Eleven teams from the University of Arkansas Clinton School of Public Service will fan out across the state, working with local people on public service projects during the 2017-18 academic year.
The public service projects include trying to help create economic opportunities in southeast Arkansas, assisting Arkansas museums and enhancing adult literacy programs in several Arkansas counties.
"What makes the Clinton School unique from other more traditional graduate programs is the field service work," said Skip Rutherford, dean of the Clinton School, in a statement. "In collaboration with community organizations, our students will help meet some important needs in Arkansas."
The projects are part of the Clinton School's Practicum program, the first of three public service projects students must complete during the two-year master's program.
Forty-four Clinton School students will participate in the projects while also completing in-class coursework.
Here is the list of projects, a brief description, team members and their hometowns:
Arkansas Farm to School
• Map existing assets that could potentially support farm-to-institution programs across Arkansas. The goal is to help create a searchable online map.
• Team: Nicole Hellthaler (Trumbull, Conn.), Joshua DeBruyn (Grand Rapids, Mich.), Amy Stewart (Lancaster, Pa.) and Alex Stradal (St. Louis).
Arkansas Literacy Councils
• Help develop a plan that addresses the needs of community-based adult literacy programs in Cleveland, Lincoln, Desha, Drew, Bradley, Ashley and Chicot counties.
• Team: Mark Cameron (Fayetteville), Megan Burrow (Hot Springs), Mallory Rusch (St. Louis) and Tiffany Phillips-Peters (Detroit).
Arkansas Historic Decisions Learning Exchange
• A partnership to enable four to five Arkansas museums -- including the U.S. Marshals Museum, Crystal Bridges Museum of American Art and MacArthur Museum of Arkansas Military History -- to develop issue guides about a historic decision related to the museums' institutional missions.
• Team: Allison Tschiemer (Dallas), Brian Wegner (Saginaw, Mich.), Nathan Davis (Sherwood) and Ganelle Blake (Little Rock).
EAST Initiative
• Help elementary school EAST programs to better understand service-learning programs and their unique opportunities and challenges. The EAST Initiative -- an acronym for Environmental and Spatial Technology -- is an educational program that combines elements of technology, teamwork and service learning in a way that involves students in their own learning.
• Team: Karen Zuccardi (Bogota, Colombia), Nora Vinas (Miami), Rebecca Webber (Little Rock) and Adriana Ongay (Philadelphia).
ForwARd Arkansas
• Support long-term academic partnerships between area middle schools and community institutions, culminating with a set of formalized school-community partnerships by this spring.
• Team: Connor Donovan (Little Rock), Kirby Richardson (Rogers), Katie Barnes (Atchison, Kan.) and Rachel Cole (Bloomington, Ind.)
Hope Academyof Public Service
• Assess the impact of a middle school public service curriculum.
• Team: Joseph Stepina (Coppell, Texas), Marina Giannirakis (Pittsburgh), Clay Turner (Leachville) and Beth Quarles (Nashville, Tenn.)
Phoenix Youthand Family Services
• Community planning and organization to create economic opportunities in the Desha County region.
• Team: Connor Flocks (Greenwood), Eric Kouadio (Dabou, Ivory Coast), Yaala Muller (Modi'in, Israel) and Marquisa Wince (Milwaukee).
Ronald McDonald House
• Explore ways for a nonprofit to expand services to area hospitals by creating or expanding programs.
• Team: Julie Joy (Portland, Maine), Nicole Kanu (Little Rock), Madhov Shroff (Hot Springs) and Patrick McBride (Washington, D.C.)
Thea Foundation
• Research arts-related scholarship winners since 2003. How many received college degrees, in what field and how long did it take? Where are they now? What field are they working or studying? The information will supplement research that shows students who grow up with interest and participation in the arts are more likely to graduate from college, be better in math and join social organizations.
• Team: Thad Smith (Little Rock), Izehi Oriaghan (Lagos, Nigeria), Salina Adolph (Little Rock) and John Jackson (Little Rock).
The Wallace Center at Winrock International
• Develop a strategy for the Wallace Center at Winrock International in local food and agriculture work in Arkansas.
• Team: John Mensah (Accra, Ghana), Wes Manus (Little Rock), Sara Swisher (Memphis) and Wesley Prewett (Russellville).
Women's Foundationof Arkansas
• Students will help the foundation create a designation or an accreditation for businesses and employers that support women in Arkansas working toward economic empowerment.
• Team: Starre Haas (Little Rock), Christine McCall (Chicago), Dylan Edgell (Pottsville) and Mariella Hernandez (Guayaquil, Ecuador).
Metro on 09/12/2017