The departments under the umbrella of the Office of the Executive Director, Experiential Learning, understand the value of experiential learning and their recent volunteerism shows it.

On Dec. 18, in lieu of a holiday party, the staff of Co-operative Education and Workplace Partnerships, and Career Development and Experiential Learning participated in community service-learning at one of three United Way-supported organizations: Unemployed Help Centre, Sandwich Teen Action Group, and On Track to Success.

Staff spent the morning sorting donated food, making meals for families, and creating an escape room challenge to develop high school students’ soft skills such as teamwork and communication.

“I love that our department is so invested in our professional development and the community,” said Sydney Murray, a program co-ordinator who spent the morning making lasagnas and cookies at On Track to Success. “I left our morning of service with a greater appreciation of what the United Way does, an invigorated love of my community, and a stronger bond with my colleagues!”

They continued the day with a professional development afternoon, including sharing reflections of the learning opportunities the morning provided followed by an interactive session on supporting Gen Z students.

Judy Bornais, executive director of the Office of Experiential Learning, said she couldn’t be more proud of the “awesome team” working in the two departments.

“We chose to give back to the community and wrap it up in a team-building, community service-learning opportunity,” she said. “It allowed us to not only gain insights into the organizations we helped, but the afternoon provided new learning into how we can support field experiential learning as part of our students’ university experience.”