Contact: Maureen Rubin,
(818) 677-7395

CAL STATE NORTHRIDGE WINS $80,000 SERVICE
LEARNING GRANT TO HELP LOCAL SCHOOL

Cal State Northridge was one of only 20 community-campus partnerships in the country to receive the grants, which are part of the $5 million "Making a Civic Investment" program that will benefit thousands of K-12 school children nationwide during the next five years.

The funded project, named "UPLIFT" (University Partnership for Learning the Internet with Families Together), will establish a community computer laboratory and Community Charter Middle School in Pacoima where CSUN minority students, enrolled in basic computer science classes, will teach 300 sixth and seventh-graders and their families basic computer and Internet skills.

The elementary students also will conduct neighborhood surveys about current local concerns and make the information available to the community through a school-based Web site that will be ready by November.

"This project will focus a variety of the university's educational resources on eliminating the 'digital divide'; for Charter School students and members of their community. It will establish a new community computer laboratory that students can use during the day, and parents can learn during evenings and weekends," said Dr. Maureen Rubin, director of the Center for Community-Service learning, who coordinated and wrote the grant. "CSUN students will be able to use the community as their classroom, teaching entire families the computer and Internet skills that will spell success in the future."

Two CSUN professors, Dr. Gloria Melara, associate professor of computer science, and Dr. Richard Sharp, professor of elementary education and author of Best K-12 Internet Sites, and their classes will be involved in the two-year projects.

Dr. Melara will teach a special community service-learning section of the Computer Science 100 (COMP100) general education class, entitled "Computers: Their impact and Use" that will teach computer skills to the sixth and seventh graders. Her students also will help the Community Charter Middle School youngsters develop a Web site that will keep the entire community abreast of local issues.

Dr. Sharp will be the liaison between Charter School teachers and CSUN in integrating Internet lessons into social studies curriculum. The project's goals include enhancing students' understanding of ethnic heritage as well as enlivening the social studies curriculum through directed Internet surfing.

The project will be administered by The Center for Community-Service Learning which was established in 1998 to inspire, encourage and support students and faculty in their pursuit of academic excellence through involvement in community service. Community-service learning combines explicit academic learning objectives, preparation and reflection with meaningful work in the community.

Students participating in community-service learning provide direct service to schools, nonprofit and public organizations as part of their requirement for academic credit, while professors help them understand the connection between the tasks they perform and their academic course work.

More than 160 community-based programs applied for grants. Officials of Brown University told Dr. Rubin that UPLIFT was ranked first.