My 10 Hour day at Gulf Islands National Seashore!
As my alarm went of a 6oclock AM on September 26, 2015, I
was all but excited to spend 10 hours on Gulf Islands National Seashore.
However, as I look back on the day, it feels great to know that I personally
was able to make an environmental impact on the place that I love and have
grown up in. Gulf Islands National
Seashores mission is to preserve the pristine beaches, wildlife, and the
culture so that many people after us are able to learn and enjoy the same
things that we did. The organizations mission was a huge reason why I chose to
volunteer with them. It is inspiring to me that people have so much passion to
preserve something for not themselves to enjoy, but the future generations to
come. They are participating in something bigger then themselves, and for
myself to have the opportunity to do the same, felt awesome.
Oyster wall!
One hour a week at a shoreline making a big difference!
Vabrice spent time at the beach to satisfy her service, not too shabby!!
I took my service learning to the beach. Here I aided my
fellow peers in cleaning up the beach. While doing it not only did it give me a
great indescribable feeling, I helped save my environment one small step here I
collected blocks of wood that were chilling shore side, broken chairs that
people left, and wrappers that people had neglected to throw away in the trash.
AND I HELD A STARFISH FOR THE FIRST TIME THAT WAS REALLY ACTIVE!!!! This service project has taught me that we as
a people have to love our environment more, because if we don’t no one else
will. With well over millions of people on
the face of the planet it is our sole responsibility to take care of the place,
that takes care of us. Litter can lead
one to think that an area is unkempt and unsafe and that disorder and littering
are tolerated. (Which it is not) Litter attracts more litter. If we can clean
our physical environment to make it look better, we as a people will feel
better and isn’t that what life is all about? So the next time you walk across
some trash on the floor wherever you shall be, even if it wasn’t you’re doing
pick it up! It’s really all a domino effect and you never know what animal,
ecosystem, wetland, and/or environment is thanking you.
UWF Garden, winter crop prep with Halle!
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| Getting a raised bed ready to plant!! |
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| Fall/winter crops in the ground! |
Here is what Halle had to say about her experience at the
UWF Garden:
The UWF Garden Project is a valuable asset to both the
University and its students. It allows the students here a chance to get in
touch with nature and give back to earth. The students are able to get hands on
with planting, place mulch, weeding, and the other tasks necessary to grow an
organic garden. However, this comes with some drawbacks. So much hands-on work
can be difficult to manage, but at the same time, it is such a rewarding
experience to see the transformation of an overgrown area of campus into a
beautiful corner friendly to both animals and the community. As a college
student, it can be overwhelming to deal with the struggles of maintaining a
good GPA and everyday tasks, but the gardens offer as a piece of serenity and
calmness that is hard to find in one’s everyday bustling life. That is why this
project is so important to continue. Plus, not only is it a beautiful place to
visit, it also offers as a teaching tool for valuable life lessons on growing
an organic garden, growing food, and the importance of the environment as a
whole. These lessons often take a back seat to the typical academia that is
taught in colleges, so the UWF Gardens is essential to teaching the community
about the environment and how to live an eco-friendly life.
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| Halle even made a new friend one day! |
Tiffany worked with Choctawhatchee Basin Alliance improving water quality one restoration project at a time!
Choctawhatchee Basin
Alliance, an organization based in Santa Rosa Beach "committed to
sustaining and providing optimum utilization of the Choctawhatchee Basin
watershed while presenting opportunities for citizens, educators, and technical
experts to promote the health of the Choctawhatchee watershed." CBA
recognizes that the health of water resources is vitally important to our local
economy considering fishing, tourism, and our quality of life rely upon a
healthy watershed. An important aspect the CBA focuses on is citizen education
and involvement. It is necessary for locals to become active in the
conservation of these valued resources.
Many skills were used
and developed during the process of getting Service Learning hours. Firstly, I
had to find and organization to work with! This led me to do some research
about my area and what agencies are doing environmental work here. I was
pleasantly surprised with the amount of opportunities I came across as well as
the sheer enthusiasm of such places to bring on volunteers. I got to use
computer skills for checking and entering water quality data into the CBA's
database. I hate to say I have not worked much with Excel, but my supervisor
was more than happy to walk me through each step and I am glad I got some more
practice on it. I feel as though knowing the program will certainly help me out
with future jobs. I also tend to do things on my own. I had to go out of my
comfort zone and work with a group for the oyster bagging and reef building.
