MUNCIE, Ind. - More than 60 Ball State students have worked with 20 local nonprofit agencies this year providing vital services to Delaware, Marion and Madison counties through the Federal Work-Study (FWS) Community Service Program.

From developing literacy programs for children and helping residents at a shelter for abused women and children, to creating costumes for the local civic theatre and answering calls at a 24-hour community information and crisis center, Ball State FWS students have had a positive impact on the Muncie community for the past 35 years, said Mark Parkison, student employment representative at Ball State University’s Career Center.

"The FWS financial aid program encourages part-time community service employment of qualified college students who need income to help pay for their education," he said. "At the same time, local agencies---often lacking funding and sufficient staffing---really benefit from the skills, level of commitment and support Ball State FWS students offer."

Parkison said wages for FWS student workers are paid by the federal government (75 percent) and the employer (remaining 25 percent).

A Better Way Shelter, Community Information and Crisis Center, Huffer Memorial Children’s Center, Muncie Civic Theatre, Madison County United Way, and Indiana School for the Deaf are just some of the participating off-campus agencies. Bracken Library and various services to students with disabilities comprise the on-campus community service jobs, he said.

Shonda Westbrook, 25, a Ball State elementary education graduate, was an FWS student employee at the Muncie Boys and Girls Club while she attended college. She went on to work at other local community agencies before being hired as the director of education, a full-time position at the Muncie Boys and Girls Club, shortly after graduating last spring.

"As a student employee I was instantly hooked," Westbrook said. "I realized that people in the community, particularly children, were counting on me. My work-study experience began as a job, but it quickly turned into a career...a way of life through helping others in the same community I grew up in."

Westbrook supervises several Ball State FWS students who assist her in the club’s education division by tutoring and reading with children. Perhaps most important is the positive, young adult image the Ball State students impress upon the predominantly low-income, single-parent families the club’s children come from, she said.

Westbrook said the kids see "smart, caring, motivated students" and they want to be like them.

Dave Reinhardt, program director, says the work Ball State FWS students provide is invaluable.

"We only have five full-time workers with nearly 200 kids coming here every day after school lets out," Reinhardt said. "We really depend on Ball State FWS students to keep things going."

This year, 14 Ball State FWS students work at the club. Their jobs range from coaching and refereeing, to leading art projects and working the front desk.

"Ball State is committed to increasing the number of both students and local agencies participating in the FWS Community Service Program," Parkison said. "Everyone involved wins---local nonprofit agencies, community residents and Ball State students."

Hopefully, he said, the FWS program is just the beginning of lifelong community involvement for Ball State students.

(NOTE TO EDITORS: For more information, contact Parkison by e-mail at mparkiso@bsu.edu or by phone at (765) 285-2421.