Minneapolis Community and Technical College has engaged in a number of exciting service learning projects. One recent project placed ESL and speech communications students in the Hennepin County Volunteer Services Office. The goal of the project was to give the students a first-hand opportunity to deliver government services while educating county workers in the culture of new immigrant populations.
All of the students who participated in the six-month project were refugees who had completed basic ESL classes and had relatively good English-language skills. The students were required to provide a minimum of eight hours of service per month by assisting county social service workers with a variety of tasks, including:
- Interviewing new applicants to the county social service system;
Reviewing applications and assisting new clients to complete applications;
Directing clients to the appropriate county office or staff person;
Assisting clients to access county information;
Speaking to county employees about the culture, family dynamics and health/medical worldview of the student s country of origin;
Speaking to community groups about services available through the county;
Speaking to residents about county programs and various educational programs available to them.
The county s social services agencies benefited by having refugees from a number of different countries working with them. Hennepin County is experiencing a dramatic growth in the number of refugees seeking services. Through their interaction with our students, the county workers were able to gain insight into the culture, values and traditions of these new clients. The students, through interaction with the county staff and their clients, learned different speech patterns, intonation and slang and significantly improved their language skills.
At the end of the project, and as the final requirement for the speech class, students were required to give a speech about their experience. Staff and supervisors from Hennepin County attended, as did faculty and administrators from the college.
