Service Learning (Reflection)

I completed my service learning at The Arbors of Bedford, a nursing home for older adults suffering with memory loss due to dementia. Their mission is to care for the whole person in a manner that promotes freedom, choice and the opportunity to live a meaningful life (n.a., 2017). The Arbors of Bedford promotes a therapeutic environment by creating an open and welcome environment and by giving the residents as much choice in their lives as possible. For example, they can choose whether to sit by the window in a seat by themselves, or in a living room chair with a group of people. There is usually a television or music playing in one section, while another section is quiet which allows the residents to choose the setting that is best for them. They host a variety of activities that focus on different therapy areas. The activities offered include listening to spiritual hymns, tai chi, craft designs, piano performances, and invention trivia. These components together, along with a caring and competent staff, allow The Arbors of Bedford to fulfill their mission statement.

Service Learning is an educational strategy set in place to enlighten students with instruction and experience, in addition to improve learning , teach responsibility, and support the community. Service learning is vital to the development of the student, given that it intertwines academic and personal development together. It is aimed to enhance a student’s learning in all aspects of life.

Before deciding where I wanted to do my service learning, I knew I wanted to do something that had some relevance to my degree that I will be receiving in healthcare management. I was eager to gain more experience and become more knowledgeable of how an organization operates as it relates to healthcare management. I was able to secure an opportunity to volunteer at the Dallas Veterans Affairs (VA) Hospital. After completing the required VA forms, I got partnered with Mr. Alonzo Price Jr. who is a Management Analyst in Ambulatory Care, which is the department that oversees the Primary Care Providers.

I have had the opportunity to volunteer for the All Major Career Fair. I have volunteered many times before, but never had the opportunity to do a career fair. I have found through the experience that I need to volunteer more often. Before I volunteered for this career fair, I have not volunteered in a while. Whenever the Kennesaw State has another career fair I will definitely take the time out to volunteer on my own.

For my service learning hours, I decided to assistant coach at Four Corners Charter Upper School. When I took on this task, being tremendously excited to work with the girls there and give back to this school. My role consisted of being the assistant coach to my sister Amanda Ramirez, helping her to guide and train the girls to learn the sport of lacrosse. Having experience in coaching high school girl’s lacrosse, I came in with drills and strategies to be the most effective assistant coach. The girls that decided to come out for the team haven’t ever heard of the sport, which became a good thing for coaching, giving us the upper hand for coaching and teaching the sport to the girls.

Today I met with Teri to present my service learning project to her. I explained to her that I had made a brochure to present all the information about depression to her and that she could keep it. I felt nervous and anxious about presenting. In my brochure I included a brief definition of what depression is, predisposing factors, signs/symptoms, complications, treatments, medications, prognosis, ways to relieve stress/anxiety, and resources to gather more information on depression. As I was presenting my project I began to feel more relaxed and at ease. I tried to make my brochure as brief as possible, so that it was easy to understand, but include all the information needed as well. I feel that I did a pretty job of meeting this goal. I went

The purpose of the service learning activity is to experience community service and feel more connected to the community, Edgewater. When I am able to reach out to my community members, specifically older adults, I believe I will be able to address their needs as well as contribute myself to provide them the essential services they want/need in their surroundings. Also, as a part of the course “Aging in America,” my goal is to be familiar with the different aspects of Aging in America such as demographics, aging and ageism, gerontology, and healthcare workforce. Upon completion of this service learning as well as this course, I want to be able to demonstrate the aging process, describe the theories of aging, and appreciate the multidisciplinary

For my Community Service Learning placement, I am volunteering for PAAL, which is a program for children and youth with physical and intellectual impairments. Their vision is to offer individuals who otherwise may not get the chance, an opportunity to participate in a wide variety of physical activities.

