Program sends college students to rural areas to teach rural kids and learn about their culture

University of Washington students will spend their spring break next week teaching rural children about art, literacy and the environment, while learning about life, culture and education in rural Washington, Doree Armstrong reports on the college website. Sponsored by The Pipeline Project at UW, the school has participated in Alternative Spring Break for 14 years, with about 680 undergraduate students having worked with 9,500 K-12 students. (Pipeline Project photo: A student shows off the book he wrote in last year's program)

Christine Stickler, director of The Pipeline Project, told Armstrong, “About 40 percent of UW participants have an interest in education as a career and see this as a great way to experience rural education, but most of them participate because it sounds like a really awesome way to spend spring break." This year, 69 students are participating, but the program is so popular there is a waiting list

"Five-member teams at the nine sites that focus on literacy and art will work with students to 'find their voice' in writing about themselves. At the end of the week, UW students will bring the younger students’ stories back to campus to create a professional-quality magazine. Every student in the program will receive a copy," Armstrong writes. "Teams at three other sites will focus on environmental topics. A special nine-member team has already spent the entire year working with Native American fifth-graders in Neah Bay, using oral histories, digital storytelling and photography to help children explore their culture." (Read more)