connected eight IUPUI students with over 60 middle school students who were struggling with mathematics. The combined efforts of IUPUI’s America Reads and America Counts programs helped college students contribute more than 15,000 hours of service in the 2002-2003 academic year. In Fall 2003, the Community Work-Study Program will launch Hispanic tutoring and family literacy initiatives.

While these programs allow IUPUI to contribute in a systematic way to the community, they also provide students with opportunities for growth. All Community Work-Study Programs provide a comprehensive orientation and ongoing training opportunities throughout the year. These trainings incorporate reflection, professional growth, and training in the program’s focus area. Through the opportunity to become engaged in the community and the structured trainings and reflections, IUPUI students become better prepared for their careers and more interested in serving their communities. Over 85% of IUPUI students involved in the America Reads program say that their interest in serving their community increased through their work. IUPUI Reading Coaches also report that their involvement helps them develop academically (60%), professionally (87%), and personally (93%).

In the fall 2003, IUPUI added the Family Literacy Program and the Hispanic Reading Initiative to this program. The Family Literacy Program works with families currently served by the Indy Reads adult literacy program through enrichment activities and tutoring. The Hispanic Reading Initiative places IUPUI students with Hispanic children in preschool through 6th grade in schools or after school programs. Tutors help children retain their Spanish skills and gain new skills and knowledge of the English language.

Contact: Meg Easter-Dawson, measter {at} iupui(.)edu
Website: http://csl.iupui.edu/neighborhoodpartnerships/americareads.html

The programs was founded by Aaron Lieberman in 1993 when he was a Yale University student. It now operates in 11 cities including New York, L.A. and Washington. The program, which serves more than 1,500 children this school year, has a $7 million annual budget that comes mostly from private funding and some government grants.

As Jumpstart’s CEO, Mr. Lieberman is shifting the growth of the program into high gear. He plans to form partnerhsips with more than 50 colleges and universities over the next five years– and, if that goal is met, he expects the number of children served each year to increase to 15,000. Jumpstart began setting up college partnerships in 1997 and now has seven universities involved.

Website: www.jstart.org

Excerpted from “”College Students Help Jump-Start Preschooler’s Learning”" by Linda Jacobson, Education Week December 13, 2000

The result from the planning was the development of two service learning courses (one for America Reads and a second for PAD). America Reads Tutors are required to take their course during their first semester of work, as well as a second semester follow-up/monitoring course. The America Reads course teaches students about literacy development and provides training on tutoring, learning, and professionalism.

There are 25 work study students who perform 20 hours per week of literacy assistance in some 20 elementary schools located in Escondido and Oceanside. Students are selected from the list of potential work-study students who are Liberal Studies majors (pre-teaching). They are invited to an orientation session and then must apply. They also go through an interview process before they are selected.

Community Service Learning Program website: http://www.csusm.edu/ocsl/

Stone Soup is a collaborative of dozens of area churches, schools, government agencies and nonprofits, all with the goal of improving the lives of the residents of El Dorado Park. California State University, Fresno joined this partnership in 1993 and has become one of the major contributors to the program.

Now a formal nonprofit, Stone Soup offers a vast array of year-round services to the El Dorado Park residents. There are dozens of academic enrichment and recreation activities, job training programs, a senior service center, medical and dental clinics, nutrition and parenting classes, and a number of other projects.

Approximately 70 faculty and staff and over 300 students volunteer with Stone Soup each year. Faculty and students come from a variety of academic disciplines, including: Counseling, Social Work, Sociology, Child and Family Studies, Gerontology, Liberal Studies/Education, Health Science, Nutrition, Criminology, Theater Art/Drama, and many more. Students participate at Stone Soup as volunteers or through dozens of different service-learning and internship courses. There are also a large number of students who work at Stone Soup as part of the Federal Work Study program and through different scholarship and grant requirements. Everyone involved has had the opportunity to enrich their own lives and enhance their level of civic engagement.

The university has also assisted Stone Soup with financial support through grant funding, and we have acted as the fiscal agent for other grants obtained by the nonprofit. The partnership between Stone Soup, California State University, Fresno, and the other cooperating organizations and agencies is a model for highly effective and efficient nonprofit partnerships. The organization has had a significant impact on the area, as represented by the greatly diminished crime rates, improved academic achievement of the area youth, and the steadily improving socio-economic status of the neighborhood.

In recognition of their outstanding achievements, Stone Soup of Fresno and the partnering organizations have been honored with several prestigious awards, including: the Herman Goldstein POP Award, the Youth Citizenship Award, and the John Martin Fresno Area Reading Council Award. One of the most prestigious awards received by the Stone Soup project is the President s Service Award, conferred by President Clinton in 1995. In recognition of the university s contributions to the collaborative, Stone Soup gave the award to the University for housing and display. The partnership between California State University, Fresno and Stone Soup has been one that greatly benefits everyone involved. Our faculty, staff and students have significantly increased their knowledge of, appreciation for, and involvement in the El Dorado Park neighborhood and the community at large. Stone Soup has benefited from the many resources, both human and otherwise, contributed by the University. First and foremost, however, the residents of El Dorado Park have seen a dramatic change in their neighborhood and their lives. This partnership with Stone Soup has helped provide residents with the opportunities and resources they need to improve and enrich their lives in many ways.

