Hiwot Ekuban: reflections on how service at Carolina led to a career helping others
Posted on: May 11, 2018
By Hiwot A. Ekuban Before Carolina, my experiences with service were largely short-term endeavors, which I did in order to fulfill some sort of high school club requirement. However, as a soon-to-be Carolina alum, I can say with confidence that my phil …
Doing more: Zaynab Nasif’s journey through service-learning
Posted on: April 30, 2018
By Catie Armstrong Zaynab Nasif, a senior global studies major from Raleigh, was already service-minded before she attended her first APPLES Service-Learning Alternative Spring Break trip in 2016. In high school, she was involved in service organizatio …
Tiffany Turner’s journey from needing food to a life passion for alleviating food insecurity
Posted on: April 30, 2018
By Charlotte McArthur Most Mondays for the past four years, Tiffany Turner could be found sorting cans and packing food boxes at TABLE. She did this because alleviating food insecurity is a passion born from personal experience. Now a senior majoring i …
Serving Latinx communities
Posted on: March 19, 2018
Students from the Carolina Center for Public Service’s APPLES Service-Learning program spent their spring break in various communities around the country to see firsthand the range of issues impacting citizens. By Gladys Sanchez As a Latina, leading th …
APPLES awards individuals and organizations for excellence in service-learning
Posted on: February 27, 2018
By Charlotte MacArthur Dedication to service-learning and a commitment to community – that’s what this year’s APPLES Award recipients have in common. From offering financial education to individuals in the community experiencing homelessness to support …
Leaving your Heel print: How one senior leaves his mark through service
Posted on: February 7, 2018
By Becca Kronebusch For John Paul (JP) Zalaquett, a senior music major from Matthews, North Carolina, service to others began long before he came to UNC. From working with Habitat for Humanity ReStore to serving at an orphanage in Mexico, service is se …
Service experiences lead to dream career for senior Analisa Sorrells
Posted on: November 30, 2017
For Analisa Sorrells, a December 2017 graduate from Windermere, Florida, time in service at UNC led her to her dream career path – one of giving back and helping others. “When I arrived at Carolina, I immediately got involved with Tar Heel TABLE and th …
APPLES alternative breaks launches new break experience
Posted on: November 9, 2017
By Becca Kronebusch A record number 82 UNC students participated in APPLES Service-Learning Alternative Fall Break, providing direct and indirect service to communities across North Carolina and the southeast. The seven break trips focused on each comm …
APPLES gives fall break a purpose for UNC students
Posted on: October 19, 2017
Marco Quiroz-Gutierrez The Daily Tar Heel While most students are relaxing during their time off this fall break, the students participating in the APPLES alternative fall break will be helping communities in need all over North Carolina. Since it was …
APPLES service-learning course is CURE-ious Chemistry
Posted on: October 17, 2017
By Alyssa LaFaro, Endeavors Magazine Madeline Cooke squats in the dirt and leans over the stacked, wooden two-by-fours supporting a raised garden. Scissors at the ready, she trims away weeds and checks the health of rows of red-stemmed succulents. Alth …
First-year students launch into community service
Posted on: September 11, 2017
As the heat of summer is in full swing and UNC students begin to fill the quad, many ambitious first-years stepped into the local community for three days of service through the APPLES Service-Learning Initiative: Launch, or SLI.
