Community service drives Lesley College 'Alternative Spring Break'
April 15, 2009
Lesley College students last month abandoned the traditional spring break and instead spent a week building Habitat for Humanity houses and participating in other community service projects in communities in need.
Groups of undergraduates traveled to Spartanburg, S.C., Asheville, N.C. and Camden, N.J. the week of March 9 for an Alternative Spring Break. This is the 10th year Lesley has run such a program.
The students will discuss their experiences with the Lesley community at an April 21 event at Doble House Room 201. The presentation begins at 4 p.m.
“This was a pretty historical year,” said Dan Flynn, Director of Community Service at Lesley. “We expanded the number of trips and we had fewer administrators advising the trips. The students had to take on a stronger leadership role this year. It couldn’t have been more successful.”
In North Carolina and South Carolina, students built Habitat for Humanity houses while also spending time learning about the social and economic structure of the area, for instance, visiting a BMW plant in Spartanburg. BMW is one of the area’s major employers.
“The main purpose of the trip is to reflect on your day’s events and to dig a little bit deeper than building a house,” Flynn said. “Who are we building a house for? What about this region has created this need for Habitat houses?”
In New Jersey, students performed a different public service each day. Home renovation, staffing a homeless shelter, spending time at a nursery school and working with people with disabilities were some of the ways Lesley students spent their days.
Alternative Spring Break activities continue in May with a LeaderBuild retreat to train undergraduates to be student leaders on future trips. Another leader training event, sponsored by the Massachusetts Campus Compact, is held in Springfield, Mass. in the fall. And an Alternative Winter Break trip to El Salvador will happen in January.
Students interested in Alternative Spring Break and other Lesley University public service opportunities can contact Flynn at dflynn@lesley.edu.
Images from Asheville, N.C. trip.