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Advancing Equality Through Civic
Engagement
Martin Luther King, Jr. Day of Service
Best Buy Children's Foundation/Learn and Serve America
Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. has become a cultural icon for his ability to advocate positive
social change by organizing people for change, including the famous boycott of public
transportation after the late Rosa Parks refused to give up her seat to a white person. Dr.
King inspired a nation by his words, his actions, and his vision for greater equality. Civic
engagement activities that address social issues are vehicles for honoring Dr. King's
values, leadership, and legacy.
Students, faculty, and administrators at the California State University system, the largest
senior higher education institution in the country, fundamentally believe in the importance
and responsibility of higher education to work towards improving the lives of individuals in
our communities. The CSU views the Martin Luther King/Best Buy Children's Foundation grant
as an opportunity to launch a series of new civic engagement activities designed to honor
the historic leader and work more closely with K-12 youth in schools, after school programs,
and community organizations.
Click on the links below for more information:
PURPOSE
The purpose of this grant funding is to engage higher education students to facilitate
service-learning activities with K-12 students, particularly those in disadvantaged
situations. These service-learning activities incorporate an event on Martin Luther King, Jr.
Day of Service, or otherwise emphasize the King Holiday. Projects meet the needs of youth in
disadvantaged situations and focus on youth, technology, and learning. Both the higher
education and K-12 students are involved in the service. Grantees also conduct outreach to
local Best Buy representatives in order to involve employees in project activities, events,
or public relations.
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PROJECT HIGHLIGHTS BY CAMPUS
The Office of Community Service Learning (OCSL) at the CSU Chancellor's office pre-selected
three CSU service-learning offices to participate in this effort.
- California State Polytechnic University, Pomona
- CSU San Bernardino
- CSU Stanislaus
Cal Poly Pomona's Project:
Cal Poly, Pomona students and youth from the city of Pomona will come together to document
personal stories of nonviolence through various media tools. In groups of three to five,
student teams (college students and K-12 youth) will attend various Dr. Martin Luther King,
Jr. memorial events in Pomona and interview residents on how they promoted nonviolence or
how they were inspired by someone who intervened in a nonviolent way for peace. Through the
assistance of Cal Poly Pomona faculty, students will be able to edit their interviews and
create a presentation piece to be exhibited at a larger community event. The videos will
then be the crux of an exhibition event in April 2006 called "A Night of Dreams" in the city
of Pomona where members of the campus and local community will be invited to witness the
powerful messages of our college and community youth. These messages are crucial to the
City of Pomona, as the city has been struggling through a high crime and gang activity
period.
For more information about the Martin Luther King, Jr. Day of Service opportunity at Cal
Poly Pomona contact Dr. Hollie Lund at
hlund@csupomona.edu.
CSU San Bernardino's Project:
The project will be launched on the MLK holiday. Activities for the MLK holiday include a
beautification project and a community dinner followed by a cultural program. The older
students from the after school program, CSU San Bernardino students and Best Buy employees
will be responsible for the organization and implementation of the service project. The
community dinner will be open to the neighborhood, Best Buy employees, and CSU San
Bernardino students, and will be followed by a cultural program created by the 5-12 year old
children in the after school program.
In January, educational seminars featuring famous African-Americans will begin. Students in
the after school program from Central City Lutheran Mission will complete oral and written
reports on various topics related to African-American history. These projects will be
shared with neighborhood residents through a display at Central City Lutheran Mission. In
addition, youth involved in the after school program will create a Unity Wreath, redesign
postage stamps, money, and playing cards to reflect historical African-Americans, and
educational games to help the children learn to recognize African-American artists. The
older youth in the after school program will be involved in leading these art projects, and
the projects will be on display at Central City Lutheran Mission for the neighborhood
residents to view.
A leadership team of five CSU San Bernardino Master's in Social Work students will assist
with all grants programs and also will recruit other CSU San Bernardino student volunteers.
Best Buy employees will be strongly encouraged to participate in grant projects.
For more information about the Martin Luther King, Jr. Day of Service opportunity at CSU San
Bernardino contact Dr. Diane Podolske at
dpodolsk@csusb.edu.
CSU Stanislaus' Project:
During the weekend of Martin Luther King Holiday, more than 55 K-16 students will learn
about Dr. King's life and then be asked to creatively create images and symbols that reflect
their viewpoints on ways to create positive change in their communities. Based on the
students' reflections, a local artist will sketch the outline for the mural. Between
January and April, students from an afterschool program and the college will prepare and
paint the mural.
The King Kennedy Center is a hub for community conversation and education, especially on
topics that are connected to Martin Luther King. Jr. Due to destructive activity, the west
wall of the Center has been covered with gang-based tagging and graffiti. It is hoped that
the community-based mural created by the youth will prevent the center from being targeted
with gang graffiti.
For more information about the Martin Luther King, Jr. Day of Service opportunity at CSU
Stanislaus contact Julie Fox at
jfox@stan.csustan.edu.
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SUBGRANTEE INFORMATION
Funder Recognition: Logos and Disclaimer
Please include all three logos and disclaimer on your project materials.
This material is based upon work supported by the Corporation for National and Community
Service under Learn and Serve Grant No. 06BIHCA002. Opinions or points of view expressed in
this document are those of the authors and do not necessarily reflect the official position
of the Corporation or Learn and Serve America.
Final Report Format (.doc)
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CONTACT INFO
For more information about the Martin Luther King, Jr. Day of Service opportunity contact:
Season Eckardt
Administrative Director of Community Service Learning
CSU, Office of the Chancellor
401 Golden Shore, 6th Floor
Long Beach, CA 90802-4210
Phone: 562-951-4787
Fax: 562-951-4982
Email: seckardt@calstate.edu
http://www.calstate.edu/csl
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