Focus on: eastern washington rooms to help school children with literacy and science education. The UW student volunteers also use this opportunity to tell the youngsters what it’s like to go to college—with the hopes that they will plant a seed of desire for higher education in these children.
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First-year fellow volunteer De Leon concurs. “I think the experience reminds college students about the world outside of lectures and exams,” she explains. “You get to play recess again, and live in an area so different from Seattle.” Unlike other universities that have similar service learning programs, the UW Alternative Spring Break is free and open to students from any discipline. For more information on the Alternative
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The more these kids see that there’s more out there than they think...the more they may open their minds to the idea of going to college.
UW sophomore Bobby Chien (above) worked with students at Forks Elementary School in Forks. Photo courtesy UW Pipeline Project.
Alternative Spring Break Expands minds, opens eyes By Jeannette tarcha While other University of Washington students were off to the tanning booth to prepare for a spring break at a warm location south of the border, Piya Banerjee and Stephanie De Leon reviewed lesson plans, packed school supplies and designed team-building exercises. It was hardly the stuff typical spring break dreams are made of. But Banerjee and De Leon are not like most college students. They were among 54 UW undergraduates who donated their time and talent to participate in the UW Pipeline Program’s Alternative Spring Break. Now in its 10th year, Alternative Spring Break, which is generously supported by Enterprise RentA-Car, sends student volunteers to rural communities and tribal reservations throughout Washington to work in elementary- and middle-school class-
“The more these kids see that there’s more out there than they think,” Banerjee says, “the more they may open their minds to the idea of going to college.” UW student volunteers undergo two intensive training sessions in preparation for their week in the classroom. The students are split into 10 teams of five and are assigned to work with predetermined grade levels within each of the selected schools. According to Christine Stickler, director of the UW Pipeline Project, the experience has been as powerful and eye-opening for the young students as it has been for the UW student volunteers. “Students from the rural and tribal schools delight in meeting new friends from the UW who bring stories and life experiences to share from Seattle and many points of the world beyond,” Stickler says. “And the UW students gain a new lens for looking at their world by experiencing the rich cultural background and diversity of the communities in which they stay.” Banerjee has participated in the Alternative Spring Break program for the past three years. Like most of her volunteer peers, she gets as much out of the program as the kids. “I love … to get away for the week from the hustle and bustle of school, work with kids, be creative, (and) experience a rural part of the state that I hadn’t seen before,” she says.
Spring Break, visit www.washington.edu/uwired/ pipeline/alt-spring-break.html. Adults interested in volunteering to help in the classroom or making a financial contribution to offset the cost of this program can do so by contacting Stickler at castick@u.washington.edu. Jeannette Tarcha is a Viewpoints staff writer. Viewpoints Intern Gwen Davis contributed to this story.
AT A GLANCE ALTERNATIVE SPRING BREAK
BY THE NUMBERS
Since it was created 10 years ago, the University of Washington’s Alternative Spring Break Program has sent 385 undergraduate students to work with more than 6,500 elementary school-age students in rural and underserved areas of Washington. During the Spring 2007 Alternative Spring Break, the program involved: • 1 week • 54 UW undergraduates • 10 Washington towns (mostly in E. Washington) • 921 elementary- and middle-school students, who wrote 348 poems and 552 stories • 5,375 miles • $40,000 (for student transportation, food, lodging and other expenses for the UW students) Source: Christine Stickler, Director, UW Pipeline Program
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