Community Engagement and Public Service Activities

Undergraduate students act as mentors/tutors for K-8 students attending an after school program (called GEMS) at Community Lifeline Ministries (CLM) in Joliet. 

Students in the Advanced Digital Media Writing (formally called Community News & Information) course participated in a semester long project interviewing community members in the Fairmont Community, an unincorporated area right between Joliet and Lockport, IL.

Students got to know residents, business owners, community activists and educators. Working in teams, they did research, interviewed /filmed subjects and wrote news stories. These stories focused on current issues the community was facing such as clean water resources, waste removal and their community garden/pantry.

These newspackages were highlighted on a website and also aired on Lewis University Television Network, LUTN.

A field trip hosted by Lewis University for Brooks Middle School students. The purpose of the visit was to encourage and motivate students who show risk for increasing absences at school. These students had a chance to interact with current Lewis University students from different academic majors and visit different areas around campus such as the ESports Lounge, Aviation building, and the art gallery. 

This special events class partnered with the National Alliance for Mental Illness (NAMI) to create an event to raise awareness about mental health. There were 22 students who were divided into four groups: Sponsors/Fundraising, Social Media/Promotion, Catering/Decor/Timeline and Entertainment/Budget. The class raised $13,800 for NAMI!

COMM 42000.001 is a mastery - level course for both broadcast journalism, digital media and journalism programs at Lewis University intended to deepen students’ understanding of the overall digital media writing planning process.  It focuses on research, sourcing information, data journalism, diversity and inclusion, covering trauma and ethics. The class is a CEL course and the students partnered with two non profits in the community - Girls & Boys Club of Joliet and Alliance of Latinos Motivating Action in the Suburbs. ( ALMAS) Each group produced a podcast, two reels, a photo essay and an interview on "Good Morning Lewis.ry" Each student also wrote an on line story including data journalism, diversity, links and photos.