Alabama Action
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| Kana Ellis and Cathy Randall |
Dr. Cathy Randall, director of the University's Computer-Based Honors Program, and Kana Ellis, Honors Student of the Year, have a deep and abiding respect for one another.
Dr. Randall enthusiastically identifies herself as "chairman of the Kana Ellis Fan Club" and maintains that Ellis has "never needed a mentor." Kana respectfully disagrees, citing Dr. Randall's encouragement and lifelong "passion for learning" as the key reasons she became a campus leader, dedicating herself to improving the lives of those around her.
A psychology major with law school aspirations, the Honors Program Student Association president both her junior and senior years, and a 2003 recipient of the Algernon Sydney Sullivan Award, Kana has made community service her raison d'etre. The very tangible result of that dedication and of Dr. Randall's unflagging support is Alabama Action, a servicelearning project that connects University honors freshmen with their surrounding communities. Through Alabama Action, now in its third year, these students have transformed the lives of local schoolchildren and realized their own capacity to effect positive change.
Alabama Action began in 2001 with 15 freshmen, Kana, and three other student leaders. The week before fall classes began at the Capstone, they traveled 35 miles to Eutaw, Alabama, where they refurbished the Boys and Girls Club in the morning, tutored at local schools in the afternoon, and attended seminars on poverty-related issues at night.
Dr. Randall credits Kana with the project's success. "Our faces fell when we walked into [the community center] ... everyone's face, that is, but Kana's. And she wouldn't be satisfied just with cleaning and painting ... she found an abandoned office and closet in horrible disrepair and asked, 'Dr. Randall, don't you think we could turn this into a study room with computers for the children?' So off she sent me to beg for new carpet and surplus computers, and within a week, voilá, there was a new computer lab. She became so committed to that community that she organized a group to return to Eutaw monthly to continue mentoring the members of the Boys and Girls Club there and improving the club facilities," Randall said.
The 2002 Alabama Action project took place at Holt Elementary School. This time, 36 honors freshmen, along with six student leaders including Ellis, built an outdoor classroom, painted career-oriented murals in the cafeteria, and established a new organization system in the school library. The library also has a vibrant new look, with brightly colored tables and bean bag chairs and an inviting reading corner. The UA students, who conducted mini-lessons on goal setting, conflict resolution, and computer skills for fifth-graders at the school, now return the last Friday of each month to continue their work there.
Recently recognized for her significant contributions to local, regional, and national honors programs by the National Collegiate Honors Council with its first-ever Honors Student of the Year Award, Kana hopes Alabama Action will continue to be a catalyst for change in the state of Alabama. Her role model, Dr. Randall, is confident it will.
