This article describes a community collaborative project, "I've got yer back," that utilized the craft of needle felting to raise awareness and develop understanding of the anatomy of the human spine. The project took place in 2023 and engaged with participants from across the United Kingdom and abroad and its completion was timed to…

In the United States truancy prevention is lacking two key elements to success; research that explains the causes of truancy and empirical evidence for best practices of truancy prevention. Truancy has been a problem in academics since the early 1900's, when truancy became illegal. Since then, truancy rates have continued to see a steady increase,…

Adults must continually learn to navigate the challenges of society and the job market. This lifelong learning is vital, particularly for vulnerable adults, and should be fostered in their living and working environment. In this article, we present a literature review exploring the conditions of conducive learning environments at meso-level, being…

Students benefit from exploring nature and participating in outdoor activities that challenge them emotionally and physically. The purpose of this article is to describe an outdoor education class with 21 undergraduate physical education teacher education (PETE) students and the benefits of participating in this experience. The second purpose is…

Using the Pennsylvania Department of Education Family/Community Standards, university professors from the University of Pittsburgh at Bradford collaborated with multiple community clubs such as the Rotary and Kiwanis as well as local agencies including St. Bonaventure University on the development and implementation of a family literacy day event…

This qualitative study aimed to explore the influence of Hip-Hop on the perceptions about resilience and cultural capital among BIPOC (Black, Indigenous, and People of Color) male students who attend a community-based organization. The study included 20 BIPOC male participants who consider Hip-Hop as being an active part of their lifestyle. All…

Utilizing Yosso's community cultural wealth framework as a theoretical lens, we sought to examine how nontraditional, community-based family engagement programs impacted adult family members' thoughts and actions about engagement with their children's schools. The study drew primarily from the interviews, observations, and document analysis of two…

This article presents the findings of a longitudinal study documenting the progress, challenges, adaptations, and outcomes of a strategic community--academic partnership (S-CAP) to address substance misuse between a local university and a medium-sized county in East-Central Indiana. The article details how the S-CAP built on initial successes to…

Among the challenges faced by work-integrated learning (WIL) educators, recruiting, selecting, and retaining outside organizations as 'clients' or 'community partners' to work with students looms large. The gap between classroom needs and professional practice often leads to a tangle of unrealistic expectations. These challenges grow even more…

Although research shows early intensive behavioral intervention is efficacious when delivered in university or private intervention centers, little is known about effectiveness or feasibility of disseminating early intensive behavioral intervention to larger communities. The Michigan State University Early Learning Institute was developed to…

New approaches are needed when working in rural communities to identify and communicate holistic evaluation impacts related to community-based health promotion efforts of Cooperative Extension. Specifically, there is a lack of recorded long-term programmatic impacts of these programs, including behavior changes related to consuming nutritious and…

Value-added products can generate farm income and improve community food access, yet lack of available kitchen infrastructure and labor can limit farm production capacity. This project explored how community-based culinary schools might fill the gap. A unique "product share" model was identified and piloted, meeting the collective needs…

Universal and selective preventive interventions targeting youth behavioral problems have shown crossover effects on suicide risk, the second leading cause of death among youth. However, the mechanisms that explain this long-term unanticipated benefit are understudied and unclear. The current study examines the crossover effects of PROSPER, a…

This study examines how community partners understand reciprocity and co-education in service-learning. Twenty community partners participated in 30-minute telephone interviews. When asked to define reciprocity, participants identified the importance of communication and maintaining a two-way relationship. With regard to co-education, community…

Diabetes is a chronic condition that has reached epidemic proportions in the United States, affecting nearly 34 million adults, and disproportionately affecting vulnerable populations, such as ethnic minorities, the elderly and individuals with low socioeconomic status. This study addresses the impact of the Health Extension for Diabetes (HED)…