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I sought a position as Program Coordinator with CPS because I know that involvement with CPS is the prime way for Gettysburg students to integrate the experience of being a student on the Gettysburg campus with being a member of the Gettysburg community. Many of us, when matriculating to the College, do not think about our second new identity as members of the Gettysburg community. I felt like and still feel like Gettysburg is, in a sense, my town because of the amount of time I have spent here and how geographically integrated the town and campus are. Through CPS, I have gained a new sense of what it means to be a member of a community. The duties that I share with my fellow community members and owe to my community as a Gettysburg student are great and complex, and working toward the fulfillment of these duties is an aspect of CPS work that I hope to be able to adapt to my own hometown after I graduate. Working with CPS has solidified my occupational plans to find a career in non-profit and advocacy work, learning about and alerting others of the social issues and dilemmas that affect us all.
As Program Coordinator of the Adams County Literacy Council, I recruit, coordinate, and help train new literacy tutors from the campus and greater Gettysburg community. I alert others of literacy issues and the dire need for literacy training and tutoring in order to help bridge the literacy gap that exists in the United States today. I also bring to light the intersection of race, ethnicity, gender, and socioeconomic status with literacy to my fellow community members in hopes that they will get involved too. Through my involvement as an ESL one-on-one tutor and ESL group classes substitute tutor, I am able to see first-hand the positive effects that literacy tutoring has not only for the person being tutored, but often for their family and their community too.
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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 experience with community partnership has been unpredictable but dynamic. After returning to my involvement with CPS after a year abroad and finding out that the Adams County Literacy Council had received both a new director and office assistant, I knew that I was in for a year with the literacy council that was going to be full of surprises. The experience of working with an organization that is so in tuned with the needs and issues of that face the greater Adams County community has allowed me to work with a diverse group of people. Besides being an enjoyable experience socially, it has also allowed me to truly get involved with a group of people who are dedicated to social justice at many levels and are working every day to fight the injustices that exist today because of the literacy gap.
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LEARNING
Working with Bob, my community partner, has truly taught me the meaning of flexibility. Through my previous work tutoring and volunteering with the literacy council, I knew that real progress in literacy at the individual and community level takes time. However, as coordinator with the literacy council, I also learned that flexibility involves me being able to articulately express my ideas and plans, as well being able and willing to modify them and compromise for the good of all involved, especially the literacy students. Because of the highly interpersonal nature of literacy tutoring, maintaining an up-to-date rapport with Bob regarding the literacy tutors and classes has been crucial in my function as program coordinator. In addition, as a professional adult, Bob has been able to provide some helpful advice for me in terms of my post-graduate plans. Finally, community partnership has exposed me to a variety of social issues that I know I will be passionate about long after my direct involvement with CPS and the Adams County Literacy Council has ended.
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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 2007-2009, there are two groups focused on race and class. Nyya focused on race and participated in eRace: Gettysburg College for Campus Unity.
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EXPERIENCE
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LEARNING
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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
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LEARNING
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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
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LEARNING
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300 North Washington Street · Gettysburg, PA 17325