The Experiential Learning Showcase, which will be held virtually this year on Thursday, Nov. 17, at the College of Wooster, named its award winners. This year, two outstanding students were awarded; David Dotson, a neurobiology major, and Zoe Seymore, a psychology major, won the Student Award while the Faculty/Staff Award was earned by Brooke Krause, associate professor of economics, and the Community Partner Award was given to the College of Wooster Nursery School.
David Dotson ‘23 received the Student Award in recognition for his work founding and facilitating WooCares over the last two years. This charity event shows the Wooster Community how to support their health and one another. He has shown the ability to synthesize his academic interests in ways that has provided real value to students, including incorporating QPR (Question, Persuade, Refer) suicide prevention training into the Woo Cares event.
Our second award winner, Zoe Seymore ‘23 has devoted much of her time at Wooster to service and experiential learning in multiple organizations. She is on the Executive Board for the Wooster Volunteer Network (WVN) and has worked with RSL, APEX, and the CDI more broadly to coordinate and facilitate the annual West Virginia service trip. She brings a grounded and nuanced perspective into reflections and is supportive of her peers as they ask hard questions about what they’re seeing and experiencing.
Krause was the key faculty member in guiding the new Social Justice Internship program this past summer. Eevn though each student served in different contexts and organizations, they all seemed to walk away with profound take-aways and energy to invest in their I.S. projects and/or future career aspirations. She deserves a special shout-out for her time, commitment, mentorship, and kindness in helping these students and others exploring the thinking-being-doing of social justice in our community.
Every major and minor in education spends time working with the exceptional faculty and staff at The College of Wooster Nursery School, exploring teaching and learning environments in real-time. At a minimum, the Nursery School hosts 70 students for the duration of the fall and spring semesters beyond the student teachers, field observers, and independent study students that rely on this partnership. The entire Nursery School staff consistently affirms commitment to the success of our program by recognizing its mutually beneficial value.
