Ten days, four states, one spring break mission: service
Brendan Meighan
Issue date: 4/8/05 Section: News
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Every year during spring break, the Office of Campus Activities and Service Organization Summit put together a week-long community service program, called Alternative Spring Break, for the students at Drexel to get involved in.
Not only are these service projects an alternative to the usual week long collegiate spring break trips to places like Cancun and Panama City Beach, but they also provide students the opportunity to make a difference in people's lives and the community itself. This year, Drexel students traveled to California, New Mexico, Minnesota, South Carolina and New Hampshire.
The Service Organization Summit does not actually host any of the Alternative Spring Break trips. Instead, it encourages other service organizations to get involved in the program and host their own program. SOS assists them in organizing their trip by advertising their trip through various media around campus, advising the organizations on how to set up their trips, and supporting the organizations monetarily. SOS advisor and Assistant Director of Campus Activities Ari Hauben coordinates the Alternative Spring Break trips.
SOS has organized Alternative Spring Break trips. For the past five years, there were many other colleges around the country that already had employed Alternative Spring Break programs with excellent results. The Service Organization Summit saw this and implemented a program at Drexel.
Originally, there was only one trip for students to go on, but interest in the program has grown since its inception and this year there were five. In the past, students have traveled to Florida, New Mexico, Virginia, and New Orleans.
Even with five trips there were more applicants than positions available. Service Organization Summit responded to this by encouraging other groups to plan these trips and encouraging groups of students to form their own trips. "We had by far the most amount of applications," Hauben said, adding, "we had over 100 applications."
Habitat for Humanity went to Minnesota this year for their trip and worked with two separate families. The first was a family of seven children, a mom and dad, and another baby on its way. Habitat sheet rocked the entire first floor and parts of the basement, and had also sprayed insulation on the ceiling.
The second family consisted of four children and a single mother. The Drexel students put up sheet rock in their basement, sanded the previous mudding, put up a new layer of mudding, and then put vinyl siding on the outside of the house.
Along with helping out with the construction, the Alternative Spring Break coordinator for the trip was also in charge of making sure the students enjoyed their week in Minnesota. The chair provided everyone secret buddies, Easter baskets, and movies to watch in their spare time.
The Society of Women Engineers hosted their trip to San Francisco, California this year and conducted a week-long engineering intensive workshop focused on bridge building to four area elementary schools. They worked with Artseed, a non-profit organization from San Francisco. Along with the ten engineering students who went on the trip, two graphic design majors also came along to emphasis the importance of art and design when building a bridge. "It was an amazing time," Regina Cagle, one of the twelve students who went on the trip said. "It was really enriching."
Habitat for Humanity and the Society of Women Engineers weren't the only organizations to host Alternative Spring Break trips. Circle K and Gamma Sigma Sigma also hosted trips to South Carolina and New Hampshire respectively. Between the spring and summer terms, the Newman Council is hosting a trip to Shiprock, New Mexico to help rebuild house, clear irrigation ditches, and help out with whatever else needs to be done.
Not only are these service projects an alternative to the usual week long collegiate spring break trips to places like Cancun and Panama City Beach, but they also provide students the opportunity to make a difference in people's lives and the community itself. This year, Drexel students traveled to California, New Mexico, Minnesota, South Carolina and New Hampshire.
The Service Organization Summit does not actually host any of the Alternative Spring Break trips. Instead, it encourages other service organizations to get involved in the program and host their own program. SOS assists them in organizing their trip by advertising their trip through various media around campus, advising the organizations on how to set up their trips, and supporting the organizations monetarily. SOS advisor and Assistant Director of Campus Activities Ari Hauben coordinates the Alternative Spring Break trips.
SOS has organized Alternative Spring Break trips. For the past five years, there were many other colleges around the country that already had employed Alternative Spring Break programs with excellent results. The Service Organization Summit saw this and implemented a program at Drexel.
Originally, there was only one trip for students to go on, but interest in the program has grown since its inception and this year there were five. In the past, students have traveled to Florida, New Mexico, Virginia, and New Orleans.
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Even with five trips there were more applicants than positions available. Service Organization Summit responded to this by encouraging other groups to plan these trips and encouraging groups of students to form their own trips. "We had by far the most amount of applications," Hauben said, adding, "we had over 100 applications."
Habitat for Humanity went to Minnesota this year for their trip and worked with two separate families. The first was a family of seven children, a mom and dad, and another baby on its way. Habitat sheet rocked the entire first floor and parts of the basement, and had also sprayed insulation on the ceiling.
The second family consisted of four children and a single mother. The Drexel students put up sheet rock in their basement, sanded the previous mudding, put up a new layer of mudding, and then put vinyl siding on the outside of the house.
Along with helping out with the construction, the Alternative Spring Break coordinator for the trip was also in charge of making sure the students enjoyed their week in Minnesota. The chair provided everyone secret buddies, Easter baskets, and movies to watch in their spare time.
The Society of Women Engineers hosted their trip to San Francisco, California this year and conducted a week-long engineering intensive workshop focused on bridge building to four area elementary schools. They worked with Artseed, a non-profit organization from San Francisco. Along with the ten engineering students who went on the trip, two graphic design majors also came along to emphasis the importance of art and design when building a bridge. "It was an amazing time," Regina Cagle, one of the twelve students who went on the trip said. "It was really enriching."
Habitat for Humanity and the Society of Women Engineers weren't the only organizations to host Alternative Spring Break trips. Circle K and Gamma Sigma Sigma also hosted trips to South Carolina and New Hampshire respectively. Between the spring and summer terms, the Newman Council is hosting a trip to Shiprock, New Mexico to help rebuild house, clear irrigation ditches, and help out with whatever else needs to be done.
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