On Thursday, Nov. 21, the WSE 381 course at Stony Brook University gave three presentations that were focused on service learning projects. The class of 33 students spent the past fall semester working together in small groups to create a product or activity that also involved a science, technology, engineering and mathematics (STEM) component.

Students assist residents at the Long Island State Veterans Home use VR goggles.

In their service learning projects, students applied STEM-related skills including design optimization, systems and subsystem interconnectedness, constraints, trade-offs and side effects, and ethical considerations.

Students enrolled in the class are also a part of the women in science and engineering program (WISE). The WISE program seeks to increase the number of women in science, math and engineering fields through outreach, recruitment and retention efforts.

During the first set of presentations, employers and agencies involved were also  present.  The Career Center has developed strong relationships with non-profit organizations and agencies for many years. The Career Center connects students with these organizations through experiential learning opportunities including service learning, internships, volunteer work and more.

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Students Helping Honduras at Stony Brook University held its first ever Benefit Concert on April 29 in the Student Activities Center, Sidney Gelber Auditorium. The night was full of limitless entertainment, all for a very important cause that the event title made clear: “One Night Para Los Ninos,” or “One Night for the Children.”

Students from all points of campus shared their musical talents for the benefit concert.

Created in 2006, Students Helping Honduras is a non-profit organization that works to alleviate extreme poverty and gang violence in the Central-American country through education and youth empowerment. The organization is currently closing in on $10,000 to build a school, and the concert was the last big fundraiser to help push them over the edge.

“I think this event is smart because it attracts people to donate money to the important cause,” said Ricardo Gonzalez-Argeti, a senior majoring in biology.

The national organization’s goal is to act as a sidekick to those doing work in their own community. According to Students Helping Honduras, they “are a network of students across the country who empower vulnerable children in Honduras to escape the cycle of poverty.”

Hosted by Dallan Ashdown, the official line up included Stony Brook Rock Band The Reptiles, Peter Duffy and his band, Tyler Aigotti, Sal Fratto (Elephant Jake), a solo performance by Tamrym Rosner, Stony Brook Pocket Theater and the High C’s.

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Throughout the 2018-19 academic year, Stony Brook University students and staff collected 125 bicycles and $1,250 for transportation costs and donated them to the charity organization Pedals for Progress (P4P). In three years, the fundraising efforts have nearly tripled.

Student volunteers working together to load the bicycles.

On May 3, 2019, volunteers loaded the bicycles in a shipping crate ready to be sent overseas. “To some of us, bikes are just a recreational toy to use and have fun with, but for someone less fortunate that same bike could deeply change lives for the better when put to good use,” said Shakeel Howell, chapter president of Phi Delta Psi Fraternity.

The volunteers were from student groups including Phi Delta Psi, Sigma Delta Tau, and Sigma Iota Sigma, Chill Peer Education Program, and student employees from the Residential Risk Management, a division of Campus Residences.

“The bicycles donated to P4P will support developing countries by encouraging economic growth and self-sustaining efforts to create jobs and opportunity,” said Kathleen Valerio, a health educator and peer program coordinator at SBU.

With the collaborative efforts between the student groups, Chill Peer Education Program, and campus departments of Student Health, Wellness and Prevention Services, Recreation and Wellness, and Campus Residences, this year’s fundraising outcome raised the bar even higher than previous years. During the first year, 47 bicycles were donated and 83 for the second year.

Read more on this article at SB News