Service Trip to New Orleans

Last January, a group of first-year Bonner Community Scholars travelled to New Orleans for a unique J-term experience.  Working closely with long-term partnerships established by Macalester’s Civic Engagement Center, students collaborated with a handful of organizations and schools across the New Orleans area to learn about civic engagement, social change, and community resiliency through participation in community-based projects.

The scholars’ J-term course, New Orleans and the Performance of Urban Renewal, combined readings and discussions with hands-on experience through these projects, which gave students opportunities to interact with and learn from those in area schools, Native American tribes, and other community organizations, many of which are still feeling the effects of Hurricane Katrina. This was the sixth year that Macalester students have traveled to and worked in New Orleans since Katrina struck in August 2005.

Bonner students kept the Macalester community up to date via the group’s Facebook page. Take a look below to get a feeling for what they saw and did.