A pilot program is such a success it will be expanded to involve more youths.

LEWISTON – Hands-on learning and serving local youth were the themes of a new course piloted last summer at the University of Southern Maine’s Lewiston-Auburn College.

The course, “Youth, Community and Higher Education,” revolved around service-learning, which has two main components: college students learn through actual “practicum” experiences that include opportunities for reflection, and at the same time, have an opportunity to serve real community needs.

LAC Assistant Professor Michelle Vazquez Jacobus and Cullen Ryan, executive director of USM’s Center for Workplace Learning, began the course in July. Working with Amanda Beal, coordinator of the Lewiston Youth Empowerment Program and a former LAC student, they arranged to have seven students in the social and behavioral sciences degree program spend three weeks with seven area youths ages 11 to 15.

“The kids were provided opportunities to learn about the college, their potential, their community and themselves,” said Rose Fitch, service learning coordinator at the college.

In addition, added Vazquez Jacobus, “the LAC students were provided with invaluable opportunities to apply teachings regarding adolescent development, resiliency building and community empowerment.”

The program began with a scavenger hunt through the campus, which included typical college-like activities and culminated in a family picnic celebration. Along the way, the group spent time on sports activities, art projects, trust-building activities, as well as trips to local areas of interest.

Together they designed, landscaped and planted flowers in front of the Parks and Recreation Center as a community service project. They also took a getting-to-know-you photo tour of the rapidly changing downtown area of Lewiston.

The youths were given cameras to document their activities, and each ended up with a scrapbook of memories. The college students wrote daily reflective journals that explored the relationship between classroom theory and their practical experiences.

Fitch said the program was so successful that it will be expanded into a full semester course next spring involving more college students and area youth.

The program was supported by a grant from the University of Pennsylvania, and additional funding was received from the George Isaacson Foundation and the Lewiston-Auburn Rotary Club.