Join the Challenge and Grow Your Knowledge!

2021 Virtual Summer of Service Challenge

Join the 2021 Virtual Summer of Service Challenge today to earn service hours, engage in a variety of service projects, learn from international speakers about the UN Sustainable Development Goals, get involved in different communities, earn awards, and have fun! Register here! 

Before You Register

It is recommended that you complete the Beyond the Classroom D2L Orientation prior to registering for the projects. We suggest that you self-enroll and complete these requirements as soon as possible, as it may take several days to apply to your My Spartan Story profile.

If you have not used My Spartan Story before, follow these steps to create your volunteer record:

  1. Visit My Spartan Story
  2. Login with MSU NetID and Password
  3. Click on the community engaged learning tab on left navigation
  4. Select Opportunities
  5. Select “view available programs/courses”
  6. Select Volunteering as your Experience Type by clicking on “Apply” and "yes" to confirm (this will create your first record)
  7. Make sure to read terms and conditions before proceeding to “search opportunities”
  8. Click on “search opportunities”
  9. Navigate to “Opportunities Catalog” on the left navigation

What are the UN Sustainable Development Goals? 

End extreme poverty. Fight inequality and injustice. Fix climate change. The Sustainable Development Goals are important, world-changing objectives that will require cooperation among governments, international organizations and world leaders. It seems impossible that the average person can make an impact. Should you just give up? No! Join us in our Challenge this summer to learn from your home about the UN SDGs from international world speakers for FREE!

How it Works:

Starting Monday, June 14 and ending Sunday, August 8, over 16 service projects and virtual events with international speakers will be posted below and on the CCEL Instagram page (@ccel_at_msu) for participants to complete and to attend. Two virtual events will be posted every Monday on this page, with an additional 1-2 projects pertaining to that event posted during the week on our Instagram page. Projects will range in complexity, with the goal being for students to complete at least one project a week and to display the knowledge you have learned throughout the week. The more projects you complete, the higher the award level you will receive (bronze, silver, gold, and platinum). In order for your service project to count toward your award total, you must complete a brief reflection, and the link to do so will be emailed to you each week by Abigail Machesky at machesk5@msu.edu. Please make sure you complete one reflection per week, reflecting on each event/project you attended and took part in. At the end of the 8 weeks, however many projects you have completed will indicate which award level you will receive:

  • Bronze Level: 8-11 projects 
    • Bronze Level Certificate
  • Silver Level: 12-15 projects
    • Silver Level Certificate
  • Gold Level: 16-19 projects
    • Gold Level Certificate
  • Platinum Level: 20+ projects
    • Platinum Level Certificate
    • The top winner will win a Ring Doorbell, 2nd and 3rd place will win Apple Airpods!

You can participate in as few or as many projects as you wish! If you register in later weeks, it is not too late! If you find you are able to watch recordings of events past the date of the live Zoom event and you accurately complete the reflection for said event, you will receive points for participation. Please email Abigail Machesky (machesk5@msu.edu) if you wish to do this.

Want to sign up for your next volunteer opportunity?

  1. Login to your My Spartan Story
  2. Click on the community engaged learning tab on left navigation
  3. Choose Opportunities
  4. View current experiences
  5. Choose Summer 2021 VOL volunteering  
  6. Above the Steps box, to the right, there is a blue icon, click on it 
  7. Click yes to confirm that you would like to repeat (add an additional) the experience to your record 
  8. Scroll down to light blue placement box where it states, “you haven’t been placed yet” and start searching for you next volunteer opportunity

Week One

June 14-June 18

June 14: No Poverty 

7:00-8:00 p.m. Circle Information Session

Register for and attend the free information session, “a national, transformational approach to reduce poverty that partners volunteers and community leaders with individuals and families striving to make the journey out of poverty.”

June 17: Quality Education

2:00-3:00 p.m. Using Implementation Science to Plan for Success 

Register to listen to Nicol Russell, the VP of the Arizona Department of Education discuss quality education. Register and access the Zoom link for the event here.

