Service Award Winners 2011

Service Award Winners for 2011

Each year the OCSE awards six volunteer service awards. Winners are selected from nomintaions submitted by faculty and staff. Read on to learn about the award winners from 2011 and the amazing work they have been doing in the community as well as here on campus!

The Sister Kathleen Anne Nelligan, CSC Award for Spiritual Service

Winner for 2011: Anne Maguire ('11)   

   Anne has been active in spiritually-oriented service since she arrived at Saint Mary’s. Her engagement through Campus Ministry has included serving as a Eucharistic minister and a Peer minister as well as serving as a leader for Eucharistic exposition and weekly Rosary prayer. Her deep faith and commitment to her values led her to active involvement in the Saint Mary’s for Life club, where she served as vice-president and then as president. Anne has been instrumental in continuing to invite the community to see Saint Mary's For Life Club as embracing all stages life and life/death situations. She has also traveled to Washington D.C. numerous times for the Right to Life march and serves as an example to other students of commitment and dedication. During the summer of 2010 she traveled to Uganda to serve with the Sisters of the Holy Cross at their health clinic. This experience had a profound effect on her life and deepened her faith and sense of purpose. While there, she felt that the Sisters and clinic staff taught her that faith can allow us to continue on with hope and love for our patients in the midst of suffering and adversity. On top of all this activity she was an active member of the Cross Country team, where, coach Jackie Bauters remarks, “Anne’s faith played a pivotal role in her life and how she interacted with others – she brought all of her passions with her to our team.”

The Sister Olivia Marie Hutcheson, CSC Award for Service in the Health Field

Winner for 2011: Christina Losasso ('11)   

   Since her arrival at Saint Mary’s, Christina has been dedicated to serving others. As a nursing major she became active in and pivotal to the success of the Friends with Sisters program, a popular club among students that pairs Saint Mary’s student with Sisters of the Holy Cross for activities, events, and friendship. As Vice-president her junior year and President her senior year, she has helped to strengthen the bonds between the college and the Sisters. Christina’s great energy and enthusiasm is seen through her dedication to the Friends of the Orphans organization, which provides permanent homes for orphaned, abandoned, and disadvantaged children in Latin America and the Caribbean. This program coordinates an international cadre of volunteers who provide service to children in 9 different countries. Christina has served with the medical missionary team working with children at the Holy Family Surgery Center in Honduras, traveling there multiple times in 2009, 2010, and 2011. In addition to her service as a direct health care provider, Christina has been an advocate for these children through the Saint Mary’s chapter of Friends of the Orphans, serving as club President and spearheading efforts to raise money for supplies as well as awareness about the program. As one of her professors in the nursing department remarks, “Christina finds it important to share the joy of giving, and her positive attitude rubs off on those around her.”

The Sister Maria Concepta McDermott, CSC Award for Service in Education

Winner for 2011: Aileen Hurd ('12)  

 Aileen has been committed to working with children since she first came to Saint Mary’s. She began her service experience as a part of the CAT Scholars program, a scholarship initiative through the College Academy of Tutoring (CAT) Program, which requires each recipient to volunteer a minimum of 300 hours in the local community. Through the CAT Scholars Program, she was first placed in a LifeSkills classroom at Warren Primary Center—a classroom with developmentally disabled children, most of whom were non-verbal, for 10 hours a week. In this unique and extremely challenging environment, Aileen rose to a new level of dedication to education and to children in need. She went on to serve in a variety of settings for special needs children in our partner schools and has given over 700 hours to children in the South Bend community. Olivia Critchlow, director of the CAT Program wrote, “Aileen is one of them most dedicated students I have ever encountered. She plans her schedule every semester to allow for at least 10 hours in her classroom every week, often hoping to spend entire days with her class, rather than a typical two hour placement. She has a quiet strength and very calming presence about her that make her a wonderful leader in the community. Many students in South Bend have been changed for the better because of their contact with Aileen.”

