Going on week 3 of my time with AmeriCorps and the Office of Service-Learning, I have learned a thing or two:

• Issues of absolute and relative poverty: around the world and right here in Kearney

     -1.35 million children experience homelessness in the US every year
     -1/6 of the world's population lives under conditions classified as "extreme poverty"---living off less than $1 per day
     -The Pine Ridge Reservation (just to the north of us) is one of the poorest areas in the US

• Service-Learning is not (I repeat: NOT) the same as Community Service!

     -When doing community service or volunteer work, people choose their activities and do not have an academic connection
     -In service-learning, students fulfill a community-designated need which then reinforces their academic experience

• I am not as tech / internet savvy as I had once believed myself to be

     -wikis, nings, Google Calendars & Maps...even this blog...it's all new to me!

• Gerry Stirtz loves babies (good thing Steven J. has a brand new one!)

• We (I) need to figure out how to get more people involved in our asset mapping project

     -Dr. Cook-Fong is already on-board and has done a TON of research with her practicum students!
     -I am investigating a possibility of correlating the asset mapping project with the Undergraduate Research Fellows program which pays students a stipend
     -Hopefully, I will soon be meeting with professors in Social Work and Sociology about the possibility of integrating the asset mapping project with more classes
     -Always looking for suggestions!