Students for Community Service web site: http://www.csufresno.edu/scs/

From Service Matters 1998: Engaging Higher Education In the Renewal of America s Communities and American Democracy

Contact: Ann St. Laurant, Director, 860-297-5291 or via email at ann.stlaurant {at} trincoll(.)edu
web page: http://www.trincoll.edu/depts/ocir/program/neighborhood_revitalization.htm

The partnership involves the Miami-Dade County Public Schools, the University of Miami, Barry University, Florida Memorial University, Florida International University and Miami-Dade Community College. This partnership of K-12 public schools along with private and public higher education institutions is unique in the country. Under the leadership of M-DCC these institutions jointly provide nearly 175 federal work study students to serve as one-on-one tutors at 34 elementary schools and six after-school programs. Together, the tutors provide individual assistance to nearly 2,000 first-grade students every week, and this requires significant energy and resources to assure that FWS students receive appropriate training and support. Also, the coordination of the placement of these student-tutors is a positive example of dedication to collaborative use of institutional resources to maximize the benefits for the community.

The partnership also includes a comprehensive training program for the tutors that addresses the development of essential tutoring skills as well as specific sessions to emphasize civic responsibility and the importance of individual commitment to community good. These training and support activities occur on an continuous basis throughout the semester.

An additional feature of the partnership is a separate series of training events for teachers, teachers aides and others who desire to help children learn to read better. This is a jointly developed training program called “”Buddy Reading”" and it provides basic skills for individual volunteers. It also serves as a means to involve volunteers from the community at-large as well as from within each of the partner-institutions.

Finally, this partnership provides a way for us to introduce our students to the importance of corporate citizenship responsibilities. In other words, we model for them how the different sectors of a community must work together for the strength of the community; that through the combined efforts of our different colleges, we can do far more than any one individual school in assisting our community. We believe that it is essential our students understand that higher education has a common commitment to enhance the learning of children in the K-12 system.

Joshua Young, College-Wide Director, Center for Community Involvement, jyoung {at} mdcc(.)edu

CCI web site: www.mdcc.edu/cci/

The mayor obliged this unusual request, and identified twelve Brainerd residents. Central Lakes staff promptly contacted these residents and invited them onto campus, where they met and watched a brief film about asset-based community development. That night, inspired by the film and the discussion that followed, the group of twelve voted unanimously to form a residents association. With that, SEBRA South-East Brainerd Residents Association was born.

South-East Brainerd is the oldest part of Brainerd. Few residents own their own homes, incomes are low, and crime is high. In 1995, most neighbors didn t know one another, and there was little communal activity. Working with the college, SEBRA set out to change all that. The result is a neighborhood transformed not in grand ways that will put Brainerd on the map, but in small ways that highlight the vitality of human relationships. SEBRA began holding monthly meetings, which now bring together 65 or more community members each month. The association began printing a quarterly community newsletter, which Central Lakes work-study students help to write and distribute. They established an annual neighborhood clean-up day, which brings the whole neighborhood together once a year.

Students in a sociology class helped the neighborhood to develop an asset map, documenting residents skills and talents, which they can use to exchange services. The association brought in the local police to conduct crime prevention workshops in the neighborhood, and residents have volunteered their homes as safe houses for youth on the way home from school. Students from Central Lakes published oral histories of the community based on interviews with elderly residents.

Community members report that since the founding of the association three years ago, they know more of their neighbors, speak out more frequently, and find the town cleaner and safer. Indeed, since 1995 crime in the neighborhood is down 40%. Since that pivotal day three years ago, Central Lakes has played an integral role in the community. It has furnished Brainerd residents with the tools for reform, and manpower in the form of students and faculty to help facilitate their efforts. But perhaps the greatest contribution of college constituents has been their insistence that the association set its own agenda, and mine the resources of its own community, so that residents can accomplish change on their own. We know we ve done our job well, staff at the college s community service office explain, when we re no longer needed. Even if they say they are no longer needed, Central Lakes students, faculty, and staff continue to share ideas, advice, and work with the neighborhood. Through the relationships they have built, they have done more than serve South-East Brainerd; they have become a part of it.

From Service Matters 1998: Engaging Higher Education In the Renewal of America s Communities and American Democracy

From Service Matters 1998: Engaging Higher Education In the Renewal of America s Communities and American Democracy

Contact: Office of Community Service at 25 W. 4th Street, 3rd Floor Telephone: 212-998-2329