The Colorado College Collaborative for Community Engagement recently concluded its Week of Action, where students, staff, and faculty participated in a number of different community-based projects.
The Week of Action, which took place Oct. 2 through Oct. 8, was a week of opportunities and events that aimed to mobilize and inspire the CC community to engage in local, community-based work. The goal of the week was to expose campus community members to shared issues, challenges, and organizations, so they can and will continue to work with the broader Colorado Springs community in the future.
“Week of Action is a campus-wide initiative organized by the CCE to inspire CC students, staff, and faculty to ‘take action’ in local impact. The goal is to offer a week of activities that aim to mobilize our campus community to engage with the Colorado Springs community and encourage ongoing engagement throughout the year,” says Sarah Elsey, the CCE student engagement coordinator.
The Week of Action events included a cleanup of Monument Creek as part of Creek Week, building walking and biking trails with Concrete Couch, and planting garlic at the CC Farm.
“Even though garlic planting fell on a cold and rainy Friday afternoon, we had enough people at the farm to plant all of our garlic for this season. We're really excited to see how our work unfolds in the spring,” says Hannah O'Leary ’23, one of the field managers on the student farm.
Concrete Couch, which is both a CCE High Impact Initiative partner, as well as a community partner, was involved in several events during the Week of Action. On Tuesday, the campus community helped to build biking and walking trails at Concrete Coyote, a community park in Colorado Springs. The next day, students participated in caring for trees at Concrete Coyote.
“Students helped us build trail at the community park, Concrete Coyote. They also helped with a tile mosaic project at John Adams Elementary,” says Steve Wood ’84, executive director of Concrete Couch. “No matter what the project is, CC students and alum and staff rock!”
Concrete Couch works to connect people and build communities through different programs and projects. The organization hosts free programs for all members of the community, including children and senior citizens. Additionally, Concrete Couch works with different organizations and groups, including schools, to build parks, playgrounds, and gardens.
On Saturday, BreakOut hosted the trip to Concrete Couch. BreakOut is a group through the CCE that aims to break students out of the “CC bubble” through community engagement with local organizations, says Kylie Orf ’24, student director of BreakOut. BreakOut hosts trips every Saturday, as well as during block breaks and other breaks, to different community organizations. Students work in a variety of positions, including at a local soup kitchen, building trails, community art, and farm work.
“It is a great way for students to get connected with Colorado Springs and can open doors for internships and other connections within these organization,” says Orf. Students helped restore soil and build trails during the Week of Action’s Saturday trip.
There were positive collaborations on and off campus throughout the Week of Action, including eight community partners and nine campus collaborators, with engagement from students, staff, faculty, and CC family members at various activities throughout the week, says Elsey.
“I loved that the week was centered on collaboration with local partners and helping them meet needs that already existed instead of coming up with a bunch of new programming. This felt like an effective and efficient way to support organizations throughout Colorado Springs and hopefully gave CC students a chance to engage in work in a variety of different issue areas, from food access to conservation of natural spaces,” says Maddi Schink ’23, the student director of community engaged scholars.
As part of CC Votes, and in collaboration with New Era, Schink organized voter registration tables during the Week of Action. Schink also helped to advertise Week of Action events.
“We hope that participants can continue to engage with organizations in our community and that this week may have helped them connect to a partner organization or spark an interest to continue community engagement work in a way that meets their needs,” says Elsey. “Our office is here to help the CC community find those opportunities and connections if they are not sure where to start.”