Beyond-the-Classroom Community Engaged Learning
Beyond-the-Classroom Community-Engaged Learning
in beyond the classroom learning experiences
Record-Setting Days of Service Participation!
Spartan Days of Service returned in the 2022-2023 school year in a big way! In partnership for these events, the Center for Community Engaged Learning (CCEL) and the MSU Alumni Office were able to host the first fully in-person Spartan Day of Service since the COVID-19 pandemic. Our Spartan students showed up to help the community with our largest in-person turnout in two years.
All volunteers were provided with a program T-shirt, round-trip transportation, a light breakfast, and a boxed lunch thanks in large part to the main sponsor, Michigan State University Federal Credit Union. CCEL and MSU Alumni are proud of the numbers below:
Fall 2022 participants
264Winter 2023 participants
83Spring 2023 participants
406Total Student Participants
753Total Hours of Service
3765 (753 student participants x 5 hours of service)Financial Equivalent
$113,514(3,765 x $30.15) of service dollars back into the community.*
*Michigan hourly rate based on the independent sector.
The 2022 Summer of Service Challenge Takes You on a Scavenger Hunt!
Keeping up with an annual tradition of a Summer of Service Challenge, MSU’s Center for Community Engaged Learning's plan this year was a game on the Goose Chase App, a free scavenger hunt app. Each week starting May 16, new challenges called “missions” appeared on the app at noon on Monday.
There were a variety of missions. The missions were flexible for what opportunities were available to the students, wherever they called home in the summer, and whatever they had the means to do. Also, the students could do as many or as few as they wanted. Each mission was worth a set number of points, occasionally with the option of bonus points.
The top point-earners all won prizes! There were 45 participants throughout the summer with seven who tied as the challenge winners!
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Alternative Spartan Breaks Hagamos un bosque! | Let's build a forest!
MSU Alternative Spartan Breaks (ASB) has been sending students to Costa Rica for close to 10 years. Last year we were able to send eight students to Nacientes Palmichal, a beautiful community-run lodge in Palmichal, Acosta. Anna Dunnebacke, a forestry and fisheries and wildlife student, loved the experience so much that she decided to return in 2023 as a selected site leader.
In addition to being selected for a leadership position, Anna was the conduit for connecting Tina Houghton, ASB advisor, and Justin Kunkle, forestry undergraduate advisor. Their collaboration resulted in a unique international community-engaged learning experience for Justin and 10 forestry students.
During their alternative break, students addressed community-identified needs. One larger project involved using existing materials from the forest to create a safe overlook to view the valley. Students built a natural platform constructed of large boulders and moved soil to level off the area. After being identified as an invasive species, cypress trees were cut down, then cut to length and stripped of their bark. The wood was used for the posts and railings to finish the overlook. Students also constructed an amphitheater to serve as an outdoor classroom space. Students created a wall of rock, including built-in seating, providing a shaded area for groups to meet for educational programming.
In addition to direct service, this collaboration provided an opportunity for students to exchange ideas about forest management with members of the reserve. The students were asked for their suggestions on how to manage the area moving forward.
As a result of this alternative break experience, the forestry department plans to return as part of ASB in spring 2024.
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