CLS Newsletter - February 2008
CLS Member of the Month
Among a group of involved, dedicated, and outstanding student-leaders, Andres Sahagun stands above the crowd. Willing to take on any task that may be asked of him and always striving to learn more and take on more responsibility, Andres has been a terrific contribution and an asset to the entire Center for Leadership & Service. Within the CLS, Andres serves as a Service Ambassador and a mentor in the Project Mascot program. However, his involvement does not stop there: Andres serves on the Freshmen Leadership Council and is an active member in the Florida Greek Life. Andres' creativity and motivation has led him to be the force behind several great events and projects among all of these organizations. Behind Andres' creativity is a never-ending passion to learn more and spread his awareness. This year Andres took part in several leadership conferences and recently attended the prestigious Gatorship Diversity Conference. Always the first to step to a challenge, or look for another way to lend a helping hand, Andres truly deserves February's CLS Member of the Month. Surely, the Center for Leadership & Service and the world will see much more of Andres in the future. On behalf of Service Ambassadors and all of the Center for Leadership & Service, a well-earned congratulation and thank you to Andres.
Desserts for Change
Changing the world is as simple as pie! Really, it is. For the Service Ambassadors, this is more than just a cliché, this is a reality. One of the main events presented to the student body by the Service Ambassadors is a monthly program called Desserts for Change. In a Desserts for Change event, the Service Ambassadors organize a day-long service project for an on-campus student organization. Afterward, the Service Ambassadors lead the volunteers in a service-learning reflection while enjoying some delicious desserts.
On Saturday, January 26th, the Service Ambassadors treated the University of Florida RecSports Team to their very own Desserts for Change. Service Ambassadors led the forty-some volunteers to two different service projects. Keep Alachua County Beautiful provided a garden clean-up at the local Boys & Girls Club and the Tacachale Living Center welcomed the volunteers to spend the day interacting with the residents and helping out around the facility. All of the volunteers did a terrific job and have expressed interest in returning to Tacachale to help with the Valentine's Day Dance later this month. And of course, many delicious cakes, cookies, and pastries were enjoyed in the process!
If your student organization is interested in a Deserts for Change, please contact Joe Manning at josmanni@ufl.edu.
Art of Leadership Conference
This past fall, LeadUF, a peer leadership education organization within the Center for Leadership and Service, hosted its annual Art of Leadership Conference for the students, faculty, staff of the University of Florida. LeadUF's perspective of leadership is holistic, meaning that we believe that everyone, no matter what the situation, has the potential to practice leadership. We also recognize and embrace the fact that there are many different forms and practices of leadership that are as different and unique as the individual leader, which is why each year we seek to choose a progressively more diverse range of speakers in order to contribute to this multifaceted understanding of leadership. This year's director of Art of Leadership, Shirley Elisbrun, commented that "This conference has been taking place for the past several years so together we can share ideas and enhance the art of leadership because we all know that good leaders are made, not born. If you have the desire and willpower, you can become an effective leader. Good leaders develop through a never-ending process of self study, education, training, and experience. It is our goal that this conference helps you to identify this process."
This year's conference focused on the Leadership Values statements of the University of Florida: self awareness, integrity, collaboration, inclusiveness, controversy with civility, commitment, and responsibility to others and one's community. For each of these values we planned for an interactive and engaging workshop to help facilitate not only the participants understanding of each value statement, yet to help enable the participants to find ways in which they could practically integrate these values into their daily personal, academic, and campus life at the university.
One participant, Jonathan Graessle commented, "I learned a lot about myself, about the issues going on in my community, and about how I can make a difference. I also had fun!" This is our hope - that this conference is not only a one day event for the participants but that they take what knowledge and skills they gained throughout the day and use it in their future endeavors. We also hope that this conference helped to broaden their perspective of their community to not only include more on campus organizations, but expanded their influence to our greater Gainesville community. Please look out for leadUF's recruitment and Gator Institute of Leadership Development conference this coming Spring 2008. For more information about leadUF, you can visit the leadUF website at http://www.dso.ufl.edu/studentorgs/leaduf/ or you can e-mail the director of leadUF, Brittney Beck, at grace4@ufl.edu.
FAB-Atlanta Homelessness and Poverty Trip
As most UF students headed home for winter break, a dedicated group of 15 Florida Alternative Breaks participants traveled to Atlanta to learn from and serve men and women who were experiencing homelessness during the holiday season. Their efforts could not have come at a better time since the Task Force for the Homeless had just received over 1,000 toys from the Today Show and others to be distributed as Christmas presents to needy children.
Beyond sorting toys, the group also prepared a holiday lunch event, organized donated clothing and helped clean up the facility. The participants also befriended the homeless, heard their stories and felt like they had joined the community. To gain a perspective on the affordable housing crisis in Atlanta, they attended a homeless coalition meeting with local community leaders who discussed issues. At the end of each day, the participants reflected on their experience, shared their feelings and, of course, made scrumptious dinners and played mafia into the night.
Like many other FAB trips before them, the participants felt personally transformed and motivated to create social change. By the end of the trip, the participants felt like they had made friends for a lifetime and connected with students who have similar values. There is no greater start to the holiday season than to give your heart and time to help out people.
(Side bar: this FAB trip was one of four trips during winter break. FAB typically sends 15 trips during spring break for various issues to different national locations and three international trips. FAB is still accepting applications on a rolling basis for spring break. Contact ppalta@ufl.edu if interested.)
THE CLS CHALLENGE
The Center for Leadership and Service Challenge
The CLS Challenge is an opportunity to get the most out of college by learning important skills and giving back to the community while having fun. The components of the challenge provide a diverse experience and teach the core values of the CLS. The challenge is meant to unite students who are interested in service and leadership and provide a structured program for them to learn about the CLS and become involved members. In its first semester, fall 2007, eleven participants collectively completed 277 hours of community service.
To successfully finish the challenge, students will complete 15 hours of community service, attend two of the four activities:
- CLS Challenge Service Project
- CLS leadership workshop
- attend a CLS social
- CLS social issue event, and then write a brief reflection on one of those experiences on the CLS Blog: ufservantleaders.blogspot.com.
This semester we will kick of the advanced track of the challenge as well that requires 30 hours of service, attendance at four events and two blog entries.
Participants will be added to a listserv and updated weekly about opportunities to complete the challenge. In addition, they will meet with the CLS Internal Relations Committee on Wednesdays from 6-6:30 p.m. To get involved or learn more information, please e-mail Sara Rubin: srubin09@ufl.edu.