Community Outreach

Students Engagement in community-based learning experiences has a transformative effect on how our students at DePauw learn, and offers a priceless intellectual enrichment for the children in our community.

"Teaching at New Pathways Elementary School in Greencastle, IN has really opened my eyes to the value of education. I continue to take Italian because I think it’s a beautiful language and I have a genuine interest in it but I never thought that it would lead to such a humbling experience. I volunteer every Tuesday morning from 10-11:15. What I thought would be an extra hour of work each week has proven to be a funny, great and quite humbling time for me that flies by! Even though I don’t spend an overly large amount of time with the kids, I really get a chance to work on my people skills when I’m with them. Learning how to talk and present yourself among your peers is quite important but isn’t always hard. However, learning how to explain a topic and hold the attention of young children is a whole different monster. The children get so excited when I come to teach them. I think that their interest in learning Italian is what makes the class period so lively and interesting.

This opportunity is also a great way of increasing my fluency in Italian. When I am with the kids, I have to think of more creative and interesting ways of explaining words so that they can recognize and remember them. I think this is the most efficient way to practice/learn because if you can explain something well to a group of children, you must have a firm grasp on the topic."

- Motolani Verissimo