Bonners and Canales Take “Service” to Another Level

In November of 2018, the Bonner Foundation introduced a new set of student workshops to the Bonner network meant to bring “a more comprehensive understanding of civic and community engagement.”  The following spring, our Bonner and Canale Juniors, C’20 completed the first set of issue briefs, setting the stage for our students to see and engage with research and analysis as a deep form of service.

Fast forward to 2024, and the current class of Bonner and Canale Juniors, C’25 collaborated on five issue brief topics.  The topics addressed challenges our community partners have encountered as barriers to their work, shared with our students to explore in more depth.  Students spent the semester exploring the scope of the issue in our local area and nationally, past policies that have impacted the issues, identifying proven programs and practices that have successfully addressed the issue, and compiling the data into a written deliverable report with recommendations from their research.

This year’s topics included:

  • Wage Garnishment and Predatory Lending in Southeast Tennessee, Betterfi: The objective for this research is to gain a better sense of the prevalence of wage garnishment issues and to develop innovative solutions that enable BetterFi to enhance financial literacy and foster increased trust within the communities of Franklin, Marion, Coffee, Hamilton, and Grundy Counties. Specifically, the issue brief aims to empower individuals to avoid falling victim to predatory loans through education and awareness initiatives. Additionally, the intent is to build trust in BetterFi's services to the extent that community members feel confident in refinancing their loans through their platform.
  • Enhancing Family Engagement with Summer Reading Programs, Early Literacy Ambassadors: The aim for this research project is to explore existing early literacy interventions to determine an effective and appropriate model to benefit the Early Literacy Ambassadors in their attempt to develop and maintain reading fluency in elementary schoolers over the summer.
  • Increasing Campus Support of Local Business While Reducing Student Purchasing from Fast Fashion Companies, The Hospitality Shop: The goal of the research is to solidify the Hospitality Shop’s place on Sewanee’s campus through student-oriented marketing strategies while reducing fast fashion consumption by current students.
  • Best Practice Approaches to Reduce Use of Vapes in Schools, Littell-Partin After-School Program: The research aims to examine best practice tools to reduce the use of vaping in schools across America, and more specifically within schools on the South Cumberland Plateau, while identifying why this issue may severely affect kids in this area.  
  • Addressing Barriers to Accessing Resources for Adult Immigrant Populations, Zeal for Education and Language: The goal of the research is to identify the barriers that prevent those in Manchester and Coffee County from accessing ZEAL’s resources and classes and determining best practice approaches to addressing those barriers.