Welcome to the CSB/SJU

 

Bonner Wiki!

 

          

 

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Submitted February 20, 2013

 

A few weeks ago the Bonners participated in a service event with Hope Community Support Program at Catholic Charities. Hope Community Support is a service for adults with mental illnesses. Hope provides therapy either in the homes of their patients or throughout the community. There are numerous support groups that the clients attend as well through Hope. The clients from Hope, along with the Bonners, worked together to make several tie-blankets to be donated to Catholic Charities. Their time together was very beneficial, as well as their services will be of great use to members of the community who are homeless or are in need of blankets.

~ Reflection by Matia Twedt 

 

 

Submitted February 12, 2013

 

The Bonners volunteered early this February with Anna Marie’s Alliance, a domestic abuse shelter for women. We helped as wait staff for a retirement party. Maxine Barnett, as executive director, was a huge inspiration to the community as well as to the women she helped. She worked hard in her 33 years of service, and the Bonners were honored to serve at her retirement banquet. The presentation was moving for all those present.

 

Submitted January 31, 2013 

 

Welcome back! The Bonner Program is back in full swing spring semester.  We started off the new year with a few of our Bonners going to serve at the United Cerebral Palsy (UCP) Bike Race. UCP is an organization for Cerebral Palsy research and puts on events and programs for those with the disease. The bike race was a way to raise funds for the organization. 10 Teams of 10 would race for 20 minutes to see how many miles they could get. A dollar amount was attributed to each mile biked. Our Bonners served as mile-counters, and they had a blast! The event raised over $21,000 and was a huge success!

 

Submitted October 30, 2012

 

We had an awesome event last night! Last night was our volunteer event for the Cerebral Palsy Halloween party! Each Bonner was assigned to work a specific game for the children and their siblings. It was so much fun seeing the kids all dressed up in their Halloween costumes! It was also very enjoyable to see how the UCP worked to make sure everyone, including the severely disabled, was able to participate in the games.

 

 

Submitted October 9, 2012  

 

 The Bonner Program has officially moved into its new space HAB 105! Service Learning and Internships have combined to create the Office of Experiential Learning and Community Engagement(ELCE). Please come by and visit the new space!! 

 

 

 

Submitted September 17, 2012 

 

Welcome back Bonners!

 

 

 

This fall we brought in 10 new first year Bonners! This brings our group to 20 Bonners, which is the largest it has ever been!

 

We recently started off the year with Bonner orientation where all 30 of us were able to come together and either reunite or meet for the first time. At orientation, we learned the different personality types of the group by using an epigraph system for measuring personality brought to us by Mo. It was a very fun two days and a great way to start the year! Tom Brokhaw came to speak on campus and some of our Bonners were lucky enough to attend the event, which was a raving success.  

 

Looking into the future we are hosting a Halloween party for MN Cerebal Palsy Foundation. This event is sure to be a blast!

 

   

  

Submitted May 14, 2012

 

Happy Summer to you all!

 

It has been a wonderful year for the College of St. Benedict-St. John's University Bonner Leader Program.  This year we had an addition of 8 first year Bonners to our program to make a grand total of 27 Bonners within the Bonner Program this year!  It has been our largest and most succesful year yet!  

 

This year we hosted a variety of activies within the campus and the larger St. Cloud community including:

 

-The Why Do You Do What You Do Campaign? (WDYDWYD?) The Why Do You Do What You Do? Campaign was a week long initiative on  campus that encouraged students to discover their motivations for their actions and featured a panel of civically engaged alums.

 

-We completed sustainable service at Arlington Place, a residential facility for the elderly in our local town of St. Joe.  Bonners met monthly at Alrington Place and brought service activities to the residents so that they were engaged with the wider community and we were able to build lasting friendships.

 

-Human Trafficking Awareness Week was hosted by the Bonner Program to inform students about the issue of human trafficking locally and globally.

 

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Submitted April 11, 2011

 

Spring Greetings!

 

Wow! This semester has been jammed pack with Bonner events!  In February the Bonner Program co-sponsored a sustainability concert with a group on campus called the Sustainability Alliance.  Together we brought in the singer/songwriter Matt Moberg to perform on our campus.  Students were asked for either $3 at the door or a non-perishable food item. The proceeds went to Anna Marie’s Alliance, which is a battered woman’s shelter in St. Cloud, MN.   It was a very successful event and we were able to raise a significant amount of money for Anna Marie's Alliance as well as 3 large boxes of food. (See the picture below!) Also, in February ½ of our Bonner Program went to perform service at Anna Marie’s Alliance.  The other half performed service at Anna Marie’s in March. 

