USU and Utah Campus Compact Honor Community Service Champions
Utah State University Stan Albrecht (right) and other guests congratulate Kristine Miller (holding award) at the Campus Compact Community Service Champion event.
Six local community service champions received award recognition through Utah Campus Compact and Utah State University. Awards were presented by the USU Center for Civic Engagement and Service-Learning staff and USU President Stan Albrecht at the president’s home during a luncheon ceremony April 11.
Kristine Miller received the Community Engaged Scholar award for her work in developing the Honors Think Tank courses, a multidisciplinary approach to tackling issues concerning food security and sustainable food systems. The Think Tank shows Honors students how to turn classroom learning about food sustainability into meaningful service and engagement in their community. The students partner with a local elementary school, community garden administrators and family farmers in the valley to raise public awareness about buying locally grown foods. In addition, Miller has worked with the Center for Civic Engagement and Service-Learning to develop a Service-Learning Scholars track for Honors students.
James Wirth received the Community Engaged Student award for his tireless work with the campus and community to improve sustainability in food recovery and food production. To those who are food insecure, his work with many groups has improved the quality of their lives in immeasurable ways. Wirth doesn’t just talk about changing the world; he jumps in fearlessly and embraces what needs to be done. During his time at USU he started the Food Recovery Network, Real Food Challenge and Permaculture Initiative. He, along with two other students, are taking the lead on a Campus Farmers Market in fall 2016 that will unite campus and community.
Hannah Pendergast also received the Community Engaged Student award. She has been a steady force for change in the Val R. Christensen Service Center. As the director of Students Together Ending Poverty (STEP), the Social Justice Issue area coordinator, the co-trip leader of an MLK Day alternative break and as one of the USU representatives on the Utah Campus Compact Student Advisory Council, Pendergast has been part of significant service initiatives. She is committed to constructing the bridge between a campus-based volunteer corps and the community in which she lives. Her outstanding qualities lie in her organizational skills and her relentless problem-solving skills. Whether she is lugging armfuls of quilts across campus or cooking Thanksgiving turkeys for local homeless youth, Pendergast knows that the only way for effective, meaningful service to take root is to clear the path by organizing important details and preparing her fellow students in advance of their engagement with their community.
Dennise Gackstetter received the Community Engaged Alum award. For almost two years, Gackstetter has provided art empowerment programs to a group of young refugee and immigrant women. Such programs instill confidence in these individuals and allow the girls to embrace their unique identities and cultures through art. The programs include Empowerment Through Visual Journals, Girls Go Outside and BLOOM. The young women had the opportunity to visit campus, explore their identities, take part in outdoor activities, create art and poetry and practice positive self-image. Gackstetter’s passion for instilling confidence in young, underserved women can be seen through her work and transcends into the community.
Larry Smith received the Community Engaged Staff/Administrator award. Over the past two years, Smith has been the voice for community engagement among USU’s administration. He frequently represents USU administration at Utah Campus Compact Community Engagement meetings. He has exposed new faculty to the Service-Learning pedagogy and has encouraged them to consider how to adapt their courses to meet community identified needs. He has also been instrumental in paving the way for the Carnegie Community Engagement classification.
Cache Refugee & Immigrant Connection (CRIC) received the Committed Community Partner award. CRIC’s mission is to promote integration, economic self-sufficiency and positive connections among refugees, immigrants and the wider community through improved access to services and education. CRIC exemplifies what it means for a community partner to serve as co-educator. Last year, CRIC worked closely with two faculty members and more than 100 students. In addition, 20 USU students volunteer regularly with a weekly citizenship course, the refugee garden and walk-in hours, where refugee families can receive assistance with bills, job applications and school paperwork. CRIC allows students the opportunity to take on significant leadership roles and apply their degrees to high impact programs for the local refugee community.
More information on USU Center for Civic Engagement and Service-Learning can be found online.
More information on the Utah Campus Compact can be found at its website.
Contact: Kate Stephens, Center for Civic Engagement and Service-Learning, 435-797-8135, kate.stephens@usu.edu
Honoree James Wirth.
Honoree Hannah Pendergast.
Honoree Dennise Gackstetter.
Honoree Larry Smith.
Randy Williams (second from right) accepts the Committed Community Partner award on behalf of the Cache Refugee and Immigrant Connection.
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