These activities could not be done by one person and the camaraderie was
actually nice, especially since everyone working shared a common passion for a
healthy environment. Becoming more adapted to group work will be advantageous
for job opportunities. Not only did I get more relaxed in group settings, but I
also spoke up and asked questions. Like I said before, I'm a bit of an
introvert and stay pretty quiet. However, doing work I really enjoyed and am
enthusiastic about made me want to learn more about why, how, what was being
done. All in all, the experience was one I would never take back and I look
forward to continuing volunteer work with both agencies.
Professional development
Service Learning is not simply a way for students to earn a grade! It is also not simply a way for them to experience, hands on, some lessons we discuss in a classroom. Nor is it solely a way for UWF students to give back to either hometown or UWF community. Service learning is also a way to hone in on some professional development skills which are and will be needed in every aspect of life. Melissa recognized excellent professional development practice during her service learning:
Throughout
my service learning I developed better teamwork skills, my leadership skills
and my creativity. Becoming an Elementary education Major hoping to teach Kindergarten, these are all super important skills to have and to keep working
on. I used to be afraid to talk in front of people, but teaching the kids about
how photosynthesis works and coming up with the “today I ate a rainbow” project,
I realized it wasn't so bad.
Pure Bliss!
I have just begun reading through the projects my students submitted for Spring 2015 Service Learning and I am giddy with happiness at this submission! THIS is why we work so many hours teaching people through the UWF Student Community Garden!! Check out this blurb from Jasmine:
I had a great learning experience working with the UWF
Garden Club. UWF’s garden club’s mission is, “to build community at
UWF and in the surrounding region. To promote food sustainability and security
by creating an alternative to the industrial system of food production. To
teach UWF students, faculty, staff and other how to grow food locally and
organically. To encourage healthy eating by increasing access to fruits
and vegetables. To increase respect and concern for the natural
world. To help students develop leadership and community-building skills”. While volunteering at the garden, my main
objective was extermination and preservation. Weeds and invasive grasses were
attempting to invade the garden once again. To stop that process we were to
move the mulch (where there were green shrubs poking through), pull up the
cardboard underneath, pull the weeds and its roots completely from the soil,
place new cardboard down (to block the sun from promoting the weeds to grow)
and place new mulch on top of that. The entire job that I was involved with
revolves around Chapter 10: Evolution and Extinction. The chapter talks
about invasive species which are species not native to the environment and will
cause harm to the environment it is introduced to or invading. The purpose of
my job is to remove the invasive species of grass that is in the garden before
it takes over. Remove the species from the root and block the sunlight from
nurturing it to grow again. The garden experience is a lesson right from the
book. The garden is an organic garden and does not use any harmful chemicals like
pesticides and fertilizers that enhance growth using chemicals. The vegetables are
grown all naturally which will not harm the environment or get into the food
which will be consumed and the chemicals being digested. Keeping the garden 100
percent natural the garden has to use the cardboard to kill off weeds instead
of chemicals. I definitely developed and strengthened my skills such as communication
and problem solving. Professionally the experienced helped with my people
skills and helped me become slightly more comfortable with starting
conversations with people. During my experience at the garden I learned so much
valuable information about gardening I became motivated to finally create my
own garden. The next week I bought all my supplies from Home Depot and got down
and dirty to start clean eating.
Hillary Dye doing service learning through a love for animals!
Volunteering for the
Emerald Coast Animal Allies was a great experience for me to be a part of. After I earned my ten hours of service
learning, I continued to volunteer because I enjoyed it so much. I was able to meet new people who shared the
same interest in animals as I do. Taking
care of the health of animals and being included in the adoption process has
been an extraordinary experience. Throughout
this entire experience, it has made me understand the struggle that many
animals have to go through. Interacting
with animals in our environment relates to several of our lessons that we
discuss in class. One of the lessons
related to my volunteering experience is learning about the habitats of
species. In Chapter 8, Community
Ecology, the lesson explains about the human causes of habitats and species
within a community. By being involved
with animals, I realize that all animals can be disrupted by human
engagement. Many of these animals are
taken from home to home. This causes
them to change environments, which is very hard to adapt. Finding a stable home for these animals will
potentially fix this issue. The lesson
also discusses the relationships of symbiosis.
For example, when a kitten gets fleas, which is very common from
changing its environment constantly, the kitten is harmed. When a kitten gets a tick, the tick is able
to get its nourishment. This is an
example of parasitism.
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