A University wide initiative, coordinated through the Office of the Dean of the Chapel, Howard University’s Alternative Spring Break (ASB) has immersed participants in unique cultures to provide immediate assistance and to reflect on the challenges prevalent in communities throughout society.
During the term of our President, Wayne A. I. Frederick, Howard University was named to President Barack Obama’s Higher Education Community Service Honor Roll with distinction, which is the highest federal award an institution can receive for service learning and civic engagement. Howard University’s Alternative Spring Break program (ASB) was the major focal point in this distinction. For more than twenty years, the Howard University’s Alternative Spring Break program (HUASB) has been committed to serving communities in need and involving students in meaningful service. ASB connects students to the significance of their education and prepares them to be servant leaders for the nation and the world.
Mission
Alternative Spring Break is a service learning program designed to connect students with distressed communities and to explore the ethical and spiritual dimensions of leadership as it challenges students to discern how their unique gifts and skills can be used to address the problems of communities in need and the world at large.
- Provide high quality care and education for young children; supporting and maintaining NAEYC standards and accreditation;
- Stay abreast of the latest research in early education and child development and use current knowledge in classroom practices and teaching pedagogy;
- Provide a learning laboratory for Howard University’s matriculating students, volunteers, faculty and educators in which to learn and develop the mind, the skills, the practices, and methodologies needed to work with and teach young children;
- Strengthen our business of education, developing sound practices for sustainability and a successful future; and,
- To be a partner in research and education with the greater Howard University community, local businesses and other educational entities.
Helping Hands
Helping Hands is a 12-hour radiothon designed to raise money to help offset the costs of sending 500 Howard University students to cities across the country and abroad to be in service to communities in crisis.
For 2018, students will go to Belle Glade and Florida Keys, Florida; Houston, Beaumont and Port Arthur, Texas; New Orleans, Louisiana; Chicago, Illinois; Flint, Michigan; Haiti; Ghana; St. Croix; Puerto Rico; St. Maarten; Anguilla; and Ghana. For more information on Howard University Alternative Spring Break, visit: https://chapel.howard.edu/HUASB
Contacts
Bernard Richardson, Dean of the Chapel
brichardson@howard.edu
Glen Vinson, Director of Service Learning and Outreach
Coordinator, Alternative Spring Break
gdvinson@howard.edu
