2020 PSLA award winners Isabella N. Rivera ’22 and Ariana Rios ’21 pictured with the Womxn of Color (WOC) ’20 Board at the 2020 Black Pearl Ball, one of the many events the former PSLA winners were recognized for developing.
The Center for Community Engagement will celebrate the 28th Annual Patrick J. Durkin, Class of 1979, Public Service Leadership Awards on April 28, 2021, from 7:00-8:30 p.m.
Do you know a student leader who makes a positive impact on campus or within the community through volunteering, activism, or advocacy? If so, please nominate them today for a Public Service Leadership Award. The PSLAs are a great way to appreciate Middlebury College students who have contributed meaningfully to our community, and for these exceptional leaders to be recognized for their hard work. We also have a nomination category for meaningful student/community partner relationships.
The PSLAs are awarded to at least nine students who are working to address poverty, immigration, food insecurity, among other issues, in the community of Addison County and beyond. An outstanding community partnership also gets recognized with an award. An example of award winners from last year’s 2020 PSLAs were Ariana Rios ’21 and Isabella N. Rivera ’22. They were recognized for their work together as co-presidents of the organization Womxn of Color. They collaborated across the campus community, organizing the semi-annual art show, WOC mixers with other groups such as Distinguished Men of Color, faculty of color, and Feminist Action at Middlebury, and also coordinated the successful Black Pearl Ball in January – which is the only regular public celebration of womxn of color on campus. As part of the award, thanks to the generosity of the Durkin family, the awardees were able to donate MALIKAH, a global grassroots movement that connects a network of active and engaged women leaders. Isabella N. Rivera ’22, decided to donate to this organization “because their mission greatly resonated with me and was an inspiration while I was co-president of WOC”. This year’s award winners will also be able to make a donation to the non-profit of their choosing.
Nominate students for this year’s awards at go.middlebury.edu/psla]go/psla before the deadline Wednesday, April 7th at 11:59 PM. RSVP for the event using the same link. Questions? Please contact Kailee Brickner-McDonald at kbricknermcdonald@middlebury.edu.
Through the CCE’s Service Cluster Board (SCB) trainings, Civic Leadership Certificate (CLC) cohort, and civic skill building Winter Term Workshop (WTW), students in Middlebury College’s 17 student service organizations develop their leadership knowledge and capacities. These experiences complement their community-based experiences, helping them to become effective leaders and change agents during their time at Midd and beyond.
During monthly SCB trainings, two student leaders from each organization learn resources for organizational and leadership development, such as how to manage conflict or practice inclusive member recruitment. CLC cohort members amplify this learning with additional reflections and workshops that allow them to connect with other passionate leaders, design cohesion across their service and learning experiences, and focus on social-issue-specific areas of their choosing.
Here are two examples of the kinds of trainings we’ve supported in 2020 so far!
Generating Civic Skill Building Workshops As the first Winter Term Workshop (WTW) of its kind, Generating Civic Skill Building Workshops equipped students with tools to become effective facilitators of skill-building workshops for their peers. Five students participated in this workshop, each with connections to one or many Service Cluster Board organizations and several as members of the Civic Leadership Certificate cohort: Zeke Hodkin ’21 (MiddVote), Sophia Johnson ’22 (WildMidd and CLC), Viv Merril ‘22.5 (WildMidd and CLC), Gardner Olson ’22 (Community Friends and CLC), and Chloe Zinn ’22 (DREAM).
The CLC cohort reflects during an initial meeting and workshop outside of Axinn at the beginning of the Fall Semester.
During the first three weeks of J-Term, these five students worked together to select civic skills that intrigued them and then co-designed interactive workshops around them to build that skill with others. With facilitation from CCE Assistant Director Kailee Brickner-McDonald and CCE AmeriCorps VISTA member Ellie Dickerson ’19, participants dove into resources on their selected civic skills and learned principles of designing quality curricula and practices of effective workshop facilitation.
Participants then had the opportunity to facilitate their workshops to leaders of all Service Cluster Board organizations, such as Brother to Brother, Butch’s Team, Juntos, MAlt, and NOM. Their three, 40-minute long workshops addressed Leadership Styles, Project Management, and Coordinated Leadership, and as part of the SCB training in the final week of J-Term. SCB members attending the workshops appreciated the “change of pace” in having student-led presentations, finding it both exciting and refreshing.
