February’s Civic Action Week brought civic engagement topics and education on campus not only to WashU students, but to St. Louis grade school students, as well.
The Gephardt Institute kicked off its third annual Civic Action Week on Feb. 17. This weeklong initiative highlights civic engagement opportunities through events organized by student groups, faculty, staff, and community partners.
As part of the week, Books and Basketball, a WashU student group that travels to schools around the St. Louis region to play recreational games with students and help with tutoring, hosted an event on Sunday, Feb. 23.
The event brought students from WashU-sponsored KIPP Victory Academy and the North City Blues Program — organizations they previously partnered with — to WashU’s campus to engage in academic enrichment activities. Activities included Jeopardy!, personalized tutoring in math and reading comprehension, and a hands-on engineering workshop.
In exposing elementary students to a university environment, the event stressed the importance of higher education as a pathway to future opportunities.
“One goal of our event was to provide students and their families with a fun and informative experience at WashU, helping them see the university as an accessible space where they can utilize campus resources, engage with the WashU community, and envision themselves attending WashU,” said William Meyer ‘27, secretary of Books and Basketball and one of the lead event planners for the Civic Action Week event.
“We hoped to demonstrate that the purpose of engaging our students and families in this event was not only to support educational development but also to create a bridge between WashU and North St. Louis.”
The event was brought to fruition with the help of WashU student volunteers, who were able to enhance their skills in mentoring, tutoring, and engaging with younger students in a meaningful and impactful way.
“We also aimed to create an equally enjoyable experience for our volunteers, offering them a meaningful opportunity to give back to the St. Louis community while forming personal connections with the students and families they worked with,” said Meyer.
The event broke down barriers related to travel, timing, and skills, making civic engagement more accessible to all WashU students who volunteered, even those unable to travel off-campus or who lacked prior tutoring experience.
“We were thrilled to see how many volunteers signed up for our event, since it demonstrated WashU students’ strong commitment to engaging with St. Louis students and supporting their educational success,” said Meyer. “Hearing students’ excitement at the start of the event and watching their eagerness to participate in our activities reassured me that our programming was successful in fostering a positive and joyful understanding of what college is like.”
The event’s structure and tutoring curriculum enabled all volunteers to foster learning and build meaningful connections with students, yielding a beneficial experience for volunteers and participants alike.
“We hope this event inspires our volunteers to continue practicing civic action and using their skills to support their communities,” said Meyer. “We additionally hope this will not be a one-time event and that our organization will continue collaborating with these individuals and their organizations to strengthen the relationship between WashU and St. Louis through Books and Basketball.”
Meyer added that the event wouldn’t have been possible without collaboration and support of several supporters among staff and faculty at WashU, including Justin Wilson from Admissions, Dr. Ebony M. Duncan-Shippy, education lecturer, Annie Kelly from Taylor Center for Student Success, D’Angelo Solomon from Athletics, Chaperone Sheltoria Love, and our club advisor, Dr. Mike Jones.
“We sincerely thank these individuals and everyone else who contributed to supporting our organization, helping ensure that our students, families, and volunteers had an engaging and informative experience during our event,” Meyer said.