Impact through Upward Bound
Posted on: August 3, 2017
Griffin Smith is a rising senior majoring in mathematics and history and is considering a career in education. This summer, he has spent a lot of time teaching and mentoring with the Upward Bound Program at Central Carolina Community College. Upward Bo …
Service through technology
Posted on: August 2, 2017
Zareen Farooqui is a junior studying business administration and computer science at UNC-Chapel Hill. This summer, she’s using the knowledge she gained in her classes to revamp United Way of the Greater Triangle’s Teaming for Technology Program. That p …
Learning through summer service
Posted on: August 1, 2017
Tar Heels do not stop learning when the academic year breaks for the summer. For nearly 30 years, University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill students have found a way to continue learning throughout the summer with APPLES Service-Learning based out of …
Ami Patel goes outward bound to build leadership skills
Posted on: June 29, 2017
When Ami Patel ’18, APPLES Service-Learning president, agreed to spend four days in the North Carolina wilderness with fellow Tar Heels during a North Carolina Outward Bound experience, she didn’t realize how much the outdoors would challenge her. Afte …
Murdock family supports students serving communities
Posted on: June 20, 2017
When Brian Murdock ’99 and his wife Laura considered making a gift to the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, the Carolina Center for Public Service was a natural choice. Murdock, who was recently appointed to the UNC Board of Visitors, has be …
APPLES launches SLI: Engage
Posted on: April 5, 2017
APPLES hosted its first Service-Learning Initiative (SLI): Engage event March 31-April 2. This is a unique student-lead introduction to service-learning and allowed participants to learn more about APPLES opportunities and local organizations in the Ch …
2017 APPLES Award recipients recognized
Posted on: March 27, 2017
The APPLES Service-Learning program recently honored five individuals and organizations for providing significant contributions to service-learning to the UNC campus and in support to APPLES.
Battle Grove serves as a model for living-learning lab
Posted on: March 14, 2017
Geoffrey Bell wanted a way for students in his fall 2016 Restoration Ecology class to link concepts in ecosystem restoration with the practical application of research techniques they were learning. Sally Hoyt wanted to find new ways to engage students in the campus infrastructure around them.
APPLES leads alumna to an alternative route
Posted on: March 6, 2017
Hope Thomson ‘15, like many college students, was exploring options to pursue a graduate degree after completing her undergraduate curriculum at UNC. But one campus experience took her down an unexpected path that influenced her career development.
APPLES Course Development Grant enhances filmmaking class
Posted on: February 28, 2017
Rachel Schaevitz wanted her students to experience working with real-world clients while creating media in public service. So, she applied for an APPLES Service-Learning course development grant and proposed that students in her COMM 493 film production class pair with university departments to create videos to use as teaching tools in K-12 and community college classrooms.
UNC-Chapel Hill student honored for community service
Posted on: November 14, 2016
Jashawnna Gladney ’17, a global studies major from Thomasville, North Carolina was recognized for outstanding leadership and service by North Carolina Campus Compact, a statewide network of colleges and universities with a shared commitment to civic en …
APPLES alternative fall break participants serve where needed
Posted on: October 24, 2016
Each year, many UNC students spend their fall break at home, binge-watching their favorite Netflix show or catching up on sleep lost during midterms. But for 70 students participating in APPLES Service-Learning alternative fall breaks (AFB), fall break …
APPLES summer intern impacts local organizaton
Posted on: October 14, 2016
By Catie Armstrong Interns can do a lot to further an organization’s work, especially a nonprofit organization. This past summer, the Raleigh/Wake Partnership to End and Prevent Homelessness hosted Morgan McLaughlin, a senior public policy and politica …
Jesse White is passionate about public service
Posted on: October 14, 2016
When I came to Carolina in January of 2003 I was immediately impressed with the spirit of public service that characterized our students and faculty. Soon I discovered a driving force behind this work, the Carolina Center for Public Service. I joined i …
SLI immerses first-years in service before classes start
Posted on: August 29, 2016
Engaging is service is a meaningful way for students to connect with the community and start their UNC career. Just ask Dillon Rubalcava, a first-year student from Jamestown, North Carolina. “I thought doing service work would be a great way to get to …
An alternative spring break
Posted on: March 21, 2016
Sally-Irene Ngeve could have spent her spring break almost anywhere. But the Carolina senior chose not to relax on a beach all week, wander around a quieter Chapel Hill or head back home to Cameroon to visit her family. Instead, she spent her time off providing much-needed assistance to the people of Robeson County — a rural community that has struggled with unemployment, homelessness and hunger for the past six decades.
2016 APPLES Service-Learning Award recipients honored
Posted on: March 8, 2016
Four individuals, Luis Acosta, Sarah Dempsey, Alexandra Zagbayou and Mae B. McLendon, and one community partner, and Farmer Foodshare, were recognized at the annual APPLES Service-Learning Award Brunch for their on-going efforts to connect academic and service-based pursuits through their involvement with APPLES.
