Community Action Team for Service

     Community Action Team for Service, also known as C.A.T.S., is an academic community outreach program based out of GCSU that uses students and staff employed by the college to enhance environmental awareness and educational efforts for young people in Baldwin county. It is funded through an endowment from Kaolin Industries.
     Every week C.A.T.S. reaches out to local kids ranging from gifted students to at-risk children, in pre-K through grade twelve.
     “Programs are offered to anybody who asks for it,” said Ruth Eilers, the director of Academic Outreach and the head of the C.A.T.S. Program.
     Eilers works in association with Dr. Harriett Whipple and Geza Martiny, who both contribute greatly to the outreach programs.
     C.A.T.S. programs are primarily run by GCSU students who are working for service learning, work-study and some who are volunteers. Students who work for C.A.T.S. range in background and qualifications, with various majors ranging from history to mathematics.
     “It was rewarding working with the students we got to work with, and seeing them learn something they may not have already known,” said Brandon Murphy, a senior outdoor education major, who previously volunteered with C.A.T.S. for service learning hours required for a class.
     They also host teacher training programs such as Project Wet, Project Wild and Project Learning Tree. These programs are designed to enhance teaching methods used in the classroom so that children are encouraged to become more engaged in the learning process.
     Programs offered to children include field trips to Bartram Forest and GCSU’s own Lake Laurel, as well as in-school visitations, after school programs, tutoring sessions at the Boys and Girls Club, and other various workshops. Most programs have an environmental basis, but subjects such as mathematics, history, art and music are also emphasized.
     “Fridays are my favorite days of the week because I get to teach environmental and science education programs in local schools for my work-study job with Academic Outreach,” said Sena Rasun-Mahendra, a senior outdoor education major.
     According to Eilers, one of the most popular activities for children is what C.A.T.S. calls the Star Lab.
     “It’s an inflatable, portable planetarium,” explained Eilers. Kids get to learn about stars and constellations as they walk through the Star Lab inflated at their school.
     C.A.T.S. is always looking for qualified volunteers. They log all service hours for students seeking to fulfill volunteer requirements for other organizations or classes.
     Contact Ruth Eilers in the Smith House to find out more about how to volunteer and help with programs.

Posted by Colonnade Archives on Nov 30 2007. Filed under News. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0. You can leave a response or trackback to this entry