Sophia Johnson ’22 and Viv Merril ‘22.5 facilitate a Leadership Styles for Collaboration for SCB members during the last week of J-Term.
Students were able to acquire useful skills not just by attending the workshops but by being a part of the process of creating such workshops. As Kailee Brickner-McDonald explains, “Two of the best ways to deepen understanding of a skill is to practice it and teach it to others. Between the Winter Term Workshop on workshop facilitation and the facilitation experience itself on a particular skillset, our participants got to do both.”
Participating in the Winter Term Workshop helped students to recognize their strengths and weaknesses, allowing them to build on their personal leadership strengths and styles while also gaining skills and confidence in areas they didn’t feel so strong in, such as facilitation. One participant stated: “My comfort guiding a workshop (especially one with my peers present) grew exponentially through this WTW and final facilitation exercise… [the CCE staff] encouraged us to think with so much advance attention to necessary items, time constraints, and approach to the materials. I feel like my skill-set for learning and teaching grew widely in this WTW.”
My comfort guiding a workshop (especially one with my peers present) grew exponentially through this WTW and final facilitation exercise.
Generating Civic Skill Building Workshops Participant
The experience taught DREAM Co-Chair Chloe Zinn ’22 her that empathy and intention are just as important as quality curricula in creating effective educational presentations. She stated: “I learned that it takes effort and care to truly get through to an audience, and even more challenging workshops can be facilitated well with intention and genuine empathy.”
I learned that it takes effort and care to truly get through to an audience, and even more challenging workshops can be facilitated well with intention and genuine empathy.”
Chloe Zinn ’22, DREAM Student Leader and Generating Civic Skill Building Workshops Participant
Social Issue Panels to Dive Deeper
In addition to building students’ civic leadership skills, the Service Cluster Board and Civic Leadership Certificate programs also enhance students’ ability to support their community partners and connect their experiential learning with their academic understanding of social issues. Sixty seven organization leaders and members came together on Wednesday, February 26 to learn from two sets of community partner, alumni, and faculty panelists who discussed the topics: Engaging with Youth and Mentoring and Accessing Addison County’s Resources. Consisting of three experts each, the panels sought to deepen students’ understanding of social issues and local contexts to better support their personal and/or organizational work in the community. Students submitted their questions in advance, leading to interactive and insightful conversations in both panels. Ellie Dickerson ’19 (CCE AmeriCorps VISTA) developed and coordinated the event.
Engaging with Youth & Mentoring panelists included Laura Basili, a Middlebury College Visiting Faculty member a clinical psychologist whose therapeutic work focuses on children and adolescents living with adversity, illness, and loss; Mel Hurlburt, DREAM Program Director; and Elizabeth Burrows, an Addison Central School District counselor with more than 25 years of experience in the field. The panelists addressed critical questions about working with youth who have had adverse childhood experiences, engaging in meaningful conversations about difficult topics, and encouraging healthy behaviors without being overbearing, among others.
Panelists answer students’ questions during the Engaging with Youth & Mentoring panel on February 26 in Axinn.
Students will be able to apply the wisdom and resources from the panel in their work with community youth, strengthening relationships and enhancing the many socio-emotional, cognitive, and identity development benefits of mentorship. Speaking to those benefits, the panelists served as source of inspiration and reflection for students, reminding them why they became mentors in the first place. In the words of one student: “I loved having them here…it reminded me that what I’m doing is important and refreshed the patience I have with my mentee.”
I loved having [the panelists] here…it reminded me that what I’m doing is important and refreshed the patience I have with my mentee.”
Engaging with Youth & Mentoring Panel Particpant
Conversation in the Accessing Addison County’s Resources panel was similarly robust. Leading the panel were HOPE’s Local Food Access Coordinator Lily Bradburn, WomenSafe Services Director Christina Grier, and recent Midd graduate Luna Shen ‘19.5, a current AmeriCorps member at John Graham Shelter in Vergennes. Bringing a range of experiences and expertise, these three panelists offered many insights into Addison County’s most pressing social issues. The panelists’ broad overview of local issues and support networks was especially helpful for the many students who work closely with one or two local organizations but aren’t necessarily aware of other issues or the many ways community partners work together to address them. The panel also allowed for a deep dive into specific issues, such as the affordable housing crisis and the negative effects of state policies on homelessness. One participant noted that they “didn’t realize how transportation…impacted the people that live in Addison County. It’s a really large place geographically, and can be difficult if you don’t have shelter or means of transportation.”
