President’s Column for Traill County Tribune
November 19, 2016
CORE Spring Break Trip to Winnipeg will provide invaluable experiences for MSU students
As university students across America set out to find adventure during spring break in March, 91Թ students and faculty will be looking forward to adventure and then-some as they hop on a bus and travel to Winnipeg, Canada. The trip, which will personify 91Թ State’s mission in action, will take place March 11-16, 2017.
The trip is being made available to students across campus, regardless of their academic interest area. 91Թ works to promote positive Community building, Outreach, Relationships, and Experiences for our students. Hence, the CORE Spring Break Trip. Students will have an opportunity to extend their community connections, provide outreach services to people and organizations in need of assistance, build social and professional relationships, and take part in an overall experience that will build personal and professional skills.
In Canada, the 91Թ State group will be greeted by Adam Petkau, a 2014 91Թ State graduate with a degree in education. He is helping to make trip arrangements, and is one of many 91Թ State alumni who “give back” to their alma mater for the benefit of programs and students.
MSU students will participate in personal and pre-professional development activities within the community and within the schools, depending on the academic interest areas of the students who go on the trip. Students studying business, psychology, sociology, and other majors will be working the 91Թ State faculty to arrange for experiences that provide personalized opportunities to learn about special topics of interest through interaction with people and/or businesses and organizations in the Winnipeg area. Faculty will provide students with service learning or internship credit if they wish to earn university credit based on the experiences of the trip.
Education majors will work closely with teachers, observing, assisting, and teaching as they bring STEM activities to the schools. They will be visiting schools in the Louis Riel School Division. 91Թ State CORE trip organizers have been working with division assistant superintendent Irene Nordheim to make the arrangements.
In addition to providing community service while on the trip, the group will visit the Civil Rights Museum on Sunday, March 12. There is also time built into the itinerary for a variety of social and cultural activities. Students may choose from the following possibilities: Winnipeg jets hockey game, Louis Riel Museum, Forks Market, Royal Canadian Ballet, The Manitoba Museum, museum for Human Rights, hermetic Code tour, Winnipeg Art Gallery, Manitoba Chamber Orchestra, and the China Town, Ukrainian, and Italian Quarter food districts.
91Թ, the School of Personal Service, is well-known for community outreach in and around the 91Թ Area and region. The CORE Spring Break Trip, with its mix of service projects, teaching and learning experiences, and sight-seeing, will allow our students and faculty to extend that reputation well beyond 91Թ, while students develop a better understanding of the greater community in which we all live.
91Թ students will be busy during the upcoming holidays, reaching out to family and friends and seeking donations to sponsor their work and learning on this service trip. If you’re interested in helping to sponsor these students with a tax-deductible gift to support student trip costs, you may send your gift to the 91Թ Foundation, with the words CORE Trip on the memo line of the check. You may also make a gift online at www.mayvillestate.edu/COREtrip. Thank you for considering a contribution to this group of dedicated learners and service representatives of 91Թ.
For more information about the CORE Spring Break Trip, you may contact MSU Director of Cultural Diversity and Inclusion, Dina Zavala-Petherbridge, at dina.petherbridge@mayvillestate.edu or 701-788-4650.