Make a Difference

               Are you tired of driving around and seeing trash all around our waterways? If you do or do not care here is a project you can join in Pasadena,TX to improve our society. The Adopt A Waterway project is a group of people who want to make our waterways a nice and clean environment. This program is dedicated to keep our waterways clean and safe for their citizens as well as for the aquatic life habitats. All you have to do is dedicate your time several times a year to monitor and clean the waterways.

                                                      Photo by Tanya Stanley

It is common to see adult students around campus or in our own classroom, but we do not really know what they are facing in order to attend college or a single class. In the article Beyond Classroom Borders: Incorporating Collaborative Service Learning for the Adult Student by Milicent J. Kelly; we are exposed to a new kind of learning the collaborative service learning that could be implemented in higher education seeking the goal of involving adult students and their communities, so both sides can win. Adult students can gain experience and knowledge about their volunteer activities, while the community is helped by those students and making everyone work as one. But as we see in this article, for this to work it needs to follow some conditions that most adult students face in life like shortage of time. So this activities must be made around those situations, where adult students can go to school and at the same time find a way for them to do those activities in a short, meaningful and relevant way.

The article Beyond Classroom Borders: Incorporating Collaborative Service Learning for the Adult Student by Milicent J. Kelly is explaining an glimpse of how collaborative service learning activities can be implemented in higher education’s curricula thinking about those nontraditional students. Such students can be adults who work, those that take care of their kids, and study at the same time; while trying to manage their time, so they can continue with their lives but following the goal of graduating. This concept of collaborative service learning combines volunteering with objectives that can help students gain knowledge about their experiences in benefit not only themselves but the community around them. This kind of learning can be implemented in any field, but like every aspect of education it needs to fulfill certain considerations in order to be successful. It is still a trend but for it to work needs to consider an appropriate design for any student. Creating an environment of no additional time after school, but committing and engaging students so they can have a positive effect in a personal and societal level.

We are all tired of the floods in our community when it rains. The main reason for these floods is not the rain, but the garbage that is in our sewers and waterways. While garbage piles up in these water ways it clogs up preventing the flow of water the right way. Citizens should join the Adopt A Waterway program to help not only the community by preventing further floods, but also helping those animals who live in those waterways. If you want a better future for our kids and family members participate on the next adopt a water way on September 7,2016 at 8:30 A.M. and make these waterways clean in order for them to be productive.

Photo by Tanya Stanley

The water way that runs from Center St. to Cunningham Dr. is a very important one for the students that attend San Jacinto College. The students are near that area daily and it only takes a few minutes to walk up and down and help out by cleaning up the trash. It is a crucial water way for the college to help the water flow the way it is supposed to and prevent future floods for faculty and students alike. So students as well as nearby neighbors let’s take a few minutes not of our day but of our month to help keep this water way clean.

                                                  Photo by Google Maps

               

You might be saying who cares it does not affect me directly and you might be right, but just because something does not affect you directly at the moment it does not mean you cannot contribute for a better cause. By helping and volunteering to this water way program you are putting your grain of salt to help out the community and those affected directly. The students who will not attend San Jacinto College for more than 2 years can still help out for further generations to come. Make it safer and better for the citizens as well as for the animals that live in those water ways.