August 30, 2021

Pre-Orientation Service Program Gives First-Year Students New Lafayette Roots

By Shannon Sigafoos

Successful community gardens are built and sustained through contributions of time and resources from the communities where they are located. This happens when those who work in the gardens build relationships with each other and with the community around them. Participants in the Landis Center’s Pre-Orientation Service Program (POSP)—which unites first-year students with returning leaders, faculty, staff and community members in meaningful service before the fall semester begins—dug in and got their hands dirty at both LaFarm and the Easton Urban Farm just days before the kickoff of the fall semester. Under a blazing summer sun, other POSP students also met up with kids from the Boys & Girls Club of Easton for a good old-fashioned water balloon toss.

Each year, POSP includes 36 new students who connect with community members and upper-class students through different service options. In addition to service, students engage in activities that introduce them to the Lafayette campus and the city of Easton. On August 26, all of this year’s POSP participants took a walk downtown to immerse themselves in all the city has to offer.

“POSP creates valuable opportunities for incoming students to connect with the Easton community and to build strong relationships with each other,” says Chelsea Cefalu, associate director of the Landis Center. “It is entirely student-led, which gives first-years a student’s perspective on active citizenship and the practical ways they can consider their communities, both off and on campus, a priority in their daily decision-making.”

Easton Urban Farm

A student carries a container of produce at Easton Urban Farm.
A student, wearing a mask, gathers produce at Easton Urban Farm.
A student tends to produce at Easton Urban Farm.
Two students gather produce at Easton Urban Farm.
Easton Urban Farm
A student gathers produce at Easton Urban Farm.
A bucket of yellow tomatoes.
Sunflowers surrounded by other flowers at Easton Urban Farm.
A student gathers produce at Easton Urban Farm
Students work at the gardens of Easton Urban Farm.

 

LaFarm

A student tends to scallions at LaFarm.
A student tends to scallions at LaFarm.
Lisa Miskelly stands with students on the fields of LaFarm.
Two students, wearing masks, tend to the field at LaFarm.
Sunflowers at LaFarm
A sunflower against a clear blue sky.
Two students, wearing masks, gather produce at LaFarm
Students tend to crops at LaFarm
Students tend to crops at LaFarm
A student, wearing a mask, tends to crops in the middle of LaFarm, surrounded by greens and produce.

Boys and Girls Club of Easton

A student covers her eyes as if hiding in front of a younger child.
A student celebrates, surrounded by children from the Boys and Girls Club, as water mists around them.
Students smile in a group photo outside.
A person sprays a garden house at a group of students and children from the Boys and Girls Club.
A community member from the Boys and Girls Club throws a ball.
A student wearing a mask celebrates, holding their arms above their head.
Two students laugh as they fill a bucket with water.
A Lafayette students gets a bucket of water dumped on their head.
A student laughs as a child from the community smiles.
Children from the community and Lafayette students are sprayed with a water hose outside.
Students pose in a celebratory manner outside.
Students embrace in a group hug.

 

Downtown

A group of students cheer with their arms above their heads downtown in Easton.
A group of students talk at a table in downtown Easton.
A group of students talk at a table in downtown Easton.
A group of students talk over ice cream at a table in downtown Easton.
Students smile, sitting at a table in downtown Easton.
Students walk, holding cups of ice cream.
A student smiles.
Four students, masked, stand in front of a business in downtown Easton.
A student exchanges an item with two community members in downtown Easton.
A group of four students walk downtown.
A group of students walk in downtown Easton.
A group of students walk in downtown Easton.
A group of students walk toward a bridge in Downtown Easton.
Students, carrying bags, walk down a pathway towards downtown Easton.
A group of students walk in front of Pardee Hall.
Students walk underneath an archway, heading toward downtown Easton.
Categorized in: Community, Featured News, FirstYear-Landis, Landis Center, News and Features