Ellington

Senior Angel Corral said that she decided to become a biology teacher because of her volunteer experience. During her freshman year, she became involved with Jumpstart, a program in which college students help out in preschool classrooms. Corral now serves as volunteer coordinator.

“You can see the impact that you have on preschool kids, because they develop so fast,” she said.

Corral is one of the almost 6,000 UW students who participated in volunteer work and service learning during the 2008-09 academic year and helped earn the university a place on the 2009 President’s Higher Education Community Service Honor Roll.

While the Honor Roll was announced at the end of February, the UW’s recognition reflects the time students dedicated to community service over the course of the academic year – more than 346,000 hours, according to a press release.

“It’s an acknowledgment of work that is already happening,” said Michaelann Jundt, director of the Carlson Leadership and Public Service Center, which facilitates service-learning programs at the UW. “Sometimes, when students are going out and doing community work, it’s visible to that student and his or her friends … but it’s not necessarily widely visible.”

While the focus is on helping the community, service learning may also benefit students who participate in it.

Jordan Prokosch, a senior majoring in anthropology, said that it offers advantages over traditional, classroom-based learning. Some of Prokosch’s service-learning experiences include working in environmental restoration for EarthCorps and tutoring English Language Learners (ELL) students.

“Service learning is a more experiential method, and it has really helped me remember what I’ve learned and use that knowledge even after the class is over,” Prokosch wrote in an e-mail. “Once you’ve started to see the real world through the theoretical perspectives you learned in class, it’s hard to forget.”

Even when there is no direct connection to academics, Jundt said that students often choose to volunteer in order to “learn new skills, have interactions with a diverse group of people and start to make connections that might lead toward future opportunities.”

In addition, the college years can be seen as an important time for building habits. Jundt said that students who actively participate in community service tend to continue that pattern after graduation.

Volunteer work can also be a productive way to take a break from studying.

“As college students, we are really busy, but it’s nice to get out and do something good for the community,” Corral said.

There were six postsecondary institutions that were recognized as Presdiential Awardees, the highest distinction on the honor roll, including Lee University, University of North Carolina, Chapel Hill, and Ohio Wesleyan University.

Reach reporter Gracie Ingermanson at news@dailyuw.com.