inspiring passion
for strengthening civil society

During reading week, 38 students gave their time to four community service projects organized by the UBC Learning Exchange and Student Services. While some painted the YWCA Munroe Transition House, others painted a children's literature mural and worked as teaching assistants in Lord Nelson Elementary School. A third group worked on a community garden with Grandview / Uuqinak'uhh elementary students, and a fourth traveled to Guelph to work with University of Guelph students to renovate a youth drop-in centre.

The projects are a part of UBC's Trek Volunteer program, which helps students enrich their education with volunteer service. The program has grown ten-fold in three years, connecting 300 students to 30 inner-city community organizations last year. And it's an example of a phenomenon new to Canada called Community Service Learning (CSL).

"It's a learning model that marries real-life experience with academic content," says Margo Fryer, director of the Learning Exchange. "Students process their exposure to poverty and homelessness through group discussion, reading and reflection. It requires them to go beyond an intellectual knowledge to action, and in the process they become different people."

Fryer and her team are working with faculty to integrate CSL into more courses each year. In June, representatives from nine Canadian universities came to UBC and formed a coalition to increase CSL learning opportunities. Meanwhile, UBC students are catching the vision.

"It's made me re-think what a meaningful life is all about," says one reading week project student. "I've been brought up to think of everyone as a competitor. But now I'm more convinced than ever that my personal growth is going to be a product of reaching out to everyone else in the world."

Dentist Sean Sikarski leads UBC’s inner-city Portland Community Clinic

Related Links

• UBC Learning Exchange

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Campus community makes extra effort for United Way. Faculty, staff and students from every corner of campus organized breakfasts, book sales and auctions to help exceed the target of $400,000 by $70,000.

Moyra Ditchfield Computer Lab. Auburn Elementary School named their computer lab for UBC undergraduate facilities manager Moyra Ditchfield, in honour of her seven years of volunteer work in their school.