Collaborations provide students with
hands-on training opportunities
MURFREESBORO — MTSU’s
Experiential Learning Program has honored a group of community partners for
their support in providing students with practical, hands-on experiences that
allow them to put their knowledge to work.
The
Outstanding EXL Community Partner Award recognizes organizations that welcome
MTSU EXL students and provide them with hands-on opportunities for service
learning via internships, special projects and even jobs that benefit both the
students and the organization.
Outstanding
Community Partner Award winners for the 2014-15 academic year are: Nancy
Bogle, cafeteria manager at Barfield Elementary School in Rutherford County
Schools; David Adams and Mike Rhoades, rangers at Stones River
National Battlefield in Murfreesboro; Lisa Mitchell,
Debbie Mankin and Amy Swartz with literacy nonprofit Read to
Succeed; and Yvonne Dadson, clinical dietitian and
certified diabetes educator at Saint Thomas Rutherford Hospital.
Now in
its ninth year, the EXL program at MTSU is designed to enhance student learning
through practical experiences in their fields of study beyond the traditional
classroom and to engage the student directly in service. More than 200 courses
are now approved as EXL courses universitywide.
In
addition to taking EXL courses, students can sign up to be EXL Scholars, which
requires them to complete assessment activities, including an e-portfolio, and
perform an MTSU service component to receive the designation as an EXL scholar
upon graduation.
Here’s
more about this year’s Outstanding EXL Community Partner Award winners:
Nancy Bogle, Barfield
Elementary School
• In
nominating Bogle for the award, Dr. Lisa Sheehan-Smith, a professor in the MTSU
Nutrition and Food Science Program, noted that Bogle has served as a preceptor
for two upper-level program courses for several years.
“Each
semester she provides students a very beneficial and enjoyable learning
experience in the cafeteria at Barfield Elementary School,” said Sheehan-Smith,
who also noted Bogle’s willingness to accept extra students at a moment’s
notice. “The students comment about her interest in them and her desire to make
sure they achieve their learning objectives while enjoying the school nutrition
experience.”
Said
Bogle: “I really enjoy the MTSU students and my staff is always willing to
help. We learn as much from the students as they learn from us.”
Barfield
principal Judy Goodwin called Bogle “a conscientious staff member (who) leads
her team with great humility. She is certainly deserving of this wonderful
award.”
David Adams and Mike Rhoades,
Stones River National Battlefield
• In
nominating Adams, biology professor Dr. Kim Sadler noted that he has worked
with MTSU EXL classes for the past three years and has coordinated, supervised
and managed the ecological restoration work at Stones River of Sadler’s Biology
1030 EXL classes.
“Although
management of the parks resources is a component of his job, taking the time to
patiently educate and train the more than 450 students that have participated
in work at the park is not,” Sadler said.
“He
makes the work fun and engages the students in conversations about conservation
and the environment. I know this not only because I have observed this
firsthand, but because students consistently journal about their experiences
about working with him.”
Sadler
said Adams has been willing to accommodate workdays around the MTSU schedule
and has visited her classes to talk with students before work events, all with
the support of Park Superintendent Gayle Hazelwood.
Adams
asked that the award be shared with his co-worker, Mike Rhoades, who “has been
instrumental in the success of the partnership. I don't feel I could have done
it without his help,” Adams said.
• MTSU
psychology professors Drs. Catherine Crooks and Stuart Bernstein nominated the
Read to Succeed literacy program, which they have incorporated into the upper
division psychology classes since spring 2012.
Crooks
said his students developed and implemented a health literacy needs assessment
in the community in order to determine what health literacy interventions were
needed for providers and community members.
“Since
that time, we have successfully implemented a health literacy service learning
partnership with Read to Succeed every semester,” Crooks added. “They are very
supportive of our work and love to work with our students. Many of our students
have also gone through their training to become adult reading tutors.
“They
are not only supportive partners; they are mentors for our students and for us.
With their guidance, we have developed a very successful and sustaining
community service project and have received external funding for our programs.”
Dr.
Terri Tharp, an associate professor in the Department of Elementary and Special
Education, also partners with Read to Succeed in her courses, where MTSU
students plan and implement a Family Literacy Night Program in collaboration
with Read to Succeed to furnish support in the areas of literacy education and
family involvement.
“It is
the faculty members’ hope that by completing this service-learning project in
local schools that the teacher candidates will begin to see that they have a
responsibility to serve and give back to their community and will also be a
part of planning Family Literacy Nights once they enter the teaching
profession,” Tharp said.
Yvonne Dadson, Saint Thomas
Rutherford Hospital
• Ginny
Bogle, an instructor in the Department of Human Sciences, called Dadson “an
outstanding preceptor” for her work instructing two of the program’s EXL
courses. Dadson is a clinical dietitian and
certified diabetes educator at Saint Thomas Rutherford Hospital in
Murfreesboro.
Said
Bogle: “For many years she served as an on-site preceptor at Saint Thomas
Rutherford for our clinical rotations during NFS 4300 Dietetic Practicum
course. In this role she allowed our students to follow her daily for a week
learning all the various responsibilities that a clinical dietitian has.
“Without
her support for our program and EXL courses, our students would be missing
valuable interactions that help prepared them for post-baccalaureate dietetic
internships.”
