Alternative Spring Break trips focus on service learning

Students, faculty and staff fanned out across the nation and closer to home to participate in Alternative Spring Break service projects.

One group traveled to San Benito, Texas, to study refugee/immigration issues on the Texas-Mexico border, where they engaged in service learning at La Posada Providencia, an emergency shelter for men, women and children from around the world who are seeking asylum in the U.S. Participants included Nichol Brose (student leader), Adam Hoover, Kristina Kamm, Emma Penrose, Ronald Ritchart, Kassidie Roudebush, Michaela Slone, Jessica Sucheck, Elizabeth Wren and Paul Stark.

Another group ventured a couple of hours east to Cuyahoga Valley National Park, where they helped to improve the trails and learned about the park’s history. Participant Rachel James reported that the group also placed stones along the paths to help improve safety. There was an educational component as well, as the group learned to plant trees and studied different plants and wildlife that inhabit the park. Elizabeth Finnegan and Cayla Shreffler also participated in this service trip.

Dr. David Hogan, Dr. David Kimmel, Jacqueline Sironen, Deana Shook, Daniele Wolf and Caleigh Blumensaadt spent the week volunteering with Habitat for Humanity in Tiffin. The group cleaned and organized the warehouse and worked on a renovation project in New Riegel.

A group from Heidelberg will be heading to Biloxi, Miss., in mid-May.