APPLES service-learning class and volunteer doulas partner on better births
Posted on: January 8, 2016
An APPLES service-learning class at Carolina partners with volunteer doulas at N.C. Women’s Hospital to enhance students’ educational experiences and better serve women delivering babies at UNC.
APPLES participant receives Campus Compact outstanding leadership and service award
Posted on: December 2, 2015
Nearly 100 students and staff from more than 20 campuses across North Carolina came together to celebrate the impact of 21 civically-engaged students. Among the 21 students honored was APPLES Service-Learning participant José Cisneros ‘17.
APPLES alumnus makes service a career
Posted on: November 9, 2015
Most students at Carolina graduate with some type of public service having been part of their undergraduate experiences and nearly half of UNC-CH’s seniors (47 percent) reported participation in service-learning. Sometimes that service is not only an act but a way of life. For George Barrett ’14, an APPLES Service-Learning alumnus and current associate director of Organizing and Advocacy at the Jackson Center for Saving and Making History, service to others is a trait that runs blood deep.
APPLES/BPSS alumna finds herself in service
Posted on: November 2, 2015
UNC alumna Corinne Goudreault ’15, who was involved in a number of organizations including Relay For Life, Impact NC, the Community Empowerment Fund, Phi Beta Kappa, the Campus Y and HOPE, said that her commitment to public service during her time at UNC made a huge difference in her college experience.
APPLES students serve communities during fall break
Posted on: October 21, 2015
While most students went home, cheered on the Tar Heels at Kenan Memorial Stadium or enjoyed an assortment of fried foods at the North Carolina State Fair, a select group of students spent their fall break differently than their peers. Seventy students spent their fall breaks serving communities across North Carolina and the Mid-Atlantic. Each fall, the APPLES Service-Learning program offers student-led Alternative Fall Break (AFB) experiences. Fifty-eight students and 12 student leaders dedicated their breaks to doing service in six focus areas: Urban Communities, Latino Communities, Rural Communities, Environmental Issues, Arts in Public Service and Service-Learning Initiative.
Student leaders hone skills through Outward Bound
Posted on: September 3, 2015
Every year, the University’s student government brings together leaders from across campus to participate in an abbreviated wilderness experience through the North Carolina Outward Bound School. Supported through the Carolina Center for Public Service and offered through the Buckley Public Service Scholars program, seven UNC students spent four days in the Blue Ridge Mountains this past summer where they had the opportunity to connect with other campus leaders and to grow in their roles as leaders within their organizations.
First-Year students immersed in service through SLI
Posted on: August 12, 2015
In the days before classes began in the fall of 2003, 11 UNC first-year students gathered for a day of service work in the Chapel Hill community. Twelve years later, the Service-Learning Initiative (SLI) continues to make an impact on the community. With the largest SLI to date, 60 first-year and transfer students worked with eight community partners from Aug. 12-14 doing everything from working on the trails at Battle Park to harvesting tomatoes and planting kale at Anathoth Community Garden.
APPLES intern lobbies for farmworkers and undocumented students
Posted on: August 7, 2015
From the green tobacco fields of North Carolina to the halls of the North Carolina General Assembly, José Cisneros ’17, a history and economics major from Snow Hill, North Carolina, has worked hard to not only understand the plight of rural farm workers but also to diligently advocate on behalf of North Carolina’s undocumented students. This summer, Cisneros worked with Student Action with Farmworkers (SAF) as an APPLES Service-Learning intern through the Carolina Center for Public Service (CCPS).
Posted on: June 30, 2015
A narrow pedestrian bridge stretches across Interstate 40, breaking up the monotony of green exit signs and asphalt. This bridge, part of the American Tobacco Trail that extends throughout the Triangle, is also part of the larger East Coast Greenway, a 2,900-mile greenway system stretching from Maine to Florida. Carolyn Ebeling ‘17 is currently completing an APPLES summer internship with the nonprofit organization that oversees the maintenance of this greenway, the East Coast Greenway Alliance (ECGA).
