Editor’s/Producer’s Note: A media day for Alabama Action is scheduled for 9:30 a.m. to 11:30 a.m. Thursday, Aug. 14, at Matthews Elementary School, 1225 Rice Mine Road in Northport. Students will work outdoors and indoors on service projects. For details, contact Susan Alley at 205/348-5500, 334/332-8422 or susan.alley@ua.edu. The media day for Outdoor Action will be from 8:30 a.m. to noon Thursday, Aug. 14, at Hurricane Creek. For information on covering Outdoor Action, contact Randy Mecredy at 205/348-2136 or rmecredy@bama.ua.edu. For information on Black Belt Action, contact Henry Downes, Black Belt Action student director, at 860/305-5327 or hmdownes@crimson.ua.edu.
TUSCALOOSA, Ala. — More than 250 University of Alabama Honors College freshmen and upper-class leaders will begin the fall semester with community service projects through Alabama Action, Outdoor Action and Black Belt Action.
The programs will run through Friday, Aug. 15, in the West Alabama community. Students in the Honors College’s Alabama Action will be working at local elementary schools, while the Honor College’s Outdoor Action students will be working on rivers and creeks. Black Belt Action students will be working at a head-start center in Marion.
Alabama Action
Some 150 UA honors students along with 30 leaders will participate in Alabama Action, a program combining service to the community with education. This year, students will perform service projects at Faucett-Vestavia and Matthews elementary schools in Northport. At Matthews, students will help to renovate the playground and the front of the school and establish two outdoor classrooms. The program is led by Susan Alley, assistant coordinator of recruitment for the Honors College and faculty adviser for Alabama Action. The 2014 program is the 14th annual Alabama Action project organized and carried out by UA honors students.
Outdoor Action
More than 90 students will participate in the Outdoor Action service learning program. Under Randy Mecredy, director of UA’s Alabama Museum of Natural History, the students will assist in the continuing clean-up of Hurricane Creek after the April 2011 tornado. Outdoor Action activities are supported by the Honors College, the Alabama Museum of Natural History and UA Outdoor Recreation.
Black Belt Action
This year, 25 Black Belt Action freshmen from 20 different states will work from Monday Aug. 11, through Friday, Aug. 15, at the Berean Baptist Head Start program in Marion. Eight upperclassmen will work as student leaders.
Student participants and student leaders will commute each morning during the week from Tuscaloosa to Marion. Projects include replacing the building’s front sign, painting a mural in the main hallway, planting a flower bed in the school playground and building a display for student art.
About Honor’s College: The University of Alabama Honors College provides an environment where exceptional students can thrive. It supports a culture of community and collaboration. In turn, Honors College students earn a world-class education based on these four pillars: innovative scholarship, advanced research, cultural interaction and civic engagement.
Contact
Richard LeComte, media relations, rllecomte@ur.ua.edu, 205/348-3782
Source
Susan Alley, 205/348-5500, 334/332-8422, susan.alley@ua.edu