BLINN STUDENTS GIVE BACK THROUGH “BUCCANEER BIG EVENT”

  

More than 130 student volunteers complete area projects as a ‘thank you’ to Washington County

More than 130 Blinn College student volunteers completed a variety of service projects in Washington County Saturday as part of the 2018 Buccaneer Big Event.

The event included five projects in and around the Brenham area, and was spearheaded by the Blinn College-Brenham Campus Student Government Association (SGA).

“It is important for our students to really understand the significance of giving back to the community,” Student Activities Coordinator Tiffany Turner said. “Buccaneer Big Event is a way for us to say ‘thank you’ for everything the community has done for Blinn.”

Students assisted with trash pick-up along four roads throughout the county, covering a total of approximately 20 miles. Student also performed landscaping for the Senior Activity Center’s Forever Young Resale Shop, a non-profit organization that benefits the Homebound Senior Lunch Program.

“It feels good to give back to the community we live in, because they give so much to Blinn and its students,” SGA President Carli Pritchard said. “It was nice to volunteer with people I have never met. We were performing community service while building a sense of community at Blinn.”

Several Blinn organizations participated in the event, including the Blinn football team, Blinn-Brenham SGA, Blinn-Brenham chapter of Phi Theta Kappa national honor society, Refined Ladies, and Distinguished Gentlemen.

“It was a successful event and gave us an opportunity to help the community while representing the College,” Blinn football player Kristian Drake said. “As a team, we know it is our responsibility to support the community, and we all take pride in doing so.”

Blinn’s commitment to serving the community has not gone unnoticed. In 2016, the College was named to the President’s Higher Education Community Service Honor Roll, the highest accolade an educational institution can receive from the federal government for its commitment to community, service learning and civic engagement.

In 2015, Blinn was recertified with the Carnegie Foundation for the Advancement of Teaching’s Carnegie Classification, which places Blinn among the nation’s top 5 percent of colleges and universities in terms of documented public service. The Carnegie Classification, reassigned every five years, is the leading framework for recognizing institutional diversity in U.S. higher education for the past five decades.

Blinn’s Service Learning Program, which combines community service with classroom instruction and student club activities, focuses on critical, reflective thinking, and civic responsibility to engage students. Blinn’s Service Learning activities include the Dental Hygiene Program’s annual Give Kids a Smile event in Bryan, which provides exams, X-rays, cleanings, sealants and oral health education to local children without access to regular dental care; EMS, vocational nursing and associate degree nursing students volunteering at local clinics and hospitals; natural science students volunteering at local animal shelters; agricultural students working with Texas Parks and Wildlife and 4-H organizations; and social sciences students volunteering at local Democratic and Republican headquarters.

Registration for Blinn’s 8-week Spring courses is available through Sunday, March 18. For enrollment information and to learn about financial aid opportunities, visit www.blinn.edu.

(Courtesy: Elizabeth Kamenicki, Blinn Information)