Each school, because of government mandate, has to provide services for exceptional students. The textbook Human Diversity in Education defines exceptional students as “those eligible for special educational services” (Cushner, McClelland & Safford, 2011). There are several categories for exceptional student but they all fall under the Ability/Disability continuum. Some of the categories for exceptional students are the: intellectually gifted, specific learning disability, emotionally handicapped, hearing impaired, visually impaired, mentally handicapped, and physically handicapped. In this paper the specific type of students that will be discussed, fall under the disabled side of the continuum. As one can see from the list above there

The facility I chose to volunteer at to complete my service learning was the CMPD Animal Care and Control. The CMPD Animal Care and Control was a good place to do my service learning because it related to my topic perfectly. The CMPD Animal Care and Control because they take a variety of breeds. They are also very informative about breed discrimination. The organization is part of the Charlotte-Mecklenburg Police Department, but they work with animals. The organization provides safety to citizen and animals in the community. They promote proper pet ownership and loving homes for adoptable pets. Another goal is to decrease the overpopulation with spay and neuter clinics.

For my Reflective Service Learning Project, I volunteered at Westminster Shores Community Living. Westminster Shores is a community living center, with independent living and assisted living. They hold many events for the residents that lives there, as well as involve the volunteers in discussion groups. In addition, on of the main goals of the volunteer program is to create a connection between the students that volunteer and the residents who Live at Westminster Shores. As a volunteer, I participated in discussion groups, Saturday morning activities, and a “Day of Friendship”. Originally, being introduced to this volunteer opportunity, I though I was going to be sitting and talking to residents while playing games and doing puzzles. Although I love those activities, I was very pleased when I learned that I was going to be involved in discussion groups and projects. One of the main goals of the volunteering program is to connect students with the residents, so being involved in communicating with the residents creates a connection. I was able to connect one on one with some residents, as well as chat in bigger groups. In addition, I participated in the set-up of the Holiday Market, which is held annually, and I met several female residents with tables, selling homemade items. I enjoyed and learned about them talking to them through set-up. Furthermore, during the “Day of Friendship”, I spent the day with one resident and am still in contact with him and his wife. Through

I was assigned to work for America Learns at an elementary school in Roxbury for my service learning placement. America Learns works with students from kindergarten to third grade, the program is structured to offer both tutoring and an additional activity each session. The activity is intended to teach the children critical thinking skills, diversity and cultural awareness, and experiential learning, as well as help to improve basic reading skills. Twice a week each tutor works with a student through the entire program, both homework help, and the activity. The goal is that throughout the weeks of the program the tutor and student will build a relationship that benefits both parties involved.

Ever since I began my service learning project I have learned more about myself and social work as a profession. I have also been challenged by being paired with a client that is completely different than me. Dr. Sue Atwood has lived a very different life than me and views the world differently than I do. The diversity between Dr. Sue Atwood and myself is something that I truly enjoy. After realizing how beautiful diversity is, the competency that would best be applied to my service learning project would be engaging diversity and difference in practice. This competency is something that I have had to master since I began my service learning project. Dr. Sue Atwood and her husband Dr. Wesley Atwood lived a wonderful life together. They traveled

My service learning was based on the campus sustainability. The most important thing that I learned from doing this community service project was that people really do care about our school, our campus, and they do care for others. From the very first meeting, the students that participated during this project had a lot to say about how we, as students and teachers, should always help clean up our school. By helping keep Dillard clean, it shows not only cleanliness, it also shows that we care about this school. Well I cannot speak on everyone's behalf, but I know most student would love to come to a school that is clean and appreciated.

According to Kathleen Flecky and Lynn Gitlow, service-learning is defined as, “learning that occurs in experiences, reflection, and civic engagement” (Flecky & Gitlow, 2011). In recent years more universities are implementing service learning into their curriculum. A key concept of service learning is civic responsibility. Civic responsibility can simply be defined as your responsibilities as a citizen. As will be shown later in this paper, service learning can have many benefits not only to a student, but also to the community members