On their own:
Jordan worked with a classmate to put together an “All for Haiti” Benefit to raise money to send to Haiti. They hired performers, selected food, decorated the hall, promoted the benefit and sold tickets.
Deanna gives back to her community by volunteering for the Boston Student Athlete program. She mentors and tutors high school students in Jamaica Plain.
Adrianna regularly participates in America Reads and America Counts with several of her Lasell peers.
Stephanie, Adriana, and Jess collected money during the 50/50 raffle for the Cystic Fibrosis foundation. They went to Bruins games to sell raffles to people at the game and inform people about Cystic Fibrosis.
Many students participate in the ACES Project that pairs Lasell College students with students in grades 5 and 6 from the Boston Renaissance School. The kids visit Lasell to learn what life is like in college and they participate in a variety of activities with classes and clubs on campus. Some examples of activities included: a physiological psychology lab where Lasell students taught the Renaissance kids about the functioning of the central nervous system through a lie detection activity; Lasell students taught another group of Renaissance kids how to use Excel to graph colors in M&M bags; we had lunch together, played basketball together, and generally demonstrated that college is a realistic possibility.
Several students have told me about their work mentoring teens with physical and mental disabilities at the Barry Price Center. The mentoring program, co-founded by our own Katelyn gives teens with intellectual and developmental disabilities an opportunity to gain valuable social skills. One of their highlight events is a dance, organized and run by Lasell Students. Kelly, was one of the students who helped decorate Lasell’s gym for the dance and she ran an Arts & Crafts station.
In a class:
Students in the Psychology of Girl’s and Women’s class focused campus attention on body image. They surveyed campus members and created informational materials and programming about body image.
Victoria and a few of her classmates in Introduction to Human Services organized a baby shower for homeless expectant mothers. They provided food, fun, and games and solicited donations of needed baby items to help the mother’s get a start in their new role.
Students in Psychology of Diversity worked with Hearty Meals for All in Somerville to help prepare and serve food. They got to know several of the clients and learned about issues related to hunger.
Students in Child Development prepared age-appropriate lessons about gardening for children in the on-campus pre-school. The attached pictures show Lasell students helping the children make their own floral arrangements while they taught them about colors, textures, and spelling.
On Lasell-organized trips:
And, we can’t forget our service learning trips! This past year, students participating in the Alternative Spring Break spent a week learning about Native American culture and volunteering at agencies to serve the Native American community of Albuquerque. This year, Psychology Major Katelyn G. was a student leader on the trip, after having been on 3 other alternative spring breaks. She helped coordinate agencies to work with, planned details of the trip, and was a source of support for new trip members. Examples: Cuidando Los Ninos, The Store House, La Plazita Farm, The Chapter House, Road Runner Food Bank, and the Native Health Initiative.
Many other students have gone on service learning trips to other countries including Nicaragua, Mexico, and Ecuador. These students have worked on projects related to literacy, environmentalism, domestic violence, education, and public health.
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