NSC instructor receives Golden Service Learning Partner Award

NSC Instructor Steve Neel’s COM 1000 course, Introduction to Communication, is designated as a service-learning course.  As a part of their Service Learning Project, students in the COM 1000 class delivered Junior Achievement (JA) lessons to students at the elementary school level. 

Junior Achievement is the world’s largest non-profit economic education organization and has been operating in Central Florida for over 50 years.  This past school year JA reached nearly 80,000 students in K–12 teaching free enterprise and financial literacy.

These students, upon receiving training on the JA curricula, were empowered to go to the classroom and over a six-week period interact with both the teacher and the students.  This exercise is meant to help the students develop their communication skills as well as overcome their fear of public speaking.

The NSC partnership was developed many years ago by Professor Neel and Jacey Brown and has been a successful program for all involved.  The students consistently receive high marks from their elementary classroom teachers and the schools look forward to UCF students visiting their campuses.

Neel received the Golden Service Learning Partner Award at the Junior Achievement of Central Florida’s annual meeting on June 7 because of his unwavering commitment to both the Communications students at UCF and the elementary school children of Central Florida. Unfortunately, he was unable to attend the event, but Assistant Director Boyd Lindsley accepted the award on Neel’s behalf.

JA is in five counties in Central Florida including: Orange, Seminole, Volusia, Osceola and Lake.  The JA curricula is delivered entirely through volunteers who are committed to the principles of market-based economics and entrepreneurship.