Week 2

June 21-June 25

June 22: Good Health and Well-being

11:00 a.m.-12:30 p.m. Implementing High-Quality Primary Care Webinar Series: Digital Health 

Register for and attend the virtual event to learn about digital information technology that serves patients, their families, and the interprofessional primary care team.  

June 23: Gender Equality

1:00-5:00 p.m. Gender Analysis: Tools and Praxis 

Register for and attend the virtual event to learn basic gender-related concepts and identify how social institutions contribute to the perpetuation of gender issues/biases. 

Week 3

June 28-July 2

June 30: Clean Water and Sanitation

2:00-3:00 p.m. Approach to Track Chemical Mixtures in Urban Waters Impacted by Road Salts Presenters

Register for and attend the virtual event to learn more about developing cost-effective, sustainable solutions to 21st century complex water issues by the EPA's Office of Research and Development. 

July 1: Affordable and Clean Energy

6:00-7:30 a.m. Clean Energy Exchange: Public Sector

Register for and attend the virtual event to learn to explore opportunities, learn how to remove barriers to procurement and establish robust cases for long-term investment in power purchase agreements. 

Week 4

July 5-July 9

July 7: Peace, justice, and strong institutions

 1:00-2:00 p.m. Examining How Nonformal Education and Peacebuilding Can Assist Vulnerable Communities

 Register for and attend the virtual event to identify the general structure and forms that informal education can take and how they can assist vulnerable populations globally. 

July 9: General UN SDG Education

9:00 a.m-TBD 2021 SDGs Learning, Training and Practice

 Register for and attend the virtual event to explore various aspects of the response to the COVID-19 pandemic and the various measures and types of international cooperation that can control the pandemic and its impacts and put the world back on track to achieve the SDGs by 2030, within the decade of action and delivery for sustainable development. 

Week 5

July 12-July 16

July 12: Zero Hunger

10:00 a.m. The State of Food Security and Nutrition in the World 2021 (SOFI)

Register for and attend the virtual event to address the key drivers of food insecurity and malnutrition, i.e. conflict, climate variability and extremes, economic slowdowns and downturns, and COVID-19, and that ensure access to affordable healthy diets for all. 

July 15: Climate action 1

2:00 p.m. to 1:00 p.m. Clean Energy and Sustainable Living with Solar Panels by the First Ladies of Poverty Foundation

Register for and attend the virtual event to educate the BIPOC community, as well as other minority and under-served communities on resources for alternative, sustainable ways of living and resources for going about doing so affordably.

Week 6

 July 19-July 23

July 20: Life Below Water 

Noon to 1:00 p.m. Ocean Allies Coffee Chat

Register for and attend the virtual event to take part in an informal chat in a safe space for peer-to-peer conversations about challenges in the world ocean technology industry. 

July 21: Life on Land

7:30-8:30 a.m. July Boston Sustainability Breakfast

Register for and attend the virtual event for networking, discussion, and moral support. The topic of discussion will be announced at a later date. 

Week 7

July 26-July 30

July 27: Decent Work and Economic Growth

7:00-8:00 p.m. LSU Science Cafe: Humanitarian Engineering

Register for and attend the virtual event to hear Marybeth Lima and several other speakers discuss social justice and peace through engineering in this unique, inspirational, and interactive presentation. 

July 28: Reduced inequalities

9:00-10:00 a.m. Finding Opportunities Amidst the Economic Downturn

Register for and attend the virtual event for networking, discussion, and moral support. 

Week 8

August 2-August 6

August 4: Partnership for the Goal

4:00-5:00 p.m. Resolving Workplace Conflict

Register for and attend the virtual event to develop strategies and techniques to professionally resolve workplace conflicts to promote your own growth and development.

 

Don’t Forget to Complete Your Reflections! (Complete reflection by Sundays at 11:59 P.M. Email Abigail Machesky, machesk5@msu.edu, if you have questions or are unable to reflect by the deadline.) Don’t forget to log your hours in the MSU Civic Life App!  100+ hours makes you eligible to receive the Spartan Volunteer Service Award.