Preparation

During the Knowledge for Freedom initiative, Teagle Fellows spent their junior year applying and preparing for our program. The summer after their junior year of high school, selected students spent two weeks on Valdosta State Univeristy's beautiful campus, learning all about humanities and earning college credit, free of charge. The rising senior cohort of students from all over the South Georgia region quickly grew close, year after year. While many of the students had differing life experiences, their shared time at VSU allowed for unique bonding and friendships to form that lasted long past the two weeks on campus. Once their rigorous summer coursework was completed, they returned home to enjoy the rest of their summers. 

Timeline

As senior year began for the Teagle Fellows, they were asked to return to VSU once a month for their student civic project completion. Some students lived up to an hour away, and yet, they continued to return month after month to campus to learn how to give back to their communities. Students grouped up into teams based on shared interests, and experienced faculty gave them the tools and skills to accomplish this project.  The experience culminated over seven to eight months of work for the student teams.
 Faculty continued to mentor students throughout the duration of the civic service project timeline. While working on the projects, staff also advised Teagle Fellows on the college application process, often helping proof-read essays or provide insight to applications. Students were eligible to request professors write them recommendation letters. Professors writing these letters were feasible due to the lengthy amount of time spent together with students working on the summer seminar, civic service project, and building relationships. 

Experience

 The service learning project experience gave all Teagle Fellows the opportunity to work with a local non-profit or local government agency on a civic issue. Guest speakers were brought in to share resources, inspire, and educate students on types of community service and how their academic knowledge allow students to help others. These teams created opportunities for peer mentorship and collaborative communication between students. Students' leadership skills increased, as well as their time management, organization, research, and team-building skills throughout the duration of their time with the Knowledge for Freedom program. The specialized curriculum and programming allowed students to gain experience unlike their peers, which prepared them to be ahead in future collegiate atmospheres. 
 After working on their projects, students created a professional presentation that was given at the Valdosta State University Undergraduate Research Symposium. These students were showcased and honored, as most underclassmen at VSU do not get the opportunity to present research in this setting. The opportunity to rehearse their presentation together, build public speaking skills, present at a collegiate research conference, and collaborate as a group set the Teagle Fellows ahead in their academic careers. 

Project

The Ebony Effort:
 
The Ebony Effort was created with the mission statement, “An organization committed to educating young black women on their feminine health and raising awareness on the disparities in healthcare placed on them.” The student civic project group found in their research that black women were 3-4 times more likely to experience medical neglect, and thus, the Ebony Effort was born in March of 2024. Their goal is to incentivize young black women to educate themselves on their rights related to their health via social media. Their account spreads information, resources, and scholarships that are committed to black, feminine healthcare. 
Social Media Safety: 
This social media safety project was inspired by their time spent in the Teagle summer seminar, where they learned research skills and felt particularly inspired by a reading for class, “Leviathan” by Thomas Hobbes (1651). They created a plan in their monthly civic engagement project meetings to connect to Shelia Hall. They created a presentation to teach middle school students about the dangers of the internet and short form content.
  
Domestic Violence and Substance Abuse: 
Through researching, this group found that domestic violence victims often don’t speak up about their situations and that many victims of substance abuse aren’t able to get the help and services they need. The students focused on a case study of Francine Hughes, to learn how substance abuse and domestic violence often combine. They then found relevant statistics for the Valdosta area, and took action via the form of a social media page called “Chaos to Clarity” on Facebook and Instagram. The platforms educate the public on drugs and alcohol and their effects. They collected stories from the local area and shared them to create awareness. Their hope is that advocacy and awareness will help create hope for those impacted. 
 
Teen Mental Health: 
The Teen Mental Health project worked to examine the many challenges teens face in regards to their mental health. Students especially had a passion and emphasis on helping teenagers find resources and methods to receive assistance with their mental health issues.  
Alcohol and Domestic Abuse: 
 Students wanted to learn more about how alcohol and domestic abuse may be connected and related. As a result, for their civic engagement project, they studied what the problems are, how they can help, and how to find more resources. The project especially emphasized where affected individuals can go to seek help with alcohol issues or domestic violence situations.  
Racial Profiling: 
Students on this project decided to examine the issue of racial profiling. Issues they wanted to specifically address include racial profiling as a whole, when it begins, where racial profiling begins, and what they can do to stop it.
  
Screen Time and Childhood Mental Development: 
This civic engagement group spent their time examining how excessive time spent on smart phones and computers can harm children. Specifically, students studied the effects on the mental, physical, and social development of children impacted. Their project provided both helpful information for parents and children, and they provided information on where to turn for help for families affected. 
Immigration: 
Their group’s studies included examining the challenges and dangers faced by immigrants today. The struggles specifically referenced and included the current federal government's deportation campaign. Jennifer and Gabrielle’s project provided immigrants and others with information about their legal and constitutional rights when confronted by immigration authorities. 
Financial Literacy: 
This project was decided to focus on the concept of financial literacy. The student examined what high school students should know about personal finances. They also included how to manage money and prepare students for their upcoming financial future and how to become more prepared for it. 
Climate Change: 
 
This project evaluated many of the broad concepts associated with climate change and what they could do. Specifically, their project evaluated the mental, emotional, social, and environmental impacts from climate change. 
 
Living Bridges Ministry: 
 
Students collaborate through a partnership with the Living Bridges Ministry, a volunteer organization that fights poverty through education and resource accessibility. This collaboration was a result of students’ civic engagement project. Living Bridges provided the Teagle Fellows with educational materials on food self-sufficiency. This group was able to create publicly accessible literature on home gardening. The students also provided the public with starter gardening supplies at the Azalea Festival. The group secured a partnership with Home Depot to donate soil and seeds, as well as other organizations donating pots. 
 
Mental Health Podcast: 
 
After their time at the summer seminar cohort, a group of students (for their civic engagement project) created a podcast series discussing teenage mental health. They planned a social media campaign. This social media campaign had goals to educate and support others in their age group. At the Azalea Festival, this group of students distributed flyers and brochures about mental health resources and safe spaces.  
 
Homelessness in Veteran Populations: 
Teagle fellows committed themselves to work on the topic of homelessness among veterans for their civic engagement project. This group sought out audiences to educate the public on veteran homelessness and teach them ways to help prevent it in their community. These students partnered with 90Works, an organization that fights to overcome homelessness by encouraging self-sufficiency with a 90-day program. At the Azalea Festival, this group was able to hand out information on 90Works and share ways the public can volunteer their time to prevent veteran homelessness, raising awareness for this issue. 
 
Environmental Justice: 
 
After their time spent in the summer of Teagle seminar, students banded together for their civic engagement project to raise awareness of environmental justice. These students worked together to come up with ways that members of the community can help prevent environmental waste and help the environment. They create flyers and infographics with information about strategies such as reduce, reuse, and recycle to create awareness in their community about these issues and to create a wave of change in their school areas.