Pathfinder - Colorado College

Colorado College Links
Pathfinder 2008-2009

Central Programming Committee

CC’s Central Programming Committee is an important complement to the Block Plan. As a division of campus activities, this student-run committee provides cultural, educational, and social programs by giving students the opportunity to design and implement exciting programs for the college community. Open to all students via application, this and the additional committees (see below) fund and produce events including speakers, live music, and campus-wide celebrations. The diversity of activities is limited only by student imagination.

In addition to the Central Programming Committee, there are several other venues for student involvement.

Dance Workshop

Dance Workshop produces two dance productions each year and welcomes all students interested in any genre of dance. Students produce, choreograph, and perform in each show. The possibility of creating original and innovative choreography is just one exciting aspect of being involved in Dance Workshop.

Theatre Workshop

Theatre Workshop provides opportunities for students to produce, direct, and perform their own plays or plays of their own choosing. Plays are performed in the student-run theatre, Taylor Theatre in Bemis. The committee sponsors an annual playwriting contest for students, and the winning play is performed at the end of the academic year.

Additional Committees
Several additional committees provide involvement opportunities that are open to the entire student body through an application process. These committees mimic the block plan and require short, intense involvement with planning, promoting, and following through with an event. Here is a short sample of those committees:

  • Halloween Extravaganza Committee
  • Winter Ball Committee
  • Llamapalooza Committee
  • Oscar Party Committee
  • End of the Year Celebration

…And more!

Center for Service and Learning

The Center for Service and Learning was created to promote an ethic of service and to develop civic-minded leadership among all members of the college community. Our purpose is to recognize and understand the civic and social challenges of our world and to act with others in pursuit of a just society.

We are located upstairs in the Worner Campus Center, Room 205, x6846. We have four full-time professional staff and 17 student staff. We support and advise over 40 different on-going service and philanthropic organizations that provide a wide variety of service opportunities for students; help facilitate over 100 one-time service events and projects each year; coordinate the New Student Orientation Priddy Service Experience and the Saturday of Service program; provide ASPIRE and the Capstone Service Experience to support the development of service leadership; sponsor speakers and events for the campus and local community; and build local, regional, and international links with organizations working for the common good. The Center also assists faculty with the development of community-based learning (CBL) courses – academic courses that promote student learning while meeting community needs.

