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Service learning embodies NC State’s commitment to its land grant mandate as well as PRTM’s core belief that parks and recreation should enrich the quality of life within communities and the health and well-being of participants.
This unique program places PRTM students on-the-job in various projects — sometimes for classroom credit — at any one of a number of parks and community centers operated by the City of Raleigh Parks and Recreation Department, within the Wake County Schools System, or with various other community agencies and non-profit groups located in or near Raleigh.
Service Learning students typically learn firsthand how to plan, implement and run a parks and rec program geared toward a specific audience, thus tracking an idea from inception through to implementation and review. This hands-on experience is enriched with exercises in reflection via personal journals and other feedback plus academic enrichment on program-relevant topics.
While all of these benefits contribute to a rich learning experience, most Service Learning students report that the civic engagement lessons of the program most change them by giving them a glimpse at the critical role parks and recreation provides when it comes to creating and linking local communities in an otherwise global and, often, impersonal world.
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