This is an example of a brochure we had to design for a tablet for my Multimedia Design class. Unfortunately, the video and slideshow did not translate when converting the document from InDesign to a PDF which is why there are two white spaces on the third page.

1. Help for Haiti
Alternative Spring Break 2017
– Alternative Spring Break –

2. W
e are close to
the season
when spring
break takes
place across our
college campuses. A survey done by
an online travel service calculated
that over 55% of students will travel
for leisure during their weeklong
break. However, an increasing
number of students will elect to
engage in volunteerism during this
period. Frequently called “alternative
spring break,” these trips typically
involve volunteer, community-based
or global service projects. Websites
that attempt to attract college
students for these alternative spring
break trips tout the benefits of this
choice as a chance to give back,
make a difference and gain cultural
awareness in the process.
When alternate spring
break trips take the form of service-
learning projects, the potential
benefits and outcomes change
substantially. Distinct from one-
time volunteer projects, service-
learning is an experiential learning
tool that has been shown to build
civic engagement, stimulate
cultural understanding and develop
ethical awareness among college
students. Service learning is not an
interruption or “break” from the
learning that takes place during
the regular academic calendar. It is
an extension that moves learning
beyond the physical classroom to
active learning within the external
environment. Service learning
can provide a meaningful context
for theories, concepts and models
taught in the classroom. It also shifts
learning from a one-way dialog
between student and instructor to
an interactive endeavor in which
students are not only learners but
also change agents.
While it’s easy to see the
positive benefits of alternative
spring break trips, the limitation
is when these excursions are done
in isolation of the broader learning
that takes place in the classroom.
Alternate travel experiences, in
which students are dropped into
poor or disadvantaged communities
as a “break” from college and engage
in one-time volunteer projects,
may create a temporary feel-good
experience, but often fall short of
providing a lasting change in the
communities they visit. If spring
break is the only time that students
are faced with the realities of their
external world, then concepts such
as ethics, social justice, equality,
sustainability, civic engagement
and corporate social responsibility
may remain only abstract theories
and concepts on the pages of their
textbooks.
The most important
distinction between volunteerism
as a “break” from college and
the integrated service-learning
experiences is that the latter is
reciprocal. Students are not merely
exposed to people or communities
that are disadvantaged and whom
they in turn serve from their
advantaged or privileged position.
Meaningful service learning is about
co-creating value by the student and
the community or stakeholder, both
as learners and contributors. The
project is not merely about finding
solutions but also about creating the
opportunity for all parties to learn,
benefit and transform. Meaningful
service learning is not one-way. It is
reciprocal. It creates new knowledge
and new approaches that stimulate
social innovation.
Although the idea of
reciprocity is appealing, it can be
challenging to achieve. Moving
students’ perspectives from
benefactor to beneficiary often
means pushing students outside
their own comfort zones, cultural
assumptions and embedded biases.
It also challenges the faculty member
to design and deliver service-
learning experiences that may
push his or her own
pedagogical, cultural
and unconscious biases.
For faculty, it can also
expose the limitations
of our theories, models
and paradigms in ways
that force us to admit to
students that we simply
don’t have all of the
answers.
At Pitt Business,
through the David
Berg Center for Ethics
and Leadership, we
have used service
learning within our
curriculum for over
12 years as part of our
effort to both develop
and challenge notions
of ethical leadership
and corporate social
Meaningful service
learning is about
co-creating value
by the student and
the community or
stakeholder, both
as learners and
contributors.
“
”
Volunteer reading to preschoolers.
Two volunteers planting a tree.

3. responsibility. Our local and global
service-learning projects deliberately
ask students to embrace diversity as a
tool for creating positive change. It also
challenges them to see business not only
as a means for increasing profit and
adding value to shareholders, but also
as a tool for driving social innovation.
Service learning is not a break from
education. It is an extension of the
traditional classroom to a learning
environment that provides evidence
of what education, knowledge and
effective collaboration can produce. The
fruits of these efforts can be on display
in just a week’s time through a service-
learning trip taking place over Spring
Break.
Service-learning trips, even
those that are just a week long, are a way
to draw those connections and leave
lasting impressions on both the student
and the community.
A video of the students trip to Haiti.
A slideshow showcasing the work the students
conducted while on their Alternative Spring Break trip.