BSCI Students Give Back Through Service Learning

Under direction of BSCI faculty, student teams worked on a variety of projects benefiting local organizations and individuals, gaining invaluable hands-on experience along the way. For Fall 2024, BSCI students completed five significant projects that addressed critical needs.

Two teams led by Associate Professor Alan Bugg and Senior Lecturer Hunter McGonagill partnered with Habitat for Humanity to assist in building a home for a family in Opelika. These students prefabricated walls at the Robins & Morton Construction Field Lab before assembling and framing the home on site.

Associate Professor Darren Olsen’s students worked with the Alabama Rural Ministry (ARM) to replace siding on a family home in Auburn, improving living conditions and supporting ARM’s mission of providing home repairs to Alabama families in need.

Jonathan Tucker, Senior Lecturer and Field Lab Manager, led a team of students who built a covered deck for house parents at the Tallapoosa Girls Ranch, a family-style home for at-risk youth in Camp Hill.

A second team under Tucker’s direction worked with The Way 2 Serve, installing a metal roof on a local family’s home to ensure greater safety and durability.

Tucker’s third team partnered with Baby Steps, a non-profit serving single mothers who are Auburn students. This project involved detailed site planning for a new playground, along with building a 12’ x 14’ pavilion, assembling an outdoor playset and constructing an 8’ picnic table to enhance the outdoor space. The project marked BSCI’s first time partnering with Baby Steps, a collaboration that participating students found deeply meaningful.

“It was a true blessing for our team to collaborate with such a remarkable organization as Baby Steps,” shared BSCI senior Emily Gibson. “Learning about the impact they have on mothers and newborns at Auburn deepened our appreciation for the beauty of life. We were honored to create this pavilion and space for the little ones to grow up laughing, playing and living in.”

BSCI senior Mary Madalyn Massengale echoed Gibson’s sentiment, stating, “I truly appreciated the opportunity to construct the pavilion area for Baby Steps with my amazing team. This project not only allowed me to enhance my construction skills, but it also created a vibrant play area for the children and their mothers. I sincerely hope that this space brings joy to them for many years to come!”