Bryan Social Innovation Fellow continues to create community
Posted on: May 7, 2015
By Carly Swain Reena Gupta, who will graduate Sunday with a degree in Public Policy from the College of Arts and Sciences, not only immersed herself in the Carolina community over the past four years, she helped create one — through Healthy Girls Save …
APPLES alum turned passion into career
Posted on: April 24, 2015
From unc.edu When Shelley Gist was assigned as a sophomore to intern at the Carolina Women’s Center, she never knew how much the center and its mission to build gender equity would inspire her career. What began as a college internship of creating inno …
2015 APPLES Service-Learning Awards
Posted on: March 5, 2015
By Janell Smith The APPLES Service-Learning program honored deserving UNC students, alumni, faculty and local community partners for their demonstrated desire to serve the public and make a difference throughout North Carolina communities and beyond. I …
APPLES Service-Learning turns 25
Posted on: March 2, 2015
By Sofia Edelman, The Daily Tar Heel Coming from humble beginnings, APPLES has served the University and its community for the past quarter century. The service-learning organization, which celebrated its 25th anniversary this weekend, offers specializ …
APPLES celebrates 25 years at UNC
Posted on: February 28, 2015
By Janell Smith Twenty-six years ago, Tony Deifell and four other Carolina students (Mike Ulku-Steiner, Serena Wille, Kas Decarvahlo and Emily Lawson), saw the need for service experiences to be incorporated into their academic lives. As members of the …
2014 Alternative Fall Breaks bring new elements
Posted on: November 10, 2014
By Janell Smith Since the 1990s, alternative breaks have been a defining experience of the APPLES Service-Learning program. On Oct. 15, APPLES continued with its traditional alternative break structure and sent 70 students to communities across the sta …
APPLES Day 2014
Posted on: September 24, 2014
By Janell Smith APPLES Service-Learning celebrated APPLES Day Sept. 24 by partnering with Hunger Lunch in the Student Union. APPLES served more than one hundred students cake and inviting them to learn more about APPLES programs. “APPLES Day is a day d …
APPLES summer intern works to give back to the community
Posted on: July 14, 2014
For many students, internships are all about gaining valuable experience. But for Raisa Marrow, ’15, an APPLES Service-Learning summer intern at Kidzu Museum in Chapel Hill, that experience also comes with an added benefit of impacting the community. “ …
Posted on: July 8, 2014
By Meghan Modafferi and Frank Stasio Listen to Alexandra’s interview on The State Of Things Alexandra Zagbayou was born in Montreal but returned to her father’s homeland of Ivory Coast when she was 4 years old. Six years later, her family fled because …
Bryan Social Innovation Fellows impact Nigeria’s youth
Posted on: May 6, 2014
Destiny brings triplets to Carolina unc.edu After sisters Risi and Sheri Ademola graduate from UNC-Chapel Hill this weekend, they will head in different directions. Risi is moving to San Francisco or New York for work, while Sheri will start graduate s …
APPLES and BPSS student participants receive Chancellor’s Awards
Posted on: April 25, 2014
Congratulations to these students involved in the APPLES Service-Learning and Buckley Public Service Scholars programs. Each received Chancellor’s Awards recognizing their academic or service leadership. Amanda Baldiga ’14, a Buckley Public Service Sch …
APPLES recognizes 2014 service-learning award recipients
Posted on: April 11, 2014
Extending learning beyond the boarders of the classroom is the essence of service-learning. Every day, UNC students, faculty, staff, alumni and local community partners put this concept into practice making a difference in the lives of individuals and …
UNC students to spend spring break serving the community
Posted on: March 5, 2014
While their peers venture off to tropical destinations for spring break, 60 UNC students will instead dedicate their time to giving back to the community. Through the APPLES Service-Learning Alternative Break program, students will spend eight days focusing on civil rights and disaster relief or characteristics of Latino, urban and rural communities.
