Career Counselor Sawyer Receives High Honor

CHESTERTOWN—Vicky Sawyer, Associate Director of the Career Center at Washington College, has received the highest award of professional recognition from the Maryland Career Development Association. Sawyer was presented with the Lifetime Contribution Award at the MCDA’s annual conference in Bowie, MD on February 4 for her commitment and her impact on the career development field.

Jim Allison, the College’s Director of Career Development, says the award is well deserved. “Vicky Sawyer has been a credit to Washington College for more than 20 years. She’s to be admired for her tireless efforts and the dedication she has shown to the innumerable students she has assisted.”

It is this dedication that led to her nomination and eventual win, says MCDA Awards Chair Natalie Kauffman. “Throughout Ms. Sawyer’s professional life she has always incorporated an intensely personal and supportive approach that stretches the limits of her students' and alumni's talents and potential,” said Kauffman, who also noted that Sawyer’s influence reaches beyond Washington College. As an active member of the MCDA, Sawyer has “woven her coaching strength into the very fabric of the association,” helping them to improve the standards of career development services throughout Maryland. “We at MCDA are in her debt!” says Kauffman.

Sawyer, a resident of Worton, holds a degree in secondary education from the University of North Carolina-Greensboro and a master’s degree in human development and counseling from Eastern Carolina University. She continued her studies at Loyola College to become specialized in career development and counseling. In addition to serving as Associate Director of the Career Center, she is also the Center’s Internship Coordinator and Master Career Counselor.

Into the Streets: 360 Incoming Freshmen to Volunteer throughout Mid-shore Community, August 22

Chestertown, MD, August 8, 2003 — Washington College will hold its fifth annual "Into the Streets" day of community service August 22, 2003. The incoming freshman class-360 students in all-will volunteer its time and efforts at 18 sites on the Mid-Shore. The day will begin at 9 a.m. with an on-campus pep rally before the students head "Into the Streets."
"This has been a very successful program over the last five years," said Vicky Sawyer, Associate Director of Career Development and Overseer of Service Learning at Washington College. "Through it, our new students are introduced to a sense of connection with the Eastern Shore community in which they will reside. It's a practical way to teach citizenship and to encourage civic responsibility."
Students will assist in a variety of human service, community and environmental projects for various organizations on the Mid-Shore, including the Adkins Arboretum at Tuckahoe State Park, Camp Fairlee Manor Recreation & Education Center, the Chesapeake Environmental Center, the Chestertown Cemetery, the Community Food Pantry at Christ Methodist Church, Eastern Neck Island National Wildlife Refuge, the Kent Family Center, Echo Hill Outdoor School, Kent County Parks and Recreation, Magnolia Hall Nursing Home, and the Pickering Creek Audubon Center.
The "Into the Streets" day of service was started by Washington College alumni Gia Grier '02 and Kathryn Preen '00. After attending the 1999 Campus Outreach Opportunity League (COOL) Conference as students, they worked with Sawyer to develop and increase service learning programs on and off campus. "Into the Streets" specifically was created to provide incoming freshman and transfer students a day to experience the variety of Mid-Shore organizations that welcome student volunteers.
"'Into the Streets' provides our incoming students their first foray into their new community," said Sawyer. "It is a way to find kindred spirits and friends and encourage student initiative and community involvement." For more information on "Into the Streets," or if you represent a community organization seeking student volunteers, contact Vicky Sawyer at 410-778-7892.

WC Semester Begins With Into the Streets Service Project

Chestertown, MD — Washington College freshmen went "Into the Streets and Into the Community" on August 29, learning how to give back to their new home even before classes began. More than 300 new students and group leaders ventured out across the region to perform service learning projects as part of the college's freshman orientation program.

The idea to use a large-scale service learning initiative as part of orientation was developed by two Washington College students, sophomore Gia Grier and senior Katie Preen. The students would get an introduction to the local area and their fellow classmates, while becoming familiar with the value of service learning. Grier and Preen attended a Campus Outreach Opportunity League conference last March and came back resolved to introduce all new students to community service, said Vicky Sawyer, Associate Director of Career Development.

"We wanted to jump-start the service aspect of campus life," said Preen, who estimated that 85 percent of incoming freshmen participated in the event. "We are really happy with how it turned out. We're hoping everyone had a good time and gained some incentive to continue service work."

"They were determined this would happen and submitted a proposal to include this activity in the orientation program," said Sawyer. "They really did a lot to make it happen."

Freshmen are often "bombarded with information" during orientation activities, according to Sawyer, so the "Into the Streets" program allowed the new students to "use energy, be physical, get off campus, and bond with each other." Sawyer said Grier and Preen worked throughout the summer on the "Into the Streets" project. They contacted potential service sites, wrote letters to new students, trained orientation leaders, arranged transportation, designed shirts, and created a positive atmosphere for success.

While participating in the project, new students learned about a broad spectrum of community organizations. Some freshmen and upper-class orientation leaders built wildlife boxes, cleaned beaches, and toured a farm museum at Turner's Creek in Kennedyville, while others restored trails and shorelines at Eastern Neck Island in Rock Hall, Echo Hill Outdoor School in Betterton, Camp Fairlee Manor in Fairlee, and Millington Wildlife Preserve in Millington. Other groups worked to preserve wetlands at Horsehead Wetlands Center in Grasonville, and some students served lunch at Magnolia Hall Nursing Center in Chestertown. Students also volunteered their efforts at Adkins Arboretum in Tuckahoe State Park, Pickering Creek Environmental Center in Easton, and Wye Island in Wye Mills.

"I was very proud, as well as happy, to see all the incoming students who turned out to do meaningful service activities in the Kent County community," said Grier. "I hope that this project will mark the beginning of a great year in service learning and will spark the interest of students who may not have previously been active in service."

Additionally, Sawyer said, instructors teaching Community, Nation and World seminars, required for freshmen, were asked to incorporate the community service project as a component for the course and to link the students' service experience to their studies.

"I think the project has made a major difference in the community," said Sawyer. "The new students offered valuable volunteer help, they learned about service projects and the significance of the sites, and hopefully they found a good cause to serve again."