Congratulations to English professor Dr. Heidi Marshall for being awarded a $500 grant towards FSCJ’s “Community Beyond the Classroom” project.

It was chosen as part of the Kynamatrix Research Network’s "Innovation through Collaboration" 2016 Grant Awards for projects in design, engineering, computer science and service learning.

The award will assist in further sustaining and institutionalizing a climate for service learning success at the College through student engagement, leadership and faculty development. This year, Dr. Marshall and Dr. Mary Rose will collaborate on developing the first true community organization partnership with the College’s Center for Civic Engagement. They hope to create a one-stop resource which will promote meaningful community involvement and a culture of active civic engagement among all members of the FSCJ community.

The center will also facilitate mutually beneficial partnerships with local community organizations, and provide training and technical assistance to faculty, staff and student leaders who facilitate service learning projects. Historically, the College has not established a service learning collaboration between academic and student affairs.

Dr. Marshall will use the grant funds to work with Community Connections of Jacksonville, one of the oldest human service agencies in Northeast Florida. The organization’s Davis Center offers transitional housing specifically to homeless women and their children with up to 18 months of shelter and services.

As part of the “Community Beyond the Classroom” project, the grant will be used to adopt two rooms for incoming women and children at Community Connections. Students enrolled in two sections of ENC 1102 will participate in the service learning project during the summer A session. The students will help transform the adopted units into a home by painting and outfitting them with new bedding and furnishings.

Participating students will be mentored, supervised and guided by Community Connections during their service learning projects. The project will fund four service learning opportunities for approximately 100 students, and will also be available to students next fall.