Did you know?


• Whitworth University was a major sponsor of the One In Three: Regional Summit on Dropout Prevention.
  Washington Campus Compact awarded a Learn and Serve grant to Whitworth University to co-host a community Dropout Prevention Summit. The Regional Summit on Dropout Prevention was held April 17, 2009 at the Lincoln Center in Spokane, WA. The Summit was attended by over 300 educators, students, elected officials, service providers, and interested citizens. The objectives of the Summit were to 1) Increase community awareness of the youth dropout rate for the Spokane region, 2)Develop strategies for addressing the root causes of youth disengagement and 3) produce a video to provide a voice to Spokane youth to tell their stories regarding the cause of youth disengagement. The efforts to prevent high school dropout is ongoing.
  
  The Regional Summit on dropout prevention was an interactive forum to bring forth strategies to motivate kids to stay in school. Thirty nine agency representatives including educators, students, juvenile court representatives, service providers, interested citizens, and government officials came together to form a task force to plan the summit. The Summit was held April 17th, with 300 attendees.
  
  Spokane Mayor Mary Verner welcomed everyone and a video was shown produced by school dropouts providing a youth perspective on the challenges which cause youth disengagement. Marguerite Kondracke , President and CEO of America’s Promise gave the keynote address. Rhosetta Rhodes, Whitworth University, facilitated the Summit. Participants were provided with data regarding the dropout rate locally and nationally, as well as causes of youth disengagement. A panel discussion was held on the issues affecting our graduation rates. The panel was moderated by media spokesman Steve Becker. Panel members were:
  
  Dr. Nancy Stowell, Superintendent, Spokane Public Schools
  Rich Hadley, CEO Greater Spokane Incorporated (Chamber of Commerce and Economic Dev. Council)
  Congresswoman Cathy McMorris-Rogers
  Ben Stuckart, Executive Director, Communities in Schools Spokane County
  Cleve Penberthy, Principal, Contract-based Education
  Annie Blackledge, Building Bridges Program Supervisor, Office of the Supt. Of Public Instruction (OSPI)
  Wallace Williams, WSU Spokane/SMART (Spokane Minority Action Resource Team)
  Three students (High School Dropouts)
  
  After the panel discussion, participants self selected focus areas and formed groups to further analyze the data and prioritize indicators and strategies for dropout prevention. Participants were able to use hand held voting devices for prioritization purposes. After sub-groups reported back to the group at large, we again used the hand held devices to evaluate the summit. A Resource Fair was also available to participants.
  
  The Dropout Prevention Task Force is in the process of finding co-chairs for the seven focus areas, to begin the work of dropout prevention. A subsequent forum is scheduled for Fall 2010. If you are interested in getting involved, please contact Rhosetta Rhodes for more information.
  
  
• The MB 530 Entrepreneurship Class partnered with the West Central Neighborhood to assist with Economic Development.
  
  Todd Crossett’s Entrepreneurship class partnered with the West Central neighborhood to address three areas of economic development:
  • Development of a Business Association
  • Neighborhood Retail Development
  • Market the neighborhood as an Empowerment Zone

  Team 1 Business Association Development

  The neighborhood articulated the desire to form a business association. Students researched the policies, processes and procedures a neighborhood must follow to develop a business association. Students determined the benefits of forming and being a member of a business association. They prepared an educational document for distribution to entrepreneurs and spoke with neighborhood business owners about joining the business association.

  Outcome: Complete an application to form a business association in the West Central Neighborhood

  Team 2 Neighborhood Retail Development

  The neighborhood articulated the need for additional retail businesses. Students conducted market research on retail needs, conducted an analysis of existing retail businesses and determined what type of retail businesses should be in West Central. What are key factors necessary to attract businesses into a community? Are there any transportation issues? What facilities are available?

  Outcome: Present an analysis of retail opportunities within the West Central neighborhood, present options for additional retail businesses and develop recruitment strategies.

  Team 3 Empowerment Zone Marketing

  The entire West Central neighborhood is an Empowerment Zone. Students prepared a marketing kit to not only market the empowerment zone, but the entire community. Students researched Federal/State funding sources for an Empowerment Zone and detailed the policies, processes and procedures for a business to apply for funding/incentives. The target business corridors are West Broadway and the Maple/Ash corridor.

  Outcome: Prepare a marketing package outlining the benefits, funding and incentives for being located within an Empowerment Zone. This package also needs to include how a business would apply for the incentives/funding associated with being in an Empowerment Zone.
  
  For more information, contact Rhosetta Rhodes.
  

• Academic Service-Learning
  Each year students in over 80 classes participate in a wide range of service-learning projects designed to enhance understanding of course concepts and theories. Equally important in this process is students’ increased perception of ways to tangibly support community endeavors and engage in important issues beyond campus.

  In Spring 2009, 420 documented students contributed 7,622 hours through their service-learning courses. Projects ranged from building a website for the local chapter of the NAACP, to helping students at a local elementary school prepare for Bloomsday through a training program, to serving at the spring Special Olympics track meet in Spokane, to teaching computer literacy skills to the elderly, to serving and supporting homeless women at Hope House, to playing piano at three local retirement and assisted living facilities, to working with the chairwomen of Valleyfest to assess, promote and provide new ideas for the annual event, which is “a diverse vibrant gathering place for everyone,” to spending time with refugees new to Spokane and researching ways to improve their quality of life here, to tutoring and mentoring youth from a variety of schools and backgrounds.

