Ellen Speake
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| Towards the end of my freshman year, having become acclimated to life at Gettysburg, I began feeling as though something was missing. I had made a solid group of friends, was doing well in classes, and participated in a few extracurricular activities. But I still didn’t feel like I was taking advantage of everything Gettysburg had to offer. Reflecting back on my high school years I determined that I was missing an outlet for my passion of social justice. I had taken the Homelessness and Poverty in America seminar during the fall semester of my freshman year which provided an outlet. We studied the roots of poverty, common misconceptions, and were involved in the community through volunteer opportunities like working at the Soup Kitchen. The class even spent Reading Days in D.C. working at the D.C. Central Kitchen and interacting with so many different people across all class lines. After the semester was over, though I still volunteered in the community, I no longer had an outlet to discuss and challenge pressing social justice issues. It was then that I considered applying to be a part of CPS. Throughout the application process it became apparent to me that not only did I want to be a part of this, but also that I needed it. I needed to fulfill the part which had been missing during that semester. I needed to be part of a group that challenged social norms and wanted to create change not just talk about it. I needed someone to constantly push me to question my beliefs and develop them more. I needed to learn about the community outside of our small campus. I needed a group of friends that shared some of my same passions. Upon receiving a position at CPS I had no idea just how many of my needs were about to be met. Having completed almost a full year working at CPS I have grown tremendously not only as a person but also as a leader. I have improved time management skills, communication with different people of all different ages, and have met many incredible people both on and off campus through my work with CPS. I think this semester CPS has played a critical role in my academic, personal, and professional development. So much of what I am involved in this semester is related to each other. My urban education seminar relates to the issues we discuss during circle meetings which relates to the children I work with at Wee Care. It is a continuous circle of learning, which is one of the greatest strengths of CPS. Nothing I have learned has been isolated; it all connects to at least one other area of my life. As I look to my future of CPS I do not see an end to this integrated learning. I know that my beliefs will be constantly challenged; only leading to more developed and educated results. I have so much more to learn about important issues prevalent in our society, even just in Adams County. I look forward to continuing the relationships I have developed and continuing to be a learner both on and off campus. As a program coordinator for the Wee Care Learning Center I recruit college students to serve as homework buddies to students in grades K-5. Each week they work together on homework and then also get free time to play and get to know one another. My goal is to help develop these relationships moving beyond teacher/student so that the homework buddies can understand the lives of the children in Adams County. |
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Community partnerships, the core of Center for Public Service programs, strive to be mutually beneficial – fulfilling both a community-identified goals and providing a learning experience for students. Program coordinators serve as liaisons between the Adams County and campus communities to ensure a solid partnership.
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EXPERIENCE
My partnership with Wee Care has been an amazing experience. The kids at Wee Care are full of energy and fully appreciate their time spent with homework buddies. They eagerly await our arrival twice a week and are genuinely sad if their homework buddy is unavailable one day. While some are easier to work with than others they each have their own unique personality and strengths. The challenge is discovering them and applying it to their academic life. One of my greatest successes this year was finally being able to get an unmotivated student enthusiastic about math by applying it to basketball. This boy had never enjoyed math and desperately needed practice. As soon as he started doing multiplication to determine basketball points he couldn’t stop. He was so excited during March Madness and it was one of the greatest rewards I have ever received seeing his face light up doing math problems. |
LEARNING
I have learned so much working at Wee Care. Each week the students have good things and bad things to share about their personal lives. They share with me how the basketball team is doing and when the knowledge-a-thon happens at school. They expose a different side of the same Gettysburg community I live in. I have learned how to improvise and work with the students and volunteers I have when everything doesn’t match up quite how I planned. Kids always have something to teach, it’s just a matter of listening for the right thing, which is perhaps one of greatest things I have learned at Wee Care.
