The WNY Service-Learning Coalition (WNYSLC) hosted a panel conversation about service learning featuring Western New York community partners and higher education faculty and staff members on Thursday, November 16. Several Buffalo State community partners and one Buffalo State faculty member were featured on the panel.
Michele Goergen, lecturer in the Heath, Nutrition, and Dietetics Department, spoke about her students’ experiences working with community partners in her spring 2023 class NFS 405: Principles of Nutrition Education. In groups, students conducted a nutrition education needs assessment at a community organization, which they used to develop a lesson plan and facilitate an education session. Students also conducted individual nutrition counseling sessions for clients.
Several Buffalo State community partners also spoke about their experiences working with service-learning students. The partners on the panel were Kyle Dillman, volunteer manager at FeedMore WNY; Crystal Selk, executive director of West Side Community Services; and Emily Wirth, community engagement and volunteer coordinator at Jewish Family Services of WNY - Niagara Falls. Sierra Johnson, manager of volunteer services at Jewish Family Services of WNY, moderated the panel.
The WNYSLC is a collaboration of higher education institutions and nonprofit organizations committed to sharing resources, knowledge, and practices related to service learning. For more information, please email the CCE Office.
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Pictured from left: Michele Goergen, Crystal Selk, Kyle Dillman, Emily Wirth, Joe Sankoh (associate professor of political science and founder of Daemen University Service Learning, Daemen University), Shyam Sriram (assistant professor of political science, Canisius University), and Sierra Johnson
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Submitted by: Naomi W. Hall