The Sister Christine Healy, CSC Award for Service with Women

Winner for 2011: Claire Yancy ('11)  

  Claire has been engaged with service and advocacy since she first came to Saint Mary’s and is known for her energy and contagious enthusiasm. Her compassion toward others is demonstrated most prominently in her work with the Center for the Homeless in South Bend. She first came to know the Center through a Public Communication course in 2009 taught by Professor Terri Russ. This experiential education class gave Claire the opportunity to work directly with mothers at the center, focusing on the development of better communication skills. She worked alongside another student to address further needs of women at the Center and created a program called Our Hour. This program was nationally recognized (and won third place in a competition) by the National Association for Education in Communication and Media and focused on helping women living at the Center find their voice and increase their self-esteem and self-worth. In another week Claire will welcome some of those guests from the Center to the college to share their stories as part of a Homelessness Awareness event. As Professor Terri Russ notes, “Claire regularly met with me to discuss ways she would help the women at the Center and showed compassion and concern for the mothers that far exceeded what others students had demonstrated. Her work and service at the Center present a level of dedication and commitment I rarely see in students.”

The Sister Olivette Whalen, CSC Award for General Service

Winner for 2011: Karen Borja ('11)  

 Karen has been active in a wide variety of activities on and off campus including environmental awareness, sexual-orientation education and advocacy, community gardens, and serving in the College Academy of Tutoring as both a tutor and a Teacher’s Assistant. Her dedication to issues of social justice has grown and this year she has been engaged with the student anti-bias coalition, identifying issues of concern on and off campus. In her advocacy work with SAGA she organized and is leading events during Pride Week (this week) and has worked diligently to create an open atmosphere that respects all persons. She has also earned her Certificate in Intercultural Leadership and has used her community-organizing skills in a variety of ways to benefit Saint Mary’s community. Says Professor Jan Pilarski, “Karen is a gifted leader who understands the importance of both reflection and action – our campus is much richer for Karen sharing her leadership and commitment.” And one of her nominators closed by saying, “Karen takes time to address taboo issues and to reach out to students who would normally be excluded…her passion in life is to create equality for all.”

College Academy of Tutoring (CAT) Awards

The College Academy of Tutoring recognizes outstanding members of the program each year. The awards are bestowed at an awards dinner and ceremony at the end of April (along with the OCSE award winners). CAT awards recognize not only dedication to education in general, but outstanding achievement within specific CAT programs and sites.

The Patricia Arch Green Award

Patricia Arch Green (1939 - 2004) graduated from Saint Mary's College in 1961 with an elementary education degree. Patricia lived a life dedicated to serving others and believed in teaching by example. She and her husband Richard, always taught their children to value community service and would often include them in their volunteer activities in their community. The College Academy of Tutoring (CAT) Program was established in 2007 to honor her memory as well as her dedication to service and education.

This award goes to the a College Academy of Tutoring (CAT) student with exemplary service in the CAT program in at least one of the following areas: Teacher's Assistant (assisting a teacher in a classroom by providing one-on-one help to children, small group facilitation, and finding new and creative ways to engage students in learning); After-school tutoring (providing assistance to children in Title 1 schools struggling with reading and math comprehension); General commitment to the program and mission (attendance, participation in program events, etc.)

Winner for 2011: Carla Leal ('13)  

Carla is deeply committed to service and has had a positive impact in the lives of many at-risk children in the South Bend community in the two years she has been at Saint Mary’s. She has been an active member of the CAT Scholars Program both her freshman and sophomore years and has already given over 630 hours to the South Bend community. Jennifer Kornexl, assistant director of the CAT Program wrote, "Carla is an extremely talented individual who is truly dedicated to the CAT Program. Her passion for the program, as well as the difference she is making in the community, is evident! Whether she is assisting students in the classroom or working in the OCSE office, she is always willing to go above and beyond what is expected. The positive impact she is making in the schools and here on campus is noticed and most certainly appreciated!” Carla is a very dynamic and charismatic individual who possesses incredible initiative. She is always generating ideas for CAT activities and has the ability to motivate and inspire those around her to get involved. In recognition for her dedication, Carla will serve as the CAT Student Director next year. She is truly a treasure to the Saint Mary’s and South Bend communities.