Combining volunteerism with professional writing
When Maureen Scott began teaching English 320, Professional Writing, about 15 years ago, she wanted her students to be involved in their community and learn to write professionally at the same time.
Scott asks her students to think outside the box and puts their creativity to the test throughout the semester.
She got the idea to start a service-learning project gradually during each year she taught the class.
First she gave the students a few choices of some non-profit organizations and businesses around the F-M area.
Now Scott finds it easier and more successful to let the students decide for whom they would like to do their project.
Students are allowed to work alone or in small groups of two or three and are asked to pick a non-profit organization or business and complete a major writing project for them.
In the past, students have put together press kits, designed logos and helped organize projects.
A few local organizations and businesses that have been part of the service-learning project are Big Brother Big Sister, Riverkeepers and the Spiritroom.
The class has even been responsible for designing projects for local churches and the City of Fargo.
Scott explained that she started the program for three reasons.
The main reason is that the students would have a real audience with real needs for them to focus their writing on.
Scott believes it’s a privilege for her students to help out people in their community who need them.
“ I also believe it’s about integrity and pride, knowing that the project they are doing has a purpose,” Scott said.
Scott added that most of the non-profit organizations and businesses have been very responsive to the project and are attuned to the student’s class schedules.
The project takes up two thirds of the semester and some class time is given for students to work on the project.
Each student is expected to write a needs assessment report, proposal, progress report, final project and a do a presentation.
“ They learn that what they do is far more important than what I do and say,” Scott said. “It’s more than courage, they learn to hold themselves accountable for what they’re doing, and I’m very proud of them.”
The class has a broad group of students with many different majors.
Scott said that some of her past students’ work has shown up on the Spiritroom’s webpage and influenced Big Brother Big Sister’s official logo.
“ We did a project for the Moorhead River Arts,” Courtney Hohn, a senior said. “We organized one day of their river arts events.”
Scott also said that the success of the project depended on how much time and effort each student put into it.