Weekly Digest: Nov. 4th

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Civic Engagement Weekly Digest │ November 4th, 2015

Read below to learn about upcoming volunteer opportunities in the Charleston community. Volunteer announcements are either one-time events or ongoing service opportunities. Contact information is included with each entry. If you are searching for more volunteer opportunities email our office at: volunteer@cofc.edu. Please make sure to register/sign-up for events you plan on attending!

 

One-Time Service

  • Veteran’s Day! This Veteran’s Day, November 11th, we will be creating a remembrance garden of American flags in the Cistern Yard for all student, staff and faculty veterans (9-10am). We will also serve lunch and play games with veterans at the VA Medical Center’s Patriots Harbor Community Living Center (10:45am-2:15pm, Registration Required). In the evening, we will be screening, “When I Came Home”, the emotional story of coming home after returning from Iraq (7-9pm). For more information, how to register and get involved, email: volunteer@cofc.edu.
  • Hunger and Homelessness Awareness Week!  This national event is put on annually, the week before Thanksgiving (U.S.). This year, between November 14th and 21st, the Center for Civic Engagement will be partnering with other campus offices and organizations, to educate students, faculty and staff about the issues people experiencing homelessness and hunger deal with on an almost daily basis. To learn about all events happening during HHAW check out volunteer.cofc.edu. To take action sign-up for one of our Recurring Service opportunities! #cofcHHAW

 

Recurring Service

  • Keep Charleston Beautiful! Keep Charleston Beautiful, an affiliate of Keep America Beautiful and the City of Charleston, conducts environmental clean ups of debris around the Charleston area. Volunteers go to specific neighborhoods, streets, parks and marshes to help keep Charleston beautiful! Our next clean-ups are November 14th and 21st from8:30am to 12:30pm. To sign up or get more information, please email: volunteer@cofc.edu. (Part of #cofcHHAW)
  • Lowcountry Food Bank! The Lowcountry Food Bank, located in North Charleston, helps feed children, adults, seniors and families in need along coastal South Carolina. Come pack, sort, clean food while getting to know your fellow Cougars! Your next opportunity is November 20th, from 12:30-3:30pm! Limited to the first ten volunteers! Emailvolunteer@cofc.edu to register! *Transportation provided (Part of #cofcHHAW)
  • Neighborhood House Farmer’s Market Gleaning and Monday Market! Neighborhood House is a part of Our Lady of Mercy Outreach. They help feed, clothe, house, and counsel those in need. They have partnered with Fields to Families, an organization working with local farmers to bring fresh produce to those who may go hungry. The gleaning takes place Saturday, November 14th, from 1pm-3pm in Marion Square. The Monday Market is the opportunity for the community to pick up the produce, also learn ways to prepare and get the most out of these products. The Monday Market, takes place the following Monday, November 16th, after the Gleaning, between 11:00 am -1:30 pm. To sign up, email: volunteer@cofc.edu. (Part of #cofcHHAW)

 

