McDaniel College community partnership wins regional award

McDaniel College’s partnership with the Boys and Girls Club of Westminster was honored Nov. 2 by the Maryland-DC Campus Compact (MDCCC) with its Campus Community Partnership Award. The award, presented during the MDCCC 2016 Presidents’ Institute, recognizes an outstanding campus-community partnership that produces measurable impact in both student participants and the community.

The College has forged a strong partnership with the Boys and Girls Club of Westminster over the past six years to strengthen the relationship between the campus and club, which is located adjacent to McDaniel’s campus. McDaniel students have been involved in a number of initiatives with the Boys & Girls Club, including serving as mentors, academic tutors and program facilitators at the club.

During the 2015-2016 school year, more than 350 McDaniel students logged over 7,500 hours working with the Boys and Girls Club of Westminster in activities that include annual service events, providing college application assistance in the Diplomas to Degree program, and service-learning courses that helped to create a mural and enhance the Boys and Girls Club website marketing.

Over the course of the partnership, McDaniel students in the Palabras to Words club have tutored Spanish-speaking adults in English while student caretakers read books, scribble drawings and play games with the adult students’ children. Students supervise Fitness Buddies, fitness- and nutrition-related programming at the Boys and Girls Club of Westminster, to inspire children to view physical activity as enjoyable, unique and fun for everyone.

Prior to the awards’ luncheon, McDaniel president Roger Casey participated in a panel discussion about P-20 or pre-school through higher education partnerships advancing college, career and civic readiness. The higher educations and K-12 leaders discussed the impact of these collaborations on students, communities and institutions, their administrative considerations and efforts to create successful regional partnerships.

The MDCCC is the largest higher education association in the Maryland and DC region with 36 public, private, 2- and 4-year colleges and universities as members. MDCCC provides leadership to colleges and universities in Maryland and Washington, D.C., by advocating, supporting and encouraging institutional participation in academic- and co-curricular-based public service and civic engagement programs.