It makes me excited that the SCB helps all student organizations deepen their connection with community, which is the reason I decided to work with the CCE in the first place!
Getting out of the Middlebury campus bubble and into the community is one of the primary reasons students get involved in CCE’s programs. As one student remarked, “It makes me excited that the SCB helps all student organizations deepen their connection with the community, which is the reason I decided to work with the CCE in the first place!” The community partner panels complemented their service experiences, deepening their knowledge and ability to engage meaningfully in their respective organizations.
Future SCB and CLC trainings this spring will include Budgeting as Storytelling on March 16th, and Leadership Transitions in April. Thanks to all who deepen their community engagement experiences by participating in our training programs!
Through the CCE’s Service Cluster Board (SCB) trainings, Civic Leadership Certificate (CLC) cohort, and civic skill building Winter Term Workshop (WTW), students in Middlebury College’s 17 student service organizations develop their leadership knowledge and capacities. These experiences complement their community-based experiences, helping them to become effective leaders and change agents during their time at Midd and beyond.
During monthly SCB trainings, two student leaders from each organization learn resources for organizational and leadership development, such as how to manage conflict or practice inclusive member recruitment. CLC cohort members amplify this learning with additional reflections and workshops that allow them to connect with other passionate leaders, design cohesion across their service and learning experiences, and focus on social-issue-specific areas of their choosing.
Here are two examples of the kinds of trainings we’ve supported in 2020 so far!
Generating Civic Skill Building Workshops As the first Winter Term Workshop (WTW) of its kind, Generating Civic Skill Building Workshops equipped students with tools to become effective facilitators of skill-building workshops for their peers. Five students participated in this workshop, each with connections to one or many Service Cluster Board organizations and several as members of the Civic Leadership Certificate cohort: Zeke Hodkin ’21 (MiddVote), Sophia Johnson ’22 (WildMidd and CLC), Viv Merril ‘22.5 (WildMidd and CLC), Gardner Olson ’22 (Community Friends and CLC), and Chloe Zinn ’22 (DREAM).
The CLC cohort reflects during an initial meeting and workshop outside of Axinn at the beginning of the Fall Semester.
During the first three weeks of J-Term, these five students worked together to select civic skills that intrigued them and then co-designed interactive workshops around them to build that skill with others. With facilitation from CCE Assistant Director Kailee Brickner-McDonald and CCE AmeriCorps VISTA member Ellie Dickerson ’19, participants dove into resources on their selected civic skills and learned principles of designing quality curricula and practices of effective workshop facilitation.
Participants then had the opportunity to facilitate their workshops to leaders of all Service Cluster Board organizations, such as Brother to Brother, Butch’s Team, Juntos, MAlt, and NOM. Their three, 40-minute long workshops addressed Leadership Styles, Project Management, and Coordinated Leadership as part of the SCB training in the final week of J-Term. SCB members attending the workshops appreciated the “change of pace” in having student-led presentations, finding it both exciting and refreshing.
Sophia Johnson ’22 and Viv Merril ‘22.5 facilitate a Leadership Styles for Collaboration for SCB members during the last week of J-Term.
Students were able to acquire useful skills not just by attending the workshops but by being a part of the process of creating such workshops. As Kailee Brickner-McDonald explains, “Two of the best ways to deepen understanding of a skill is to practice it and teach it to others. Between the Winter Term Workshop on workshop facilitation and the facilitation experience itself on a particular skillset, our participants got to do both.”
Participating in the Winter Term Workshop helped students to recognize their strengths and weaknesses, allowing them to build on their personal leadership strengths and styles while also gaining skills and confidence in areas they didn’t feel so strong in, such as facilitation. One participant stated: “My comfort guiding a workshop (especially one with my peers present) grew exponentially through this WTW and final facilitation exercise… [the CCE staff] encouraged us to think with so much advance attention to necessary items, time constraints, and approach to the materials. I feel like my skill-set for learning and teaching grew widely in this WTW.”
My comfort guiding a workshop (especially one with my peers present) grew exponentially through this WTW and final facilitation exercise.
Generating Civic Skill Building Workshops Participant
The experience taught DREAM Co-Chair Chloe Zinn ’22 that empathy and intention are just as important as quality curricula in creating effective educational presentations. She stated: “I learned that it takes effort and care to truly get through to an audience, and even more challenging workshops can be facilitated well with intention and genuine empathy.”
