WE ARE. . .!!!!

No, we are not Penn State.

We are the Shippensburg University Honors Program Colloquium. We are a class of 18 students who have the goal in mind to design, implement and sustain a project in the Dominican Republic. All in one semester.

The class consists of mostly seniors and two sophomores. The majority of the students are either Business or Education majors. There are also some English, History, and Public Relations majors, making us a very diverse group.

Now for our project.

When brainstorming about our service learning project we wanted to include an international component. That was key. So how did we narrow it down to the Domincan Republic out of all the countries in the world? One of our classmates, Annamarie, spent last semester studying in the DR. She has firsthand knowledge and experience which is a big help when discussing the culture.

The class is divided into four groups: Strategy, Operations, Fundraising and Public Relations. Each group meets at least once a week to discuss the necessary steps to take to have a successful project.

The class consensus was to create a project geared towards children. By contacting our professor, Dr. Klein's contact in the DR we were able to start immediate communication. As of now, our partner in the DR is the Nazerene Compassionate Ministries. As a class we wish to create a curriculum based on the needs of the children at these centers. This may not necessarily be a traditional curriculum. Some of the topics we have discussed are English language lessons, hygiene, and sports. The idea is for everyone in the class, and not just the education majors, to be able to participate in the teaching aspect of our project since members of out class will be going to the Dominican Republic in January.

Currently, as a class, we are working out more details with our contact in the DR so we can narrow down our curriculum and come up with some more specifics. Few things are set in stone so every week is crucial in order to make progress towards completing our goal.

*Fun fact: Shippensburg University and the Dominican Republic flag both incorporate the same colors: red, blue and white!!!