By Diane Gasper-O\u2019Brien
University Relations and Marketing
HAYS, Kan. \u2013 Caden Frank came to Fort Hays State University planning to focus on pre-engineering coursework.
After one class in the Department of Leadership Studies, Frank changed his mind.
\u201cI got involved with the leadership certificate program,\u201d Frank said, \u201cand I realized this is something I felt passionate about, not just as a hobby but as a career.\u201d
Frank and the other three members of his team are part of a record-breaking group in LDRS 310: Fieldwork in Leadership Studies.
The two sections of this spring\u2019s 310 class \u2013 as it is commonly referred to \u2013 raised a staggering $35,000 for the Hays community through their social change projects. That\u2019s the largest amount raised in one semester since the start of the 310 class more than 15 years ago.
Ironically, Frank\u2019s team project took more of a human relationships route than that of a fundraiser.
Nonetheless, \u201cBreathe Out\u201d and others like it were still impactful, said Dr. Seth Kastle, assistant professor of leadership studies.
Take for example, the \u201cHansen Entrepreneur Marketing Consultants.\u201d The five-student team helped fill the Dane Hansen Scholarship Hall with an entrepreneurship mindset for fall 2019. It will be the first time that all 32 residents will be involved in entrepreneurship activities. The residence hall was built in 2016 targeted for entrepreneur-minded students.
\u201cThis service learning class is about executing a social change project, so it\u2019s teaching people to take ownership in the communities they live in, no matter what that might be,\u201d Kastle said. \u201cWe educate these students how to do this now, so when they move on from Fort Hays State, when they see a need, they can address it.\u201d
\u201cBreathe Out\u201d took a couch from Breathe Coffee House to several locations in town and just visited with people, \u201chaving intentional conversations with people about how to get involved in their community,\u201d a team spokesman said.
\u201cWe want people to be radically changed by their community and to radically change something in their community,\u201d Frank said during his team\u2019s demonstration. He said he has already been radically changed by Fort Hays State and the city of Hays, whose population of 25,000 is considerably smaller than his hometown.
\u201cThis town is amazing,\u201d said Frank, who grew up in Omaha, Neb. (population 466,000). \u201cIt\u2019s obviously smaller than Omaha but large enough that no matter what your skill set is, it will align with something in town.\u201d
From his initial plan of attending FHSU for three years as a physics major, then transferring to an engineering school in Nebraska, Frank now has his sights set on graduating from FHSU with an organizational leadership degree and working with a nonprofit.
Community partners visit the 310 class early in the semester, and the students then choose a project, write strategic plans and then execute those plans. \u00a0
Students learn a variety of lessons in the 310 class: planning, organization, teamwork and collaboration, creating awareness, sustainability and even reflecting on what they might have done differently during the project.
\u201cHindsight is 20-20,\u201d Kastle said. \u201cThat purposeful reflection is how the learning takes place. It\u2019s about reflecting about what might have gone wrong and what they might have done different.
For Kensington junior Tayler Petersen, it was tackling a tough project. She and her team, \u201cIn Defiance of Cancer,\u201d partnered with the Cancer Council of Ellis County and raised about $3,000. While sponsorship made up most of that total, Petersen said she learned that the smaller amounts (from T-shirt sales and a raffle) added up, too.
\u201cPaula told us not to choose something easy but to do something that would be a challenge and it would mean more, and that really stuck with us,\u201d Petersen said of Paula Flesher, executive director of the local cancer council. \u201cAs college students, we kind of just do our thing \u2013 do our homework and go to class \u2013 and don\u2019t think so much about the community at-large. This has definitely changed my perspective on the impact we can all have on a community.\u201d
Petersen is a criminal justice major who currently works as a corrections officer in Norton and hopes to become a counselor someday. \u00a0She said she realized early on in her college career that leadership would be a complementary minor to her major.
Like Frank, Petersen was hooked on leadership after one class.
\u201cI just loved it,\u201d she said, \u201cand I knew then what I wanted to minor in.\u201d
The \u201cARC Park\u201d team raised nearly $10,000, and the top team \u2013 another record breaker \u2013 was $13,259.55.
That was turned in by \u201cDancing Together for DSNWK,\u201d which sponsored a fundraiser that featured dancers from Styles Dance Centre in Hays and clients from DSNWK in a public dance recital.
The fundraiser was originally created two years ago by Macey Pfeifer, a Styles instructor who was part of a 310 class at the time. The project was continued by a 310 team last year and this year as well.
\u201cThere\u2019s a balance there because the idea is that 310 is going to support the community projects,\u201d Kastle said. \u201cPart of their assignment is to figure out sustainability. This one definitely displays sustainability. Others blaze new trails and take some bumps and bruises along the way. But what a great way to learn.\u201d
During these projects, Keil said, students get the chance to give back to the community that supports Fort Hays State in so many ways.
Ditto for the community partners, said Steve Keil, director of development for DSNWK.
\u201cBeing a non-profit, we\u2019re always looking for the community to help and support our activities,\u201d he said. \u201cFort Hays State has always stepped up to the table, and we appreciate everything FHSU has done for us.\u201d
Keil has been witness to partnerships between the Hays community and Fort Hays State since the 1980s. He graduated from FHSU with a bachelor\u2019s degree in communication in 1986 and earned his master\u2019s in organizational leadership in 2005.
\u201cWe get a lot of support from Fort Hays State in a variety of different ways,\u201d he said. \u201cWe are all very lucky to have this university in Hays.\u201d <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
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