LSU Community Playground Project

College of Education students enrolled in ELRC/WGS 3600, a fall 2008 service-learning course entitled “Women, Gender, and Leadership,” developed skills in fundraising and leadership in preparation for careers in education or nonprofit service work. Jo Ellen Yates Professor Rita Culross from the Department of Educational Theory, Policy, and Practice taught this course on women in development by partnering with Department of Biological and Agricultural Engineering Professor Marybeth Lima’s Service-Learning engineering class which was working on the installation of a new playground at University Terrace Elementary School as part of the LSU Community Playground Project.

The students in ELRC/WGS 3600 organized into two groups, each developing, implementing, and evaluating two separate fundraising programs, the proceeds from which benefitted the University Terrace playground project. One group hosted a silent art auction on November 14, 2008, and the other group conducted a T-shirt sale. The silent auction and T-shirt sales combined to raise a net total of almost $3,000 in funds that will pay for the materials used in the construction of a safe, kid-friendly playground designed by Lima’s students.