Community Service Learning Projects: Education Process Yielding Benefits before Graduation

Some universities like the University of the Incarnate Word, require community service hours as part of their undergraduate degree requirements. Projects can include community gardens, repairing playgrounds, painting or repairing homes for those unable to do the work. While these projects instill a sense of community involvement in the students, projects related to their degree majors can multiply the benefits for the students and the community. One such community service learning project involved the education and motivation of students in the earlier grade level. Saint Peter Prince of the Apostles grammar school and other schools maintain a voluntary association the University of the Incarnate Word called “The Brainpower Connection”. It is a coalition of learning institutions, spanning pre-kindergarten through University, with a common educational vision that share faculty and facilities

This is a case study of the on-going service - learning relationship between the University of the Incarnate Word meteorology students and the Saint Peter Prince of the Apostles grammar school science students. For two years the groups have cooperated in the launching of a weather balloon by St Peter’s students with scientific experiments. The University of The Incarnate Word students have contributed launch day forecasting, landing site forecasting, on site launch observations and analysis of the meteorological data collected by the balloon instrument package. Analysis results are shared with the St. Peter’s students. The St Peter’s students “payload” has provided the university students with their first view of a weather balloon bursting at 100,000 feet altitude and a high resolution temperature sounding of the atmosphere. For the St Peter’s students organize and prepare a package of student suggested experiments for the balloon ascent. They participate in the design, and evaluation of the experiments and analysis of the data collected. The St Peter’s students also work with staff and students from the University of Texas San Antonio to prepare, launch, and track the balloon to touchdown. They also see how their balloon launch can contribute to real science, training of university students and be fun. Encouraging grammar school students to pursue STEM careers, training university students and supporting the San Antonio “Brainpower” educational community were the goals met by this collaboration effort.