UC Honors Scholars Head Back to School with Hardhats

A group of 20 first-year students will get a two-week jump on their English 101 course before fall quarter begins at the University of Cincinnati. When this class begins, there’ll be a floor, but no walls. As a result, the students will use their hammers and nails to construct their own lesson in compassion and community as they become the first UC volunteers to get to work on UC’s fourth university-wide partnership with Cincinnati Habitat for Humanity.

A group of nine students will raise the first 40-foot wall of the home at 3 p.m. Tuesday, Sept. 5, at the new UC/Habitat construction site at 3556 Haven St. in Avondale.

This first work at the UC/Cincinnati Habitat site is part of a popular service-learning Honors Scholars English course for academically talented first-year students entering fall quarter. Nine students will work at the site from 8 a.m.-3 p.m., Sept. 5-8, then the second week of 11 students get to work at the site from 8 a.m.-3 p.m., Sept. 12-15. Once autumn quarter gets underway on Sept. 20, the students will connect their service with reading and writing assignments as part of their Honors English 101 class led by Beverly Brannan, a field service instructor for the Department of English and Comparative Literature.

National research suggests that most students decide whether or not they are going to stay at a particular university during their first several weeks on campus. The research also indicates that through first-year experience programs like this service-learning Honors Scholars course, retention and timely degree completion can be improved.

Service learning is defined by UC as “a reflective educational experience in which students earn academic credit by participating in meaningful service activities. Service-learning experiences are designed to foster deeper understanding of course content and an enhanced sense of civic responsibility.” This teaching-and-learning initiative also exemplifies the goals of the UC|21 Strategic Plan to forge key relationships and partnerships in the community.

As the Honors Scholars finish up their two-week blitz in early September, volunteers from across the university will be working Saturdays at the Habitat site through spring quarter, when the fourth UC partnership with Cincinnati Habitat for Humanity will be completed. The volunteers will be working with the future first-time homeowner, Custodio Muianga, a UC doctoral student in Environmental Health & Occupational Hygiene along with his wife, Edite. The couple has three small children.