  Following Fall 2008 one service-learning student commented: “It was such an incredible experience for me to volunteer with Service-Learning, as well as work under the Bonner Leaders Program. My understanding, perspective, appreciation, and knowledge of Spokane, especially residents who are disadvantaged, have grown under the branch of these two programs. I know that my experience in Service-learning and Bonners changed the trajectory of my life.” For more information, contact Rhosetta Rhodes.

• President’s Honor Roll

  For the second time in three years, Whitworth was awarded placement on the President’s Higher Education Community Service Honor Roll for its commitment to service as well as its work in youth educational empowerment, the special focus area of the 2008-2009 honor roll.
  
  The President’s Higher Education Community Service Honor Roll, launched in 2006, recognizes colleges and universities nationwide that support innovative and effective community service and service-learning programs. The Honor Roll's Presidential Award, given each year to only a handful of institutions, is the highest federal recognition a college or university can receive for its commitment to volunteering, service-learning, and civic engagement. The Honor Roll is a program of the Corporation for National and Community Service, and is sponsored by the President’s Council on Service and Civic Participation, the U.S. Departments of Education and Housing and Urban Development.
  
  Whitworth was selected for inclusion on the Community Service Honor Roll based on initiatives such as its annual Community Building Day project, its Engaging the Community, Inspiring Philanthropy program, its Bonner Leaders program, its Central America Service and Study program, and its West Central Neighborhood Partnership. Whitworth also places a special focus on high school completion and college readiness support services for disadvantaged youth. Some of the programs and services that are part of that focus include Mentors and Students Together, the Street Kids program, and the Whitworth Literacy Center. Click here for further information.
  

• Whitworth’s School of Education manages a literacy center that serves as a community outreach program that provides summer school and after-school tutoring services at a low price for children who require additional instruction to achieve academic goals, who are learning English as a second language, or who are at risk of academic failure.
  
  This summer the Whitworth Literacy Center will begin June 22 and continue through July 30. The morning session will run from 9-11:30 a.m. and the afternoon session will run from 1-3:30 p.m., Monday through Thursday. You may contact Education Professor Betty Williams for more information and for an application.
  
  
• Theatre faculty member Brooke Kiener was selected by Princeton University to be part of a group writing a book about Community-Based Research (CBR). Kiener was selected along with 8 additional faculty towork on this project. The book will explore and offer models and practical strategies for such interdisciplinary CBR projects as undergraduate pedagogy. Kiener’s CBR course featured Crossing the Line, a community theatre piece written by students, based on research regarding police use of force in Spokane. The Center for Justice was the community partner. Kiener flew to Princeton on April 18 to begin her work. Congratulations, Brooke! For more information, contact Brooke Kiener.
  
  
• 22 students worked during Jan Term with the persecuted Albino population in Tanzania to advocate for governmental intervention. Twenty-two students traveled to Africa to encourage and develop a culture of service. Students worked with churches, orphanages and schools to convey the value of volunteerism. Students also worked with the highly persecuted Albino population to advocate for governmental intervention. Their efforts brought the plight of the Albinos to the attention of the Minister of Cultural and Social Services, who decided to meet with the Albinos to discuss intervention strategies. Students also sponsored children so that they could attend school.  For more information, contact Rhosetta Rhodes.

• Twenty-six Whitworth students and two student life staffers recently returned from a spring break service trip to Montego Bay, Jamaica, where they cared for children in an orphanage, participated in construction of a vocational center, painted, and led VBS at a School for the Deaf. The group of 28 served at the Jamaica Christian School for the Deaf, a boarding school and one of only two schools on the entire island for K-12 children with hearing impairments. The team mixed and poured concrete, moved dirt for the foundation, and transported hundreds of bricks for the school’s new vocational center. Students also removed old screens from windows and attached new screens to help keep insects out of children’s rooms, and they painted the school’s kitchen and several offices. In the afternoons, the children gathered for Vacation Bible School with members of the Whitworth team. Students also served at Blossom Garden Children’s Home, Montego Bay’s city orphanage, which houses more than 70 children, from infants to seven-year-olds. Overall, the group experienced a very different side of Jamaica than is normally portrayed by the dreamy white sand beaches and tropical climate. The team left Whitworth with a desire to serve and learn more about life in Jamaica and each other, and they returned with full hearts, a new perspective and changed lives. For more information, contact Jacob Spaun.

• Faculty are engaged in an interdisciplinary project to work with the Spokane Police Department in eight neighborhoods. Whitworth faculty members Adrian Teo (Psychology), Patrick Van Inwegen (Political Science) and Noelle Wiersma (Psychology) are partnering with the Spokane Police Department to evaluate neighborhood policing strategy in eight neighborhoods. This community-based research project engages students from the Research Methods and Statistics II and Research Methods in Political Science courses. Students are designing a survey for data collection and writing a summary and analysis. For more information, contact Rhosetta Rhodes.
  
  
  

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