The goal of the Service Learning program is to present you with practical, real-life experiences in which your cultural awareness and relative proficiency in a foreign language may be utilized through service to the community. The hope is that through a service learning component you will realize a practical application of your developing skills while beginning a lifelong interest in community service and civic responsibility. This project represents a new disciplinary link to the growing Service Learning program at Alma College. The long-range goals for the program are two-fold: first, to expand awareness and services available to the Hispanic community at large and secondly, to train student assistants under the tutelage of a certified teacher in order to be available for placements in other surrounding schools.

St. Mary's Elementary School-Apprentice Teacher Program
Those placed at St. Mary's School will assist a certified elementary level Spanish teacher in the classroom or as after school tutors in order to gain the training necessary for future service learning projects in other area schools undertaking elementary level Spanish language and culture curricula.

Migrant/Bilingual-Mentor/Tutor Program
This opportunity will be particularly interesting for students who are looking for a means outside of traditional academic settings to enhance their cultural and linguistic training. Within the parameters and supervision of this program students may assist in the translation and processing of school documents, provide English as a Second Language tutoring for members of the community or serve as mentors to Hispanic children within or outside of the classroom setting.

Journaling
You will be required to maintain a journal summarizing your activities and reflecting on the impact that the service learning component has had on your study of a second language and your cultural awareness, your contribution to the program and your changing perspectives on community involvement. In an effort to share experiences, questions and frustratuions, you are asked to post weekly journal entries to an on- line discusion forum to maintain a sense of group cohesiveness throughout the course. If you feel inhibited by the public forum you may turn journal entries in to me personally via e-mail or paper copy. This may be something that you would choose only for select entries/ Since you will be in the field and perhaps not in regular face-to-face contact with your fellow class-members the forum allows an on-going group discussion and an opportunity to brain-storm, cheer each other on generally keep in touch until we come back together at the end of the term.

Evaluation
Your grade will be determined by your participation in seminars, outings and conscientious dedication to the placement you are assigned (50%) and the reflective quality of your journal and summary report/ presentation (50%).

STC 007
Understanding Relief Efforts in the Local and Global Communities
May 1999
Tentative Course Outline:

Week one: Intensive introduction and orientation to relief efforts by nonprofit organizations with representatives from the Red Cross, the United Way, Habitat for Humanity, Community Caf6 and Hand to Honduras. The Red Cross will provide instruction in: Introduction to Disaster Relief, Mass Care, Shelter Opporations and Emergency Aid to Families. We will also receive instruction in First Aid and CPR. Upon completion of the first week, we will be registered with the international Red Cross as certified DSHR (Disaster Services Human Resource) volunteers. Also during this first week, we will each dedicate 10 hours of service to a local organization in that first week.

Weeks two and three: Travel to Honduras and work to restore housing, assist in medical relief efforts or agricultural relief as needed. We will be placed through a local Mission effort, Hand to Honduras and Mr. Duane Knecht, director of the physical plant at Alma College. We will be staying in El Paraiso, a small rural village about 50 minutes south of Tegucigalpa, the capital of Honduras. We will be housed in a complex run by a Catholic Sister who maintains an orphanage, school and vocational training for those in need of assistance. There are a number of projects in which we may be involved: Hands on construction to help rebuild homes, schools and medical facilities that have been destroyed; Assisting Medical relief teams as they address the needs of the community in which we will be serving; Assisting in areas of agriculture support. This may involve working with local farmers to re-plant fields that have been destroyed.

A typical day will run as follows:

6:30 Wake up
7:00 Breakfast
8:00 Leave for worksite
11:30 Break for lunch
1:00 Return to worksite
3:30 Free time, dinner, group meetings and reflections

Week four: Return to Alma campus and wrap-up the experience through discussion and the creation of a weblink to highlight our involvement and opportunities for service in the local and global community. We will discuss elements to be included, layout, etc. throughout the course.