9/11 Week of Service
To commemorate the victims of the
September 11th terrorist attacks, freshman from Delta State University and students from Nailor
Elementary School participated in a
service-learning project at the Cleveland
elementary school. The annual event,
which was held September 11 – 15, was organized by Delta
State University’s
Delta Center for Culture and Learning. The activities focused on health, nutrition,
and exercise, and the project is one of the kickoff events for Delta State
University’s 2007 focus
on Delta Health and Wellness. Events of
the project included the painting of a food pyramid on a cafeteria wall,
repainting the playground equipment, painting trashcans and parking lot
markers, painting the school’s mascot for display, and adding new landscaping
to the front of the school. The project,
“gives the new students at Delta
State a chance to serve and get to know the community and engages the
schoolchildren in projects that directly benefit their learning environment,”
according to Tamika Eatmon, DSU’s
coordinator for community and student engagement.
The program benefited roughly 350
Nailor Elementary students in 21 classes.
The 256 Delta State freshmen who participated in the Week of Service
were enrolled in the GST 100 Delta Discovery courses. Students from all 20 of the GST 100 classes
participated in the project. They were
aided by 36 faculty-staff mentors
who lent a hand during the event. The
efforts of the freshmen resulted in the contribution of 256 service-learning hours
to the community. The DSU students
participated in activities in one of four areas: classroom activities,
the food
pyramid mural, the mascot painting, or
school beautification. To facilitate the completion of these
projects, five Americorps and community members and
eight Delta Center staff members organized and led the various activities. Fourteen
members of the Cleveland Youth Council also donated their time for the
event.
This project was made possible
through the generosity of many people. Cleveland
Lumber donated two large sheets of plywood; The Greenskeeper
gave four confederate jasmine plants; Wal-Mart donated four bags of potting
soil, four large garden pots, and two topiaries for potting; Turner Sweet
Potatoes of Belzoni, MS gave 340 pounds of sweet potatoes; Cleveland Quality
Produce provided additional sweet potatoes; the Nailor Elementary PTA provided
paint; the Nailor students and teachers collected jars; Kroger also donated
jars; finally, the staff and faculty of Delta State University donated the
remaining jars needed, inundating the Delta Center with their generosity the
week before the event. Our thanks to all
who gave and all who helped make this week possible.
Classroom
Activities
Most
of the Delta State students visited classrooms at
Nailor and were able to interact with the elementary students. DSU students were paired with one (or
occasionally two) Nailor students and aided them with the classroom activities. First, every Nailor student was given a sweet
potato that he or she was then able to plant in a glass jar. This part of the project allows the Nailor
students to observe the growth cycle of the potato as well as have their own
plant. After planting the sweet
potatoes, the classes participated in a grade-appropriate activity involving
sweet potatoes or nutrition. The pre-kindergarten
and kindergarten classes colored a drawing of a sweet potato, the 1st
and 2nd grade classes filled out a health and nutrition booklet with
the help
of the DSU students, 3rd grade classes did word games (for
example, how many different words can be formed using the letters in ‘sweet
potato’), the 4th, 5th, and 6th grade classes
played a Jeopardy-style game about nutrition, and the 5th and 6th
grade classes also did a math puzzle that highlighted the nutritional value of
sweet potatoes. All the classes received
a food pyramid handout to take home. Finally,
a Delta State student led exercises in a game
similar to Simon Says. Based on the
feedback from the Delta State students, the vast majority both felt that they
accomplished something through their participation and believed that they were
more likely to participate in community service activities because of their
participation in the 9/11 Week of Service.
When one Delta
State freshman was asked
what she accomplished by the end of the session, she wrote, “I made a
connection with the little girl in the short period of time I was there.”
Food Pyramid Mural
Kara
Courtney, a recent graduate and art major of Delta State
University, drew a mural
of the new food pyramid in the school’s cafeteria. Delta
State students then
helped paint in the mural. Nailor
Elementary students will now have a constant reminder and reinforcement of how
to eat healthy.
Mascot Painting
Kara
Courtney also drew a tiger, the mascot of Nailor Elementary, from a stencil
made by Kay Stricklin. Delta
State students then added
paint to the drawing. The mascot now
hangs on the outside of the school next to the main doors.
School Beautification
In
addition to hanging Nailor’s mascot on the school,
the 9/11 Week of Service completed several other projects aimed at improving
the appearance of the school. Playground
equipment, trash cans, and parking lot markers all received a fresh coat of
paint from Delta State students. Volunteers also worked on a landscaping
project near the school’s main entrance.
An employee at the school remarked, “You really are making a visible
difference.” About his experience, one Delta State
student wrote, “I feel we’ve helped make the playground better,” and indicated
that he was more likely to participate in community service after the
experience.
This page was created by John Heggen of the Delta Center