Katie Weinel learns most from service work
Posted on: February 11, 2014
By Deborah R. Meyer – The Chapel Hill News Buckley Public Service Scholar and Bryan Social Innovation Fellowship recipient Katie Weinel shares her experience with service and its impact on her life Brushstrokes: Students take arts into the community Ka …
Students address community issues through popular service-learning course
Posted on: January 2, 2014
By Nicole Beatty ’15 UNC offers many courses for students interested in learning more about public service and civic responsibility. APPLES service-learning classes bring the two together by extending learning outside the classroom to collaborate with …
APPLES Service-Learning student teaches healthy eating habits to community in Ecuador
Posted on: December 12, 2013
Watching a student become a teacher is a teacher’s best reward. So says Alice Ammerman, DrPH, professor of nutrition at the UNC Gillings School of Global Public Health and director of the UNC Center for Health Promotion and Disease Prevention (HPDP). A …
Guanajuato Connections: Experiencing the global South
Posted on: September 27, 2013
Reprinted with permission from Carolina Arts & Sciences magazine http://magazine.college.unc.edu/2013/09/guanajuato/ Beyond the headlines and policy papers about Mexican immigrants are the lives of men and women, boys and girls. Helping Carolina s …
High expectations for APPLES Alternative Breaks
Posted on: September 10, 2013
APPLES Service-Learning Alternative Breaks student leaders will plan 14 programs during the University’s fall, winter and spring breaks throughout the year. To do that, these students – working in pairs – must exemplify good organization, communication …
First-year students kick-off school year with service work through SLI
Posted on: August 15, 2013
Even before they have their first class as Tar Heels, UNC’s first-year students are already engaging in service, getting a jump-start on the Carolina Way. Fifty first-year students spent three days working with …
Saarah Abdul-Rauf: VISTA Profile
Posted on: July 9, 2013
During her two years as an NC Campus Compact VISTA, Saarah Abdul-Rauf has coordinated service opportunities for hundreds of college students. Her efforts have helped many develop a passion for service, just as she herself was inspired by an NC Campus Compact VISTA while a student at …
Musical Empowerment serves local kids through music
Posted on: May 1, 2013
University Gazette This fall, Tun and Morris were paired through the Carolina student organization Musical Empowerment, which has given Tun the chance to work with Morris once a week. Morris, a junior psychology major who sings with the UNC Chorus and …
APPLES honors 2013 award winners
Posted on: April 19, 2013
UNC students, alumni and local community partners exhibit the importance of public service by serving various communities and making a difference in the lives of others throughout North Carolina and beyond. Every year, the APPLES Service-Learning program recognizes and awards faculty, students, alumni and community partners who have made …
Service-Learning Initiative connects first-years with Carolina community
Posted on: April 10, 2013
The initial few days on campus for first-year students can be overwhelming, making it difficult to connect to the larger university community. Immersing students in public service to ease that transition is what the Service-Learning Initiative (SLI) is all about. Rani Reddy ‘15 says that …
Launch aims to help First-generation students
Posted on: April 3, 2013
The Daily Tar Heel Launch, a new student organization dedicated to helping high school students make the transition to college, began with a conversation. Sophomores Manhas Narra and Frank Wu, co-founders of the group along with sophomore Abby Dennison …
APPLES Alternative Spring Break
Posted on: March 8, 2013
Some students will spend spring break in class By Rachel Schmitt | The Daily Tar Heel While many view spring break as a time away from class, some students see it as a time to dig deeper into their field of study. Multiple courses at UNC contain a trav …
Some students will spend spring break in class
Posted on: March 7, 2013
By Rachel Schmitt Daily Tar Heel While many view spring break as a time away from class, some students see it as a time to dig deeper into their field of study. Multiple courses at UNC contain a travel component over school breaks that allow students a …
Faculty Engaged Scholars and APPLES Service-Learning faculty receive teaching honors
Posted on: March 6, 2013
Twenty-four instructors in 18 different departments or schools, received 2013 University Teaching Awards at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, the highest campus-wide recognition for teaching excellence. Five of those recognized are connected to CCPS programs as either Faculty Engaged Scholars or faculty for APPLES service-learning courses.
