By Kristine Milbrandt

Residence and Löhe Hall members put their commitment to service and research on display Tuesday.

The Wartburg community had the opportunity to observe the students’ dedication to wide-ranging projects at a poster showcase in the Hall of Champions in the Wartburg-Waverly Sports & Wellness Center.

“There is so much the attendees could learn from the projects about things that they may not get that exposure to otherwise,” said Alyssa Dahmer, residential life service coordinator. “The variety and the depth of the projects were certainly insightful.”

Kalysta Adkins ’14 and Kelly Smith ’14 live in the Residence, where students commit a year of service to a community partner.

“We volunteer at Bartel’s Lutheran Community — mostly on Sundays — but we also go other days of the week,” said Adkins. “I think for most of us the only interaction with the elderly we’d had is with our grandparents. So it’s good interaction with them.”

“I think it’s a great project. They enjoy it, and we enjoy it,” Smith said.

Other community partners helped by the Residence members are Cedar Valley Friends of the Family and the Aspire Therapeutic Riding Program.

“Student volunteers handle various tasks, ranging from tutoring to clean-up, providing support services to advocacy,” Dahmer said.

Löhe Hall’s residents chose topics of interest to research at the beginning of the year.

Andra Peeler ’14 and her three roommates are all music therapy majors. Their topic has been “music therapy around the world.”

“We took a new country each month and chose a song or type of music and figured out how to use it in music therapy,” Peeler said. “A lot of people don’t know what music therapy is, so we always have a definition on our bulletin board and what it can be used for. We’re advocating for our future professions.”

Other Löhe Hall projects included public awareness of diverse human disorders, medical misconceptions, world sports, the role of ethics in the sciences and the celebration of cultures through holidays.

Each month Löhe residents post visuals outside their doors detailing their latest findings on a subtopic related to their topic. Some suites also hold events or dedicate a Facebook page to encourage student interaction in their topics.

“These projects are very important primarily because it’s developing an entrepreneurial mindset within students where they create, develop, and educate,” Dahmer said. “Whether they realize it at the time or not, the Residence and Löhe Hall members make a huge difference in their respective communities through service and education, and they grow as individuals through their extensive involvement.”