APPLES Through the Years

APPLES Historical Review

History of APPLES
Early in 1990, the idea of APPLES was born, thanks to an ambitious student by the name of Tony Deifell. Deifell perceived a disconnect between service and learning within the university community, and saw his idea for this program as a way to connect the two.

In the spring of 1990, he organized a committee known as the Student Action Group (SAG), a group of students dedicated to increasing the presence of service-learning on campus. The SAG worked with a Task Force of faculty, administrative, and community members to connect their ideas with the university and gain support for the program.

In the fall of 1990, APPLES received its first grant and found a home at the Center for Teaching and Learning. At the time, CTL was a perfect fit, as the program wished to be recognized as an academic organization as well as a student organization.

In the spring of 1991, six service-learning courses were finally piloted with great success. As Tony Deifell himself stated:

"I believe the student ownership … reveals the strength of our program. Our motivation is contagious … Students working to influence the quality of their own educational experience can be a powerful catalyst for improvement of that experience."

Despite all of this progress, the students involved quickly came to find out that some sort of year-round administration would be necessary for the program to succeed. At this point, the APPLES program was presented to the student body for the first time. A referendum asked students to add a mere ninety cents to their fees to support a service-learning coordinator, and the referendum was passed.

The number of courses began to grow annually and in 1995 the Social Entrepreneur Fellowships and Summer Internships were added to the offerings of APPLES as a way for students to initiate meaningful and innovative service ideas throughout the community.

The growth continued with Alternative Break Trips, spring and fall, being added to the program offerings. Each of these programs has grown from one trip during their first years to 4 trips and 3 trips respectively.

In 2003, a student-initiated program offered incoming freshman a way to be introduced to service-learning and community service in an around Chapel Hill through the Service-Learning Initiative. The program provides the opportunity for students to arrive to campus three days early and participate in and reflect on different local service opportunities.

APPLES has recently expanded Global Service-Learning by offering 5 trips during the fall and summer to study and serve in communities in Latin America, Southern Africa and Asia. The first program started in 2004 and the global experience provides students a unique opportunity to become more immersed in the cultures in which they study.

Presently, APPLES has an Executive Cabinet and each program is run by a committee made up of organizers who are all student leaders. These students plan, implement, and evaluate the programs with the guidance of three full-time professional staff members and two part-time staff members.

Want to know more about the history of service-learning? Visit http://www.servicelearning.org/article/archive/36/.