Community Colleges: Critical Partners in National and Community Service.

Liu explains how AmeriCorps works by making direct impacts on national priorities related to education, public safety, human needs, and the environment; by strengthening communities by bringing together people of diverse backgrounds to achieve a common purpose; and by helping the develop the participants into active and productive citizens. Liu notes that community college students have traditionally been involved in public service and that the diversity of this student body can naturally enhance community service. Liu cites examples of how to integrate community service with classroom learning, including writing to policy makers, writing fund proposals, or writing for publications for a larger audience on social issues than the traditional college writing assignment. (SH)