It's 8:30 on a warm July morning on St. Paul's West Side and Alissa Ridenour '07 is preparing to teach her first American history class. Not your ordinary history class: Her students are from Mexico, Somalia, Thailand and other countries. They are studying to earn their General Equivalency Diploma (GED). Ridenour admits she is a bit nervous and shy, "but the students are so gracious and friendly."
A few miles away at the Center for the Victims of Torture, Momchil Jelev '08 is helping to organize a grassroots education project. He wants to inform voters and candidates about human rights and torture--issues that have become part of the daily news coverage from Iraq and around the world. "It's early," he says, "but I hope it's going to have an impact."
Ridenour, who is from Lincoln, Neb., and Jelev, from Sofia, Bulgaria, are among the nine students who make up the inaugural class of the Chuck Green Civic Engagement Fellowship, created by a group of alumni to honor the legendary teacher who recently retired. Last spring, they met as a small seminar with Professor Julie Dolan, Green's successor in the Political Science Department. Each student was required to develop a project with a community organization focusing on lobbying and public advocacy.
The test came last summer when the students had to put their classroom knowledge to use in the real world of nonprofits.
"The idea was to create a class that functions like a class Chuck Green might have taught," Dolan explained. "It has three components: it is peer-based--that is, students help navigate the challenges as they arise. It involves problem-based learning--fellows bring problems to class asking for help from their classmates. And finally, students collaborate with an organization in the Twin Cities community."
Dolan asked Green how things worked in the classroom. "He would say you let students do everything, but that wasn't my style. I was nervous. But at the end of the day, it worked out very well. I took care to make sure the class resembled a Chuck Green class, a real tribute to what he did in the classroom....Teaching the class had such an impact on me that I won't ever be able to teach the way I used to again."
For his part, Green is honored to have the fellowship as his legacy. He's attended the class and met occasionally with the Green Fellows--or the "Team Green," as they call themselves. "It's exciting to see how well they do," he says. "But it's not surprising. I feel gratified that [the fellowship] is one of the things that should be done at a liberal arts college."
Back at the Neighborhood House at the Paul and Sheila Wellstone Center for Community Building, which was originally a center for Jewish immigrants from Eastern Europe in the 19th century, Ridenour is plowing through some basic material on the American Revolution. The students are trying to absorb the significance of the Boston Tea Party, the Boston Massacre and the meaning of "boycott." But beyond teaching the basics of American history and political science, her project is intended to help students think about civic engagement beyond just voting--for example, how to solve a problem with the city council.
A second part of her project involves helping the staff to work more collaboratively on civic engagement projects. She first became familiar with Neighborhood House through her work at Macalester's Civic Engagement Center (formerly the Community Service Office).
She hoped to make an impact in both areas: in the lives of her students and in the work of the historic, well-respected organization. "I feel like I've had a lot of small victories," Ridenour says. "It's exciting to work on a curriculum with a co-teacher and to work to expand civic participation beyond voting." For example, she had them design their own political party platforms.
 Charles Green Endowed Fund for Civic Engagement
- supports activities designed to enhance student learning, cultivate student leadership skills and promote a life of active social and civic engagement
- pays students summer stipends
- has raised more than $1 million so far
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Her work "was everything I expected. I wanted hands-on experience and I wanted to know the West Side community. I have a good feel for that neighborhood. I learned a lot. If the students learned half as much as I did, I would feel good about it."
At the Center for Victims of Torture, Jelev and two students from the University of Minnesota spent the summer applying the techniques of grassroots organizing in a novel effort to educate voters and candidates about U.S. policies regarding torture and human rights. The idea was to put those issues on the minds of voters and candidates so they would be discussed during the November congressional elections.
Jelev was responsible for communicating with candidates from all parties and voters in three of Minnesota's congressional districts. He provided background information, worked with the League of Women Voters to make sure candidates were asked about torture issues at candidate forums and helped organize house parties where voters discussed the issues.
"I've had a chance to explore an international issue, but I get to talk to local people. We're trying to spread the word about the U.S. policy on torture and how it should be an issue and how voters can actually affect the issue....It's very challenging, but also rewarding. I've learned a lot about the issue. Americans sometimes don't believe torture is going on, but this is the reality."
At the end of his fellowship, Jelev said he learned a great deal. "Since this is the first time for a grassroots project, it's hard to see a lot of tangible results, but we helped build a foundation for the next fellow and the next election."
Jelev hopes more Macalester students apply for next year's fellowships. "It's worthwhile as long as you are willing to take risks, if you throw yourself into something. It's a great experience."
Doug Stone is the director of college relations at Macalester.
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Learn, lead, engage the community: a legendary teacher inspires a fellowship for students that strongly resembles a Chuck Green class