Hobart and William Smith Colleges

29 May 2014 Summer of Service Kicks Off

Now in its fourth year, Summer of Service pairs HWS students with local organizations where they perform at least 300 hours of community service over the course of the summer.

Were thrilled to have four interns paired with local community leaders in the fourth annual Summer of Service, says Katie Flowers, director of theHWS Center for Community Engagement and Service Learning (CCESL).

Jenna Klicker 15, Ryan Mullaney 15, Alison Switzer 15 and Devon OBrien 15 are spending the summer volunteering at local organizations and working in the CCESL office, contributing in significant ways to the goals of Geneva 2020 through their dedication to local youth, which is a theme to the 1200 collective hours they will dedicate to the Geneva School District and the Boys and Girls Club of Geneva, Flowers says.

Klicker is spending the majority of her summer working at Geneva Middle School with Principal Robert Smith. Her primary duties include inputting data based on the state test results that will be used to create the school improvement plan for next year.Klickerplans to work in nonprofit and service work after graduation. She hopes that completing a Summer of Service internship through CCESL will help her to gain valuable experience.

This experience is valuable and helpful to the District as well as to Jenna, Smith says. He is able to directly connect and design this position to Jennas future career goals.

Mullaney is working with HWS Academy and supporting Geneva 2020 collective impact efforts through CCESL. Mullaney is president for the Coalition for Educational Equity at HWS. This summerMullaneyis working to help pull together a diverse curriculum, reflective of all the Colleges have to offer at the HWS Summer Academy. The Academy brings some of Geneva High Schools brightest students to campus for a two-week intensive learning program under the direction of Professor of Chemistry Walter Bowyer. The program immerses students of color in elements of life at the Colleges, including college-level courses on a variety of subjects taught by members of the HWS faculty.

OBrien is working at the Boys and Girls Club, as well as with the USDA Summer Food Service Program for Children, which was established to ensure that children continue to receive nutritious meals while school is not in session.OBrienis delivering meals, prepared at the West Street School, to children at the Goodman Street Boys and Girls Club, the Teen Center and The Salvation Army.

Switzer is serving at the Boys and Girls Club, as an art instructor for more than 50 students.Switzeris from Geneva and is giving back to her hometown community again. As part of the position at the Boys and Girls Club,Switzeris facilitating transportation for the Reading Buddies program which pairs Genevans with local youth to read together at the Geneva Public Library. In 2012, she took part in four parallel service-learning projects creating supports for literacy in Geneva and Sierra Leone, while taking Education 333 with Professor of Education Charlie Temple.

For more information about Summer of Service or other programming from the Center for Community Engagement and Service Learning contactserve@hws.edu.

The photo above features Jessica Lynn '14, who served as an intern with the Boys and Girls Club of Geneva, playing foosball with local children as part of the Summer of Service program last summer.