Service Learning at Montreat College
Student prepares breakfast at L.O.T. homeless ministries on a Saturday morning in downtown Asheville.
“The Service and Leadership Retreat was the best experience of my life. I truly needed to go because it opened my eyes to what the world is like outside of our little comfort zone.”
– Josh DaVine, Montreat College student
At Montreat College, students are given numerous opportunities to contribute to the mission of being service driven. From tutoring children in our local schools to doing relief work in Haiti, there are a broad variety of service opportunities readily available to Montreat students.
From the moment a student arrives on campus, they are exposed to service through our Welcome Weekend service projects. Welcome Weekend service projects expose students to the needs of the local community and provide them with the opportunities to serve with the local ministries.
Shortly after welcome week, we offer a Fall Service Retreat. The Fall Service Retreat is an opportunity for students to learn more about the importance of service and civic engagement. Students who are participate in the Fall Service retreat gain an increased understanding of poverty, homelessness, and social injustice by taking part in a poverty simulation. The students experience firsthand what it’s like to be homeless for 24 hours and are then lead through a time of discussion which stimulates their understanding of service and helps them process how these issues will affect their life.
Throughout the year, students are informed of all local service opportunities through a weekly newsletter entitled, The Service Scene.
Students who exemplify a strong interest in service and learning more about service learning are given the opportunity to serve on the Service Learning Team. The Service Learning Team has the privilege of hosting our annual Call to Action Week and engaging in leadership development.
Call to Action Week: Each year students organize an awareness week around a current social justice issue (such as modern slavery and sex trafficking), which includes guest speakers, discussion groups, film screenings, and fundraiser. The week concludes with a day of service at a local organization.
Spring Break Mission Trips enable students to learn, minister, and witness during their annual spring break. This year our spring break teams will be partnering with Adventures in Mission. They will be doing relief work in Haiti and we are also partnering with Mission to the World to serve the Eastern Band of Cherokee people on the Cherokee reservation right here in North Carolina.
Students hanging out during the Fall Service Retreat weekend.
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