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CCE Block 4 Newsletter
Table of Contents
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Campus community,
Every block, Colorado College students, faculty, and staff engage in community work in Colorado Springs and beyond. This block, the CCE focuses our newsletter on storytelling, elevating some of the community engagement happening around us, in and alongside the classroom, through course collaborations, student organizations, internships and fellowships, and campus initiatives and projects. With 19 CCE student organizations, 37 Bonner Fellows, over 100 Community Engaged Scholars, and at least eight (and counting) community-engaged learning courses inspired by the CCE’s PEAK Project, we have no shortage of stories to tell.
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New Cohort of Bonner Fellows
In its seventh year at CC, the Bonner Fellowship welcomed 14 additional students, now totaling 37 Fellows! The Bonner Fellowship is a four-year, cohort-based, paid fellowship that seeks to provide developmental learning, community engagement, and community building to students who are committed to deep and sustained social change work. Our Bonners, after one year of exploration, commit to a community-based internship with one local community partner and work to build capacity within the organization through a culminating senior capstone project by the end of their time in the fellowship.
This year, our Bonners will be working with 26 different community partners across various issue areas, from arts and media for social change to immigrant and refugee justice to environmental justice and many more! For example senior Bonner Misbah Lakhani '24 has been working with their community partner, Inside Out Youth Services for the last three years assisting with the various projects and initiatives of the organization. In their senior year of the fellowship, Misbah is completing a Capstone Project that consists of developing lesson plans for the Inside Out programs team to educate LGBTQAI+ youth on various social justice topics, including feminist and trans justice.
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Community Engaged Learning
In Block 2, students in Dr. Aaron Stoller’s Curriculum Theories class took what they learned and applied it to supporting the development of a real curriculum - “Diversity University II,” a multi-day workshop offered through local nonprofit Educating Children of Color (ECOC). Diversity University II “aims to empower individuals to become catalysts for inclusive environments and equitable practices, fostering a more just society.” Students used their knowledge from the class to offer suggestions for how to update and evolve this curriculum – suggestions that the founder of ECOC, Regina Walter, praised as “brilliant.”
“Your project was absolutely amazing. This was scholar engagement at its finest. I am highly interested in working with you [again]…”
Dr. Regina Lewis, Co-Facilitator, Diversity University II
This course culminated a partnership cultivated by the CCE’s PEAK Project (Publicly Engaged, Actionable Knowledge), which seeks to bridge campus knowledge to community impact by connecting CC educators to nonprofit and public partners for community-engaged learning classroom projects. Here is what happened behind-the-scenes: ECOC submitted the idea for this classroom project late in the fall of 2022, which the CCE shared with faculty broadly through a Call for Interest, then in targeted ways to instructors of upcoming relevant courses. Once we “matched” the project to a course, Dr. Aaron Stoller and Regina Walter co-created the classroom project together over the summer – with the support of a CCE CEL curriculum development grant!
“It was a tremendous block and we learned so much from the experience… I sincerely mean it when I say that this learning experience would not have been possible without your [ECOC's] support and your partnership.”
Dr. Aaron Stoller, Instructor, Curriculum Theories
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K-12 Engagement
Colorado College's engagement with K-12 Education in the Pikes Peak Region spans work with youth-serving community partners, direct work in schools, and our college access programs. Following the recent local school board election, we are highlighting the ways in which our entire campus, CCE and beyond, engages with local school districts.
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BreakOut partnered with the following organizations this semester: The Marian House, Pueblo Nature & Wildlife Discovery Center, Partners in Housing, Concrete Couch, Flying Pig Farm, CC Farm, Sky High Ranch, Bemis School of Art and more!
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Don't miss out! We offer a number of ways for you to stay informed on issues and opportunities that align with your interests.
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Join a Community Board or CommissionThe City of Colorado Springs is frequently looking for engaged citizens to join boards and commissions. Consider contributing your time and talents to one of these boards or commissions. View openings here: https://coloradosprings.gov/boards
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If you are interested in engaging in the local community and would like support getting started, please
Best,
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