Course and Service Updates!

Courses and Service

The students are half way through the program and they are in full swing of class and service! Each group is working on their final presentations for Friday and we are excited to see the final products! 

Garden State (Environmental Justice) 

• Students have been learning about food systems from Dr. Nordquist and have had the chance to visit Fernbrook Farms, our farm on campus, toured the state house, visited the Trent house, and this afternoon they are doing service at the Trenton Area Soup Kitchen. Here is a post from one student's blog: 
• "The activities at Fernbrook farm were an interactive and hands on learning experience that worked to enhance the message sent from the informative article “food systems.” The reading touched upon many aspects of the food system, which is the series of interdependent links, including the people and recourses involved at each stage. The first stage of the food system is production and today at Fernbrook we were grateful enough to have received a lovely tour from Mrs. Allison in which we got to take a deeper look on all of the careful steps that have to go into making sure the production process is healthy and efficient. Fernbrook farm is a csa organization that provides city residents with the opportunity to purchase a “share” of produce from the farm in exchange for a weekly box of high quality, fresh produce. This program is very beneficial when assessing the justice and fairness of the food system in select areas because access is one of the three A’s that must be present to ensure total food justice. We also gathered from the reading that the food security in Trenton is not as efficient as it should be. Having a stable food supply is very important and there are many areas in Trenton that do not have access to healthy and affordable food. The fact that there are only three supermarkets in the city is a huge downfall along with the fact that most of the stores available are corner stores with unhealthy food and no produce. This is a problem that must be addressed and worked on because the obesity rates continue to go up and people need a strong food security."

Digital and Social Media Marketing 

• Students in Professor Monseau's course have been learning about the impact of digital and social media marketing. They have learned about different platforms, how to develop a marketing plan and have began working on the two marketing plans that they are doing for their service projects! The group participated in a driving tour yesterday in order to learn more about the local area. The students were given different businesses to look for on the tour and assess their digital and social media presence. We visited sites in Ewing, Trenton, and Princeton. While in Princeton, the students got to meet the founder of the Bonner Program and hear about the impact of service and the importance in finding your passion. Below is a post from one student's blog: 
• "This program has been the best decision I have made all summer. Adapting to what college life is like is not an easy task, but with a group of individuals that make you feel like you belong here no matter where you are from, what your background is, nor how weird you are; it feels like you should belong here and you have a family here away from home at TCNJ. Forty Eight Hours into this week I can honestly say that I have made friendships for life and I have been introduced to what Digital Marketing is and the true depth of Community service and how it is so much more than what we associate it with. This program really has helped me to find myself and what I enjoy doing and with all the icebreakers we did, to use that to make new friends. Digital Marketing is so cool and I had no idea I would find it as interesting as I did day one in class. The staff of this program has done a sensational job in making this experience so amazing! Being friendly and so easy to approach about anything they make each day happen and do so flawlessly. This program has helped me realize that I want to go to The College of New Jersey and being in the Bonner Program is a must. I honestly wish I could attend this program again next summer but by that time I hope to be accepted to TCNJ and enrolled as a Freshman in the Bonner Program."