Community Partner Events and Volunteer Opportunities

  • S.C.O.R.E.! The South Carolina Oyster Restoration and Enhancement Program (SCORE) is a community-based habitat restoration and monitoring program of the South Carolina Department of Natural Resources. Volunteers will be bagging shells at their Fort Johnson locations on James Island, this Saturday November 7th, from 9am-11am. Please RSVP to score@dnr.sc.gov. A map to get to Ft. Johnson is located here. For all events, closed-toed shoes and clothing you don’t mind getting dirty are a must!! We will provide water, gloves, sunscreen, and bug spray. We will have single use cups for water, but encourage volunteers to be eco-friendly and bring a refillable bottle.
  •  Lowcountry Herald Potluck and Donation Drive! The Lowcountry Herald is a newspaper dedicated to helping the homeless. We make newspapers, give them to the homeless, and the homeless in turn give them away and ask for a three dollar donation. The homeless vendors keep the money as a form of income. They hold a potluck every Sunday at 12:45-2pm on Trident Tech’s Downtown campus. Volunteers are needed each week for this to bring and/or serve food to the homeless. Bringing food is appreciated, but not mandatory. They also collect a wide variety of donated items, from toiletries, blankets, clothing, etc. For more information about the Lowcountry Herald and volunteer opportunities, please email: lowcountryherald@gmail.com
  • Families Helping Families! Palmetto Project organizes, Families Helping Families, a type of Christmas programming that provides food, clothing, and Christmas gifts for nearly 3,800 families with urgent and emergency needs. We need data entry volunteers to put applications into  system that will then match families in need with sponsors. Also, We need warehouse volunteers to receive, sort, log, wrap, and distribute gifts to happy families. Get a group of friends and spend an afternoon helping to ensure that all South Carolinians have a happy holiday season! There are a multitude of dates and times to volunteer. If you are interested in helping out the Palmetto Project in another way, please fill out and submit  the volunteer application by copy and pasting the following link into your browser.
  • LUNG FORCE Run/Walk! The American Lung Association’s LUNG FORCE Run/Walk is Saturday, November 14 from 7-11am at the Folly Beach Fishing Pier. We are seeking volunteers to help us with event day setup, registration, directing participants along the route, and handing out water. It’s a fun, exciting and inspiring event. We hope you will consider being a part of it! Please email MargaretAnn.Mabry@LungSE.org if interested.
  • Communities in Schools! Communities in Schools and Lambs Elementary need energetic, caring mentors and tutors! Volunteers could work in multiple schools and gain valuable experience, while helping elementary students learn and grow! To get more information and become a volunteer, visit www.cischarleston.org and/or emaildbrown@cischarleston.org
  • Sandpiper Activities Volunteers! Sandpiper Premier Senior Living is looking for volunteers to interact with their residents in a multitude of ways! They are seeking motivated and energetic volunteers leading games (bingo, cross words, puzzles, shuffle board, etc.), helping put together socials, bible study and group luncheons. Interested parties should contact Marva Bland, Activities Director at (843) 881-3210 ext. 2215

Weekly Digest for November 2nd

Civic Engagement Weekly Digest │ November 2nd, 2015

Read below to learn about upcoming volunteer opportunities in the Charleston community. Volunteer announcements are either one-time events or ongoing service opportunities. Contact information is included with each entry. If you are searching for more volunteer opportunities email our office at: volunteer@cofc.edu. Please make sure to register/sign-up for events you plan on attending!

 

One-Time Service

  •   Veteran’s Day! This Veteran’s Day, November 11th, we will be creating a remembrance garden of American flags in the Cistern Yard for all student, staff and faculty veterans (9-10am). We will also serve lunch and play games with veterans at the VA Medical Center’s Patriots Harbor Community Living Center (10:45am-2:15pm, Registration Required). In the evening, we will be screening, “When I Came Home”, the emotional story of coming home after fighting for your country (7-9pm). For more information, how to register and get involved, email: volunteer@cofc.edu.
  • Hunger and Homelessness Awareness Week!  This national event is put on annually, the week before Thanksgiving (U.S.). This year, between November 14th and 21st, the Center for Civic Engagement will be partnering with other campus offices and organizations, to educate students, faculty and staff about the issues people experiencing homelessness and hunger deal with on an almost daily basis. To take action sign-up for one of our Recurring Service opportunities! #cofcHHAW

 

Recurring Service

  • Keep Charleston Beautiful! Keep Charleston Beautiful, an affiliate of Keep America Beautiful and the City of Charleston, conducts environmental clean ups of debris around the Charleston area. Volunteers go to specific neighborhoods, streets, parks and marshes to help keep Charleston beautiful! Our next clean-up is November 14th from 8:30am to 12:30pm. To sign up or get more information, please email: volunteer@cofc.edu. (Part of #cofcHHAW)
  • Lowcountry Food Bank! The Lowcountry Food Bank, located in North Charleston, helps feed children, adults, seniors and families in need along coastal South Carolina. Come pack, sort, clean food while getting to know your fellow Cougars! Your next opportunity is November 20th, from 12:30-3:30pm! Limited to the first ten volunteers! Emailvolunteer@cofc.edu to register! *Transportation provided (Part of #cofcHHAW)
  • Neighborhood House Farmer’s Market Gleaning and Monday Market! Neighborhood House is a part of Our Lady of Mercy Outreach. They help feed, clothe, house, and counsel those in need. They have partnered with Fields to Families, an organization working with local farmers to bring fresh produce to those who may go hungry. The gleaning takes place Saturday, November 14th, from 1pm-3pm in Marion Square. The Monday Market is the opportunity for the community to pick up the produce, also learn ways to prepare and get the most out of these products. The Monday Market, takes place the following Monday, November 16th, after the Gleaning, between 11:00 am -1:30 pm. To sign up, email: volunteer@cofc.edu. (Part of #cofcHHAW)

