SAVE Partners with UNO’s Service Learning Academy

SAVE is excited to continue expanding our partnership with the University of Nebraska at Omaha (UNO) through a new collaboration with the Service Learning Academy (SLA).

For years, SAVE has worked to create meaningful connections between young people and higher education. Through our partnership with UNO’s Student Leadership, Involvement, and Inclusion (SLII), we already bring a group of approximately 80 elementary students to the UNO campus throughout the school year, giving students the opportunity to experience a college campus, build relationships with college students, and begin seeing themselves as future college students and leaders.

Our new collaboration with the Service Learning Academy builds on that work in a new and exciting way! This new five-session experience is designed specifically for a group of student leaders who were nominated by their teachers based on the leadership qualities they see in their students.

For our first session this past Thursday, 15 student leaders came together with five UNO Engineering 100 college students for an interactive lesson focused on active listening. Students had the opportunity to learn through games, challenges, and hands-on activities, all facilitated by UNO students! They played Telephone, Simon Says, and other listening games that encouraged them to pay attention, communicate clearly, follow directions, and work together.

Working alongside UNO college students also gave our young leaders the chance to interact with college mentors and experience firsthand what learning and collaboration can look like on a college campus. And the excitement from our students was evident throughout the session! Seeing students enthusiastically participate, laugh together, challenge themselves, and build connections with college students is exactly what we hope to create through these experiences.

While our work with SLII continues to bring approximately 80 elementary students to the UNO campus, this new partnership with the Service Learning Academy allows us to work more intentionally with a smaller group of emerging student leaders through a series of leadership-focused sessions.

We have four more sessions ahead, and we are excited to see how these students continue to grow, build relationships, and develop new leadership skills along the way. Thank you to the Service Learning Academy, Student Leadership, Involvement, and Inclusion, the Engineering 100 students, and the teachers who nominated these young leaders for helping make this new collaboration possible!