Welcome to the CSB/SJU

 

Bonner Wiki!

 

          

 

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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