GREENEVILLE – Community service and a terrific experience with the theater enriched the lives of high school students throughout the region who recently spent a day at Tusculum University.
These students show what they collected from The Thomas J. Garland Library.
These students show the items they collected from Virginia Hall.
About 70 participants in the Upward Bound and Upward Bound Math and Science programs dedicated their afternoon Saturday, Oct. 7, to supporting Tusculum’s recycling efforts. They then spent the evening enjoying a performance of “The Glass Menagerie” in Behan Arena Theatre and having an opportunity afterward to ask questions of cast and crew members.
“This was a great way for these students to learn the value of civic engagement and expand their horizons through the arts,” said Dr. David Smith, director of Tusculum’s TRIO programs. “It also helped them understand more fully the collegiate environment. A college education opens so many doors for students after graduation, and our goal is for them to pursue that degree.”
Upward Bound and Upward Bound Math and Science are two federal grant programs at Tusculum that serve students whose parents have not earned a college degree or who come from low-income families.
The day’s activities brought students from Cocke, Greene, Hamblen, Hawkins, Unicoi and Washington counties to Tusculum. During the community service portion of the day, students collected paper, plastics and cardboard from recycling containers throughout the university and placed them in bags. Cory Smith, Tusculum’s associate director of Upward Bound for Cocke and Hawkins counties, took the recycled items to a facility next to the City of Tusculum Volunteer Fire Department.
Upward Bound and Upward Bound Math and Science students had an opportunity to see “The Glass Menagerie” in Behan Arena Theatre.
About 70 participants in the Upward Bound and Upward Bound Math and Science programs at Tusculum came to campus Saturday, Oct. 7, to perform community service and see a performance of “The Glass Menagerie.”
Cory Smith said Upward Bound and Upward Bound Math and Science provide service learning events for program participants in the spring and fall. In addition, students who attend the five-week summer academy at the university have another service learning outing. The recycling project served as the initiative for the fall.
“One of the components we emphasize in our two programs is giving back to the community,” Cory Smith said. “A lot of the students who participated in the recycling activity have attended the summer academy, so they are familiar with the Tusculum campus. We thought it was a unique opportunity for the students to give back and do something helpful here because they do benefit from us having activities here.”
Upward Bound and Upward Bound Math and Science collaborated with Tusculum’s Center for Civic Advancement to arrange the recycling event. Cory Smith said Dr. Shelby Ward, the CCA’s director, helped with the logistics of ensuring the necessary buildings would be open and to alert Tusculum staff to have their recycling items ready for pickup.
“We’re grateful to partner with these outstanding TRIO programs to reinforce the importance of civic engagement,” Dr. Ward said. “The work the Upward Bound and Upward Bound Math and Science students did also highlights the importance of sustainability and environmentally conscious practices on campus. All of us have a part to play in enhancing the quality of life in our community, and Upward Bound clearly impresses on their students the value and responsibility of supporting their communities.”
Students placed recyclable materials in bags.
When they have service learning events in the fall and spring, Upward Bound and Upward Bound Math and Science try to tie them to a cultural exposure activity on the same day. That was the reason for incorporating “The Glass Menagerie” into the Oct. 7 schedule. Upward Bound and Upward Bound Math and Science staff teamed with Wayne Thomas, the play’s director and executive director of Tusculum Arts Outreach, and Meagan Stark, associate director of Student Support Services, who assisted with the play, to make attendance at “The Glass Menagerie” and the conversation afterward happen.
“A lot of our students are from rural areas and don’t have as many chances to experience things like a play, so we mix them in with our community service, college visits or other activities,” Cory Smith said. “Some students might not feel like they fit in when they go to college because they have not had some of these cultural experiences, so we try to curb that with these types of activities. We have discovered it has a positive impact.”
To learn more about Tusculum’s Upward Bound and Upward Bound Math and Science programs, please visit www.tusculum.edu.