MSU students from the Detroit area have the opportunity to go home and take a piece of MSU with them this summer.
Detroit Spartans, a University Outreach partnership which works in cooperation with MSU Extension, offers Detroit-area MSU freshmen and sophomores internships in their home communities.
Karen McKnight Casey, director of the Service-Learning Center, said the program, now in its third year, was the brainchild of Wynne Lewis, a former MSU faculty member.
“She was doing work in the Detroit area and saw, in different Detroit organizations, that there seemed to be a real place for MSU students for them to go back home and give back to their community,” she said.
She said students interested in the program should have a general enthusiasm about the work involved.
“We’re looking for students who have a commitment to finish what they start, and an interest in making a contribution to the Detroit area,” McKnight Casey said.
She said one of the goals for the program is to increase opportunities for the students.
“We’re looking at both the community service sites previously used and also those places that make a contribution to the Detroit area, such as small businesses,” McKnight Casey said. “We’re looking to diversify the sites.”
The program is also expanding to accommodate students who stay on campus for the summer, she said. She said the program is partnering with a University of Michigan community service group on two Lansing sites, Old Town Main Street and the Boys and Girls Club of Lansing.
Computer engineering junior Karl Scott has participated in the program for the past two summers. He was placed at Dexter-Elmhurst Community Center and said working with the young children was wonderful.
He said he and the other interns easily related to the kids, ranging in ages from five to 17.
“We came from the same neighborhood as they did,” he said. “We instilled messages in them like getting a good education, staying away from drugs and to make wise decisions.”
Scott said the interns organized several trips for the kids but one in particular stands out.
“The whole summer we talked to them about the importance of going to college,” he said. “We brought them up to MSU, and just seeing their faces and reactions was great. That trip really motivated them.”
Patricia Herring Jackson, coordinator for Student Placement, said the program is looking for fewer community service positions and for more positions that will give interns work experience.
“Before, we placed students in several community service organizations that fit the interest of those students at that time, although unrelated to their majors,” said Herring Jackson, who is also an assistant research professor of microbiology. “We’re trying to change that toward pre-professional experiences.”
Students interested in applying for the program can attend the Summer Employment Fair tonight from 6:30 p.m. to 9:00 p.m. in the Big Ten rooms of the Kellogg Center.
For more information, email McKnight Casey at ysp@msu.edu.
