Service Learning
Past/Ongoing Projects
Community Partners
Serv. Learning Courses
  Spring '06
  Spring '05
  Spring '04
  Fall '04
  Fall '03
Serv. Learning Tools
Contact Info

Fall '03 Service Learning Courses

ELA 1013 Environmental Science: Dr. Susan Sutheimer
Students designed a handicapped access ramp using environmentally friendly materials for Fernhill Environmental Center, presenting group ideas to a representative from Fernhill and reflecting on the advantages and disadvantages of each design.

ELA 1043 Utopias: Envisioning the Good Society: Dr. Jon Jensen (Spring 2002)
Students each completed 12 hours of service in a wide array of activities. The service was to relate to the student's idea of Utopia. They then wrote a paper reflecting on the experience.

ELA 1045 Environmental Ethics: Steven Fesmire (Fall 2003)
Steven offered various projects that included tree planting as extra credit. All students interested had to do a written reflection piece.

ELA 1064 Leisure Appreciation and the Natural Environment: Dr. Thayer Raines (various semesters)
Historically, students are required to spend a day in service outdoors. This has included working in the garden, cleaning up trash along the Poultney River, assisting with recycling, and various other activities followed by either verbal reflection or a discovery report form.

ART 2053, ART 2054 Graphic Design I and II : Dr. Jen Steinmetz (each fall and spring)
These courses historically contain a service-learning element. Past projects have included logo design for the Paramount Theatre in Rutland and bikeways brochures for Lake Champlain Bikeways, among others. This year, projects include designing a logo and web-page for the De Cruz Institute and designing a poster presentation for a medical conference.

BIO 1021 Biology I: Dr. Meriel Brooks (Fall 2001)
Students have developed materials for the section of the Poultney Educational Trail that runs through the Green Mountain Campus that interpret the natural communities for users. These materials primarily consist of brochures designed to carry along as one walks the trail. Topics include:

• From the Nature Trail to the Backyard: Gardening with Native Plants. This brochure points out various ornamental plants that occur along the trail naturally and suggests how to use them in a garden.
  
  
• Stops on GMC Trail. This brochure maps various sites and describes the natural history of the plant species one sees at the sites.
  
  
• Native American Uses of Local Flora. This brochure describes how Native Americans used the plants one can see along the trail.
  
  
• Native and Non-native Medicinal Plants in Vermont. This brochure points out the plants along the trail that have medicinal uses.
  
  
• Fish of the Poultney River. This is a fishwatcher's guide to common fish fauna.
  
  
• I Spy: A Way for Kids and Their Parents to Explore Nature with the Senses. This brochure describes activities along the trail for children under the age of 5.

BIO 3021 Conservation Biology: Natalie Coe (Fall 2003)
The class helped to plant 2000 trees to stabilize riverbanks in Benson, VT. The participants did a one-page reflection piece in addition to speaking at length with the person in charge.

CHE: Dr. Susan Sutheimer (Spring 2002)
Students conducted research with a Putney, Vermont, wool processing business aimed at removing chemical pollutants (soap and lanolin) from the wastewater that results from cleaning wool.

ENV 2019 ST: Energy and the Environment: Steven Letendre (Fall 2003)
The class helped in the Poultney Village's Change-A-Light program that attempted to change one energy inefficient light bulb with an energy efficient one. The class did a reflection worksheet at the end of the semester.

ENV 3000 Watershed Management: Dr. Rebecca Purdom
Working with the Poultney-Mettawee Natural Resources Conservation District, students researched and surveyed the public on different issues surrounding the Poultney-Mettawee Watershed. The resulting issue papers were used for watershed planning and will also be published (made possible by a grant from the Vermont Community Foundation).

ENV 3004/SUS 3003 Building Sustainable Communities: Jacob Park (Fall 2003)
The class was given six different community partners to choose to work with throughout the semester, with a paper/presentation of their work given at the end of the semester.

ENV 3009 Land Use Planning: Dr. Rebecca Purdom (Spring 2002)
Students assisted the Town of Manchester, Vermont with land-use planning.

ENV 3054 Sustainable Farm Systems: Philip Ackerman-Leist (Fall 2003)
The class wrote the 2004-2006 strategic plan for the GMC farm, utilizing regional farms as models. They presented their plan to the college during the week of finals.

Education: Early Field Experience (EDU 2000), Observation and Participation (EDU 3000), and Advanced Participation (EDU 3500)
Students to assist in some educational venue, providing great assistance to the community, and have a guided set of activities and reflections they are required to complete in order to document their learning from those experiences.

GER 2043 Social Gerontology: Dr. Vangie Blust (Spring 2002)
Students designed and implemented an intergenerational geography bowl with senior citizens and other ages.

GER 3043/PSY 3043 Psychology of Aging: Dr. Vangie Blust (Spring 2003)
This class did an oral history project through Young At Heart (the senior center in Poultney). The students interviewed older adults from the community and wrote papers about them.

REC 1021 Program Planning: Carol Hartshorn (Fall 2003)
This class planned the annual Halloween Party for Poultney youth and helped work the Senior Games event. The Halloween Party reflection was a class discussion, with examples from the event tied into exam questions. The senior games reflection piece started with interviewing three seniors and ended with a class discussion.

REC 2018 Recreational Sports Programming Lab: Tom Stuessy (Fall 2003)
This class worked with the sixth graders from Poultney Elementary School twice this semester. In addition, they also were in charge of the college intramurals. They did a reflective write-up at the end of the semester.

REC 2031 Intro to Outdoor Rec Services: Thayer Raines (Fall 2003)
Students did trail maintenance on the Poultney Education Trail, helped with building benches for downtown Poultney, worked at Cerridwen Farm, helped with Vermont Ski and Sport Adaptive Skiing and picked up trash on campus. For reflection, they had a class discussion.

REC 2031 Intro to Outdoor Rec Services: Thayer Raines (Fall 2003)
Students did trail maintenance on the Poultney Education Trail. For reflection, they had a class discussion.

REC 3008 Essentials of Challenge: Tom Stuessy (Fall 2003)
The class taught community partners team work and trust building skills through the use of the ropes course and other team building activities. Facilitated an after school activity for the after school fitness program for PES.

REC 3008 Essentials of Challenge Course Technology: Dr. Thayer Raines
Students host a two-day team development workshop for the 6th grade classes of Poultney Elementary School using the GMC ropes course. Reflection is carried out verbally both in large groups and small groups, and students also do peer evaluations. The 6th grade students also do an exercise that provides written feedback. In addition, Dr. Raines visits the school one month post-workshop to see if the 6th grade students are still practicing team-building behavior and to see what experiences were most memorable and in what ways the experience might be improved.

REC 4031 Leisure Systems Design and Evaluation: Jim Harding
This class worked with EJay Bishop, who is the Supervisor of Rutland City Parks and Recreation. The class conducted a region-wide inventory of recreation facilities and programs. This information will be used to help plan for the scope of and services offered in the Rutland Regional Recreation Center, currently in its planning stages. The students reflected on this work in the form of both a written document and a formal presentation given to staff members from Rutland City Parks and Recreation.

SOC 3015 ST: Home Fire Rehabilitation: Gordon Knight (Fall 2003)
This class planned to work on restoring the Stonebridge Inn in Poultney that was destroyed by fire some years ago. (The class ended up working mostly on Bentley Hall.)