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Educational Activities and Programs

  • East Lansing Public Schools have over 350 volunteers/tutors in its K-12 system each year. Approximately 85-90% of those volunteers are students from Michigan State University. MSU Students have also worked as communications assistants and as English as a Second Language assistants. They work with students to improve reading, writing, and math skills as well as study and test-taking skills.
  • A number of students are assigned to assist in East Lansing Schools through the MSU Service Learning Center. In 2002, the numbers of MSU students per school were:
    East Lansing High School 39
    Hannah Center After School Program 43
    Red Cedar School 23
    Special Ed Tutoring - East Lansing High 1
    Eastminster Child Development Center 1
    Junior Achievement 2
    MSU Spartan Village Child Development Center 3
    St. Thomas Aquinas Childcare Center 1
    DRM International Mentoring 8
  • Donnelly Elementary School needed to upgrade its playground equipment to meet the standards needed to fit current liability issues. An MSU faculty member volunteered his time to provide an evaluation of the playground equipment, so that the proper new equipment could be installed.
  • The Community Music School and East Lansing Public School System are partnering to support the arts in the East Lansing community. Both will reside in the former Trinity Church building at 841 Timberlane Road in East Lansing. The East Lansing Board of Education purchased the 44,000 square-foot building in 2001, and is currently headquartered there. CMS is scheduled to move into the new building in January 2003. CMS has been housed at the School of Music on campus since the program began in 1993. Since then, enrollment has grown to more than 2,000 students annually.
  • MSU Students from ATL 135, "Writing: Public Life in Ameria" classes work on various community service writing projects. Examples of such projects include assisting with the YouVote project, putting together a manual for forming a Japanese club in a high school and designing a website for the East Lansing After School Tutoring program.
  • MSU Communication Professor Janet Lilly has offered her advertising class to evaluate City publications geared toward students and to analyze effective communications techniques with students. A welcoming letter and history of the community message is uncluded in the Residence Hall student handbook each fall and spring. In addition, the University, Students and City are continuously involved in a massive campaign welcoming students to the community and sharing the one community message.
  • The Community Volunteers for International Programs group exists to increase international understanding between foreign visitors, scholars, students and their families, and members of the American community by participation in mutually enriching educational and cross-cultural activities. The CVIP also hosts the annual Global Festival which brings in around 6,000 people from the community to connect with MSU international students in the MSU Union.
  • The America Reads Program is a federal work-study program which provides the salary for MSU students to be hired to provide reading tutoring to elementary level children. Approximately 15-20 students work in the East Lansing school system under this program.
  • The "Get Bugged" Mentor Program sponsored by the Department of Entomology puts graduate students into elementary, middle, and high school classrooms to work with the students on insect related science projects. At the end of the semester, the department hosts a science fair where the schools bring in and display their projects. The Department of Entomology also does several science fairs at area schools and many local and regional schools tour the Bug House each year. Tours of the Bug House are conducted by Entomology students.
  • Integrative Studies in Social Science (ISS) professor Fayyaz Hussain's class focuses on Red Cedar Elementary School as one of the primary service-learning sites for his classes. 30-40 MSU students each semester serve as tutors, classroom assistants or recreation aides. Dr. Hussain began his affiliation in Fall Semester 2001 and is continuing this year.
  • MSU Broadcasting services (WKAR-TV, WKAR Radio, WKAR.org) participates in many activities and partnerships with the East Lansing Community. There are a number of programs such as "Ready to Learn", "Quizbusters", and "QB Jr." which highlight or promote education in the area. WKAR efforts and the efforts of East Lansing community members have brought a higher public awareness of the contributions of East Lansing residents, organizations and events that directly contribute to the quality of life in mid-Michigan.
  • MSU's Mechanical Engineering Department organizes a student design conference at the end of each semester at the MSU Union. Students from East Lansing High School are invited to attend. These students learn about working on teams, refining things that fail, college life, and engineering by interactions with college students and participating in hands-on, problem-solving projects such as building a flying buttress or spanning a chasm.
  • The College of Osteopathic Medicine Student Outreach (CIMSA) PATCH program educates elementary school students on heart physiology and the importance of maintaining a healthy heart through good diet and exercise. The TOWAR program works with students at the Towar Community Education center to educate them on issues such as alcohol abuse, STD's, and depression. More than 80% of the MSU COM students volunteer their time during the year. In 2001, the students of MSU COM were a "Crystal Award" recipient for their efforts in "improving and advancing healthcare education in the City of East Lansing."
