Northwest receives national recognition for service

elliott small nally small

Pictured are Northwest Vice
President for Student Affairs Jackie
Elliott, left, and Coordinator of
Volunteer Programs and Service
Learning Amy Nally.

The Corporation for National and Community Service has named Northwest Missouri State University to the President’s Higher Education Community Service Honor Roll with Distinction for exemplary service efforts and service to disadvantaged youth.

“We are extremely excited about this honor,” said Northwest Vice President for Student Affairs Jackie Elliott. “Only a handful of institutions are recognized for distinctive service, and we are grateful that the Corporation for National and Community Service has recognized our efforts.”

Launched in 2006, the Community Service Honor Roll is the highest federal recognition a school can achieve for its commitment to service-learning and civic engagement.

Honorees for the award were chosen based on a series of selection factors including scope and innovativeness of service projects, percentage of student participation in service activities, incentives for service and the extent to which the school offers academic service-learning courses.

Elliott said demonstrated excellence in numerous volunteer and community service programs led to Northwest’s recognition, including the following projects and organizations: Beautifying Residences Using Student Help (BRUSH), the Winter Wonderland park display, various trails projects, the Nodaway Humane Society, the Maryville Ministry Center, Nodaway County Senior Center, the Maryville Family Guidance Center, local nursing homes, the Alternative Spring Break Program, Habitat for Humanity and hurricane relief efforts, volunteer service related to Martin Luther King Jr. Day and the Horace Mann Laboratory School Thanksgiving Lunch.

“Mostly we were recognized for our strong partnerships and commitment to the community,” Elliott said. “We don’t just provide volunteer opportunities on campus.”

Many of the programs leading to Northwest’s selection are organized and administered by Amy Nally, the University’s coordinator of volunteer programs and service learning, who described the award as “amazing.”

In a prepared release Corporation for National and Community Service CEO David Eisner stated: “College students at schools like Northwest are tackling the toughest problems in America and demonstrating their compassion, commitment and creativity. They represent a renewed spirit of civic engagement fostered by outstanding leadership on caring campuses.”

The Honor Roll is jointly sponsored by the corporation, through its Learn and Serve America program, and the U.S. Department of Education, the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development, the USA Freedom Corps and the President’s Council on Service and Civic Participation.

In congratulating this year’s winners, U.S. Secretary of Education Margaret Spellings said: “Americans rely on our higher education system to prepare students for citizenship and the workforce. We look to institutions like these to provide leadership in partnering with local schools to shape the civic, democratic and economic future of our country.”

Overall, the Community Service Honor Roll awarded Presidential Awards to six schools. Four schools were recognized as Special Achievement Award winners; 127 schools, including Northwest, as Honor Roll with Distinction members; and 391 schools as Honor Roll members. A total of 528 schools were recognized nationwide. For a complete listing, go to www.nationalservice.gov/honorroll.

“There is no question that the universities and colleges who have made an effort to participate and win Honor Roll awards are themselves being rewarded,” said American Council on Education President David Ward. “Earning this distinction is not easy. But now each of these schools will be able to wear this award like a badge of honor.”

The Corporation for National and Community Service is a federal agency whose mission is to strengthen communities and foster civic engagement through service and volunteering. The Corporation administers Senior Corps, AmeriCorps and Learn and Serve America, a program that supports service-learning in schools, institutions of higher education and community-based organizations.

For more information, go to www.nationalservice.gov.

For more information, please contact:

Anthony Brown,
News Bureau Manager
E-Mail: abrown@nwmissouri.edu
Phone: 660.562.1704
Fax: 660.562.1900

Northwest Missouri State University
219 Administration Building,
800 University Drive
Maryville, MO 64468

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