The Conversation Continues, a Service Learning Highlight

The UNO Service Learning Academy (SLA) is working with UNO faculty, preschool through 12th grade (P-12) teachers, and community partners to creatively adapt service learning projects to remote learning. Service learning projects will be highlighted throughout the remote learning phase.

Conversations About Redlining Continue Online

In the “Redlining Conversations” service learning project, students from UNO faculty member Gerry Huber’s Teacher Scholars Academy Human Relations course and Craig Wiles’ 5th-grade students from Crestridge Elementary worked with Inclusive Communities to explore how redlining impacts communities in Omaha. Inclusive Communities is an organization focused on human relations work that confronts prejudice, bigotry, and discrimination.

In the fall, students traveled to The Union for Contemporary Art to visit the “Undesign the Redline” exhibit. This was an introduction to the topic of redlining for both student groups and allowed them to fully witness the history of redlining across the nation and specifically in the state of Nebraska.

This semester, both student groups met on UNO’s campus to discuss and prepare for their presumed in-person Table Talk to present at the end of the semester as a culminating project. When restrictions for social distancing prevented students from meeting in-person, the project’s planners and students persevered.

“[This situation] can actually tie back to the teaching profession itself,” a UNO student said. “Sometimes things happen that you can’t plan for, and as a skilled teacher, you have to be innovative and make new plans in order to get the job done.”

In the new online format, UNO students led the Table Talks via Zoom with the 5th-grade students. UNO students prepared questions related to redlining and its continued impact on areas such as the economy, education, housing, health, segregation, transportation, employment, and current realities for communities in Omaha. The Table Talk series took place over four online sessions that each began with an online icebreaker and transitioned into breakout rooms, where groups further discussed that week’s redlining topic.

The “Redlining Conversations” project is a true testament to the power of service learning—even in unprecedented times, we can come together to both learn and educate.