During spring break 8 of our Bonners dedicated their vacation to helping those in need and participated in an Alternative Break Experience sponsored by the College of St. Benedict’s Campus Ministry.  We had three Bonners located in New Orleans, two in Kansas City, Missouri, one in Guatemala, one in Stroud, Oklahoma,  and one in Philadelphia!  They all came back fired up about their service experience and were extremely excited to share their experiences with everyone else in the group.

 

We also had five of our Bonners participate in the Sophomore Exchange.  The five traveled down to the twin cities and participated in a variety of workshops with Augsburg and Macalester students.  They had a great experience and were truly able to connect with students from other Minnesota Bonner schools.  

 

That’s not all! Currently we are having the College of St. Benedict, St. John’s University students sign a poster as a part of our R-Word campaign asking students to eliminate using the R-Word in their everyday vocabulary.  So far we have had a large number of students sign the poster and we are going to hang the poster on the wall of our school cafeteria.

 

Whew! It’s been a busy semester but we have loved every minute of it. Enjoy the beautiful sunshine that spring is bringing!

 

-The CSB-SJU Bonner Leader Program

 

Taken February 17, 2011 at the Matt Moberg-Sustainability Concert

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Submitted November 22, 2010

 

Hello everyone!

 

This semester has flown by and we're excited that the CSB-SJU Bonner Leader team has had such a succesful semester!  These past few months have consisted of developing our very own Bonner Leadership Teams (BLT's) where Bonners were put into one of three groups with the choices being video's, social media, and newsletters, Bonner bonding nights, and holding events on our campus. 

 

We had the opportunity to bring Minh Dang out to CSB-SJU where she showed her documentary and faciliatated an interactive workshop as a part of our S.A.L.S.A (Students Advocating for Learning Social Justice and Civic Awareness) series.  We also brought the Clothesline Project to campus where students had the chance to take a stand and speak out using shirts as awareness about violence against women and children.

 

On December 11th the CSB-SJU Bonner Leader Team will be loading the mini bus and heading to Place of Hope, which is an organization in St. Cloud that has multiple programs that minster to the poor and under-served population. We will be completing our semester by serving at this site together and use this as a time to say goodbye to three of our Bonners: Chelsea Parker, Brynn Haugen, and Maria Larson who will be studying abroad during the Spring semester.  We wish them the best of luck and will be excited to hear their stories when they return!

 

Happy holidays, peace, and B-Love,

 

The CSB-SJU Bonner Leader Program

 

Taken November 16, 2010--Minh Dang Event

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Welcome to another year of Bonner at CSB/SJU!

 

We are thrilled to share that our Bonner team now has doubled: We are now 20 Bonners strong! Meet all of the CSB/SJU Bonners here. 

 

We started out our year with an orientation weekend September 25-27. Friday night was our introduction night. We spent time getting to know one another through dinner and ice breaker activities and getting to know more about Bonner with the Bonner 101 presentation presented by our second year Bonners. We closed out night with our favorite CSB/SJU Bonner activity: Bonner Bingo!

 

Saturday was our service day. We drove to Kids Against Hunger for a morning of meal packaging. We also got to learn more about the issue of hunger throughout the world and specifically in Paraguay, the place where the food we packaged was being sent. We finished the day by reflecting on the experience at the Star of India restaurant where we were able to enjoy some delicious Indian food.

 

Our final day of orientation occurred Sunday and started with a training on BWBRS. After a recap of the day before for those who couldn't attend, we had a brainstorming session where everyone shared their passions and what they would like to accomplish in the coming year. This proved to be one of the most valuable experiences of the whole weekend! We have many amazing Bonners with brilliant ideas; look out world! We also had the privilege of participating in a Safe Space Training workshop facilitated by a member of PRiSM (People Representing the Sexual Minority. After sharing lunch together, we all participated in the first annual Bonner Scavenger Hunt! We broke our group into three teams and utilized cameras and flip-cams to document activities related to Bonner such as logging on to BWBRS, performing service for someone, and finding the service-learning office.

 

We are so excited about our Bonner team this year! We couldn't ask for 20 more inspiring, energetic, service-oriented people. Watch out Central Minnesota! The CSB/SJU Bonners are here to stay!

 

Much B-Love!

