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"Story City"
Service-Learning Project Connects UMKC and the Community in a New Way
During the Spring 2012 semester, UMKC Service-Learning facilitated a community project called “Story City.” The project provided urban Kansas City children the opportunity to author their own short fiction in a new and dynamic way, guided by the talents of three UMKC entities: the Service-Learning Program, the Institute for Human Development, and the English Department.
Story City connected 25 UMKC “Introduction to Fiction” students with over 100 elementary-age students from three local organizations - Operation Breakthrough, The Upper Room, and Crispus Attucks Elementary School.
For 10 weeks, UMKC students guided students through hour-long oral writing exercises. Each session began with a writing prompt, designed to propel the children’s creative thinking. The children then took their ideas and meshed them together as a collective work of fiction. As the story was generated aloud, their creation was projected on an overhead screen.
Each child will be receiving his or her own published copy of the collection of stories. The book will contain a blank page for the children to include their own photo and autobiography. Some may even choose to add one more story, written all on their own, inspired by their experience in Story City.
Scott Intagliata, a staff member of the UMKC Institute for Human Development and a facilitator of the project, saw the growth within the children first-hand.
“The best part of Story City was seeing the improvement the kids were able to make from the first to the last session – their ability to understand the concept of writing a story with a beginning, middle and end. It was a great experience,” said Intagliata.
Alexis Petri, Co-Director of Service-Learning at UMKC believes Story City is a shining example of service-learning at work in the Kansas City community.
“At UMKC, service-learning and community engagement is an important part of our mission as an urban university. UMKC Service-Learning is fuelled by partnerships with community organizations, faculty, and students who are doing the work that makes Kansas City a great city,” said Petri.
Visit UMKC Service-Learning.
The Mid-America ATTC and ATTC National Office Join IHDThe UMKC Institute for Human Development is pleased to welcome the Mid-America ATTC and the ATTC National Office to our home. The purpose of the Addiction Technology Transfer Center (ATTC) Network is to develop and strengthen the workforce which provides addictions treatment and recovery services to those entering the treatment system. The Network consists of 14 Regional Centers and a National Office, and together we take a unified approach in delivering cutting-edge products, services and resources to support a powerful workforce - a workforce that has the potential to transform lives. Mid-America Addiction Technology Transfer Center (Mid-America ATTC) is one of 14 Regional Centers and a National Office which serve the 50 states and U.S. territories. The Mid-America ATTC’s region encompasses five states -- Arkansas, Kansas, Missouri, Nebraska and Oklahoma. Funded in part by the Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration's (SAMHSA), Center for Substance Abuse Treatment (CSAT), the Mid-America ATTC does its work through National and Regional Initiatives and strives to improve behavioral health treatment outcomes by raising awareness of research-based practices, building the skill capacity of the workforce, and cultivating the systemic changes necessary for successful implementation.In essence, our job is to move academically developed technologies into standard professional practice. Website: www.attcnetwork.org/midamerica |