 

Community Partner Events and Volunteer Opportunities

  • St. Andrew’s Parks & Playground Halloween Carnival! St. Andrew’s Parks & Playground is seeking volunteers for their Halloween Carnival, Friday, October 30th from 4-9pm. Volunteers will help run carnival games and lightly scare kids on the haunted hayride. Transportation from campus and dinner are provided, while kid friendly costumes are highly encouraged. For more information and to sign up contact Amanda Collins at (843) 763-4360 or recreation@standrewsparks.com
  • LUNG FORCE Run/Walk! The American Lung Association’s LUNG FORCE Run/Walk is Saturday, November 14 from 7-11am at the Folly Beach Fishing Pier. We are seeking volunteers to help us with event day setup, registration, directing participants along the route, and handing out water. It’s a fun, exciting and inspiring event. We hope you will consider being a part of it! Please email MargaretAnn.Mabry@LungSE.org if interested.
  • Communities in Schools! Communities in Schools and Lambs Elementary need energetic, caring mentors and tutors! Volunteers could work in multiple schools and gain valuable experience, while helping elementary students learn and grow! To get more information and become a volunteer, visit www.cischarleston.org and/or emaildbrown@cischarleston.org
  • Sandpiper Activities Volunteers! Sandpiper Premier Senior Living is looking for volunteers to interact with their residents in a multitude of ways! They are seeking motivated and energetic volunteers leading games (bingo, cross words, puzzles, shuffle board, etc.), helping put together socials, bible study and group luncheons. Interested parties should contact Marva Bland, Activities Director at (843) 881-3210 ext. 2215
  • Teacher’s Supply Closet! Teacher’s Supply Closet is a local organization, which allows educators from Title 1, low-income schools access to free classroom supplies. They have multiple volunteer opportunities and ways to get involved, from helping with Teacher shopping (Tuesdays and Thursdays, 2:30pm-6:30pm) or restocking and warehouse work. Tolearn more and sign up or visit their website: http://teacherssupplycloset.wix.com/teacherssupplycloset

 

Weekly Digest for October 21st

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Civic Engagement Weekly Digest │ October 21st, 2015

Read below to learn about upcoming volunteer opportunities in the Charleston community. Volunteer announcements are either one-time events or ongoing service opportunities. Contact information is included with each entry. If you are searching for more volunteer opportunities email our office at: volunteer@cofc.edu. Please make sure to register/sign-up for events you plan on attending!

 

Recurring Service

  •   Keep Charleston Beautiful! Keep Charleston Beautiful, an affiliate of Keep America Beautiful and the City of Charleston, conducts environmental clean ups of debris around the Charleston area. Volunteers go to specific neighborhoods, streets, parks and marshes to help keep Charleston beautiful! Our next clean-up is October 24th from 8:30am to 12:30pm. To sign up or get more information, please email: volunteer@cofc.edu.
  • Lowcountry Food Bank! The Lowcountry Food Bank, located in North Charleston, helps feed children, adults, seniors and families in need along coastal South Carolina. Come pack, sort, clean food while getting to know your fellow Cougars! Your next opportunity is Friday, October 23rd, from 12:30-3:30pm! Limited to the first ten volunteers! Emailvolunteer@cofc.edu to register!

 

One-Time Service

  • Veteran’s Day! This Veteran’s Day, November 11th, we will be creating a remembrance garden of American flags in the Cistern Yard for all student, staff and faculty veterans (9-10am). We will also serve lunch and play games with veterans at the VA Medical Center’s Patriots Harbor Community Living Center (10:45am-2:15pm, Registration Required). In the evening, we will be screening, “When I Came Home”, the emotional story of coming home after fighting for your country (7-9pm). For more information, how to register and get involved, email: volunteer@cofc.edu.