Classroom is community for Faculty Engaged Scholar Della Pollock
Posted on: January 23, 2013
Faculty Engaged Scholar and communication studies professor Della Pollock was collecting the stories of alumni of Chapel Hill’s former all-black high school for an oral history project when one man’s statement caught her off guard. “He said, ‘Y’all have studied the hell out of the black community and …
Students connect with the community during alternative winter break
Posted on: January 21, 2013
The winter break is typically a time when students relax and go home to visit family and friends. But for a dedicated group of students participating in APPLES Service-Learning’s alternative winter break, the idea of rest and relaxation was replaced by a desire to serve others. A group of 10 students ventured to …
Bryan fellow Camille McGirt receives Community Impact Award
Posted on: December 19, 2012
Carolina senior Camille McGirt of Durham is one of 17 college students across the state to receive the 2012 Community Impact Award from the North Carolina Campus Compact. McGirt is a Bryan Social Innovation Fellow at UNC.
Healthy Girls Save the World Bryan Social Innovation Fellowship
Posted on: December 14, 2012
For Robert E. Bryan Social Innovation Fellow Camille McGirt ’13, engaging young girls in a healthy lifestyle is second nature. So it is no surprise that her Healthy Girls Save the World (HGSW) program aims to impact young girls to incorporate wholesome habits into their lives. Inspired by First Lady Michelle Obama’s “Let’s Move” campaign, McGirt created HGSW to …
APPLES service-learning course writing student promotes benefits of UNC-Duke rivalry for local nonprofit
Posted on: November 13, 2012
When I began my Writing for PR class at UNC this fall, I was bummed that I had to abandon my summer schedule of leisure. I thought I would be working on my writing skills to produce quality written materials in fictional settings, which did not excite me. When I learned a component of my grade would require …
APPLES Service-learning course increases students’ Spanish fluency
Posted on: November 12, 2012
Many students studying Spanish at UNC will not have the opportunity to study abroad in a Spanish-speaking country to increase their fluency. However, the next best thing may be an APPLES Service-Learning experimental education course in Spanish conversation. Bill Maisch, a senior lecturer in the Romance Languages department, is using …
APPLES alumnus invites young alumni to accept Holsenbeck Challenge
Posted on: November 8, 2012
Fellow Tar Heels, during my time at Carolina, I immersed myself in various undergraduate activities which, in return, granted me new friendships, new knowledge and new life experiences. Of all the things I participated in at Carolina, service activities had the largest influence on my life. As a participant and organizer in the APPLES Service-Learning program, I had the opportunity to …
Buckley Public Service Scholar participant Courtney Sanford named Innovation Scholar
Posted on: June 11, 2012
Courtney Sanford, a Buckley Public Service Scholar participant and APPLES Service-Learning student leader is the University’s first Innovation Scholar. Looking at Courtney Sanford’s résumé, it is clear that she has a talent for innovation. Sanford, who grew up in Hendersonville, Tenn., but graduated from Walton High School in Marietta, Ga., started taking classes …
Fifty-eight alternative spring break participants visit three states – changing communities and changing themselves
Posted on: March 15, 2012
Nine days, 58 students, 2,616 miles traveled and 3,191 service hours amount to an APPLES Service-Learning alternative spring break (ASB) that UNC students found more rewarding than any they could have imagined. Carolina students Sima Sharara, Jacob Frumkin and Susie Choi each traveled to different places …
Students Spend Spring Break Lending A Helping Hand
Posted on: March 7, 2012
Several college students in our state are spending their spring break making a difference in communities hit hard by Hurricane Irene. About 12 students from University of North Carolina-Chapel Hill were busy sweeping and cleaning the Davis Centre in Engelhard Wednesday. That facility is a local community center that suffered …
Realizing a dream through alternative breaks
Posted on: February 11, 2012
Alexandra Zagbayou ‘10 “What happens to a dream deferred?” asked Langston Hughes. A dream deferred led me, while still in high school, to settle on becoming a corporate lawyer. I was 17 years old when I informed my high school math teacher and close me …
Bryan Social Innovation Fellow Camille McGirtand works to address childhood obesity
Posted on: January 21, 2012
Camille McGirt ’13 spent the 2010–2011 academic year as an intern in Washington, D.C. “I met so many inspiring people [at the White House and on Capitol Hill],” she says. “I participated in several service projects and even helped with the First Lady’s ‘Let’s Move’ campaign.” When McGirt returned to North Carolina, she was motivated to spread the “Let’s Move” message. She decided to implement …