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| Learning Circles aim to bring people from diverse backgrounds together to develop trust, understand each other's experiences, explore social issues and work together for long-term change. For 2008-2009, there are two groups focused on race and class. Ellen focused on class and participated in a community initiative named Cirlces. |
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EXPERIENCE
My involvement with the Circles Initiative has been an indescribable experience. From the friendships I have established to the wealth of information I have learned, it has truly enhanced my engagement with the community and my education on poverty issues. One of the greatest assets of the Circles Initiative is the relationships formed between Circle Leaders and Allies. These relationships have affected me in two ways. The first is with the children involved in Circles. Some of them attend Wee Care so I am able to relate to them on yet another level. It is wonderful being at Wee Care and having the kids ask me if I’m going to be at Circles later that evening. Likewise, at Circles I can easily converse with them about school, activities, and their friends. The other relationship that has especially affected me is with the Circle Leaders. Some of them work on campus and it honestly brightens my day seeing them around school outside of Circles. It’s great being able to connect with faculty and seeing them not only as a member of my campus community but also a friend. |
LEARNING
Being a part of Circles has truly opened my eyes to the issue of poverty. Though I was educated on the issue to a certain extent before entering Circles I gained a tremendous amount of new knowledge. Something I learned that has really affected me is the Hidden Rules of Class. I have been educated on this idea that each class follows a certain set of rules that they have grown up with; often serving as a roadblock in communication across class lines. This idea fascinates me and, when aware of it, is obvious in every single aspect of my life. Also, a lot of what I have learned through Circles is pertinent to my urban education class where we discuss the best methods to educate urban students. We debate the issue of whether to educate these students “middle class ways” in order for them to be successful when they interact outside of the urban setting, or to preserve their traditions and norms figuring out how all of these various classes’ norms can be integrated into society. This knowledge has challenged me and put me on an entirely different level than I was on before I joined CPS. |
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| Through the Center for Public Service, Program Coordinators support student volunteers through education, training, reflection, communication, logistical coordination and the fostering of community/campus partnerships. |
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EXPERIENCE
Working at CPS truly provides a close, tight-knit community of support. Everyone working at CPS has supported me in my academic, personal, and professional development. Not only do they challenge me on the issues of social justice but they are also there for me during stressful times with classes. I have gained new friends by working at CPS who are now some of my best friends. I have gone to the professional staff numerous times to get advice not just for my work at CPS but for advice on classes, friends, jobs, etc. Having a group of people that I can go to for support is an invaluable aspect of CPS. |
LEARNING
As the staff of CPS has been there for me when I need them, I have also learned how to be there for them. There have been several occasions when some of us who work for CPS get together for dinner and go back and forth between problems we are having recruiting volunteers, improving our programs, and discussing issues such as food justice and sustainability. It is really important for us to be able to share how we handled certain challenges that another Program Coordinator may currently be facing. Having colleagues as well as professionals to turn to for advice is really crucial in continuing my development in all areas. |
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| Through experiences with the Center for Public Service, Program Coordinators have the opportunity to connect with community, develop professional skills, and find a supportive environment to discover their voice in social change. |
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EXPERIENCE
My professional development has without a doubt improved over the course of this year. My first semester was certainly a challenge as it was difficult for me in figuring out how to balance all the new activities I added to my schedule sophomore year. Looking back I think my greatest improvement has been in time management. Taking on CPS as a responsibility has definitely helped me in balancing everything. This semester I am much better at knowing what I need and when I need to get things done. It has actually taught me to say no to things; to not take on more responsibilities than I can handle. My personality is one that wants to do everything and it took a rocky semester (with a huge amount of support!) to learn that I can still be an involved, active student without doing it all. |
LEARNING
I have also learned how to communicate professionally with my volunteers and my community partner. I have learned how to emphasize the influence my volunteers have on their students and also communicated to the students that homework buddies give up their time voluntarily and deserve respect. On the other hand, CPS has also played a role in my professional development through challenging me on important issues and pushing me to question these issues more. Having the ability to hold constructive discussions on controversial issues is imperative in the professional world and I believe CPS will definitely help me improve in this area. |
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300 North Washington Street · Gettysburg, PA 17325