(back row, left to right) Katie Phifer, Jenny Moore, Sophia Davis
(front row, left to right) , Miss Emily Johnstone,
Miss Annie Ruth Garrison, Mr. Chester King

Service Learning "Seems Like a Natural Thing at Erskine"

Six years since its inception in the fall of 1994, the "service-learning" component of the liberal arts education offered at Erskine College is both an integral part of the Erskine experience for students and a welcome contribution to the community surrounding the Due West school.

"Dr. (James) Strobel (Erskine President 1990-98) asked me to attend a national forum on service-learning in Washington, D.C., in 1994," said Erskine English professor Dr. Brad Christie. "I did so and incorporated many ideas from that meeting into my freshman composition classes the following fall.

"We've been doing service-learning with the freshmen ever since."

Christie said most Erskine students have participated in the program. "The formal procedures of service-learning seem a natural for Erskine–another take on 'knowledge and morals conjoined'," Christie said, translating into English the school's motto, "Scientia cum moribus conjuncta."

Associate Dean of Students Penny Thomas has also worked with the service-learning program from the outset, according to Christie, and has helped to place students in appropriate service positions.

"We have placed Erskine students as far afield as the Thornwell Home for Children in Clinton and the South Carolina Botanical Gardens at Clemson," said Christie.

Christie said more typical placements are closer to home. Erskine students have undertaken service-learning at the Due West Retirement Center and community training homes in Due West; at Cherokee Trail Elementary School or Westwood Elementary in Abbeville; at the Connie Maxwell Home for Children and Bowers-Rogers Home in Greenwood, and with the Greenwood Literacy Council; and at Anderson Interfaith Ministry (AIM), the Anderson Free Clinic, and the Anderson Youth Association.

Christie's students are assigned an agency or organization for their service project, and several students may be assigned to one location.

Freshman and E.B. Kennedy Scholar Audrey Barry was assigned to the Emerald Center, which has several group homes in Due West, along with Anne Jeter, Miranda Rivers, and Freddy Wotjtkowski.

"I learned about working with people with mental handicaps-what to expect, what to do, how to react," Barry said.

She was nervous at first, but once she started talking to the residents, Barry said, "I felt at home right away."

Barry and the other members of her group enjoyed joking around with the residents, playing games, and just being there. "We played so many games of 'Uno'–you just wouldn't believe it."

Her time in the group homes was "very fulfilling," Barry said, "because I had the chance to do something that I had never done before."

"My group is planning to go back again to one of the homes to visit," Barry added.

Freshman Jenny Moore worked at the Due West Retirement Center (DWRC).

In the nursing home facility at DWRC, some of the residents had hearing, vision or other physical difficulties, and Moore was apprehensive at first, fearing she would not be up to the challenge. The experience turned out to be rewarding, she said.

"Most of the time we went over with classmates, but also ventured in by ourselves," Moore said. The residents seemed to enjoy the youthfulness of the college students who visited them, Moore said.

The students came to appreciate the DWRC residents as well. "Some days we took them on walks and it was so good for them to get outside for fresh air. It was a great experience.

"Even though my service hours are over, I plan on visiting the residents of the Due West Retirement Center again," Moore said.

Freshman Robert Wooley was assigned to the Connie Maxwell Children's Home in Greenwood, along with Amber Gremmer, Lauren Funderburk, and Tracy Dantzler. Because of schedule conflicts, Wooley went to Connie Maxwell on Saturdays and Sundays, while the other members of the group were able to visit during the week and help with homework.

"I worked with the activities director there," Wooley said. "Basically, the kids would come to the gym and we would play basketball, or play checkers or badminton. We didn't have a set schedule of games, we just played from 2-4 in the afternoon."

Wooley said the experience was "definitely rewarding." He said he actually wished he had been able to spend more time with the kids at Connie Maxwell. The service-learning component is a good thing for Erskine students, Wooley said. "It makes them get involved."

A key component of formal service-learning at Erskine is written reflection and evaluation in Christie's sections of English 101. Students must fulfil these written requirements as well as prepare and conduct formal presentations about their experiences at various service sites.

Christie said the service agencies the students have worked with have expressed gratitude for the help they have received. "I know of no service agency that is overstaffed," he said.

"This year two volunteer coordinators and two staff members from the Due West Retirement Center attended the presentations the students were required to make, to show how much they appreciated our students' help."

Christie is pleased with the results of the service-learning program. "I think we are successful in cultivating a culture of service at Erskine and perhaps instilling in some students the notion of service to others as an integral part, maybe the most important part, of lifelong learning."

Reflecting on his role as a teacher, Christie said, "Service-learning seems like a natural thing to be doing at a college like Erskine. It also fits my personal sense of teaching as a vocation: I think that teachers should be serving others, and that we can all learn plenty–even within our discrete academic disciplines–by doing so."

Christie tries to inspire in his students a dedication to service. "I remind entering freshmen each year that most of them come to college with plans or dreams of greatness in some area, and that Jesus showed his disciples–his students–that to be great in any arena, one must serve."

The service-learning component in Christie's classes reflects the larger purpose of Erskine College.

"Service-learning seems like a natural thing not only for a teacher at a college like Erskine but for anyone who professes faith in Christ," Christie said." I see it as a perfect example of excellence in learning pointedly pursued in the light of Christian commitment."