Elon students turned out in record numbers in 2002-2003 for service and service learning related efforts, building on the long tradition of Elon students’ involvement in the community.
A record 2,647 students gave 71,756 hours of their time to service efforts during the academic year, a remarkable jump of nearly 12,000 hours from the previous year. Thirty-five academic service-learning courses across the curriculum integrated service projects into course studies and requirements. Eighty-eight percent of 2003 graduates participated in a service activity while at Elon. For the second year in a row, Elon’s service learning program has been ranked in the top 20 nationally by US News and World Report.
Since 1988, when Elon first formed a campus chapter of Habitat for Humanity, through the 1990’s, when the program expanded to incorporate service into the academic curriculum, the Kernodle Center has served as the central hub of volunteer service and service learning at Elon. The Kernodle Center for Service Learning coordinates Elon Volunteers!, Elon’s dynamic volunteer program, and the Academic Service-Learning program. The center also coordinates domestic and international service trips, service events, the Service Learning Community, Federal work study in the community, America Reads and more.
One particularly unique aspect of the Kernodle Center is the volunteer staff of over 50 student coordinators and directors who work with students, staff, faculty and local agencies to manage the 50 programs and events sponsored by the Kernodle Center.
Erin Lawless, former student director of Academic Service-Learning and a 2003 graduate, says participation in service taught her about her role in the larger community.
“I have found that for me the answer to many problems in the world is to act, to actually be inside the problem and maybe live in it for a little while, or at least go out of your way to learn about it in depth and not to sit around and complain about it. Through service I have been able to do that.”
Kathy Manning, director of the Kernodle Center, says students learn a great deal by participating in the many service projects offered by Elon Volunteers! Academic Service-Learning connects those lessons about values and investment in the community to coursework.
“To fully understand, or even be able to question, the theories and material learned in class, it helps to have personal knowledge from direct experience,” says Manning. “Academic Service Learning is a powerful teaching method, allowing students to make a difference in the community while they practice what they’re learning. They’re not just memorizing facts for a test; they’re living it. The community becomes their classroom, and they become their own teachers. Then, students are able to put a name and a face with the issues they’ve been learning about and can begin to address complex societal problems.”
It seems Elon students are getting that message. Sophomore Megan Turlington’s English 110 class involved service learning at Family Abuse Services. Turlington says the experience opened her eyes to the realities of poverty and abusive relationships.
“I think it has helped me understand, on a more personal level, the hardships many families face. I think it has helped me have a deeper understanding of the severity of social issues such as poverty, and it’s reduced some of the stereotypes that are often associated with people in poverty.”
Sophomore Jonathan Aleshire has defined his role as a leader at Elon through his involvement in service. Aleshire has participated in the fall break service trip, led the spring break service trip to build homes in South Carolina, served as organizations liaison for Elon Volunteers! and as service events team coordinator Currently he serves as co-director of youth programs and service learning mentor in the service learning community.
“I really think that doing service teaches many life lessons,” says Aleshire. “Service at Elon is not just a thing for you to do when you have time. Doing service isn’t simply a way to satisfy a requirement for a class. It is a way of learning that is not teachable, but rather, gained through experience.”