I learned that it takes effort and care to truly get through to an audience, and even more challenging workshops can be facilitated well with intention and genuine empathy.”
Chloe Zinn ’22, DREAM Student Leader and Generating Civic Skill Building Workshops Participant
Social Issue Panels to Dive Deeper
In addition to building students’ civic leadership skills, the Service Cluster Board and Civic Leadership Certificate programs also enhance students’ ability to support their community partners and connect their experiential learning with their academic understanding of social issues. Sixty-seven organization leaders and members came together on Wednesday, February 26 to learn from two sets of community partner, alumni, and faculty panelists who discussed the topics: Engaging with Youth and Mentoring and Accessing Addison County’s Resources. Consisting of three experts each, the panels sought to deepen students’ understanding of social issues and local contexts to better support their personal and/or organizational work in the community. Students submitted their questions in advance, leading to interactive and insightful conversations in both panels. Ellie Dickerson ’19 (CCE AmeriCorps VISTA) developed and coordinated the event.
Engaging with Youth & Mentoring panelists included Laura Basili, a Middlebury College Visiting Faculty member and clinical psychologist whose therapeutic work focuses on children and adolescents living with adversity, illness, and loss; Mel Hurlburt, DREAM Program Director; and Elizabeth Burrows, an Addison Central School District counselor with more than 25 years of experience in the field. The panelists addressed critical questions about working with youth who have had adverse childhood experiences, engaging in meaningful conversations about difficult topics, and encouraging healthy behaviors without being overbearing, among others.
Panelists answer students’ questions during the Engaging with Youth & Mentoring panel on February 26 in Axinn.
Students will be able to apply the wisdom and resources from the panel in their work with community youth, strengthening relationships and enhancing the many socio-emotional, cognitive, and identity development benefits of mentorship. Speaking to those benefits, the panelists served as source of inspiration and reflection for students, reminding them why they became mentors in the first place. In the words of one student: “I loved having them here…it reminded me that what I’m doing is important and refreshed the patience I have with my mentee.”
I loved having [the panelists] here…it reminded me that what I’m doing is important and refreshed the patience I have with my mentee.”
Engaging with Youth & Mentoring Panel Particpant
Conversation in the Accessing Addison County’s Resources panel was similarly robust. Leading the panel were HOPE’s Local Food Access Coordinator Lily Bradburn, WomenSafe Services Director Christina Grier, and recent Midd graduate Luna Shen ‘19.5, a current AmeriCorps member at John Graham Shelter in Vergennes. Bringing a range of experiences and expertise, these three panelists offered many insights into Addison County’s most pressing social issues. The panelists’ broad overview of local issues and support networks was especially helpful for the many students who work closely with one or two local organizations but aren’t necessarily aware of other issues or the many ways community partners work together to address them. The panel also allowed for a deep dive into specific issues, such as the affordable housing crisis and the negative effects of state policies on homelessness. One participant noted that they “didn’t realize how transportation…impacted the people that live in Addison County. It’s a really large place geographically, and can be difficult if you don’t have shelter or means of transportation.”
It makes me excited that the SCB helps all student organizations deepen their connection with community, which is the reason I decided to work with the CCE in the first place!
Getting out of the Middlebury campus bubble and into the community is one of the primary reasons students get involved in CCE’s programs. As one student remarked, “It makes me excited that the SCB helps all student organizations deepen their connection with the community, which is the reason I decided to work with the CCE in the first place!” The community partner panels complemented their service experiences, deepening their knowledge and ability to engage meaningfully in their respective organizations.
Future SCB and CLC trainings this spring will include Budgeting as Storytelling on March 16th, and Leadership Transitions in April. Thanks to all who deepen their community engagement experiences by participating in our training programs!
We are pleased to announce the New England Small College Athletic Conference (NESCAC) Votes initiative, a partnership of Amherst College (Mass.), Bates College (Maine), Bowdoin College (Maine), Colby College (Maine), Connecticut College, Hamilton College (N.Y.), Middlebury College (Vt.), Trinity College (Conn.), Tufts University (Mass.), Wesleyan University (Mass.), and Williams College (Mass.) with the ALL IN Campus Democracy Challenge. We are seeking to fulfill a responsibility of higher education to graduate informed and civically engaged citizens and to push for a more inclusive democracy through increasing voter registration and turnout rates across all of our campuses and, in turn, the nation.
