Waynesburg University students have the opportunity to go on many different service trips during each year.
According to Kelley Hardie, Assistant Dean of Student Services, there were four service trips this past fall and three in the winter.
There will be five trips this spring, and then four in the summer after the school year ends.
The number of service trips that occur each year differs based on the number of service trips submitted and how many students apply to go on the trips.
According to Hardie, the trips are submitted by faculty or staff members who are interested in leading one..
“In our office, we just organize the logistics behind each of the trips, but our trip participants, faculty and staff, actually submit what they want to do,” said Hardie.
The spring service trips can also be used to satisfy the general education Service Learning requirement, according to Hardie.
“Students choose what trip they want to go on based on their area of interest, so we don’t select that for them,” said Hardie, “They can choose to either take it for service learning or not. Yes, it can fulfill the service learning requirement… but that’s completely up to the student to decide.”
The five spring service trips coming up and their faculty or staff leaders are: Pittsburgh, led by Adrienne Tharp, the coordinator of the Bonner Scholar Program; Antietam, Maryland, led by Rea Redd, Director of the Eberly Library and Courtney Dennis, the Associate Director of the Paul R. Stewart Museum.
The Habitat for Humanity trip, in Concord, North Carolina, will be led by Assistant Professor of Communication Chad Sherman and Graduate Assistant Erin Kern; Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation in Florida, led by
Associate Professors of Biology Chad Sethman and Bryan Hamilton and a Bahamas service trip, led by Professors of Nursing Terri Small and Lina Hixson.
Adrienne Tharp, has led the service trip to Pittsburgh for several years now and has also led the Habitat for Humanity trip in the past.
She said she thinks the educational experience for student will vary from trip to trip. Unlike the other trips, the spring service trip to Pittsburgh is required for all Bonner Scholars.
“On mine, we are staying locally, we’ll be in Pittsburgh, but [the students] will be learning a little bit about the history of Pittsburgh,
experiencing some of the cultural aspects of Pittsburgh and then also just learning a little more about urban poverty and having an opportunity to meet with people who are experiencing homelessness; serving some meals and working with some local organizations in the city,” said Tharp.
Tharp said the main difference on the trip each year from a leader’s perspective is definitely the students.
“You have different personalities and different dynamics, so that definitely changes, and just the experiences from year to year. I kind of learn what works well and what doesn’t. I find new things to try or visit in the city that we incorporate and I’m also exploring the options of changing the trip and doing something different next year.”
According to Tharp, each trip leader works to tie in the full mission of faith learning and service into the trips, as well as other educational aspects.
“Speaking on behalf of some of the other [leaders], I’m assuming they will be doing some cultural experiences, museum visits, things like that,” Tharp said. “As a trip leader, that’s something we always try to incorporate.”