Castleton celebrated the community engagement and civic-mindedness of several students and community members at a recent event, which drew dozens of guests to the 1787 Room in the Campus Center.
“Our students continue to make a difference here, in Rutland and around the world,” Castleton President Dave Wolk said during the introduction.
Castleton education students Margaret Rodgers and Kelsey Burnell presented their Human Library project that took place on Nov. 22. The project consisted of 23 guests or “human books” willing to share their personal experiences, hardships, and stories with small groups of students. Some of the “book” genres included a cancer survivor, free advice giver, and a gay/lesbian civil rights activist.
“The human library can make things broader than just at our school,” Rodgers said in her presentation.
Studying away, and the opportunities it provides students was a central theme for a pair of presentations by Brian Garvey, Jr. and Ben Carstens. Garvey, Jr. traveled to Argentina where he volunteered in an orphanage with 24 children and four paid workers. He discussed the terrible conditions in which the children lived and how he made everlasting relationships with some of the kids. Carstens presented a film he produced about sustainable adobe building in the southwest along with 18 students who just returned from a semester in Santa Fe. Carstens and Professor Paul Derby will present the film at a conference in Croatia in January.
Caprice Hover, executive director of the Rutland County Parent Child Center, and Jo Ann Riley, director of the Castleton Community Center each received Community Partnership Awards for their outstanding work in the community.
Several other projects were also presented and guests had the opportunity to socialize and ask questions of each presenter as the evening closed.