KCC students receive statewide awards for dedication to community service

A group photo of, from left to right, KCC student award winners Donna Street, Hannah Anderson, Mayra Hurtado, Hannah Frentz and Christopher Stoneburner, with Michigan Campus Compact Executive Director Robin Lynn Grinnell. The photo was taken at a ceremony during which the organization honored the students for their service work in the community.

Eleven Kellogg Community College students were honored with Michigan Campus Compact (MiCC) awards this weekend for their dedication and commitment to community service.

The students, each of whom completed significant service projects that positively impacted their communities through their service-learning coursework at KCC over the course of the past semester, were honored at the MiCC’s 19th annual Outstanding Student Service Awards Celebration on Saturday, April 18, at the Kellogg Hotel and Conference Center in East Lansing.

KCC Service-Learning Manager Kate DeGraaf, who accompanied several of the award winners to the event on Saturday, said it was a privilege to celebrate the dedication of the students at the state level.

“KCC is honored to be able to serve alongside these students who have gone above and beyond to create positive change in their communities,” DeGraaf said. “The students receiving awards asked questions, developed a plan and worked diligently to gather resources and support to help meet community needs.”

Each year, MiCC honors students from member organizations across the state for their outstanding commitment to service-learning and civic engagement, presenting three types of awards including the Outstanding Community Impact Award, the Commitment to Service Award, and the Heart and Soul Award. More than 240 students from 30 member campuses received awards this year.

Commitment to Service Award winners

KCC students Courtney Johnson, of Battle Creek, and Troy Kaiser, of Angola, Ind., were among just 31 students statewide to receive the MiCC Commitment to Service Award. The award recognizes up to two students per member campus in the state of Michigan for either the breadth or depth of their community involvement or service experiences.

  • Johnson, who completed 99 hours of service-learning work as part of her EDUC 200: Foundations of Education class at KCC, was nominated for the award by her professor, Jamie Bishop. Johnson’s service work involved volunteering at Lakeview Middle School in the Masque Theatre Program, for which she choreographed the fall musical for the school. Bishop said Johnson was “constantly applying course concepts to the experiences she was having” and “often met to reflect with me on the learning styles of the students, how to implement best classroom management skills, etc.”
  • Kaiser was nominated for the award by KCC instructor Ann Lown, who teaches his SERV 200: Service-Learning course at the College’s Grahl Center in Coldwater. Kaiser’s service work included the organization of a Bowl-a-thon fundraiser to raise money for to raise money for a service dog for a KCC alumna’s 10-year-old son, who is autistic. Lown said Kaiser led the class in creating a mission statement – “Uniting 10-year-old Corbin with his lifeline, a service dog named Griffin” – and that he “worked tirelessly getting silent auction items donated, creating bowling teams, corresponding with (the child’s mother) and marketing the event.”

Heart and Soul Award winners

Nine KCC students received the MiCC Heart and Soul Award. The award is given to students to recognize their time, effort and personal commitment to their communities through service. KCC Heart and Soul Award winners include:

  • Shannon Albright, of Redding, was nominated for the award by KCC instructor Ann Lown, who teaches her SERV 200: Service-Learning course at the College’s Grahl Center in Coldwater. Albright’s service work involved the creation of fleece blankets for chemotherapy patients at the Community Cancer Center at the Community Health Center of Branch County. She was awarded a mini-grant for her project and used the money to produce 32 blankets.
  • Hannah Anderson, of Hastings, was nominated for the award by KCC Business Management professor Kimberly Montney, who worked with her at a food pantry to provide opportunities for her SERV 200 class at the College’s Fehsenfeld Center in Hastings. Anderson’s service work involved assisting instructors in setting up and implementing service-learning initiatives in their classes. She also helped pair organizations that she had already volunteered with to instructors seeking partners for student service projects.
  • Kimberly Derrick, of Vicksburg, was nominated for the award by Rob Fracassa, her PSYC 201: Introduction to Psychology instructor at KCC. Derrick’s service work was completed at Battle Creek’s SAFE Place, where she created the “Reading Buddies” program for children at the center, which included the collection of books and stuffed animals.
  • Hannah Frentz, of Battle Creek, was nominated for the award by Wanda Miller, her SERV 200: Service-Learning instructor at KCC. Frentz’s service work was completed at the Boys and Girls Club of Battle Creek, where she participated in several of the organization’s programs including Power Hour, Game Room, Girls on the Run and the Art Center.
  • Mayra Hurtado, of Battle Creek, was nominated for the award by her KCC Dental Hygiene professor Bridget Korpela. Hurtado’s service work has involved several projects with organizations around the community, including the leadership of a KCC student group in redecorating, painting and making over a room SAFE Place; the implementation of a survey for Voces to identify dental needs and barriers in the community; and working in several capacities at Marian E. Burch Adult Day Center.
  • Joseph Marah, an international student from Sierra Leone who resides in Marshall, was nominated for the award by KCC Service-Learning Manager Kate DeGraaf, who served as the facilitator for Marah’s Youth Exchange Study (YES) alumni project. Marah played an integral part in the establishment of the YES-KCC Community Garden on the College’s North Avenue campus, using a grant he received from the YES program to start the garden and provide significant ongoing service opportunities for students who don’t have the time or transportation to serve off campus. Hundreds of pounds of fresh food were harvested from the garden and donated to Haven of Rest Ministries last semester.
  • Palin Spradlin, of Litchfield, was nominated for the award by KCC instructor Ann Lown, who teaches her SERV 200: Service-Learning course at the College’s Grahl Center in Coldwater. Spradlin’s service work was completed with Eternal Bread Ministry of Union Church in Quincy. Spradlin created a recipe booklet for breakfast meals, a YouTube video to market the organization and started a formal business plan.
  • Christopher Stoneburner, of Battle Creek, was nominated for the award by Rob Fracassa, his PSYC 201: Introduction to Psychology instructor at KCC. Stoneburner’s service work was completed at Community Fatherhood, where he served as a secretary for the organization and worked with the fathers going through the program. Stoneburner also served at New Level Sports Ministries.
  • Donna Street, of Bellevue, was nominated for the award by Wanda Miller, her SERV 200: Service-Learning instructor at KCC. Street’s service work was completed at the Men’s Shelter at Haven of Rest Ministries. Street volunteered her time with veterans at the shelter, created boards to connect with the clients, was a guest speaker and collected hygiene products for shelter residents.

For more information, contact the College’s Service-Learning office at servicelearning@kellogg.edu. For more information about service-learning at KCC, visit www.kellogg.edu/service-learning.

About Michigan Campus Compact

Michigan Campus Compact is a coalition of college and university presidents who are committed to fulfilling the public purpose of higher education. MiCC promotes the education and commitment of Michigan college students to be civically engaged citizens, through creating and expanding academic, co-curricular and campus-wide opportunities for community service, service-learning and civic engagement. For more information about the organization, visit www.micampuscompact.org or contact MiCC Executive Director Robin Lynn Grinnell at 517-492-2428 or rgrinnell@micampuscompact.org.

Pictured in the above photo, shot by KCC Service-Learning Manager Kate DeGraaf, from left to right, are KCC student award winners Donna Street, Hannah Anderson, Mayra Hurtado, Hannah Frentz and Christopher Stoneburner, with MiCC Executive Director Robin Lynn Grinnell. 

For more news about Kellogg Community College, view our latest news releases online at daily.kellogg.edu/category/news-releases.