At King s College, an urban campus in Wilkes-Barre, PA, we have engaged in several strategies to promote Civic Engagement. One of these strategies is the co-curricular initiative with faculty. As part of our orientation week for incoming students, we spend an afternoon on a project called “”City Serve.”" This past year all 430 incoming first year students spent one afternoon in service projects throughout the city of Wilkes-Barre. Some students went to a soup kitchen, others to day care centers, after school tutorial programs, homes for the elderly, to work in the city park, and other sites. The idea was to instill within our new students from the very beginning of their time at King s that service to the local Wilkes-Barre community ought to be part of their educational experience at King s. Each group of students was accompanied by a faculty member who was able to share in the experience and subsequently conduct a reflection session. Having been introduced to service possibilities in their first week, many of these students have continued on throughout the year in service to the city of Wilkes-Barre.
Contact person: Dave Devine, Director of Office of Volunteer Services, dcdevine {at} kings(.)edu
