Changemaking Education Award, Returned Peace Corps Volunteers of South Florida, September 2023

Prize: Local honorChangemaking Education Award

Description

September 2023: Dr. Rachel Pauletti receives 2023 Changemaking Education Award for her Citizenship Project class from the Returned Peace Corps Volunteers of South Florida

From the program: Lynn University's Citizenship Project is an important annual tradition when first-year students give back to the community through an initiative of their choice. Professor Pauletti's class took a unique approach to the project this academic year. In a class full of psychology majors, it was no surprise that mental health advocacy became the heart of their initiative. Her students gathered insights directly from their peers—asking questions about their emotions and well-being and sharing mental health resources. Students in the course used design thinking to develop and implement a “wellness wall” on campus. The wall was an interactive experience for students to express positive and negative emotions in a public place, with the goal of destigmatizing “bad days” and elevating “good days.” Over 500 students interacted with the “wellness wall” in February and March to demonstrate the power of positivity.
Degree of recognitionLocal
Granting OrganizationsReturned Peace Corps Volunteers of South Florida (RPCVSF)