 

Community Partner Events and Volunteer Opportunities

  • Thought Leader Speaker Series! South Carolina Community Loan Fund is in search of volunteers for its Thought Leader Speaker Series, October 19th, 2015, featuring Nicholas Kristof, American journalist, author, op-ed columnist, and winner of two Pulitzer Prizes. Volunteers are needed to assist with variety of tasks including event set up, registration, and ushering. A volunteer orientation will be held before the event at which time we will detail all available positions, note your preference, and try our best to assign you accordingly. We ask all volunteers to plan to arrive at 8:00 am on the day of the event and stay until the conclusion of the event. For more information about the event visithttp://sccommunityloanfund.org/blog/event/thought-leader-speaker-series/
  • 5 Branches of American Hero’s VFW Fall Festival! The Veterans of Foreign Wars Post 3433 in Summerville is hosting a Fall Festival fundraiser, Sunday October 18th, from10am-5pm and needs volunteers! Volunteers will help run carnival games, help with the snack bar, as well as clean up and general needs. To sign up or to get more information, email cheftime4zinn@gmail.com or look up the Facebook event here.
  • Fall Fun House! The Fall Fun House Event offers a fun-filled, safe alternative to Trick or Treating this Halloween for families during our after hours on Saturday, October 24th,3:30-7pm. Children will enjoy silly carnival games, prizes, arts & crafts and, of course, candy! Dress up (kid – appropriate) and Come PLAY with us! To volunteer, please register with Kendra McCabe at kendra@explorecml.org or (843) 853-8962.
  • St. Andrew’s Parks & Playground Halloween Carnival! St. Andrew’s Parks & Playground is seeking volunteers for their Halloween Carnival, Friday, October 30th from 4-9pm. Volunteers will help run carnival games and lightly scare kids on the haunted hayride. Transportation from campus and dinner are provided, while kid friendly costumes are highly encouraged. For more information and to sign up contact Amanda Collins at (843) 763-4360 or recreation@standrewsparks.com
  • Sandpiper Activities Volunteers! Sandpiper Premier Senior Living is looking for volunteers to interact with their residents in a multitude of ways! They are seeking motivated and energetic volunteers leading games (bingo, cross words, puzzles, shuffle board, etc.), helping put together socials, bible study and group luncheons. Interested parties should contact Marva Bland, Activities Director at (843) 881-3210 ext. 2215
  • Teacher’s Supply Closet! Teacher’s Supply Closet is a local organization, which allows educators from Title 1, low-income schools access to free classroom supplies. They have multiple volunteer opportunities and ways to get involved, from helping with Teacher shopping (Tuesdays and Thursdays, 2:30pm-6:30pm) or restocking and warehouse work. Tolearn more and sign up or visit their website: http://teacherssupplycloset.wix.com/teacherssupplycloset

 

________________________________________

 

Center for Civic Engagement

160 Calhoun St., Lightsey 203

Phone: (843)953-5838

Website: volunteer.cofc.edu

Email: volunteer@cofc.edu

Sustainability and Charleston by William Hester

“The past few years have been very transformative for Charleston in terms of adopting sustainability oriented initiatives and practices. The past five years alone have seen the unofficial adoption by the city council of the city’s Green Plan, the opening of Growfood Carolina to encourage the cultivation and distribution of locally grown produce, growth of the city’s recycling program, etc. All of these initiatives are influential in divesting our emission levels from long distance imports, and in curbing the waste we generate from our consumption in general. With the end of Bee’s Ferry landfill lifecycle in sight, and the decline of small scale local agriculture, it is a breath of fresh air to see diverse conservation efforts popping up around the peninsula with the rapidity that we have experienced. To see the community making a push towards a more sustainable lifestyle is very reassuring, but are these efforts a sign that Charleston is on the right path towards becoming truly sustainable? What does it mean to be sustainable anyway, and how does one go about achieving what they decide it to be?

When looking to define sustainability a good place to start is with the word itself. The heart of the term is formed by the word “sustain.” One could say then that when trying to live sustainably the key is to do so in a fashion that sustains oneself and the environment in which one is living. To do both of these things would mean finding a balance in life so that you minimize your impact on your surroundings and the other lives that inhabit it while ensuring your own comfortable existence within the confines of your environment.  Can we say that the efforts mentioned above will allow us to achieve these goals?

