Community service may not be the first thing one considers when planning for spring break, but for some students in the College of Education, a spring break filled with community service was just what they needed -- to graduate, that is. So they spent their spring break in Harrisburg, both to assist in the classroom and to provide service in local homeless shelters. Lawrence Lee (sophomore-secondary education) saw the trip as anything but a damper on what would have been a relaxing week at home.

"It did my spirit a lot of good," Lee said. "I really wasn't impressed with what went on at home."

The trip was co-directed by Josh Sheldon (senior-math and physics). Sheldon's goal was both to provide much-needed service to the community and to help education majors fulfill a requirement for graduation.

"The trip was set up so that freshmen and sophomore education majors would fulfill their requirement for 40 hours of service with a diverse population," Sheldon said. "In most cases, it was an eye-opening experience."

One of the things required of an education major, in addition to the classes, is that students complete 80 hours of community service, 40 of which should be with an underrepresented group. Underrepresented groups can include different ethnic and socio-economic populations than those of the student. The service project last week fulfilled the diversity requirement, Sheldon said.

Lee, along with several other students majoring in elementary and secondary education, spent the fiRst part of their spring break week observing what goes on in the classroom.

During the middle of the week, the students instructed the classes themselves. Rick Barley (senior-secondary education) taught English to seventh graders at Rowland Intermediate School.

"I had no idea what the discipline would be like," Barley said. "There are a lot of discipline problems."

After working in the classroom, students went to local missions to assist with serving the homeless and looking after their children.

The students returned to campus from Harrisburg yesterday.