Paul Glick and Lindsey Kingston, two AU graduate students, were awarded the $1,000 Martin Luther King Jr. Grant by the Eagle Endowment for their project, titled "The Webb Elementary School Book Club," at a ceremony last Tuesday in the Kay Spiritual Life Center.
The aim of Glick and Kingston's project is to "establish a book club at Webb Elementary School in hopes of helping students gain a love for reading," according to their project abstract.
Glick, a first-year graduate student majoring in International Peace and Conflict, chose to work with Webb Elementary because he had lived in its neighborhood.
"The neighborhood is pretty rough and economically deprived," Glick said. "I visited the vice principal, and the school was very receptive with my offer to help them out. ... It really solidified my goals."
Glick began working on his idea to assist the school when he sent out an e-mail looking for volunteers to become involved with Webb Elementary. Lindsey Kingston, a first-year graduate student receiving her master's degree in Ethics, Peace and Global Affairs, replied to the e-mail.
"I contacted Paul and thought that working with Webb Elementary would be a great opportunity," Kingston said. "I realized how under-funded Webb was and desired to help."
Glick received an e-mail through a listserv regarding the Eagle Endowment. Due to lack of time, Kingston offered to fill out the application and paperwork necessary to enter the contest. The deadline for the contest was Dec. 7.
Glick was a Peace Corps volunteer for two and a half years in Zambia and is also involved in Charlie's Place, a soup kitchen located in Northwest D.C.
"We run clothing drives, and also cook and serve food for area homeless people," Glick said.
Kingston's community service experience includes spending the summer of 2001 in China as a volunteer English teacher. She also visited Taiwan during the summer of 2003 to teach English. She also taught English as a second language to Latino adults in the Boston area.
Kingston said she hopes that more universities will follow AU's example and adopt troubled schools.
"There are so many different ways to volunteer in D.C.," Kingston said. "No experience is usually needed, and there are so many nonprofit organizations that need volunteers."
Kingston and Glick said they hope to begin sending volunteers to Webb Elementary on Jan. 31. Eleven volunteers are signed up and scheduled to attend, and Glick hopes to add five to six more.
The ceremony included remarks by University Chaplain Joe Eldridge, President Benjamin Ladner and Eagle Endowment Director Mark Seaman. The AU Jazz Ensemble and Gospel Choir also performed.
"I thought the ceremony was very well done," Glick said. "As part of the AU MLK celebration, it was certainly a great experience."
For more information on volunteering with the Webb Elementary School Book Club, students can e-mail Glick at glickpaul@hotmail.com.
