Application of Knowledge

Sydnee Johson & Jake Uribe

Active citizenship defines a person who participates in community improvement. An effective active citizen exhibits the triangle of quality service. This includes: direct service, education, and reflection.

Social change model: The social change model inspires ways of transforming cultural and social institutions over time. The goal is to provide social justice by changing community, group, and individual values. One person can promote change through servant leadership and communication of the issues to other citizens.

Asset based community development: We have learned that the best way to improve, solve, and respond to social crises in a community is through the involvement of its citizens. The people experiencing the problems should be at the forefront of the problem solving because it is the best way for them to accept the changes and implement them accordingly. Leaders of this type of development are accountable to the community and strive to utilize the strengths of the community's citizens. Problem solvers will use the ability of the citizens or the assets in the community to resolve issues. These types of people will develop and improve their skills so other citizens in the community can handle the situations better in the future if they occur again.

Assigned reading: The book that we read was Taught by America by Sarah Sentilles. This book is written from the perspective of the author as she travels to California to teach in a school that is in a poor part of town. From this, it opened our eyes to how a rough home life can affect children at a young age.

How we learned throughout our trip

During our time in Kansas City we participated in direct service through serving meals to people experiencing homelessness, packing food, and volunteering with YMCA programs.
We spent time reflecting each night about the experiences we had that day and its meaning.
We saw first hand the struggles of young kids to separate home life from their education when we volunteered in YMCA Head Start classrooms.

Future Application

During the course we learned that it is possible for one person to promote social change. We can continue to do this in our communities by being active citizens who follow the triangle of quality service. We will constantly reflect and educate ourselves in places where we directly serve.

Personally, I plan to volunteer my time in the future as a mentor for young children around the community I move to. I am motivated to lend a helping hand to children interested in the STEM field. I strive to help them to see the potential in themselves. -Jake Uribe

From this experience, it helped me see that no matter where I go, there is always somewhere where I can help. I intend on going around to non-profit organizations and offering to help them in any way that I can. -Sydnee Johnson

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