02-02-2025 Edu - Flipbook - Page 2
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The Baltimore Sun | Sunday, February 2, 2025
Cultivating tomorrow’s changemakers
College students transform communities through service-learning programs
By Kate Lawless, Contributing Writer
L
ast summer, at the edge of a sprawling garden, Lily L’Oiseau knelt in the
soil, gently harvesting sprigs of fresh
basil. A junior at Goucher College
majoring in environmental studies
and engineering science, L’Oiseau is not just
a student – she’s a changemaker. Through
Goucher’s Community-Based Learning (CBL)
program, she has revitalized a partnership
with TALMAR, a Baltimore-based therapeutic
garden, leading fellow students in environmental service efforts.
“This program has taught me so much
about leadership and collaboration,” L’Oiseau
shares. “I’ve gained confidence in my ability to
navigate new situations and support meaningful change in our community.”
L’Oiseau’s story is just one example of
the transformative power of community service programs at Goucher College, Stevenson
University and the University of Baltimore
(UB). These institutions are shaping future
leaders, leaving a profound impact on
Baltimore’s neighborhoods through innovative
service initiatives.
Lily L’Oiseau and Goucher College’s
Community-Based Learning Program
Goucher’s CBL program began officially in
1993 and has evolved into a robust initiative
blending academic learning with impactful
service. Anchored by principles of social justice and reciprocal partnerships, the program
offers students diverse service opportunities,
from tutoring local schoolchildren to promoting environmental sustainability. Community
service learning is integrated into a variety of
courses at Goucher, providing students with
exposure and hands-on experience that reinforces academic learning outcomes.
L’Oiseau’s service journey started at
Lutherville Lab, where she tutored elementary
students in reading and math skills. Inspired by
her environmental studies focus, she partnered
with TALMAR last summer to support their
mission of sustainable farming and therapeutic
gardening. As one of the program’s Student
Leaders for Civic Action, L’Oiseau oversees
volunteer recruitment, organizes training sessions and collaborates with TALMAR staff to
align goals with outcomes.
“I’ve learned practical skills – like when
to harvest crops – and deeper lessons about
leadership and working collaboratively with
As a student leader of Goucher College's community-based learning program, Lily L’Oiseau manages the college's service efforts and student volunteers at TALMAR,
a Baltimore-based therapeutic garden.
diverse groups of people,” L’Oiseau explains.
“It’s rewarding to see how our efforts directly
benefit both the environment and the people
TALMAR serves.”
Once she graduates, L’Oiseau plans to pursue a master’s degree in environmental engineering and later hopes to work on policies
and sustainability efforts within communities.
She believes the skills she is honing through
the CBL program will directly support her in
achieving these goals.
The CBL program’s structure enables success for students like L’Oiseau as well as community partners like TALMAR. “Our work is
rooted in collaboration,” says Lindsay Johnson
Walton, director of community-based learn-
ing at Goucher. “By intentionally including
community partners in the co-creation of the
work we do together, our students immediately
see the difference between doing work for the
community versus doing work with the community.”
Walton says this distinction equips and
inspires many Goucher graduates to pursue
social sector careers aimed at reimagining
efforts to reduce modern poverty.
Sandra Matthews and Stevenson University’s
Service Scholars Program
Sandra Matthews, a third-year student at
Stevenson University majoring in counseling
and human services, also exemplifies how
community service transforms lives. As one
of Stevenson’s Service Scholars, Matthews volunteers at the university’s food pantry and
recently led efforts to organize a campus-wide
service fair.
“I was first introduced to community service in fifth grade, and I’ve volunteered in
various ways ever since,” Matthews says. “This
program has allowed me to continue serving
while also encouraging me to take on leadership roles and connect with people from all
walks of life.”
Launched in 2018, Stevenson’s Service
Changemakers,
continued on page 8
The importance of health
and wellness
New resources for students are
vital to success
By E. Rose Scarff, Contributing Writer
I
t is well known that nursing can be a stressful occupation and during the pandemic it
was even more so. At the University of
Maryland School of Nursing in Baltimore,
it was an opportunity to look closely at
what was being done to help its nursing students. Results from a questionnaire found that
students felt the school did care about their
wellbeing, but that they did not have time
to focus on their wellbeing or wellness. This
led to a new curriculum for the Bachelor of
Science in nursing program.
