Horizons Program brings hope, change to rural towns

Students help
with Horizons projects
Hundreds of students have been paired with the rural towns the Horizons Program assists, through collaboration with the WSU Center for Civic Engagement (CCE).
From fall 2007 through fall 2009, 289 students in 16 class sections, one club, and six internships served more than 5,300 hours with the Horizons communities in Washington, said Michael Schwartz, a graduate assistant for distant service learning in the CCE.
The relationship has benefited students as well as the communities, he said.
Among the groups participating, and projects they worked on, were:
* A sociology class helped nine communities with projects such as job fairs, college informational sessions and website creation. Students in a graduate-level Spanish course translated documents and videos.
* Technical and business writing students researched, designed and produced a fund-raising letter and informational brochure to help with a community center renovation.
* A human development class worked with three Horizons communities on community center cleanup, design of a youth mentoring program, and a college information session.
* A free enterprise club worked with a number of Horizons communities on business plans and an innovative ideas competition.
* Two architecture sections provided designs and plans for a proposed youth center in one town and fire hall in another.
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