Thursday, Oct 1, 2009

Seven girls lay on the cold floor of New Life Church, thin mattress pads lined up against the wall of a silent Sunday school room. Haley McLeod ’13 awoke at 7 a.m. to the sound of sprinklers going off around the lone building in a great expanse of Walla Walla farmland. McLeod might have expected collegiate life to look a little different, but now can’t imagine a better setting in which to start her Whitman experience.

McLeod was one of 16 participants in Whitman’s College new pre-orientation program, Summer Community OutReach Excursions (SCORE). The seven-day program offers first-years an alternative to the traditional Scrambles, Whitman’s optional wilderness pre-orientation trips. Scrambles, now in its 32nd year, attracted 149 participants and 52 leaders, with more than 50 students on the wait list. Both programs are intended to help students form lasting bonds with each other and with the community.

McLeod was amazed by how fast the diverse group of individuals in her SCORE team came to speak easily with one another. “I was concerned about establishing a relationship with people,” she said. “But when you work together for eight hours a day you get to know each other really well.”

Matt Manley ’11, student co-leader of one of the first SCORE trips, said SCORE “was the natural thing to expand on after the Scrambles program. Students had that outdoors outlet but they didn’t really have a service opportunity in Walla Walla or a chance to get to know the community before coming to Whitman.”

In this inaugural year, SCORE participants selected from two options: one focusing on food and hunger; the other on housing and homelessness — “the two most apparent needs in the community,” Manley said.

As McLeod helped construct new homes, she found she was also laying the framework for her own life at Whitman. “I think that doing SCORE really connected me with the Community Service office here,” she said.

SCORE was the brainchild of Lina Menard ’05, Whitman’s community service coordinator, who patterned it after the Alternative Spring Break program that’s offered at colleges across the nation. Menard said she thinks such a pre-orientation program is valuable, “because it gives new students a sense of the Walla Walla community and the issues its residents face.”

SCORE participants worked on a service project each morning, and then visited local nonprofits in the afternoon, finishing the day with group reflection. The program exposed students to all aspects of their chosen issue. Food SCOREs visited organic gardens and soup kitchens; housing SCOREs worked with both Habitat for Humanity and Walla Walla’s Sustainable Living Center.

McLeod served on the housing SCORE, departing from the church every morning to build houses for Habitat for Humanity. After three days with Habitat, McLeod’s group shifted its focus to the Farm Labor Homes, where students painted a complex for four Spanish-speaking families. This experience stands out as the most powerful in her week.

It made me realize how important communication is,” she said. Essentially, the families hadn’t been able to paint their homes because the required paperwork process was in English.

Despite the language barrier, McLeod found herself immediately accepted by the families. “Every day the adults came out and gave us lemonade and snacks. We couldn’t speak with them, but we were really appreciative of what they gave.”

Perhaps even more remarkable than the sense of belonging these students develop is that they are already eager to help new students transition into the Whitman community. “I would like to lead another trip someday, but I don’t think I’ll get the chance,” Manley said. “The kids on my SCORE trip were so excited about leading one next year. There will be generations of kids to come who will fill that role in future.”

This excitement for these pre-orientation programs was tangible at the Scrambles slideshow in mid-September. The Scramble students had spent their wilderness week in the company of seven peers and three leaders, and the cheerful racket in Maxey Auditorium belied the fact that it was only the third week of school. The stunning stream of images told the story of their backpacking, canoeing, rafting, sea kayaking, and rock climbing trips set in 17 locations throughout the Northwest.

As well as helping first years find their footing, these trips also provide a means for upper-class students to share their experience with first-years. Lily Dethier ’10 is a self-proclaimed “Grand Slammer” who has participated in the Scrambles program all four years. As a trip leader, she is able to share not only her personal love for the outdoors, but also help new students forge a connection with the Whitman Outdoor Program and the other opportunities available to them on campus.

Caroline Carr ’13 thoroughly enjoyed her chance to try “Bodaciously Bouncing Boating” and is hoping to go whitewater rafting again this fall. Still, what she’ll remember most is not the thrill but the solidarity.

“I met so many great people I’m still friends with,” Caroline Carr ’13 said. “It was so nice to have people who knew me during the first week. Whenever I saw them, I breathed a sigh of relief.”

— Eleanor Ellis