March 1, 2021

IN THIS ISSUE

• Barry Students Offered a Major Opportunity to Make a Positive Impact on the Lives of Young People
• Students Urged to Create Posters Showing How They Engaged in “Purposeful Projects” with Community Partners
• Recently Registered Community Partners Include Vita Nova in West Palm Beach

Barry Students Offered A Major Opportunity to Make a Positive Impact on the Lives of Young People

Volunteers can mentor youth virtually this year

Barry students are being offered a major opportunity to make a positive impact on the lives of young people. Through the university’s partnership with Big Brothers Big Sisters of Miami, students may volunteer to serve as mentors to youth.

Volunteers, called “Bigs,” will provide either “community-based” or “site-based” mentoring to young people between 6 and 18 years of age, called “Littles.” However, during the coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic, online or virtual mentorship may be provided.

The program requires a one-year commitment from each volunteer.

Community-based mentoring involves “fun activities,” explained Marianne Weiss, vice president of continuing education at BBBS Miami. Bigs and Littles explore the local community and share fun activities at least twice a month for four or more hours each time. Some Bigs meet their Littles on the weekends; others meet in the evenings. 

Site-based mentoring is focused on academics—reading, homework help, and the like. However, Bigs and Littles may also play board and computer games, take part in sports, and engage in simple conversations. All such mentoring activities take place for one hour each week at a designated site—either at the Little’s school during the school day or at the Carnival Center for Excellence after school.

More than 1,000 potential Littles are awaiting their Bigs, according to information at the BBBS Miami website. 

Students interested in becoming Bigs are asked to apply via the BBBS Miami website. Questions concerning the youth mentorship opportunity and procedure should be directed to Marcia Hanna, director of intake, at mhanna@bbbsmiami.org or 305-644-0066.

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Students Urged To Create Posters Showing How They Engaged In “Purposeful Projects” With Community Partners

Posters reflecting the “Purposeful Projects” theme will be a feature of Barry’s seventh annual Community Engagement Symposium on March 31. The online, four-session event is scheduled to begin at 9 a.m. and end at 2:30 p.m.

The theme of the symposium is "Engagement in Purposeful Projects: From Awareness to Action.” In relation to community engagement, purposeful projects include experiential learning practices such as service-learning, community-based research, fieldwork, study abroad, capstones, and internships.

Poster proposals should address the theme of the symposium and identify the experiential learning practice that was implemented. Successful proposals will specify the course or co-curricular project, the social or community issue addressed, the related activities undertaken, and the actual learning outcomes. Proposals should also emphasize how the project was designed to be purposeful and how student awareness was translated into action.

Undergraduates will compete for poster session prizes. The first prize will be a JBL Pulse 3 wireless (portable) Bluetooth waterproof speaker; the second prize: an Amazon Echo Dot speaker; the third prize: a power bank portable charger. A Fire TV Stick 4K streaming device will be given to the fourth-place winner. For fifth place, the prize will be a handmade backpack. Each of two other competitors will receive a gift certificate from Atelye Thevenet Haitian Marketplace, and the eighth-place competitor will receive a five-pack assortment of multicolored face masks.

International Conference Presentation Opportunity

All participants, including graduate students, who submit posters by next Wednesday, March 10, will have their submissions considered for an international conference on community-engaged scholarship. The Engagement Scholarship Consortium’s (ESC) virtual conference will be held on September 13–15. 

“Students are invited to submit a proposal for a poster to be presented at the conference, detailing impactful community engagement through research or service work,” the ESC organizers have announced. “Delivering a poster at an international conference is a unique academic experience and is an excellent addition to a résumé or graduate school application.”

Posters for the Community Engagement Symposium must be submitted by March 15. Students interested in the possible selection of their posters for ESC must submit them by March 10. 

For further information, contact Dr. Heather Johnson Desiral, the poster session coordinator, at qep@barry.edu.

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Recently Registered Community Partners Include Vita Nova In West Palm Beach

The Center for Community Service Initiatives (CCSI) recently added Vita Nova to its list of registered community partners. Based in West Palm Beach, Vita Nova is a nonprofit organization that offers “New Life for Homeless Youth.”

According to its mission statement, Vita Nova serves as “a safe bridge to independence for former foster care, LGBTQ and other homeless youth through supportive housing, education, employment and life skills training.” The organization is “working to eliminate homelessness” among youth of ages 18–25 in Palm Beach County.

Barry students may serve as mentors to Vita Nova clients, a representative of the organization explained. “Mentors can help them navigate the world of ‘adulting’ as they transition from homelessness,” he added. 

Vita Nova (Latin for “New Life”) was founded by Father Leo Armbrust, described as “a man who believed that foster youth deserved a better quality of care.” Thanks to the efforts of the Vita Nova team members, its volunteers, and its benefactors, “older foster and homeless youth are given the opportunity to lead lives characterized by independence, self-determination and personal responsibility,” the organization says at its website. 

The CCSI is charged with coordinating community partnerships as part of ongoing efforts to “ensure that Barry will be recognized as a responsive community leader—a reliable resource for expertise, knowledge dissemination and public service to the diverse communities we serve.”

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