Home / Programs / Student Projects /

2009-2010 Student Projects

Students for Educational Equality
Students for Educational Equality is a non-profit student organization aimed at making a positive difference in the lives of disadvantaged high school seniors in Southeast Michigan. With funding from the Institute, the student team launched two programs during the 2009-10 school year: (1) a mentoring program staffed by UM student volunteers to help guide high school seniors at a local high school through the process of applying to college and (2) an ACT standardized test preparation program. The Lincoln High School ACT preparation program enrolled over 130 students and asked the team to return and conduct a second round of test preparations in the same semester!

Tiny Toones Cambodia
During the summer of 2009, one of our incoming students implemented our first international student project in Cambodia. The goal of this project was to establish a new youth outreach center in an at-risk area in the city of Phnom Penh, Cambodia, by working with the non-profit organization Tiny Toones. Tiny Toones aims to empower the youth of Cambodia through various urban art forms like breakdancing, hip hop, and graffiti art, and promote education, self-esteem, and knowledge about HIV and drugs.  With funding from the Institute and other non-profit organizations, the OS student partnered with other American volunteers and Tiny Toones to successfully launch the new outreach center, effecting change and making an impact in the lives of at-risk youth in the area.  

What’s Your Story?
“What’s Your Story?” was a unique student project whose aim was to create and perform an original play. With a goal of crafting this product from start to finish using a “flat” leadership structure, the student project’s play was focused around storytelling and reflection. The producers also strove to empower their directors, actors, and other team members through this unique process and in the end, they succeeded in performing their original piece to over 500 audience members! The student team also collected donations at their performance and raised about $1,700 for the Neutral Zone, a local youth-focused non-profit organization.

Women in Leadership Lessons
This is the second year for one of the first BLI student groups. The young ladies continue to grow as they work with their faculty advisor, affiliated faculty member Associate Professor Jane Banaszak-Holl. WiLL aims to enhance the leadership skills of driven college women by connecting them with successful women in a variety of fields. This year, WiLL hosted events focusing on women in business and politics and workshops on identifying personal leadership styles and how to leverage leadership skills in the job search. Their events reached beyond the OS community to include students from Political Science, Linguistics, Sociology, Economics, Public Policy, Nursing, Psychology, and Business!