Daily Pioneer News

PLATTEVILLE - Every semester, University of Wisconsin-Platteville students engage in a service learning component for the school's Ethnic and Gender Equity course. UWP has ongoing partnerships, for example, with the Dubuque YMCA and the Grant County Literacy Program, as well as many other community service organizations. This year, two students decided to add a new note of fun by teaching guitar lessons to young children at the Multicultural Family Center (MFC) in Dubuque.

According to Tom Loguidice, professor of education, he and his team teacher, Julie Phillips, also a professor of education, encourage students to find service learning opportunities which will engage their passions and expose them to diverse cultures and ideas. Luke Tredinnick, Mineral Point, and Nadine Enberg, Ellsworth, both music education students, decided to explore the idea of teaching guitar on Saturday afternoons at the MFC.

"I thought guitar lessons would be an appealing way to teach music to the young kids at the center. Overall, it has been a very successful program. I learned a lot about teaching and engaging the student's interest. I learned about alternative methods of classroom management and how to come up with creative methods of teaching on the spot," said Tredinnick.

The lessons have also been instructional in helping the UWP students get to know people from backgrounds other than their own.

"It's important to work with people of diverse backgrounds for several reasons. First of all, the more you learn about people from different backgrounds, the more you begin to understand them and respect their individual perspectives. I feel that awareness equals tolerance, and this has been a great experience in becoming aware of people from different cultures and socioeconomic status. Also, I will undoubtedly be working with and teaching people from different backgrounds, and the more I understand them, the better I will be able to work with them," Tredinnick added.

Enberg agreed and said the service learning component was an important part of the course. "Service learning opens your eyes to things you probably hadn't seen before. When doing service learning with children especially, you see things that will be helpful in the future when you are a teacher," she said.

Betsy Killins, director of the MFC, said she and the staff have enjoyed working with the UWP students.

"The UWP volunteers this semester are among my top quality volunteers. I've been very impressed by their flexibility. They brought in a lot of guitars, and I was interested in seeing how they would handle the different age groups and putting everything together in a single room. I saw them sit down with seven kids and by the end of the session have them singing and strumming 'Are you sleeping?' They were very patient in showing them the finger patterns. Their easygoing manner helped the younger kids feel comfortable and have confidence in themselves. This program is allowing many of them to get a taste of music early which they might not have had otherwise," she said.

Tredinnick and Enberg will pass the torch on to another music education student, David Ruda, Merrillan, who will continue the lessons in spring.

Anyone interested in learning more about service learning opportunities or the UWP Gender and Ethnic Equity course may contact Loguidice at (608) 342-1740.

Contact: Tom Loguidice, professor, UWP School of Education, (608) 342-1740,loguidit@uwplatt.edu Prepared by: Evelyn Martens, UWP Public Relations, (608) 342-1194,martense@uwplatt.edu