With our recycling efforts we are trying to take the materials that we produce and develop systems so that we can reuse them, effectively extending their lifespan and usefulness. Promoting local agriculture allows us to become more in tune with our food production systems and raises awareness about how our food consumption habits affect local communities.  Having a green plan, even if it hasn’t been officially adopted by the city, tells us that the people of Charleston are aware that their lifestyle will not sustain themselves or their community and that a call to action is necessary to collect it. Of these three examples that I have listed I would say that only the later two are on the right track to achieving a sustainable lifestyle. Our recycling programs, although useful, only divert the waste we generate and don’t actually address the core issue that our consumption produces so much of it in the first place. Investing in local produces reinvigorates communal interaction and makes people more attune with their community, and the green plan shows that people are at least interested in preserving it.

Gaining popular interest in sustainability is no small feat in and of itself. I would say that the hardest part about adopting a sustainable lifestyle is first recognizing that your habits don’t achieve the balance that we mentioned earlier, and then adopting new ones that do. Most people in modern American society have developed habits of mass consumption and a disregard for the consequences of it. These habits are already having an influential effect on the world, so much so that it is now officially considered a threat to national security by the United States government. So pressing are the issues we have developed through our consumption that many major coastal cities are undertaking efforts to modify their infrastructure so that climate change does not result in the mass displacement of their denizens. Unfortunately the city of Charleston has yet to climb aboard this effort. It’s kind of ironic that a city so steeped in tradition and dedicated to the preservation of its history as Charleston is would display such a persistent hesitance to commit to a plan of action to preserve itself.

It is clear that Charleston is beginning to become aware that its habits do not allow it to live symbiotically with its environment. It is beginning to take steps to ameliorate that, but it takes more than the installation of recycling programs to achieve that goal. There is a tipping point to achieving true sustainability between becoming aware of one’s impact on their surroundings and taking the necessary action to act on that awareness. Right now Charleston is starting to look at itself and is beginning to work towards achieving that awareness, but it will be a while yet before it is ready to act on it. I think that ultimately it will involve a change in the mindset of the people, one that is oriented more towards empathy for others and their environment as opposed to personal gain if we ever hope to achieve true sustainability. Having empathy towards the environment and community will imbue people with the desire to want to preserve them. When we no longer have the desire to exploit others or the environment for our own gain then we will have learned how to truly live and work together, and can call ourselves sustainable.”

 

Welcome Back!

As another school year begins, the Center for Civic Engagement is getting back into swing!  For those of you new to the office, we focus on community development both inside and outside the College of Charleston community.  We do this by focusing on education, direct service, and meaningful reflection.

This year we will be putting a lot of emphasis on our recurring service events with different community partners.  These partners include Neighborhood House, Keep Charleston Beautiful, and Lowcountry Food Bank.  The service with Neighborhood House and Lowcountry Food Bank will be focusing on the issues of homelessness and food insecurity, while Keep Charleston Beautiful will be focusing on litter and how it relates to other social issues around Charleston.

The Alternative Break program is also getting started as we prepare three Alternative Fall Break trips to Atlanta GA, Asheville NC, and Beaufort SC.  The trips to Atlanta and Asheville will be focusing on homelessness and food insecurity, in both urban and more rural areas respectively, and the trip to Beaufort will be focusing on migrant worker rights.  We are also looking forward to planning the Spring, Weekend, and Maymester breaks (applications for Site Leader positions are available, email cofc.alternativebreak@gmail.com if interested).

The Bonner Leader program will be spending the semester training the new Bonner leaders and prepping for Engage and Empower week in the spring.  Engage and Empower is an opportunity for students to get more involved with organizations both on and off campus and gives Bonner leaders an opportunity to facilitate group presentations.  The freshman and sophomore Bonner leaders will also be going on an Alternative Break this fall, to a not yet determined location.

If you are interested in any of the above items, feel free to stop by our office in 203 Lightsey.  Its going to be a great year, lets spend it becoming active citezens!

In Partnership

A sunny beach in Greece

Almost four years ago the College of Charleston Center for Civic Engagement partnered with Earth, Sea, & Sky (ESS) located in Zakynthos, Greece through our Alternative Break Program. (Find out more about that here) In the past four years I have seen students so impacted by the experience that they return to Charleston and change their majors, minors, jobs, goals, minds, and for some, quite literally their whole life trajectory.