Community Service Organizations – A Sampling

  • Acting Activism uses tactics of Guerilla Theatre and invisible Theatre to promote thought and dialogue on a variety of social and political issues.  Acting Activism performs both on and off campus and is open to activists and ideas.
  • AMA (Aprender Mediante Amistad—Learning Through Friendship) tutors bilingual immigrant children in reading, math, and other academic subjects.
  • BreakOut organizes community service trips for students, faculty, and staff during block and spring breaks. Participants travel together to communities where they contribute to one or more projects in progress.
  • Breckenridge Adaptive Ski trains CC student volunteers to use adaptive ski equipment on ski slopes. Once students are certified, they become a ski buddy for a person with a disability.
  • CC Community Kitchen prepares and serves a free lunch to the hungry and homeless community of Colorado Springs every Sunday at 2 p.m. at Shove Chapel.
  • CCLIM (Colorado College Learning Initiative in the Mountains) runs an outdoor education program that builds self‑esteem and environmental respect in elementary and middle school children who have not had the opportunity to experience the natural wonders of Colorado.
  • Colorado College EMS is committed to increasing health and safety awareness in the Colorado Springs community while also working to create a safer Colorado College community. Community outreach includes blood pressure screening, 911 education, and CPR classes.
  • COOL Science brings interactive chemistry and physics “road shows” to local elementary and middle school classrooms in the hopes of sparking the interest and excitement of area youth in the fields of mathematics, science, and technology.
  • Cozy Crew provides people in need with warm afghans and hats. The Crew knits and crochets afghans and hats that are then donated to local non-profit organizations. Everyone is welcome—no experience necessary. Donations of yarn and needles are also welcome.
  • CREATE matches Colorado College students with Mann Middle School girls to help engage in creative, imaginative and experiential activities. The goal is to help the girls find a passion and through this passion build self-confidence.
  • DASG (Disabilities Awareness and Service Group) aims to increase campus awareness about disabilities on campus and provide volunteer opportunities related to disabilities issues. This group volunteers weekly at Zach’s Place, a respite center for children with disabilities.
  • Early Birds is a group of CC students who mentor, tutor, and serve as role models for students at Bristol Elementary School before school.
  • Education for Children in India is a fundraising organization that provides resources and support for a school that provides education to village children in India who otherwise would not be able to attend school.
  • Empty Bowls is a yearly fundraiser that raises awareness about and funds to fight hunger and homelessness. Attendees receive handmade ceramic bowls and all the soup they can eat.
  • Empty Stocking Fund is a fundraiser that includes various campus events to benefit an annual community fund-raising drive that funds 14 local non-profit organizations during the holiday season.
  • Energizing Colorado Springs provides home energy retrofits to the local community.  We work with homeowners to install energy saving devices.  Our “pay it forward” model is to unite and educate our community to take action and solve the energy problems that face our country and the world.
  • Fox Meadow Mentoring works with gifted and talented students from Fox Meadow Middle School in hopes that these mentoring relationships will encourage young scholars to go to college.
  • Girls Day in the Lab provides local middle school girls with hands-on science activities on the CC campus as a way to stimulate girls’ interest in science and to pursue science in college.
  • Habitat for Humanity builds houses for low-income families in the Colorado Springs and Denver metro areas.
  • H.I.V. (Helping Ignorance Vanish) is a community service group that encourages HIV/AIDS awareness and coordinates HIV-related activities and presentations on campus.
  • Hunger and Homelessness Awareness is a group of students who seek to increase awareness of hunger and homelessness on the CC campus. They also provide service opportunities for those who are interested in hunger and homelessness issues.
  • International Service Program offers CC students an opportunity to perform service on an international scale. An application process, commitment to fundraising and semester-long orientation program is required.
  • Ivywild Girl Scout Troop CC volunteers coordinate a Brownie troop at Ivywild Elementary School.
  • La Esperanza collects travel-size toiletries and donates them to agencies such as the Red Cross Temporary Emergency Shelter, TESSA and our own CC Community Kitchen.
  • Mighty Math offers math tutoring to struggling students at Horace Mann Middle School weekdays after school.
  • North Boys Enrichment Program matches CC volunteers with at-risk boys who are struggling to succeed in the school environment. Mentors meet for a prescribed number of hours a week and participate in planned off-campus activities once a month.
  • NSO Priddy Experience incorporates four days of community service in the Southwest into the New Student Orientation. NSO seeks to encourage an ethic of service and build ties between the academic curriculum at CC and the issues of citizenship and the rich community of the Southwest.
  • PLAY! promotes multiculturalism through art to elementary students at Taylor Elementary School. PLAY! Volunteers teach a variety of art media to encourage creativity and high self-esteem.
  • RAP (Refugee Assistance Program) helps refugee families from around the world adjust to life in Colorado Springs. We provide the families with language assistance; we help the children with their homework and play games with them.
  • Relay for Life is a fun-filled overnight philanthropic event that celebrates survivorship and raises money for research and programs of the American Cancer Society. During this event, teams of people take turns walking or running laps.
  • Roots & Shoots is part of a national organization that teaches children how to be a positive force for change around issues of the environment, hunger and homelessness, and other social justice issues. Volunteers provide programs at Taylor, Steele, and Helen Hunt Elementary Schools.
  • Rotaract is a branch of Rotary International formed for the purpose of networking college-age students. Rotaract connects students with professionals, and performs fundraisers and service projects on a national, international, and community level.
  • S.O.S. (Saturday of Service) provides one-time service opportunities to students to volunteer in the Colorado Springs community and to provide an introductory-level service leadership experience to interested students.
  • SOSS (Student Organization for Sexual Safety) educates and supports members of the college community with regards to the issues of sexual misconduct, harassment, and rape, providing educational workshops and operating a 24-hour-a-day crisis line to provide information and support.
  • STAND (Students Taking Action Now: Darfur) is a national student organization that aims to end the genocide in Darfur, Western Sudan. STAND’s objectives are to increase consciousness about the crisis in Darfur, to raise relief for the victims and refugees, and to take political action for a swift and sustainable solution to the crisis.
  • Student Ambassador’s Program volunteers talk to underprivileged students in surrounding communities about post secondary options. The focus is to let middle school and high school students know that they can go to college and how they can plan for that future.
  • Tunnels of Oppression is a week-long series of multi-media events that highlights different types of oppression in the modern world.
  • VA (Volunteer Action) matches CC role models with 4th and 5th grade students from Bristol, Mark Twain, and John Adams Elementary Schools. They participate in fun, planned activities both on and off the CC campus.
  • VOX — Voices for Planned Parenthood of Colorado College — is a group that promotes advocacy and education for reproductive health rights.
  • Writers Workshop provides writing mentors for Washington Elementary school students in the classroom. This group is devoted to improving the literacy skills of the students through motivation, inspiration, and perseverance.