Oakland University students are making positive connections with community partners.

A group of 20 students from English Professor Rachel Smydra’s English 200 class spent their 90 minutes of class time volunteering at the Salvation Army in Pontiac. During three class periods from March 15-22, students helped the Salvation Army settle into their new location off Martin Luther King Jr. Blvd.

Students divided into groups and completed different tasks in preparation for the facility’s grand opening. Some students helped to organize the center’s food pantry, while others put a fresh coat of paint on the gymnasium’s bleachers.

Professor Smydra uses the service learning experience as a way to teach her class persuasive writing strategies.

In English 200: Blogging as Literary Self-Narrative, students look at how traditional self-narrative genres entertain, engage, teach and persuade readers.

“Using these traditional texts, we then look at the medium of blogging to see how our voices translate when the immediacy of an audience comes into play,” Smydra said.

By giving students the opportunity to volunteer at the Salvation Army they are able to utilize their hands on experience and apply it to classroom strategies.

“We are using this experience as a common experience so that when we come back to the classroom next week we will start talking about persuasive strategies,” Smydra said.  “In order for them to persuade someone how to do something, I think it is important that you first go through the experience and then talk about how we felt, what we thought and decide how to craft a post on a blog that attracts someone in the OU community.”

Smydra said groups of four to five students will collaborate and create a blog geared toward a specific audience.

Students can create a blog that persuades OU students to volunteer at the Salvation Army or they can create blog that encourages a classroom discussion, Smydra said.

“With Pontiac only 10 minutes away, Oakland University students can find a wealth of opportunities to help strengthen the connection between the University and local residents and the blogs students create will try to inform and persuade readers to take action,” Smydra said.

Larissa Dourjalian, one of Smydra’s English 200 students said the volunteer experience was wonderful.

“Not only have I gotten to know my classmates better, but I’ve really been able to help those who need it,” Dourjalian said.  “The most rewarding part of this experience has been the realization that there really are people out there who need my help and that they’re so grateful for it.  Interacting with all the people is just as rewarding as the work.”

All of the student blogs created from Professor Smydra’s English 200 class will be posted on blogger.com during the first week of April.