What do you think about when you hear the phrase "spring break?" Do you think of traveling to a warm and sunny destination? Or do you think about taking some time to recharge?
For Kent State University Honors Leadership Academy, spring break took a more impactful approach by traveling to Buffalo, New York, to work with the local community, specifically children.
The Honors Leadership Academy was established in the fall of 2018 and connects incoming Honors College first-year students to leadership, learning and civic engagement in the local community. Students are selected to apply for this new initiative based on excellent high school leadership experiences.
Erin Ahrens, honors coordinator in the Honors College, said the trip to Buffalo was selected by the students as it was a location of interest and within the set budget.
Taylor Dimmerling, a freshman neuroscience major, and Landon Crisler, a freshman Spanish translation major, both members of the Honors College, gave Kent State Today an overview of their alternative spring break trip.
Dimmerling said two of the college’s peer success mentors took a similar trip the year before and encouraged the students to go, speaking very highly of their experience.
The Honors Leadership Academy students spent two days at the Seneca Street Community Development Corporation where they got to participate in the after-school project.
The students worked with about 40 to 50 children on various learning activities such as word searches and assisting with homework. Cooking classes and outdoor activities like playing basketball were also part of the options.
“The theme of the trip was education and encouraging education,” Dimmerling said. “Part of what we tried to do was make college seem achievable and make it not so taboo for some of those kids, something that is possible for them.”
Crisler said making connections with the kids at Seneca Street was a highlight of his trip.
“It was especially the second day when we were there, and the kids started coming in and said ‘Landon, what’s up? Let’s go play basketball,’” Crisler said. “They know you, and they were ready to do things with you. It was super cool.”
Another part of the trip was going to The Teacher’s Desk, a local school supply store, to create binder packages for teachers in the Buffalo area to pick up for their classrooms.
Dimmerling said the store provides free school supply resources to applicable schools, so they were able to put other kinds of packages together like student backpacks.
“That gave us a chance to work with each other to do something good for the community, which was nice,” Crisler said.
Giving back to the community and working with young children in these after-school programs grabbed the attention of local media which broadcast two stories about the trip. WKBW-TV aired , and WGRZ-TV aired
In addition to the community service work, the students took some time to go sightseeing. Some of the places they visited included Niagara Falls and the Buffalo Art Museum.
Ahrens said it is valuable for students to have experiences like this one.
“I think it’s important for students to explore areas beyond Kent and their hometowns because each community has unique qualities and challenges,” Ahrens said. “We can learn so much from interacting with new people and seeing new things.”
The Honors Leadership Academy students came back to Kent State with some newfound perspectives.
Crisler said when it comes to community service, it does not need to be the grandest, most expensive action. It can be as simple as volunteering at an animal shelter or getting involved with the local education community.
“It reaffirmed how important interacting with the community is, and not necessarily in big ways,” Dimmerling said. “Small things can make someone just as excited and happy as something big.”
The Honors Leadership Academy has been taking these trips yearly since 2020, with the exception of 2021, and Ahrens said these trips allow for the students to have team-building opportunities as well as coming back with memorable experiences.
“My hope is the trip is one of their top Kent State experiences and that it will lead to them being very engaged alumni as well,” Ahrens said. “These students are only freshmen too, so this renewed pride in Kent State is great as they seek other leadership roles on campus.”