NESCAC Votes aims to tackle the issue of low college student voter turnout by advancing nonpartisan civic learning and voter participation on each of the 11 campuses. Stakeholders from each of the campuses will participate in a series of conference calls and a summit designed to support collaboration, catalyze the adoption of promising practices, and develop common resources and means to advance student civic learning, political engagement, and informed voter participation.
The initiative grew out of collaborations between staff at Middlebury College, Bowdoin College and the ALL IN Campus Democracy Challenge in the summer of 2018. In March 2019, the NESCAC Votes Initiative was formally announced when President Clayton Rose of Bowdoin College and President Laurie Patton of Middlebury College jointly issued an invitation to the other NESCAC presidents to participate. The inaugural effort aims to increase the voter turnout rate by at least 11 points across the 11 campuses in the 2020 general election, from an average of 53% to 64%.
Middlebury College President Laurie Patton described the importance of NESCAC Votes: “Preparing students for engagement in the issues of our day is central to the educational mission of our institutions. NESCAC Votes is a meaningful partnership that allows us to build on our collective institutional strengths and collaborate to deepen civic learning and engagement within our individual campuses.”
Jennifer Domagal-Goldman, executive director of the ALL IN Campus Democracy Challenge, says initiatives like NESCAC Votes “focus collective energy on adopting data-driven practices and institutionalizing campus efforts to help students develop the skills needed to be active and informed participants in our democracy.”
NESCAC Votes will support voting efforts to encourage more than 31,000 college students on 11 campuses to participate in our political process. Participating campuses will appoint a campus coordinator to help establish and lead a campus-wide nonpartisan democratic engagement coalition of dedicated students, faculty, staff, and community partners. Additionally, each of the 11 campuses commits to participating in the National Study of Learning, Voting and Engagement, the ALL IN Campus Democracy Challenge, and a NESCAC Votes Summit on October 25-26, 2019 at Middlebury College’s Bread Loaf campus.
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ALL IN Campus Democracy Challenge Since 2016 the ALL In Campus Democracy Challenge, a program of Civic Nation, has been supporting and recognizing campuses committed to advancing nonpartisan democratic engagement by increasing opportunities for student civic learning, political engagement, and voter participation.
As a culminating orientation week experience, Middlebury College sends its first year students off campus with various MiddView trips. These three day excursions allow students explore Vermont, wilderness, and/or community engagement. The Center for Community Engagement (CCE) advises the eight community engagement trips, supporting new students to learn more about pressing social issues in the Vermont community. This year, based on student interest, the CCE addressed six central themes across the trips: Access to Affordable Housing, Animal Advocacy and Rehabilitation, Bridging the Health Gap, Exploring Education in Rural Communities, Immigration and Vermont’s Diverse Communities, Working Together to Effect Change. Sixteen student leaders with experience in these areas led the trips, after two weeks of hard work in training and preparation.
One of the Animal Advocacy and Rehabilitation trips, led by Tyler DeStrong ’22 and Noelle Ruschil ’22, learned and served at Homeward Bound, Addison County’s Humane Society.
By the end of the weekend, students worked with forty six Vermont organizations. Each group partnered with Vermont community organizations that embodied the theme of their trip.The Access to Affordable Housing group worked with organizations like the Charter House Coalition and Addison County Habitat for Humanity, while the Immigration and Vermont’s Diverse Communities trip worked with Migrant Justice and the Open Door Clinic. Some other partnering organizations included Homeward Bound, North Branch Nature Center, Adison Central Teens, and Bixby Memorial Free Library.
Middlebury first year students had a chance to not only get to foster new connections with their peers, they also got to start engaging with new communities. Alex Dobin ’22, a Juntos Board member who supported an information panel with the Immigration and Vermont’s Diverse communities trip, shared, “It was awesome to meet first years who dedicated their first few days at Middlebury to thinking about immigration and social justice, and to engaging with the Addison County community.” In my experience as a student (Alondra Carmona, ’21), I value MiddView trips because as the academic year progresses and things get busy, it becomes harder to initiate engagement with the community outside of Middlebury College. As participants return to campus and classes get started, students take with them a fun and meaningful introductory experience that is shared among their new classmates.
Middlebury’s community partners, College, and CCE welcomes the class of 2023 and hopes to hear amazing stories from our future leaders!
