U of A Students Plan Bake Sale to Give Money to Joplin Teachers

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Master of Arts in Teaching students and Angela Elsass, standing, listen as Denise Mounts describes plans for a service-learning project in Joplin.

University of Arkansas graduate students majoring in childhood education will have a bake sale Saturday, Dec. 7, to raise funds to give money to Joplin teachers for school supplies. The sale will begin at 10 a.m. outside Sam's Club, 3081 Arkansas 112, Fayetteville, and last until 3 p.m. or the baked goods are gone.

The class of 19 students in the Master of Arts in Teaching program will be in Joplin on Dec. 13 and 14 to help teachers who are moving into a new school built after the devastating tornado of 2011 destroyed their schools.

The U of A students are interns at Holcomb and Root elementary schools in Fayetteville. They will travel with Angela Elsass and Denise Mounts, clinical assistant professors of childhood education and university liaisons assigned to the two schools, to Joplin on Dec. 13 to help in classrooms, working with students while teachers make preparations to move into Irving Elementary School. On Dec. 14, the group will continue to assist as the Joplin teachers unpack items and set up classrooms in the new building.

The students have been planning the trip for several weeks. The service-learning project will give them the opportunity to practice problem-solving, seeing a project through from beginning to end, and taking personal responsibility for a task.

Each intern was assigned to partner with at least one Irving Elementary teacher. The interns introduced themselves by email before the trip and, while in Joplin, will interview their partner teachers regarding the dispositions and strategies required for effectively teaching students of poverty. Nearly 80 percent of the school's population meets national guidelines for poverty.

After the service learning project is completed, interns will reflect on their experiences through a collaborative presentation.