Portland Community College | Portland, Oregon

Students Learn and Serve Through Community Service

Photos and story by James Hill

by Chris MooreLike many students, Emily Brown’s days are packed full. The second-year engineering student carries a full-time load at Portland Community College and works part time for the City of Portland. As if that isn’t enough, once a week, Brown heads over to the offices of Wolftree, Inc., to put in several hours as a volunteer.Wolftree is a non-profit organization providing free educational programs in ecology to students in grades 5-12. Brown volunteers with Cascade Streamwatch, a Wolftree program that offers one-day field experiences in aquatic ecology. During the fall and spring, she helped organize and lead field trips that help give youth hands-on experience in watershed science.The field trips are rewarding for everyone involved – young people gain a new awareness and appreciation of the Pacific Northwest aquatic environment; volunteer mentors from the professional community get a chance to interact with the youngsters; and student volunteers like Brown get real-life experience in their fields of interest."I’m using what I’ve learned in chemistry and biology and I’m getting a chance to explore career possibilities,"says Brown, 25. On a field trip this fall, Brown met Travis Coley, a volunteer mentor from the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, who invited her to help with a stream restoration project at Hardy Creek in Washington. While working on the project, she also had a chance to talk with hydrologic engineer Russell Dutnell about career opportunities. Scholarships ease financial pressureBy definition, volunteer work is unpaid. But Brown does get tangible benefits from the time she spends at Wolftree. In addition to receiving class credit for her work, she is one of 22 students awarded a Service to Community scholarship for the 2000-2001 academic year.The $1,500 scholarships are funded by individuals, businesses, and community organizations, and are intended to pay most of the cost of full-time tuition and fees. In exchange, recipients agree to volunteer for a social service or education agency. Relieving some of the financial pressure makes it possible for Brown and others to combine their educational interests with volunteer work in the community.Washington Mutual, Inc., contributes regularly to the scholarship program. "Our focus for support is on education and housing,"says Sara Simshauser, regional manager and first vice president of the bank’s southwest Washington region."We try to get involved in programs that make a difference at the grassroots level,"she says. "The Service to Community scholarship allows people to improve their education and also be involved in the community. Emily Brown’s volunteer work at Wolftree is a perfect example of the kind of investment we want to make."Service learning on the increasePCC students have been earning academic credit for community service for many years through the college’s cooperative education program. PCC faculty members also have longstanding ties to the non-profit community. In 1994, a small group of faculty members began meeting to talk about the benefits of combining classroom instruction with practical, community-based volunteer work.As a result of those efforts, the college’s service learning program has grown to include about 60 participating faculty members in 15 disciplines across the district. Porter Raper, an English instructor at the Cascade Campus, serves as half-time coordinator."From the beginning, this has been an academically-focused program,"he says. "We’ve had great support from administration, cooperative education, and student services. We’re all working together to make it a success."Hundreds of students participate in the service learning program as part of their regular coursework. They serve in a variety of organizations, including Habitat for Humanity, the SMART (Start Making a Reader Today) program, and various homeless shelters.The work in the community is designed to enhance and support the learning that takes place in the classroom. It also gives students a chance to apply what they’ve learned in a real-world environment. And for many students, it provides an introduction to the concept of community involvement and volunteerism."As they become involved in volunteer work, students are challenged to explore their values and ethics,"Raper says. "They learn to work with people of diverse backgrounds and develop real-life skills. Service learning benefits the community, not only through the direct services of volunteers, but by educating citizens to be actively involved."PCC receives federal grantPCC recently received a $390,000 Learn and Serve America grant, awarded by the Corporation for National Service. The grant will provide $130,000 a year over a three-year period to allow PCC students to tutor and mentor for schools in the outer southeast and in north/northeast Portland. The grant will also help faculty to encourage public policy discussions in these communities, provide other partnerships with targeted neighborhoods, and help faculty develop service learning courses. The grant centers on building a community partnership between PCC and the Schools Uniting Neighborhoods (SUN) initiative. SUN, a collaboration of city, county, state, and public schools in Portland and Multnomah County, seeks to expand the use of neighborhood schools and turn them into full-time community centers. Working with SUN, says Raper, "PCC students, as part of their coursework, will be helping with homework clubs, literacy programs, and after-school recreational activities."For more information about service learning or the Service to Community scholarship program, please contact the PCC Foundation, 503-977-4382.