Nestled among white water rivers in the Appalachian Mountains of West Virginia, a community of lay people spends its time praying, farming and serving others. This summer, eight Creighton students will join them as part of a new senior perspective course.
Poverty in America, SRP 470/EDU 470, has been approved as a three-credit certified writing and senior perspective course offered during the summer pre-session from May 18 to June 4. Alice Smith, a senior instructional designer with the Office of Medical Education, will take the students to Bethlehem Farm in Summers County, W. Va., where they will participate in community outreach.
The students will live with the Bethlehem Farm community and spend four days doing low-income home repair. During the other two weeks, they will tutor children, work with the families of incarcerated women and visit the elderly and homebound, among other activities.
“It’s a pretty impoverished part of the country,” Smith said. “The people who come to work in this community help with those home renovations, but they’re interested also in doing things that are more than just Band-Aid fixes.”
Grants will cover the travel and housing expenses, so the only cost to students is regular pre-session tuition.
Dr. Sharon Ishii-Jordan, chair of the Education Department, said the course was approved last fall because it incorporated service into the senior perspective courses.
“We think that this will be a great course for the students to work in service and learn more about education,” Ishii-Jordan said.
As a senior perspective course, Poverty in America is open to seniors from any academic discipline. Smith said she has received interest from students in education, psychology, art, history and political science.
“There’s interest from across the board. I think that’ll make it an even more fascinating discussion,” Smith said.
Brian DeRouen, a caretaker at Bethlehem Farm, said he was excited to have Creighton students with different interests and majors come on the trip.
“That’s very much what we’re looking for because our program is suited to fit and influence somebody’s life, no matter how they’re planning on spending that life,” DeRouen said. “The more people we can get involved and interested, the better.”
Bethlehem Farm emphasizes community, spirituality, service, simplicity and sustainability, DeRouen said. During their stay, the students will grow their own food, cook their own meals from scratch and learn about Catholic social teaching.
“We work on ways to leave a lighter footprint on the earth,” he said. “A lot of folks these days have no contact with the land, no idea where their food comes from, so they’ll be in the garden getting their hands dirty.”
Smith said the program corresponds with Creighton’s mission.
“Part of the mission at Creighton is to serve others and to be in solidarity with all of the constituents of our humanity, and in order to do that, we need to reach out to those who are impoverished and live with them and be in a relationship with them,” Smith said.
Smith started developing the course after going on similar trips with her family.
“What I’ve seen in my own children, who are now adults, is that they have found the ability to be very happy because of being part of a community and helping that community and serving in that community,” Smith said. “That’s something I would love to have students learn – how to be happy.”
Students must apply for registration in the class. The deadline is April 8, and applications are available at http://www2.creighton.edu/ccas/education.