GILROY — There was no final examination in Gavilan College’s
small-group communication class
– but not because the class is easy.
The students in Denise Besson-Silvia’s class didn’t need a test
to show they had learned not only how to communicate in groups, but
how to make a difference in the real world.
GILROY — There was no final examination in Gavilan College’s small-group communication class – but not because the class is easy.
The students in Denise Besson-Silvia’s class didn’t need a test to show they had learned not only how to communicate in groups, but how to make a difference in the real world.
The two classes, split into 11 groups of five or six students, instead spent half of their semester donating time and money in the community, being graded on their ability to make a difference in small groups.
And instead of a final, students received certificates Thursday for completing an extensive learning project that raised more than $8,000 for the community and more than 500 hours of community service.
“Effective small-group communication is about making sacrifices,” Besson-Silvia told her one of her two sections of the class Thursday morning. “This class is about going out in reality.”
Besson-Silvia, who has been teaching communication for seven years, is trying to add classes to Gavilan’s communication department in hopes of eventually offering an associate’s degree – although recent budget cuts may slow the process.
“We’re building the program,” she said.
The instructor, who is originally from Gilroy, uses smiley faces on just about everything, including the certificates. She said smiling takes on a important part of what she wants her students to learn.
“There are six universal emotions where you can go anywhere in the world and the would know what you meant,” she said. “One of those is happy, which is represented by the smile. Your attitude reflects a lot of what you do in life.”
Besson-Silvia has been incorporating community service projects into her small-group communication classes since she began working at Gavilan four years ago. She originally got the idea from an education conference.
“I thought, ‘What a great idea,’ ” Besson-Silvia said. “Why not find a project that can be good for the community? Let’s get out there.”
She said the project teaches more than just communication skills. It also teaches agenda-setting, conducting meetings and cooperation.
“It builds cohesion,” she said. “They just feel like they are a part of something.
“They also said it was successful … and time consuming,” she said. “But the reward was ten-fold.”
After spending the first half of the semester taking lecture notes and learning how to communicate in small groups, students in the class interviewed each other and told Besson-Silvia who they thought they could best work together with in a group. Then they had to come up with a way to help the community.
“They seemed to over-succeed,” she said. “They put on events that were really successful, and they were creative.”
One of the most successful groups, as far as raising funds is concerned, was Operation Fire Prevention, which sold T-shirts and held a dinner party to raise money for the Gilroy Fire Department Fire Prevention Program.
“That’s something I’ve never seen before,” Besson-Silvia said. “Raising $3,500 in two months.
“This is what community college is all about. (The success of the groups) make me feel good about what I’m doing – teaching.”
During the class Thursday, Besson-Silvia also held a discussion with her students about the project.
“Why don’t we do this (on a regular basis)?” she asked of her class.
One student answered, “We’re too busy,” and another added, “And some people don’t care.”
That still may be the case for some in the community, but the students in Besson-Silvia’s class may take a different look at it.
“It makes me take a look at my pretty little world,” said Shanna Thompson, a member of the W.A.R.M.T.H. group which donated warm clothing for 68 homeless people in Gilroy, Morgan Hill, Hollister and San Jose. “We were a whole and grateful group after this.”
W.A.R.M.T.H. wanted to take a hands-on approach to helping out the community’s homeless, so they took a bus to San Jose and searched them out.
“We got to know them a little bit,” Thompson said. “A lot of people think that homeless people are their because of their own choices. But a lot of them don’t want to be there.
“A lot of people say not to help them because they will drink with the money. We wanted to prove that helping the homeless is OK.”
Thompson is no stranger to community service. She is a member of Ro Alpha Mu, a Gavilan organization that works on many community projects, including fund raisers and beach cleanups.
“I like doing community service,” said Thompson, who hopes to continue to do service projects when she goes on to Sacramento State University in hopes of earning a communication degree.
Besson-Silvia agrees that the class can be a real eye-opener for students.
“There are people who have never volunteered a minute of their lives,” she said. “Some say they’ll do it again.”
One of the groups that plans to do just that is the Giving Golfers, who put on a golf tournament at the Gavilan Golf Course that raised $1,700 for toys for underprivileged children and gift baskets for needy families.
“I learned there are a lot more needy people than I thought,” said Brian Hernandez, who came up with the idea for the tournament.
Hernandez and other group members hope to continue to put on the golf tournament, even though they found it was a lot of hard work.
“When reality struck, we were like ‘How are we gonna do this?’ ” group member Becky Mah said. “But it came out really good. We had a chance to become friends with people in our class. The main thing for us was learning how to work together.”
“And the payoff was awesome,” group member Nancy Arce added.
Another community service project came from the Music for Kids group, which included Zack O’Connor, lead singer and bassist for the Hollister-based punk/ska band Fat Loser Band. The group, after being denied on its first proposal to simply pick up trash on the side of the road – something Besson-Silvia said they just didn’t seem to be excited about – put on a concert in December to raise money for Hollister’s elementary school music programs.
“It was nice,” O’Connor said about giving back to the community. “(Music) was what brought all of us together. It was nice to give back that way.”
