June 15, 2006

A-B Tech has received a $50,000 grant from the Community Foundation of Henderson County’s Perry N. Rudnick Fund to expand its Service-Learning program, establish a Service-Learning center, and hire a director on the Asheville campus.

Service-Learning engages students in activities that lead to personal and academic development while meeting community needs that may otherwise go unmet.

The A-B Tech Service-Learning community pilot project started in August 2005 with 19 instructors offering Service-Learning projects in 40 classes. During the spring semester, 36 classes incorporated Service-Learning.

“Some examples of students using Service-Learning include a nutrition class giving presentations about healthy snacks to local elementary school students,” said Gigi Derballa, chair of the Service-Learning committee. “A Spanish class tutored local English as Second Language folks of all ages, a drama class gave performances at schools and homeless shelters and this summer a social services class is volunteering at various social service agencies.”

The goals of the program are to have 260 students in Service-Learning activities in the first year and 320 by the second year, while supporting 20-25 instructors to use Service-Learning as a teaching strategy. By the end of the second year, the College wants to connect with 56 schools, nonprofit agencies and organizations that use volunteers.

“We are a going to hire a director who will work with teachers who want to use Service-Learning as a teaching tool,” said Derballa.

“We would like to make Service-Learning a part of A-B Tech forever,” said Lloyd Weinberg, First-Year Seminar instructor. “We want to expand, involve more classes, more students and serve more members of the community. I’ve been involved in Service-Learning for seven years, and I’ve had the privilege of countless rewarding experiences, witnessing the benefits to both the students and the community.”