Skip to main content

Calvin College's Incoming Class Served Throughout Grand Rapids

September 6, 2017
Students who took part in StreetFest at the Cook Library Center

Students who took part in StreetFest at the Cook Library Center

Calvin College

The incoming 2017 Calvin College class moved in on Thursday, Aug. 31, and on Friday left campus to take part in the the annual StreetFest.

StreetFest is a one-time service-learning opportunity that occurs during the first-year student orientation program.

During the 25th anniversary of the annual event, students partnered with more than 60 community organizations, joining them in their work in the city of Grand Rapids.

A few locations where students served included United in Christ Ministries, where they did cleaning, organizing and fidget-spinner making.

They also took part in a neighborhood cleanup near the Cook Library Center and played soccer with neighbors. Nearby, another group of students helped seal the parking lot at Roosevelt Park Ministries. They also painted and helped weatherize the building, as well as took part in a survey.

This year, Abby Kroon, a Calvin senior, was the StreetFest coordinator. After helping plan StreetFest 2016, Kroon was excited about stepping up to her new role.

“I think it’s a really cool opportunity to get out there and talk to the incoming class about understanding our place within the city of Grand Rapids as Calvin students,” she said. “It’s a great way to introduce students to that idea that service is not just about giving back, it’s about listening and understanding how service is shaping us.”

Kroon chose the day’s theme : “Love Justly: Commit to Place.”

As she was brainstorming, Kroon said she kept coming back to the idea of love and justice fitting together. “Love should not just be a feeling, it should be something that pushes us to pursue the flourishing of others,” she said.

StreetFest kicked off with a chapel service where Kroon spoke about the theme. Students then headed into breakout sessions where their Orientation Leaders who facilitated a conversation about love, justice, place and what service-learning means.

As students headed out to serve in the city, Kroon said orientation leaders were encouraged to prompt students to be on the lookout for ways in which their community partners demonstrate a commitment to loving their place.

At the end of the day, said Kroon, students had a chance to reflect on their experience and hopefully start to think about what committing to place looks like at Calvin and beyond.

“I think service-learning is really important because, while you can learn a lot of things from reading out of a textbook, until you actually go out and meet people who are serving every day, it just doesn’t really become real,” said Kroon.

“It is important for students to see service as a part of their lives while they are at Calvin,” said Andrew Haggerty, associate director of the Service-Learning Center.

“I would say service equips students to live out Calvin’s mission to act justly, love mercy and live wholeheartedly.” Haggerty said it is important to launch students’ careers with a mindset of service. “For us to do service, particularly on the first day of orientation, is a really great symbol that Calvin understands its place in Grand Rapids and wants to affect the city positively,” he said.

Haggerty said that past StreetFest themes have all emphasized going into a place of service with a posture of openness.

National recognition in 2017 for service-learning

Calvin college received the Jon C. Dalton Institute on College Student Values Best Practices Award for the college’s Community Partnership Program. The award recognizes an outstanding program relevant to the field of college student character and values development. https://calvin.edu/news/archive/calvin-recognized-for-community-partnership-program