Five community service coordinators from Wittenberg shared strategies on how to lead students in service-oriented activities and on how to make service work a more meaningful experience during a student-initiated workshop titled “Reflect-O-Rama.”

The workshop was one of more than 60 workshops offered at the 1999 Campus Outreach Opportunity League (COOL) conference in Salt Lake City, Utah, March 18-21.

The national conference brings students and educators together to network and learn from one another about community service.

Katie Campbell, ’01, Shelley Nelson, ’99, Amy Geiger, ’01, Jared Embree, ’02, and Erin Knoll, ’01, traveled to Salt Lake City to present the workshop, which explored how reflections complement community service work.

Wittenberg requires students to participate in three separate reflection sessions during the course of their 30 hours of community service.“Reflections are a time for people to share and discuss their community service experiences,” Nelson said.

“I’ve been a community service coordinator for three years, and I’ve met students who didn’t understand why they had to do community service until they participated in a reflection,” she added.

Nelson explained that during the reflection, the student starts to understand how his or her individual contribution to community service fits into the whole. “A lot of learning goes on at Wittenberg, and most of it is experiential,” Nelson said.

“Community service takes what you’ve learned in the classroom and helps you apply it to real life in a positive way.”

During the workshop, the Wittenberg community service coordinators discussed effective ice-breaking techniques to use when leading a reflection and explained some activities to engage and involve reflection participants.

Close to 25 people attended the workshop, which Wittenberg participates in each year.