Located in Charlottesville’s Darden Towe Park, Lewis and Clark regularly hosts school groups and members of the Charlottesville community. The first year Rodmans completed a large-scale day of service which included building benches, repairing and improving upon existing benches, renovating and varnishing the Red Pirogue boat, making and repairing trail signs, working on biofilters, and beginning work on a pollinator garden.
The first year project is the result of the Rodman Scholars Council’s introduction of a new community service initiative in which the first year class plans and executes a service project designed to fulfill a need in the community, make a lasting positive impact, and strengthen the bonds of the class. As the RodCouncil service committee’s first year liaison, I worked with the service co-chairs, Kathleen Galligan and Gage DeZoort, as well as RodCouncil co-president Joey Hsu and Lewis and Clark executive director Alexandria Searls, to plan the event over the course of last semester.
In addition to its positive impact on the community, its fulfillment of Lewis and Clark’s need, and its great degree of permanence, this service project further strengthened the bonds of our first year class and promoted togetherness. Through this project, we added group service to our existing academic, social, and extracurricular interactions. The process of working with each other to plan and execute a meaningful contribution to a local organization was a positive experience that fostered a sense of community and an interest in service.