“First semester students actually learn how
to address their stress and burnout as a nursing
student,” says Kelsey Bradford, M.D., M.P.H.,
assistant professor in the department of family and community health and school health
officer, “and then we give them the resources
for how to manage that as they become professional nurses.” The course itself uses resources from the Maryland Nurses Initiative for
renewal, resilience and retention to strengthen
the bridge from education to practice.
Bradford also works with the student
affairs team to determine what they could
do to address the wellness and wellbeing for
the students. They have decided to expand
the offerings to faculty and staff because they
would be unable to do their jobs well if they
were not taking care of themselves.
In addition to the Baltimore campus, there
is also one in Shady Grove, and they are two
different types of campuses. Bradford is working with the new director of wellness at Shady
Grove to encourage students to take advantage
of programs on both campuses.
“We set up a table during Mental Health
month in May so that students could take
a break,” says Bradford. “We included facts
about mental health, but then we had little
treats and essential oils that they could smell
to calm themselves.” There were stickers and
other giveaways. Because it was during final
exams, a pretty stressful time, they made it fun.
They plan to continue their outreach efforts
by mapping out the different dimensions of
wellness and what resources they already have
and what they still need. For example, they are
looking to hire a senior care and wellbeing specialist because that is something that many of
their students and nurses must contend with.
At Towson University, an academic coach
pilot program has been started in the theater
department because the professors were having to handle things unrelated to their classes,
such as scheduling and time management
issues. In the theater department, students
have a unique set of needs. They have late
hours for rehearsals, and then they have all
their classes during the day.
“Towson does have academic coaching in our academic commons,” says Corey
Hennessey, adjunct professor, academic coach
and First Year Experience (FYE) advisor, “but
we thought, what if we have someone come in
who knows their language?”
FYE has been in operation at Towson for
many years to help freshmen transition from
high school to college, but it mostly focuses
on academics. Students are assigned a FYE
adviser based on their major and usually retain
that adviser unless they change majors.
Hennessey is FYE advisor for all new
theater majors, helping students with time
management, how to interact with professors,
how to take care of themselves in a new environment and providing health and wellness
resources with a theater arts point of view.
Now with the addition of this department
level coaching, Hennessey is helping students
gain awareness, become more autonomous,
and independent in their thinking and in their
decision making. It’s a natural progression of
the program that was already there.
The focus has been on first year students
to see what works and what doesn’t, although
a few upperclassmen have sought out this
resource. Students always have the option to
not come to the coaching sessions, but it's
highly encouraged. Next year these theater
students will have a different advisor depending on what their concentration will be, and a
new set of freshmen will arrive.
Because the theater department is small,
students are advised to have specific advisors
for their concentrations and that they have
classes with everyone in the department. This
broadens the ability of students and faculty to
communicate with each other.
The goal with the coaching program is you
are going to talk about schedules or time management or stress during tests, and then what
do you do with those techniques? How do you
apply these to your life? It’s really coaching in
life skills they can use forever.
Another pilot program has begun at
University of Maryland, College Park where
a mental health clinician is now in place at
different schools to help with that population
The University of Maryland School of Nursing provided facts about mental health during Mental Health month..
and their unique needs. Currently the school
of engineering, the college of information, the
school of public policy, and the college of journalism are the four schools who are engaged
in this pilot.
The clinician assigned to a specific school
will become versed in the mental health needs
of that population to be better able to help
them. This offers the greatest flexibility and
accessibility for those seeking help. Because of
the size of each of these schools, the clinician
will not be able to get to know every student,
but by being readily available, it’s hoped that
they can reach those who need them most.
Often students will be referred to the clinician by a faculty member who notices a
student having a problem of some sort, or
they can seek the services of the clinician
themselves. The clinician will do a brief assessment of the presenting problem. “Either they
themselves provide the service,” says Chetan
Joshi, Ph.D., director, University of Maryland,
College Park Counseling Center and special
assistant to the senior associate vice president
of student affairs, “or they'll refer to the central
counseling center for whatever additional services the students might need.”
Although the clinician will be involved in
any emergency situation, most of their work
will be to provide outreach and prevention
services. Recently graduate students in the
society for mechanical engineers asked their
clinician to talk to them about health and wellbeing. The clinicians also host outreach and
prevention services ranging from large scale
programs to small tabling events.
All this is an extension of the counseling
center with an emphasis on flexibility and
accessibility for all these services. As a pilot
program, the information gained during this
first year will help assess the needs in these
specific environments. The hope is that these
services will continue to evolve and grow there
and possibly be introduced to other schools as
funding becomes available.
