Saturday, October 06, 2007

Service Learning Buzz


More and more students are getting involved in service-learning activities. Need a book to help you navigate your service-learning experience with ease? A Service-Learning Guide for Faculty, Students, and Community Agencies by Lillian Huerta is the perfect "how to" guide to get you started. This short and easy-to-ready book tells program coordinaters, faculty, and students all the essentials necessary to get involved and stay involved in service-learning. Check it out here.

Thursday, September 28, 2006

Short stories by William Stager now available for sale

We are pleased to announce that our printer just sent us crisp new copies of The Adolescent-Adult Bedtime Reader. Copies have been sent to amazon.com. We are also selling the book directly. Just click the graphic links to order directly from us.

Booksellers are welcome to order directly from us for their stores. We look forward to hearing from you.

Cheers!

--The Publisher

Sunday, August 27, 2006

Lillian Huerta's "A Service Learning Guide..." now available on amazon.com

Great News!

You can now purchase Lillian Huerta's "A Service Learning Guide..." from amazon.com. Here's the link A Service Learning Guide...

Want to know more about the author and service learning? Scroll down to read the interview August 18, 2006 interview.

Loquat Media will release William Stager's debut collection of short stories on September 1st. Scroll down to the August 5 entry to read an excerpt. You can pre-order a copy for yourself or your bookstore here, or purchase it at amazon.com on September 1st.

Friday, August 18, 2006

An interview with Lillian Huerta, service-learning consultant and author



Lillian Huerta, M.A.
Service-learning consultant and author


"Students have the opportunity to become "agents of change" ... You have to be involved in the community"




How did you get your start in service-learning?


I've been involved in volunteer work since I was 10 years old! I remember how excited I was when I raised the most money in my hometown for the Muscular Dystrophy Association by taking pledges door to door. Later, I helped raise funds for Teach the Children, a wonderful organization that helped provide school supplies for underprivileged children. I also volunteered in Senior Citizen homes by reading to patients and visiting with them. In some form or another I was always involved in my community. I credit so much of this involvement to my success in college. It was so fascinating that my every day interaction with the community through volunteer work brought such relevance and connection to my field of study which was Sociology and then later with my graduate work in Bicultural-Bilingual Studies. At that time the "connection" that I was experiencing was just an added value to my studies. Thus, when I had the opportunity to actually coordinate a service-learning program, it was like Wow! I have done this before but this time the volunteer (service) part will actually be linked to the course of study in a more structured way than I had experience.

What is the biggest challenge of getting a Service-learning program "off the ground?"

The biggest challenge is the fact that the program is "grant-funded". Essentially you --(the Project Director and/or Coordinator-- have to "sell" the program to faculty, students and administration, especially if there are other grant-funded programs trying to get institutionalized. However, I see this challenge as an exciting opportunity to really show how unique your program is and the positive impact it can have on the community, students and faculty. Also, you have to work hard to gather "buy in" from an overworked faculty and shorthanded staff.

What are the benefits of Service-learning especially for students?

The major benefits include: the student learns to develop leadership skills, and as a result, personal growth and self-confidence increases. Furthermore, students have the opportunity to become "agents of change." Students will be empowered to go back to their communities to contribute. For example, students in an Economics, Urban Sociology and/or Public Administration class can work with city officials in creating a program that will benefit a local neighborhood in combating issues such as gang violence. I think anyone in the business of Education will see the value of service-learning-the benefits are endless. In regards to faculty, service-learning will allow them to engage their students in a more stimulating way. Instead of just lecturing, faculty can have students apply what they are learning and as a result, students will be able to contribute to class lecture in a more critical thinking manner. Of course community agencies (nonprofit agencies) will benefit in having college students apply their skills that they may otherwise have to pay for. For example, students majoring in say Computer Science can create and maintain a web site for a nonprofit agency.

What is your educational background and how did you get into the field?

My background includes a B.A. in Sociology and a M.A. in Bicultural-Bilingual Studies from The University of Texas at San Antonio. Like I mentioned earlier, I have always been involved in the community in some form or another. So when the Alamo Community College District in San Antonio, Texas received a grant from The National Corporation-I knew I had to apply! I was told after I got the job of service-learning coordinator by the late Mayme Williams (Project Director of the Service-Learning grant) that I was hired because of my "...knowledge of the community and the passion and respect I have for volunteer work..."