The natural beauty of Zakynthos attracts many tourists during the summer. (An estimated 40,000 visitors from all over the world come to the island each summer.) Of course many challenges arise from such an increased population; traffic, pollution, noise, and exponential increased waste, just to name a few. Although tourism is more profitable than traditional industries, its exploitation is detrimental to the countryside and wildlife. There are large amounts of litter being dumped on beaches and in the forests, and the increased hunting is endangering migrating birds. The Loggerhead Sea Turtle and Mediterranean Monk Seal’s habitats are now completely overwhelmed, and people and development continue to impede on their habitats. Earth, Sea & Sky was established in 1993 by Yannis Vardakastanis who became a full-time conservationist in 1991 and has been steadily working to protect the Caretta Caretta Turtles and marine life in and around the island.

The original aim of our service project was to show how conservation and sustainable tourism can work together to benefit tourists, the locals, and wildlife and play an important role in helping to safeguard the future of the Caretta Caretta turtles by helping to provide educational information to tourists and locals. However, it has become much more than that as our students have had the opportunity to begin to understand the complexity of issues involved in balancing environmental concerns in times of economic crisis. Students have the opportunity to participate in meaningful direct service as well as contemplative discussion with the organization’s staff that allows them to experience and understand the social issues at a much deeper level than they ever could in the classroom.

As we continue to work to deepen our partnership with ESS, the Center for Civic Engagement was fortunate to host both Yannis Vardakastanis and project manager, Jonna Hrab Pedersen in Charleston this past March. Yannis and Jonna had the opportunity to meet with staff from the SC Aquarium, SC Department of Natural Resources, CofC professors and students and even had a chance to visit two east coast rescue centers. Over the last few years Earth, Sea & Sky has been raising funds to build a Sea Turtle Rescue and Rehabilitation Station in Zakynthos so being able to see firsthand the staff and equipment that will be necessary to do this is a crucial step towards completing that goal.

Our trip to South Carolina has been a very good and educational experience. Meeting the students from the College of Charleston and the people working with sea turtles in the area has been amazing. We can now see light at the end of the tunnel and we go back to Greece with hope. Hope is a powerful thing that we have been surviving without for a while. We are amazed with the efforts the Stephanie Visser and her students are putting into conservation and we are pleased to be a part of that. Keep up the good work and we hope to see more of CofC in Greece soon.

We will continue to expand this partnership in mutually beneficial ways and in the future continue to have volunteers, researchers, and interns coming from the College of Charleston to work alongside Earth, Sea, & Sky’s efforts. Are you ready to let yourself be changed? Let us know if you are interested in volunteering as an individual or applying to participate in our Maymester 2016 trip to Zakynthos.

Sandy turtle tracks
Sheep and flowers in Greece
A captured sea turtles

Incarceration of American Youth – Natalie Martin

The school to prison pipeline refers to the national trend of criminalizing misbehaviors that happen in schools across the nation. There are enormous implications for students, in particular male students of color, given the changes in how school culture and discipline is handled across the nation.

School to Prison Pipeline

  • African American students are 3.5 times more likely than their white peers to be suspended or expelled.
  • Black children account for 18% of students, but account for 46% of those suspended more than once.
  • Students who enter the juvenile justice system face many barriers blocking their re-entry into traditional schools, and can be haunted by their criminal records later in life. The vast majority never graduate from high school, and may be denied student loans, public housing, or occupational licenses.
  • While approximately 8.6% of public school children have been identified as having disabilities that impact their ability to learn, a recent survey of correctional facilities found that students with disabilities are represented in jail at a rate of nearly four times that.

Department of Juvenile Justice Statistics

  • On a given day, 70,000 juvenile offenders are held in residential placements.
  • On a given day in SC, between 788-919 juveniles are held in residential placements.
  • There are 1.7 million juvenile cases each year. That is 4,600 per day.
  • Charleston County accounts for approximately 10% of all juveniles detained in South Carolina.
  • 1 out of every 5 youth brought before the court are detained.
  • An estimated 250,000 youth are tried, sentenced, or incarcerated as adults every year
  • African American youth make up 62% of juveniles tried as adults.
  • The racial breakdown for youth in SC detention centers is 66% black, 30% white, and 4% identify as a different race or ethnicity.
  • The gender breakdown for youth detained in SC is 78% male and 22% female.
  • 14 states have no minimum age for trying youth as adults.
  • 365 children have been legally executed in the United States.
  • There are 73 children sentenced to life without parole in prisons today – 49% are black, 10% are Latin@.
  • Of the 73 children sentenced to life without parole for non-homicide offenses, all are people of color.

