Service Learning Program Offers Student the Chance to Make a Difference

Doylestown, PA (July, 2013) – Sixteen college students from Bucks County have been chosen to participate in Foundations Community Partnership’s 2013 Summer Youth Corps, which offers paid student internships at local non-profit human service agencies in Bucks County serving children, youth and families. The program offers students the ability to gain practical experience while helping to effect positive change in the community working at non-profit human service agencies.

This is the sixth year in a row that Foundations has offered the internship program. Non-profit agencies have the benefit of additional helping hands and the students gain meaningful work experience with groups that are making a difference in Bucks County.

“Our Summer Youth Corps combines community service with academic study,” said Ron Bernstein, Executive Director of Foundations Community Partnership. “The program gives students the chance to gain college credits while participating in a meaningful work experience. Many of our Partnership in Education winners have been selected for the Summer Youth Corps so they can continue their community service work.”

Through a relationship with Bucks County Community College, students are able to experience “service learning”, a form of experiential education where students learn to solve community problems and achieve real objectives for the community while earning college credits. Service learning is a teaching and learning strategy that integrates meaningful community service with instruction and reflection to enrich the learning experience, teach civic responsibility, and strengthen communities. Service-learning is different from volunteerism in that it is a teaching and learning approach that integrates community service with academic study to enrich learning, teach civic responsibility, and strengthen communities.

Agencies participating in the program for the first time this year include Bowman’s Hill Wildflower Preserve, The Bucks County Children’s Museum, The Mercer Museum, and Chandler Hall.

Field Supervisor Amanda Schlupp, LSW of Holland, PA, leads this year’s Summer Youth Corps. She recently earned her Master’s degree in Social Work from Rutgers University.

Students in the 2013 Summer Youth Corps program have been placed in the following locations:

1. Doylestown resident Amy Vosgerichian is assisting the Aark Wildlife Rehabilitation and Education Center in Chalfont. She is attending the Temple University studying Philosophy

2. Newtown resident Julie Waldron is interning at The Conservatory: Music, Art, Drama, in Doylestown. She is attending West Chester University studying Speech Pathology.

3. Southampton resident Kimberly Branigan is working at the YWCA in Trevose. She is a Biology Education student at Messiah College.

4. Warrington resident Kaitlin Cirulli is a working at Gilda’s Club in Warminster. She is a Pre-Med student at the North Carolina State University

5. Doylestown resident Alexander Arrow is assisting Habitat for Humanity in Chalfont. He is studying Exercise Science at the University of Scranton.

6. Sellersville resident Laura Alderfer is assisting Ridge Crest in Perkasie. She is a Biomedical Engineering major at the Rochester Institute of Technology.

7. Pennsburg resident Halle Bagshaw is interning at Pearl S. Buck International in Quakertown. She is a Pre-Med major at Duke University.

8. Jamison resident Jaclyn Scott is working with for the AACES program at the Family Service Association in Langhorne. She is a Pre-Med and Art major at the University of Wisconsin.

9. Bensalem resident Christopher Axten is interning at the Central Bucks Family YMCA in Doylestown. He is studying Aerospace Engineering at Penn State University.

10. New Hope resident Anna Chen is working at the Mercer Museum in Doylestown. She is studying Bio-behavioral Health at Penn State University.

11. Doylestown resident Becca Elzinga is interning at the Bowman’s Hill Wildflower Preserve in New Hope. She is studying Environmental Policy at Fordham University.

12. Doylestown resident Christian Ernst is assisting NOVA in Jamison. He is studying Biology at Fairfield University.

13. Newtown resident Danielle Morabito is interning at the Bucks County Children’s Museum in New Hope. She is studying Education at Messiah College.

14. Doylestown resident Molly Fitz is working at the Michener Museum of Art in Doylestown. She is studying Psychology and Art at Clemson University.

15. Yardley resident Kara Mullican is assisting the Children’s Developmental Program in Quakertown. She is studying Special Education at Bloomsburg University.

16. Langhorne resident Carly Gallagher is working at Chandler Hall in Newtown. She is studying Business Management at Kutztown University.

Students who have completed their freshman through junior year at college and who are residents of Bucks County are eligible to participate in Foundations Community Partnership’s Summer Youth Corps. The 10-week service-learning program runs from May 28 through Aug. 2. Internships are subsidized by Foundations Community Partnership.

 

*Pictured Left to right: Top row: Kimberly Branigan, Halle Bagshaw, Danielle Morabito, Kaitlin Cirulli, Carly Gallagher, Becca Elzinga, Christian Ernst, Christopher Axten, Molly Fitz, Laura Alderfer, Julie Waldron Bottom row: Amy Vosgerichian, Kara Mullican, Anna Chen, Jackie Scott, Alexander Arrow