 

The 2010-2011 CSB/SJU Bonner Leader Team

 

 

Submitted July 1, 2010

 

Greetings!

Whew! This past year has been a blast!  Looking back on the year calls to mind some achievements we are VERY proud of!

 

Bringing in Our First Class of Bonners...wootwoot!

In the summer of 2009, we worked very closely with our admission counselors to review our class of 1000 incoming CSB/SJU students.  We interviewed a select group of students and welcomed 9 first-year Bonners to our team.  It was very encouraging for the returning Bonners to see our program expand!  We can't wait to get our next class in the Fall!  

 

Implementing Campus-wide Events

In November 2009, our Bonner team collaborated with Campus Ministry during Hunger and Homelessness Awareness Week.  We volunteered to host a Hunger Banquet.  All 13 Bonners were involved in the planning and implementation of this campus-wide event.  Pastor Carol Smith and Iva Katzmarek from Place of Hope Ministries were guest speakers, each sharing personal stories about how they have encountered hunger and homelessness in their lives.  The Place of Hope Ministries’ band, made up of individuals who are going through or have gone through Place of Hope programming, also performed.  Through our advertising, we were able to bring in over 100 people for this event.  Our Bonner team plans to host a Hunger Banquet in November of 2010...maybe this will turn into an annual Bonner-sponsored project!

 

In March 2010, the Service-Learning Program launched its first of a series of panel discussions under the name SALSA, Students Advocating for Learning, Social Justice and Civic Awareness.  Our first panel discussion, Struggles Facing the Youth of Today, included an array of panelists: Southside Boys & Girls Club Unit Director, high school students, former teacher and current CSB/SJU faculty member, Director of Reach Up/Head Start and a parent.  The purpose of this particular discussion was to provide a space where concerns and issues that affect youth could be discussed from multiple angles. In addition to working with Campus Ministry and other campus programs, we plan to make SALSA a jointly sponsored event between Service-Learning and the Bonner Leader Program as we continue this series in the 10-11 AY with monthly panel discussions on different topics.  

 

Presenting workshops at Bonner Congress, IMPACT, INSPIRE, and SLI 2010

We were able to send 2 students to Bonner Congress 2009, IMPACT 2010, and INSPIRE 2010, and 4 students to SLI 2010.  At Bonner Congress, our Bonners conducted a workshop on planning purposeful and effective events.  One Bonner also led her Big Idea small group in discussion throughout the conference.  At the IMPACT Conference, our Bonners led a workshop on leading meaningful reflection sessions, and were met with overwhelmingly positive feedback.  At the INSPIRE Conference, our Bonners held a workshop on dismantling stereotypes.  Our Bonners also presented at SLI 2010, co-facilitating with The College of New Jersey a workshop on using Social Media. 

 

Attending and presenting at these conferences have given our Bonners invaluable experience with and insight into the larger Bonner network and its purpose of creating social change.  Our Bonners that attend these conferences have reported back on their experiences to the larger group in an effort to fully implement the ideas and share the passion that comes from these conferences.

 

Some photos from this year:

 

Hunger Banquet: November 18, 2009 

 

For the Love of Haiti (community food-packaging event): February 13, 2010

 

Adopt-A-Park (Sophomore Service Exchange): April 17, 2010

 

Look for us on campus!  We will be working to further spread the spirit of service and justice!

 

Love,

Your bLoves

 

 

Submitted July 2009

 

Greetings...

The CSB/SJU Bonners are approaching their first fall semester. We started last January with nine of us, including our Director, and had an orientation to kick-off the beginnings of Bonner at the College of St. Benedict/ St. John's University. Since then, we have put on one campus-wide event, traveled three times (the IMPACT conference in Washington, DC; Anathoth Farm in Wisconsin; and the Summer Leadership Institute in Stetson, Florida), presented two workshops, and won one award for our Community Partner Profile. We also worked on our Issue to Impact project with Place of Hope Ministries with a focus on Hunger and Homelessness.

 

We've accomplished a lot in a few months and plan on accomplishing more this semester.

 

Please check out our Meet the Bonnerspage to learn more about our first nine Bonners, and our new Bonners for the 2009-2010 year. Other things that are worth checking out are our Bonner videos, Bonner photos, Bonner newsletter (coming soon), and Bonner event page.

 

We had a great few months last spring working to start up our Bonner Program; we know it will only get better.

 

Thank you for visiting,

Love,

CSB/SJU Bonners