As one can see from the statistics above, the rates of children involved in the juvenile justice system are staggering. The problem is much larger than just the juvenile justice system. We miss the point if we look at single incidents to try and define the problem. The issue at hand is the intersection of multiple systems that are steeped in historic racism that perpetuate inequity in the world today. After the murder of Michael Brown in St. Louis, Brittany Packnett said, “Education did not save Mike Brown. Racism killed him.” That truth can be applied to many historical and current events. The events during Red Summer, the lack of accountability for the white instigators in those events and numerous others, the abuses against people of color and the lack of any types of reparations, Jim Crow and the history of lynchings, the foundation of our public school system and the current school to prison pipeline, housing disparities, income disparities, the fact that white high school graduates still out earn black college graduates today are all connected and are one much larger systemic injustice caused by white supremacy. In some ways there is this beat the odds mentality about students of color, but that is the wrong mindset. We must change the odds, but that will require those with power and privilege to educate themselves, give up power, be uncomfortable, and stop perpetuating the same forms of oppression that our country was founded on.

So that begets the question, what can you do when the problem is large and deeply rooted in our history. While it can sometimes seem that small things won’t make a difference, the AAST 300 class, in collaboration with the Charleston County Department of Juvenile Justice, is tackling an issue that will hopefully have a large impact on the youth detained in the juvenile justice facility in North Charleston. After a recent trip to the facility, our class noticed the limited number of books in the detention center’s library and decided that was something we could help change. In addition to increasing the number of reading materials, we also raise awareness about the current context of the juvenile justice system and the school to prison pipeline.

We are collecting paperback books for kids ages 10-18 between now and April 17th. If you have any books you would like to donate, please drop them off in the box located in the Center for Civic Engagement, Room 203, Lightsey Center.

The Experiences of Madeline Ryan – Nashville Tennessee

Every spring break students find new and exciting ways to spend their week sabbatical from academic studies. The students that participated in the Center for Civic Engagement’s Alternative Break program are no exception. Alternative Break is a program that hosts student-led trips during academic breaks. It provides participants with hands-on experience in social justice issues while immersing them in new cultures. This year the College of Charleston had five trips to various parts of the country and the world.

Here one of the participants, Madeline Ryan, articulates her experiences in Nashville, TN on a trip titled Artistic Abilities: Abilities, disabilities, and the arts in Music City. Click on the headings for each day to visit her blog and read more.


Day 1

This week, I’m participating in what’s called an alternative spring break. Through CofC, I along with 10 other ladies are heading to Nashville to work with and learn from art organizations that work with people with disabilities. Our trip is called Artistic Abilities.


Day 2

Inside the basement, we got a tour from the director of the Parthenon! She was so excited and knowledgable about every aspect of the history of this site. For those of you who don’t know, Nashville had an International Exposition in 1897, celebrating its 100th year of statehood. Huge temporary buildings representing and celebrating cultures from around the world were built. Everything from pyramids to the Parthenon, fair games to exotic cafes, and a women’s building to a Chinese village were constructed. Though this fair was supposed to be a way to educate people who might never get the chance to travel, accuracy was not emphasized but rather our American stereotypes of different cultures. However, the main focus of the exposition was on the idea that Nashville is an “Athens of the South.”


Day 3

At a long country farm table in the back, we meet Leisa Hammett. Leisa is the mother of an artist with autism, the one who runs her daughter’s art business, and a volunteer advocate for issues dealing with artists with disabilities . . . She started to talk about the start of her realization that her daughter had a passion for creating art and about starting her daughter’s business and the obstacles that she has overcome. She talked about how difficult it is to be running a business and raising her daughter by herself. She also talked about how difficult it is on the national level to find support for artists with disabilities: she is thinking about how she will combat the laws against getting disability support if her daughter’s business starts making too much money. What was really neat was that she did talk about disabilities, but she was talking like any other art business manager would be about his/her origins and issues.


Day 4

My group . . . timidly peeked into the room at the end of the hall. This room had day patients from a center called Clover Bottom Developmental. These individuals are on the most severe end of the spectrum of intellectual disabilities. Most all were in chairs and a couple were hooked up to feeding tubes. The staff and nurses introduced us to all of them and their little quirks: someone didn’t like to be touched, someone laughed when you pretended to trip, someone loved to tap their feet to music, someone would want to just to be left alone.

