The International Service Learning Program will offer students 3 units for classes during the semester and travel March 11-19, where they will spend time in Cebu, a province of the Philippines that includes the second largest metropolitan area in the nation. More than 25 students have expressed interest in joining the program.
During the trip, students will conduct three service days with Sudlon High School students on social and cultural subjects that may include drug and alcohol awareness, bullying, recycling/sustainability, public speaking, disaster/emergency planning, wellbeing/depression, setting personal goals, financial planning, and cultural exchanges.
The topics are based on the students’ own interests and areas of expertise and the workshops are designed throughout the semester in advance of the service days.
The program, led by the Department of World Languages & Cultures (WLC), is the newest International Service Learning Program at Cal Poly Humboldt. WLC also offers Service Learning in Spain and Mexico, and opportunities to study abroad in Senegal and France. The Spanish program has more Service Learning courses than any other academic program at Cal Poly Humboldt, according to program leader and World Languages & Cultures Professor Matthew Dean. The International Service Learning Program is open to all Humboldt students who meet the minimum qualifications. There is no language requirement.
Study abroad and Service Learning are widely cited as desired experiences by employers, and students participating in these kinds of programs develop skills during these programs that they carry with them through their lives and careers.