S.P.A.R.C. lights a volunteer fire

Freshmen learn about their new community

Early on Aug. 21, with temperatures already in the 80s and climbing, 20 freshmen gathered above a stream bank littered with trash near downtown Winston-Salem. Wearing heavy work gloves and orange safety vests, they scampered over a guardrail into the dense underbrush and disappeared down the steep embankment to begin cleaning up the stream.

Forty freshmen participated in the S.P.A.R.C. program — Students Promoting Action and Responsibility in the Community — spending three days volunteering in the community. Twenty of them helped clean up a stream bank in Winston-Salem. Photo gallery »

"I wanted to learn about the community and ways I could help out and make an impact," said freshman Jordan Jacobson from Sudbury, Mass. "And I've met a great group of people."

A few miles away, another group of freshmen spent the morning working on a house being built by Habitat for Humanity, while others were volunteering at Adult Day Care and the Children's Center. Altogether, 40 freshmen, along with 10 upperclass student leaders, participated in S.P.A.R.C. this year, getting a hands-on introduction to a wide variety of community agencies and services such as AIDS Care, Crisis Control Ministry, the Children's Museum, Meals on Wheels, the Salvation Army, and the Forsyth Humane Society.

Seventy-six freshmen applied for the 40 spots in the program; all were actively involved in volunteer activities in high school. "I'm hoping to be involved in Winston-Salem, and this was a chance to get to know about different agencies and what I can do in future years," said Nikki Bouchard, a freshman from Hampstead, Md., as she took a break from picking up trash.

Students in the program moved into their dorm rooms on Aug. 19, four days early, giving them a head-start meeting other freshmen. "You get to meet students with the same interests and desire to get involved off-campus and build Wake's reputation in the community," said Carey Carpenter from Charlotte.

S.P.A.R.C. is one of three pre-orientation programs offered to incoming freshmen each year. Forty-four spent four days in the wilderness at Table Rock in the Appalachian Mountains, participating in North Carolina Outward Bound. S.P.A.R.C. and the Outward Bound program are sponsored by the Office of Student Development. About 115 freshmen participated in Campus Ministry's Pre-School Conference, held for the 52nd year, at YMCA Camp Hanes. Other freshmen arrived early for band camp or athletic-team practices.

Freshmen in the S.P.A.R.C. program were broken up into small groups and assigned to a different community-service agency each morning and afternoon over three days. Every night, the entire group met to talk about their volunteer experiences that day.

The S.P.A.R.C. students cleaning up the Skyland branch of Brushy Fork Creek, a shallow stream running alongside a residential section of New Walkertown Road, got their hands dirty through Stream Clean, a program sponsored by the city of Winston-Salem's Stormwater Division to improve water quality.

Within minutes of starting, they pulled a mattress, roller skates, a bowling ball, a child's plastic wading pool and a car's gas pedal from the underbrush. Soon, they were hopping from rock to rock in the stream, picking trash out of the water and along the bank. They quickly filled large garbage bags with beer cans, fast-food containers, clothes, and other trash that they hauled up the embankment for collection by city employees. Three hours later, they had collected 60 bags of trash and a shopping cart.

Collecting trash isn't the most glamorous volunteer job in the world, but it's important that they see a wide range of volunteer needs, said Brandon Prewitt, the senior coordinator for this year's program. Volunteering isn't limited to working directly with people in need; sometimes it means cooking meals, stuffing envelopes or picking up trash, he said. "The program shows the many avenues to get involved in Winston-Salem. We encourage them to find their passion and then focus on that."

"Alumni" of the S.P.A.R.C. program go on to be visible leaders in campus activities and community-service projects, said junior coordinator Jen Faig. Upperclass leaders counsel the freshmen not to try to do too much too soon while they're still adjusting to the academic rigors of college. "We encourage them to pick a couple of things and not get overwhelmed."

— Kerry M. King ('85)
Office of Creative Services

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