During our dancing activities, one of the leaders filmed us. Our activity is part of a celebration of the 40th anniversary of this organization called VSA which is a state organization for arts and disabilities. This video will be exchanged with a partner in Austria, who is videoing a similar jazz activity. These videos will be put up online as a lead-up for the main celebration in July in DC. We are one of sixty countries represented in this celebration.


Day 5

This morning we went back to the Rochelle center to mainly observe a music therapy session. As we crowded into the back of the small room, the young woman picked up her guitar singing “Hello, I’m glad to see you” to each of the individuals in the session. These individuals were on the moderate to severe spectrum. One individual would just smile up at the ceiling when she would sing his/her name, another would cover his/her face saying “Don’t scare me!” and another would acknowledge that she was singing his/her name but not want to interact with her. There were about 5 participants. During the session, she would do simple activities like “shake your tambourine when I sing the letter that your name starts with…and the letter is __” Or “let’s shake our tambourines really softly…now really loudly” While some had to continually have help to reposition the tambourine in their hands, one individual was so excited during a song that he stood up and shook his tambourine up high in the air.

Outside of the Kennedy Center, they have a small playground with cameras where they note the movement and interactions of children with and without autism, all who have fanny packs that record audio. They also have a volunteer called a confederate who has a bug in his/her ear to hear instructions given by Dr. Corbett and her research assistants. Even before this project, Dr. Corbett was interested in the interactions of individuals with autism and their typically developing peers. Before coming to Vanderbilt, she started a non-profit organization called SENSE theater. They produce plays with psychology students at the school, children with autism, and typically developing peers from schools in the area. Throughout her talk on her theater, Dr. Corbett continually stressed the importance of pairing individuals with autism with a fellow peer in a safe environment where no one will bully them.


Day 6

So, today was wonderful and sad. Wonderful because we all woke up to snow!! But sad because all of our site visits were cancelled for the day because of the ice on the roads. Today, we were supposed to go back to the Rochelle Center (and I was really excited to serve in another room and have new experiences with new individuals) and go to a dress rehearsal for SENSE Theater.

When we got to Nashville, all of us for some reason, decided to adopt the most country accent you’ve ever heard. But no one else took up this challenge as much as Stephanie. Throughout the whole trip, she hardly abandoned her accent and she feared that it had become a part of her, or maybe that this was her true accent all along…

Charleston, SC- A glimpse of poverty in our community

At first glance of the Charleston community, most see rich history, elegant architecture, a booming restaurant industry and stunning coastlines. What many fail to see is poverty. When asked to consider poverty, many North Americans call to mind images of developing countries without recognizing the poverty in their own backyard.

Poverty is generally defined as the state of lacking the resources necessary to meet minimum standards of living relative to one’s societal context. How does our society identify what is a usual or socially acceptable amount of money or possessions? Each year the federal government uses data from the Census Bureau to calculate what is determined to be the minimum amount of money required to meet basic needs. This poverty threshold is determined by comparing pre-tax cash income against a threshold set at three times the cost of a minimum food diet in 1963. This amount is updated each year for inflation and adjusted for family size, composition and age.  The threshold is then simplified into poverty guidelines that are used to determine financial eligibility for government assistance.  The currently poverty line for a single person is $11,770, for a family of two that amount is $15,930 , and the line for a family of four is $24, 250. The parameters for extreme poverty  in the U.S. is considered to be 50 percent less than the guideline amounts listed previously. Policymakers and researchers often criticize this measure because it does not reflect modern expenses, or account for cost of living variance based on geographic region, nor does this formula adjust for changes in the standard of living. So, why has this calculation not changed?  Simple answer…it’s complicated.

The experiences of poverty amount to more than the financial amount associated with food, clothing and shelter. For some, poverty means not being able to afford the finer things in life. For others, poverty is the absence of healthcare when ill or the lack of access to transportation necessary for gainful employment. When faced with the dilemmas of pay for food or shelter versus medication or childcare, people experiencing poverty have limited options. Poverty is complex – and no one definition fully captures its scope, effects, causes, or solutions. Thus, we must educate ourselves and those around us about these issues facing our communities. In the words of Martin Luther King Junior, “In a real sense all life is inter-related…Whatever affects one directly, affects all indirectly.”

So, what does poverty this look like in our community? Check out the Infographic below!