Hundreds of students in Iowa State University College of Human Sciences learning communities volunteered to beautify the Iowa State campus on Friday, Sept. 11, as part of the United Way “Day of Caring.”
Approximately 300 first-year students registered to help – so they comprised the lion's share of the 600 volunteers in Story County, according to Frankee Oleson, executive director of United Way of Story County.
"For the first time ever, we have a huge group of students -- you," Oleson told the student volunteers at a gathering in LeBaron Auditorium on Thursday night. "You are representing yourselves really well," she said.
The large showing kept organizers on their toes. They ran out of t-shirts and sought out more tasks to make use of the extra help.
"It's been a busy day. We probably had 35 or 40 people show up to help in the first 20 minutes," said David Madsen, a groundskeeper in campus services who supervised students as they worked their way across campus, carting and spreading mulch. "We gave students the option of picking up garbage, but [we have had so much help that] now they are returning saying they can't find any more trash," he said.
The abundance on volunteers made short work of spreading 10 truckloads of mulch in shrub beds.
"I love helping out the community," said Erin Puk, a senior in elementary education and peer mentor in the Preparing Tomorrow's Teachers learning community.
Organizers said that service-learning projects help new students get to know each other – and also help them feel invested in the campus and the Ames community.
“When I move to a new place, the first thing I do is clean and organize the cupboards. Once I’ve done that, the place begins feeling like it’s mine,” said Hina Patel, a program coordinator in teacher education who is helping to coordinate the volunteer work.
Likewise, sprucing up the campus helps new students take ownership, Patel said.
Helping students feel connected when they first arrive on campus is important for retention, said Corly Brooke, associate dean for undergraduate education in the College of Human Sciences.
“Learning communities are all about student retention and this is just one of many ways we help students feel like they belong here. It’s important for them to get the impact really early in their college careers so it will have long-lasting effects,” Brooke said.
Dayle Nickerson, learning communities coordinator in the College of Human Sciences, agreed.
“We need to provide more opportunities for our students to do service learning – to make them more aware of their surroundings. This work builds a stronger desire to be involved. We’re building good citizens,” Nickerson said.
Ali Barker, a freshmen in elementary education from Panora, said that the transition from high school to college is a big one.
Pitching in helped Barker get to know the campus and other students.
"It's different here. Back home, when you had a reading assignment, you generally did it with everyone else in class. Here, you're on your own. It's all about time management," Barker said as she jumped in to help. "I'm doing pretty well here, if I may say so," she said.
