Location: About two hours west of Richmond, VA, 45 minutes north of Roanoke VA, and 3 hours south of Washington, DC. 

Enrollment: 1783

BONNER PROGRAM AT A GLANCE

Type of Program: Bonner Leaders

Year Began: 2001

Bonner Program website: go.wlu.edu/bonner  

Number of Bonner Leaders (as of the beginning of July, 2011): 24

Active in Bonner AmeriCorps Ed Award: 16

Active in Other AmeriCorps Ed Award: No

Active in Learn & Serve CBR: Yes

Active in FIPSE Civic Ed Certficate/Minor:  Yes (Minor in Poverty Studies)

KEY CONTACTS

President: Kenneth Ruscio

Shepherd Program Director: Prof. Harlan Beckley

Bonner Coordinator: Marisa Frey

Bonner Senior Intern(s): Kathryn Marsh-Soloway and Katja Kleine

Bonner Congress Representatives: TBA Fall 2012

MORE ABOUT US (our partners, trips, structure, best or unique practices)

Our Bonner Program had a very strong year in 2011-2012.  We welcomed a new class of 12 Bonner in August, 2011. The first-year Bonners are off to a great start, and had an especially profound time working and learning on the first-year Bonner trip to Big Ugly Creek, W.Va. During the week-long service trip, students worked with the Big Ugly Community Center and at afterschool programs in Charleston. Students also had the opportunity to learn about coal-mining -- the economics and environmental impact -- and help the community prepare for what has become annual flooding. (See photos below)

W&L was also excited to participate in the Second-Year Service Exchange with Lynchburg College, University of Richmond, Christopher Newport University, and Wofford College this past March. Thank you to Lynchburg College for hosting a day full of great discussions, interesting presentations, and introductions to a variety of non-profits in the Lynchburg community. 

Washington and Lee Bonner students deepened their connections at area service sites and started several unique programs in the local community over the past year. Notable successess include: the establishment of a new mentoring program for area youth;  a "veggie brigade" to introduce elementary school students to new vegetables and importance of a healthy diet;  and a group of three Bonners (and three other W&L students) put into action a CBR project of one of the Bonners and developed a new student-run, non-profit that will provide financial education and resources to low-income members of our community.

• Student-to-Student Mentoring: Following the closing of our local Big Brother, Big Sister Program, several Bonners decided to team together and start their own mentoring program. The group of students worked with the University’s legal counsel and area school guidance counselors to develop waivers, information sheets and applications and lay the groundwork for a successful mentoring program. As of the end of the school year, the students have matched and are supporting nearly 30 mentoring relationships between area youth with University volunteers. They already have plans in the works to expand the program this fall to other parts of the community. This has been an excellent leadership opportunity and learning experience for the six students heading up this initiative that has helped fill a significant void in our community.
• Community Financial Freedom: A group of students have come together to develop a non-profit that will provide financial education; a savings matching program; and short-term, low-interest loans to help low-income residents escape the cycle of payday lending. Two Bonners, Joe Landry ’13 and Katja Kleine ’14, have been heavily involved in the development of this non-profit and the creation of a financial education curriculum. These students have had the opportunity to learn about the complexity of developing a non-profit, how to network with community partners, and how to develop a curriculum that community members will want to participate in.
• College Access Impact Area Group: One of our Impact Area Groups chose to tackle the topic of college access. Last fall, the students organized a panel, which included professors, first-generation college students and admissions counselors, to talk about the economics, policies and experiences of low-income students and the college process. With nearly 50 people in attendance, this panel successfully increased awareness about these issues on our campus. As a follow-up to this panel, the group decided to organize a college prep book drive. The group will donate all prep books to the area high schools and also start to meet with high school juniors to provide guidance and mentoring in the college process. Our local high school has seen significant cuts in staffing in the guidance department. At the same time the community has seen an increase in the community’s teen pregnancy and suicide rates, which has taken away from the guidance staffs’ ability to work with high school students on the college process.  The group has already connected with the local high school to assist in organizing ongoing brown bag lunch sessions for the fall focused on how to apply for college. They will also be developing a one-on-one mentoring relationship between high school and W&L students to assist with the process.
• Bonner Danielle Breidung, a rising senior, conducted a community-based research study for our local food pantry that explored why the community’s growing Latino population is not utilizing local hunger relief agencies, despite an apparent need for such services. Danielle was able to build off of her past service experiences with ESOL and Campus Kitchens at W&L (CKWL), to conduct focus groups with members of the local Latino population and research best practices. She was able to provide the local food pantry with policy recommendations. Over the last couple months they have enacted several of these and have seen an increase in the number of Latino clients.
• This fall three Bonner students explored the topic of affordable housing in our local community following the closing of the R.E. Lee Apartments in downtown Lexington, which provided apartments for low-income residents. The group interviewed key community partners and researched available data on our local community and trends in housing policy nationally. As a follow-up, Bonners Shiri Yadlin ’12 and Joe Landry ’13 conducted a community-based research project focused on the availability of affordable rental housing. This paper reports on current needs and provides policy recommendations for both government and non-profit agencies to provide better affordable rental options for low-income community members.   

Campus Issue Profile: http://bonnernetwork.pbworks.com/Community+and+Economic+Development+-+Washington+and+Lee+University

ANNUAL REPORT OF PROGRAM ACTIVITIES 

2010-2011 ANNUAL REPORT OF PROGRAM ACTIVITIES

• Washington and Lee Year at a Glance

2009 ANNUAL REPORT OF PROGRAM ACTIVITIES 

• 2009 Annual Report

Click here to complete next wiki-based portion of Annual Report.   

Student Leadership Planning:

 Click here for Congress Leadership Plans:

Washington and Lee Congress Action Planning

SPRING 2009 INITIATIVES

Serve 2.0

• Staff Point Person for project:  
• Planning to submit mini-grant proposal:  No
• Bonner Program or Campus-Wide Wiki status:  nothing other than current campus profile
• Participating in Bonner Video Project:  Yes
• Student BVL (Bonner Video Liaison) contact info posted on link: Bonner Video Liaisons
• Need a Flip Cam? (we can provide one per campus): No
• See useful links:  Serve 2.0 Resource Wiki   |   Mini-Grant RFP

BWBRS

• Using BWBRS 3.0: yes, new students fully trained on new system
• Need for additional training:  No
• See useful links:  BWBRS 3.0 Help Guide

Bonner AmeriCorps

• Please list the contact information of the staff and student interns who manage your AmeriCorps Paperwork: 
• Spring Enrollments 2009:  Please complete this survey right away: AmeriCorps Survey
• Filled it out in December
• Please note: This survey is for the Spring semester slots only. It does not matter if your campus had previously requested slots and have "left overs." Please fill out this survey to specify how many members your campus will enroll this semester. If you do not want slots, they should fill it in with zeroes. We will be sending out a Summer and Fall request as well, so this is only for this semester. 

Issue-Based Research

• What issue(s) working group will your campus focus on (in preparation for SLI 2009)? 
• Criminal Justice-juvenile justice, Hunger, 
• Specific topic for issue brief (see Research Guide for help to work with partner in defining):  
• specific issue brief topic (define by February)
• Lead contact people for project (staff and/or students, community partner agency):
• names, titles, phone numbers, emails
• See useful links:  PolicyOptions Wiki   |  Campus Implementation Guide

PHOTOS & VIDEO