The West Virginia University Office of Service Learning Programs honored two individuals and a local nonprofit group for their outstanding contributions toward enhancing student learning opportunities, along with nearly 90 other students who gave more than 100 community service hours.

Gerald E. Lang, provost and vice president for academic affairs and research, and Jill Kriesky, director of the WVU Office of Service Learning Programs, presented the awards during the President’s Student Service Awards ceremony Tuesday (April 22) in the WVU Mountainlair’s Mountaineer Room. The first three honorees received a plaque and $200 award. The students who contributed more than 100 volunteer hours received a certificate and a pin.

The honorees were Andrew Krantz, WVU sport psychology major; Nancy Leonard, assistant professor of management, WVU College of Business and Economics; and Friends of Deckers Creek, a nonprofit volunteer organization dedicated to improving the stream’s water quality and recreational opportunities.

Krantz received the”Outstanding Service Learning Reflection”award for an essay written for a sports psychology course, which described his experiences as a mentor in the”After-School Violence Prevention Program”at the Shack Neighborhood House.

The course,”SS 493-H Special TopicsAnger Management and Prevention,”uses sports psychology students to demonstrate cognitive behavioral techniques to help at-risk elementary and middle school children in the after-school program to effectively manage their anger. The program is funded through a W.K. Kellogg grant administered by the WVU Office of Service Learning Programs.

“I became involved at the Shack to get some practical and applied experience,”said Krantz.”The program helps the community by teaching children positive ways to deal with anger and violence. I get to help the kids and hopefully make a difference in their lives. I also get a chance to give back to the community that supports WVU . Winning this award is a great honor. It is nice to know that all the hard work we do at the Shack is noticed and appreciated.”

Leonard was honored for the”Outstanding Service Learning Course.”She included service learning curriculum into the Business Core 370”Management of Individuals and Teams”honors course. Her students worked with four local after-school programs: Kaleidoscope, Shack Neighborhood House, Scott’s Run Settlement House and Rock Forge Neighborhood House, through the”After School for All”program. The program is funded through a Technical Assistance and Service Learning grant from the Claude W. Benedum Foundation.

In the course, students form consulting businesses and meet with potential clients and develop ways to solve their problems through various assignments. Leonard uses this organizational strategy to demonstrate administrative design and human resource management functions. She also discusses communication and conflict resolution issues.

“Students learn more from hands-on learning than from classroom-only activities,”Leonard said.”In this course, students experience course and book concepts and apply them to real-world situations while doing something for their community. It is wonderful to watch the students work with the younger people. It means a lot to me to receive this award because service learning and teaching are important to me.”

The Friends of Deckers Creek received the”Outstanding Service Learning Community Activity”award. The group partnered with the WVU Division of Forestry to integrate water chemistry and fish monitoring exercises into fisheries courses as a service learning exercise. Students collected water samples to determine chemical makeup, analyzed data, wrote reports and learned about the laws that affect water quality.

“The partnership between the Friends of Deckers Creek and WVU Division of Forestry has been successful and has yielded important information about the creek’s condition and its inhabitants,”said Martin Christ, Friends of Deckers Creek member.”Students have learned about the geological setting of the creek and how that affects water quality in the creek. We have appreciated the opportunities to tell students about the creek and about other natural resource and environmental issues in north-central West Virginia.”