San Antonio College has received a $45,000 grant to support service-learning projects that strengthen the community's homeland security and domestic preparedness. SAC is one of only eight community colleges nationally and the only college in Texas to receive a Supporting Actions for Engagement (SAFE) grant from the Community College National Center for Community Engagement.

"Service-learning is all about assisting your community and fitting service into the curriculum," Service-learning Coordinator Audrey Grams said. Last year, 55 San Antonio College faculty members in 40 academic disciplines incorporated community service into their curriculum, with students tallying more than 23,300 service-learning hours.

The SAFE grant will provide students with hands-on experience in professions that help preserve San Antonio's homeland security and domestic preparedness, while the community will gain competent and energetic volunteers who constitute the city's future workforce, Grams said.

In fact, several of San Antonio College's SAFE service-learning projects began prior to the grant announcement.

This spring, students studying to become basic emergency medical technicians helped the San Antonio Area American Red Cross plan and provide medical services for San Antonians celebrating the city's annual Fiesta.

Students staffed American Red Cross booths in downtown San Antonio, where they provided basic medical services for Fiesta celebrators. They learned planning strategies to provide public assistance at large community gatherings, even in potentially disastrous cases. In return for the assistance, the San Antonio Area American Red Cross trained students to become disaster volunteer reserves.

"This takes learning beyond the classroom and professional health care environments," said San Antonio College EMS Clinical Coordinator Shannon Cowger.

San Antonio College history students teamed up with the United Service Organizations (USO) San Antonio, a non-profit, charitable organization that serves more than 120,000 active-duty military personnel and their families. The project, which was offered to History Instructor John Boswell's world history students this spring (in place of a book review), made clearer the nature of military service and its factors for success: training, leadership, and morale.

"The importance of morale cannot be understated," Boswell said. "American soldiers must feel that the nation's civilian community is behind them as they meet the enemy."

Students spent at least 12 hours at the USO, either at the downtown or airport locations, visiting and assisting military servicemen and women; they wrote essays detailing their experiences and led classroom discussions covering what they learned.

"The students were motivated, eager to get involved, and very positive," said USO San Antonio Executive Director Colonel Raymond Holmes. "It is a great opportunity for my staff, our military guests and their families, and (San Antonio College) students to come together and share experiences and learn about our different customs, traditions, and ways of life."

Teamwork is vital in service-learning projects, because success depends on the interaction between students and the community, each of which must help and support the other so the project can reach its potential, Grams said. To achieve success much depends on SAFE grant project coordinators, the San Antonio College faculty who initiate and maintain this partnership.

Students enrolled this spring in Sociology Professor Gloria Pimental's "Individual, Family, and Community" class worked with students and faculty at Pickett Academy, a San Antonio Independent School District alternative middle school for students with disciplinary problems, to deter "bullying" among the school's enrollment.

As part of the Pimental's service-learning project, "Taking Action Against Bullies" (TAAB), San Antonio College students mentored middle schoolers at Pickett Academy. Students designed hour-long presentations for the middle school students, outlining how "bullying" sometimes leads victims to acts of violence, or "outburst reactions," which can be disastrous.

This spring, economics students gained experience in disaster relief planning and preparedness, after receiving training from the San Antonio Food Bank and the Salvation Army. Students assisted in food and clothing drives for families affected by natural disasters such as fires, floods, and tornados.

More SAFE service-learning projects are in the works with start dates scheduled for this fall.

The SAFE grant will be distributed in $15,000 installments, once a year for three years. Faculty members who serve as SAFE project coordinators will earn a one-time mini-grant of $1,000.

For more information about the SAFE grant or service-learning project, contact Service-Learning Coordinator Audrey Grams at 785-6044.