What kind of advice would you give to a professional interested in getting into the service-learning field?

I firmly believe that you have to be involved in the community. So, my first suggestion is that you get involved. I mean there is so much work to be done for the community. Secondly, your educational background in higher ed, ethnic/multicultural studies, Sociology and other type of human services based education will hone your skills in understanding the diversity that a community represents. Which brings me to my last suggestion, KNOW your community. What needs to be done? Does your local park need some flowers to be planted or does the lake need cleaning? Always practice your civic responsibility!

Any advice for students/

Again, get involved and practice your civil awareness and responsibility! Visit with your professors and find out if service-learning is an option. If not, find out how you can start the service-learning movement on your campus. The most successful programs comes from the students themselves.

A Service-Learning Guide for Faculty, Students and Community Agencies is filled with helpful tips and insights. Pick up a copy today.

Saturday, August 05, 2006

New and Unfiltered facts. Service-learning made easy by service-learning expert Lillian Huerta. Street date: August 2006.

This book is a great service-learning "how-to" companion to help you get your service-learning programs up and running. It's full of helpful tips for university faculty, students, program coordinators, and community agencies. Use this guide to learn how to start and run successful service-learning programs.

Short & On Point: A Service-Learning Guide for Faculty, Students and Community Agencies (ISBN 0976270145, $10.95) is the perfect ʻhow-toʼ companion. University faculty, program coordinators and students can use this guide to learn how to start and run successful service-learning programs. The author, Lillian Huerta, M.A., is an experienced service-learning program manager and consultant. She shares her insights on a variety of topics including attracting students and faculty to service-learning projects, engaging community organizations, and managing successful programs. Use this book to get your service-learning program started today.

Click to learn more about service learning.

CLICK BOOK ICON in LINKS to order the Service Learning Guide.

New and Unfiltered fiction. Short stories by William Stager. Street date: September 2006


The Adolescent-Adult Bedtime Reader: A Collection of Stories. In this innovative, cutting edge collection of shorts, William Stager tells stories about everyday people living on the edge of the American dream. His characters encounter strange and surreal circumstances as they struggle to survive and to find meaning in their lives. Their other-worldly experiences take place just off of Main Street, Everywhere, U.S.A.

Be the first to experience a new generation of writers. Pre-order information: ISBN: 0976270137, $12.95

Copyrighted Material, 2006 William Stager. All rights reserved.

short story EXCERPT

The Adolescent-Adult Bedime Reader: Anthony Baniker's Journey to the Far Side of Infinity

In order to reach the next life, one has to travel to the far side; the far side of infinity, or so I was told by a wise old woman on the hill, in the back country of West Virginia. It was on a foggy and rainy fall afternoon, as I packed up to leave on an expedition that I had spent my whole life planning for, that I realized that I did not have to go anywhere in order to reach the end of the universe, and that travel through space and time was achievable through the mind. This was when I decided to fake my own death, so that I could drop out of society and begin my journey. I decided that I would fake my own death through an ultra light aircraft crash. All that I needed to do would be to load the homebuilt aircraft with fuel and one of the cadavers from the old depository, then fly up to 6,000 feet at night and parachute out. I would put my old military dog tags in the aircraft, along with other identifying items that would not be totally incinerated by the crash and the ensuing fire. The cadaver that would burn to a crisp would be identified as me. Before the crash, I planned to put my energy into a disinformation campaign. After my sister mentioned that I should do something about my depression, I saw a doctor and talked about my prescriptions about town. People knew about me at the supermarket, the post office and at the local bar. Soon, I was satisfied that the campaign was successful, and that I would be able to embark on the first leg of my journey...

This excerpt cannot be reproduced or distributed without permission from the author.

Thursday, August 03, 2006

Welcome to Loquat Media

Loquat Media is an independent publisher founded in 2004, publishing quality original works of fiction and non-fiction. We offer free copies of our publications to non-profit organizations on a first come, first served basis as part of our mission to promote community interaction and further literacy.

Loquat Media's books are sold on amazon.com (see available books in the right hand sidebar).

We look forward to updating you on our progress!
–the Publishers, email: loquatmedia@yahoo.com