  • Pi Beta Phi Sorority sponsors an annual Broom Ball Challenge to raise funds for "Links to Literacy." Last year they also collected over 1,000 books for this program.
  • The college of Veterinary Medicine puts on a Veterinary Camp for many East Lansing 8th graders. Vet. camp is a 5 day experience that introduces children to veterinary medicine and the College of Veterinary Medicine.
  • Faculty members serve on the board of the Peace Education Center. The center undertakes a variety of projects to educate the community about issues of peace and justice, ranging from local to global issues.
  • The Children's Literature Collection for the MSU College of Education is housed in the East Lansing Public Library. In addition, East Lansing has provided programs for MSU students and instructors of children's literature on how to access materials in the East Lansing Public Library, on the kinds of materials available and on the services and programs offered.
  • Linking All Types of Teachers to International Cross-cultural Education is a cooperative program between MSU faculty members and East Lansing teachers. The mission of LATTICE is to assure a global prespective in K-12 classrooms. LATTICE members work to heighten awareness, sensitivity and understanding of global issues including ethnic, cultural and religious diversity. LATTICE concentrates on adult learning and promotes practical links to K-12 classrooms through half-day long sessions that are held on monthly basis during the academic year. Approximately 25 area teachers participate each session.
  • Stories in the Garden is an award winning program where teen and college volunteers read stories aloud in the 4H Childrens Gardens on the MSU campus. Stories occur throughout the summer and are aimed at young children. Stories in the Garden have an open house atmosphere. The University helps support the project by providing shirts, books, and water bottles.
  • Area K-12 teachers are encouraged to apply for admission to the annual Invitational Institute hosted by the Red Cedar Writing Project, MSU's site of the National Writing Project. Those selected for participation attend the four-week institute in the MSU Writing Center, became the National Writing Project endorsed teacher consultants, and continue to work on a wide range of project-related initiatives that address the professional development needs of other K-12 teachers and the educational needs of K-12 students
  • Each summer the MSU Writing Center offers high school students an opportunity to live on campus for a long weekend and pursue their interest in writing through the Greenrock High School Writers Retreat.
  • Each summer, the MSU Writing Center hosts several summer writing camps for elementary and middle school students who are interested in writing. Information on all three MSU Writing Center projects is available at the MSU Writing Center webpage.
  • Graduate students from the Department of Linguistics & Languages organize, promote, and teach a six-week English as a Second Language course for residents of the East Lansing and Lansing area. The program gives participants an opportunity to practice conversation skills, obtain cultural information, and share with others similarly situated. It also assists the graduate students with their educational development.
  • Through a grant, the School of Social Work was able to sponsor a series of workshops/roundtables on "Law and Children" and "Kinship Care" for the community.
  • One Book One Community Project -One Book is encouraging the East Lansing and Michigan State University community to read the same book over a six-week period this fall and to come together to discuss it in a variety of settings. Although dozens of similar programs have been sponsored nationwide, this is the first to bring together a city and a university. The 2002 program took place from October 7 - November 15; the book read was Ray Bradbury's Fahrenheit 451, an American science fiction classic. Events were held at the MSU Union Building, the MSU Library, the East Lansing Hannah Community Center, the East Lansing Public Library, and Barnes & Noble.

    The 2003 One Book One Community Project will discuss Mary Shelley's horror classic Frankenstein. Continuing on last years success, programs and events will be scheduled throughout the fall.

  • MSU's Student Osteopathic Academy of Sports Medicine (SOASM) works to benefit the comomunity by providing volunteer first aid stations at local charity 5k athletic events. The group helped out at Monster Dash, Dino Dash and the River Run. In addition, SOASM provided sports physicals at local high schools.
  • MSU's The MSU Honors College offers several regional educational programs for pre-college academically talented students. These include CHAMP, High Achievers, and Dimensions. Click here for information about the many other youth oriented educational programs.
  • During Spring 2001, MSU's Public Relations Student Society of America (PRSSA) visited area high schools and presented workshops on helping high school student understand credit cards and managing money.
  • An MSU faculty member from the Honors College started a high school debate institute, Spartan Debate Institute, nearly 10 years ago. East Lansing High School debaters and the program have benefited from having such an institute in their locale. MSU has benefited by excellent debaters from ELHS debating for MSU in their college years.