Leadership Students to Present Community Projects March 7

The Karen W. Morse Institute for Leadership will present its annual poster showcase from 3-4:30 p.m. on Tuesday, March 7  in VU 565. Students enrolled in LDST 101 and 450 will be presenting their work associated with their quarter-long service-learning projects aimed at developing their leadership skills. This event is free and open to all WWU faculty, staff, and students. Light refreshments will be served.

The LDST 101 class is broken up into 6 discussion groups with more senior LDST 450 students mentoring the 101 students in their projects. As a group, students select an issue facing the Bellingham/Whatcom County community and support that issue with a service-learning project. This project helps students understand how to work in a team, how leadership happens in various forms in the completion of a project, and how to support others when they are leading. This quarter, students developed the following projects:

  • Raising money and supplies for The Humane Society,
  • Gathering baby food and supplies for the Bellingham Food Bank’s Food4Tots program,
  • Helping execute an event and raise funds for Our TreeHouse (an organization that supports grieving families),
  • Creating sock puppies for children who are assisted by Skookum Kids as they are transitioned into the foster care system,
  • Executing an inclusive game night and fundraising for the “Spread the word to end the word” campaign, which supports the Unity Club (a WWU student club) dedicated to breaking down barriers between people with and without disabilities,
  • Engaging in invasive plant species abatement in Sehome Arboretum with Huxley’s LEAD program, as well as educating children at the AS Child Development Center about invasive plants.

If you or someone you know is interested in or would like to learn more about the Leadership Studies minor or programs associated with the Karen W. Morse Institute for Leadership, this event will be a great opportunity to learn more, so please come!

Attendees will have the opportunity to vote for the best overall project and the best poster. The winning groups will be submitted to the Poster Showcase during Scholars Week.

For more information on this event, please contact Courtney Baxter at Morse.Institute@wwu.edu, (360)650-4000 or visit the Institute’s website: https://wp.wwu.edu/morse-leadership.