Students Volunteer at Good Neighbor Awards Banquet
Wednesday, December 3, 2014
Students Volunteer at Good Neighbor Awards Banquet
Students, faculty and staff at OSU-Oklahoma City are committed to being good neighbors. A collection of students and employees recently volunteered their time to help the Neighborhood Alliance of Central Oklahoma (NACOK) at their Eighth Annual Good Neighbor Awards Banquet held at the Downtown Petroleum Club.
The banquet, which is also a fundraiser, honors local residents, businesses and other community partners for their contributions to the local community over the past year. Student volunteers assist with registration and the silent auction.
While students are giving back, they are also looking forward. In the process of helping a local organization, they also get to speak and interact with professionals in the community. René Hurst, OSU-OKC Information Systems and Technologies department head and service learning coordinator, said students get to talk about what they want to do with their lives, which gives them the chance to network for their capstone project and internships.
Opportunities such as this one give students the ability to take their learning environment out of the classroom. While working on their degree, students are developing a professional image and taking a leadership role to represent OSU-OKC.
NACOK has asked representatives from the university to return for the past four years. “The students must be doing something right because they keep calling us to come back,” Hurst said. “The students want to come back, too. Four of the nine students who volunteered this year, volunteered last year as well.”
NACOK is an organization devoted to maintaining safe and healthy local neighborhoods. Through educational and support programs, they seek to empower citizens to become neighborhood leaders who advocate for their communities.
For more information on volunteer opportunities and service learning projects with OSU-OKC, visit osuokc.edu/servicelearning.
