For the first time, Ball State University's Office of Leadership and Service Learning will give students the opportunity to choose between two community service-oriented alternative Spring Break trips.
Students will visit either the Urban Life Center in Chicago to work with an inner-city arts and education program or rural Caretta, W. Va., to assist with community development through Big Creek People in Action.
"Students can choose trips that may relate to their majors or to the civic engagement activities they're interested in," J.R. Jamison, program director for Alternative Break, said. "It also allows more students to become part of the program."
Through Big Creek People in Action, a nonprofit organization, the students' community services could range from working with an education enrichment program in an area high school to completing painting or roofing projects in the community.
Jamison said 16 students will be selected this year to go to Caretta, which has one of the highest poverty rates and highest high school dropout rates in the United States.
Jamison said 10 other students will be selected to go to Chicago's Urban Life Center, featured on MTV's Real World Chicago in 2002. In addition to working with an inner-city arts and education program, students will get an opportunity to go through the center's street smarts course.
Last spring, students visited Caretta, where they built a retention pond to hold back floodwaters. During Fall Break, students went to Morocco, Ind., where they visited the Kankakee Sands Nature Conservancy to restore abandoned farmland back to natural prairie.
Because 200 students on average apply for Alternative Break, the office pays attention to how well students follow directions on the application form, what students hope to gain through the community service experience and their previous experiences in leadership. Jamison said students who have not held leadership positions in the past or who have not participated in a lot of community service are still encouraged to apply.
The cost of the trip is $250, of which $100 must be paid by the first orientation session for selected applicants. Jamison said the students will collect the balance by participating in several fundraising activities, including a cook-off and a letter-writing campaign during which letters will be sent to area businesses asking for donations.
He said according to assessment surveys conducted last spring, 56 percent of the students who attended last year's trip said they gained skills they could apply to classroom learning, while 81 percent agreed they gained a heightened awareness of their responsibility to help others.
Senior Josh Clauser, who was one of about 19 students who went to Caretta last spring, said it was one of his best spring break experiences.
"Spring Break is normally labeled as your time," Clauser said. "The best part of the alternative Spring Break is you go outside your norm."
Clauser said participating in the program will give students a renewed appreciation for the importance of community service.
"I hope students learn that there are people out there who need a hand," he said. "I hope they also walk away with friendship. Some of the friends I have now I met when I was on the trip last year."
Senior Christine Clark, who also went to Caretta last year, said being able to assist people in other communities was rewarding.
"We're looking for people who are willing and wanting to help and be involved," Clark said. "It's very satisfying to know you did something productive with your free time."
* Applications for the March 5-12 Alternative Spring Break trips can be downloaded at www.bsu.edu/lsl/ and are due at 5 p.m. Friday in Student Center room 118. For additional information, contact the Office of Leadership and Service Learning at 285-3476.
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