|
Sept. 22, 2008 For more information, contact: Meramec Communities Reaping Benefits Students to focus on Crocker, Salem this semester ST. JAMES—Students in Dr. Karl Burgher’s engineering management class won’t be spending much time in the classroom this semester. Instead they will be having real life adventures in Crocker and Salem. “The class mimics a consulting firm,” Dr. Burgher told the board of Meramec Regional Planning Commission during its regular meeting Sept. 11 in St. James. “They’ll have real clients and real projects.” Through an engineering management class at Missouri University School of Science and Technology, students work with local governments to address their needs and identify solutions. Students in the class learn by doing and help a community in the process—a concept known as service learning. MRPC Executive Director Richard Cavender has been helping Dr. Burgher identify communities and makes initial introductions. Students have spent past semesters researching projects in Newburg, St. James, Vienna and Potosi. This semester will focus on Crocker, Salem and Centralia, whose mayor is acquainted with Vienna Mayor Les Darr Jr. Students will visit the community and identify projects, which could range from the need for skate park to the need for alternative energy to ideas to rejuvenate a downtown. Students are then assigned projects based on their interests and skills. “I’m trying to teach them a process of working with real people,” Dr. Burgher said. “The community gets free labor, and the students get real experience,” he added. Near the conclusion of the class, students prepare reports on their projects, and formally present them to the community during a meeting. Dr. Burger described the reports as pre-engineering studies that would have an average value of $10,000 each. Students developed eight projects in Newburg, 11 projects each in St. James and Vienna, and nine in Potosi. “The more enthusiasm put forth by the community, the more you get from the students,” Dr. Burgher. “They get fired up and enthused.” Cavender pointed out that the reports have provided the basic information for grant applications, and the city of Potosi is submitting applications as a result of the students work. Dr. Burgher asked local governments interested in hosting future classes to contact him. In other business, the board: • Learned that Joe Driskill of Leonard Wood Institute would be the guest speaker at MRPC’s 2008 Annual Dinner, planned Nov. 12 at St. Robert Community Center; • Approved contracts with the State Emergency Management Agency to update Hazard Mitigation plans for Phelps and Gasconade counties; • Heard plans of an open house in January to recognize MRPC’s 40 th anniversary; and • Approved contracts with Crawford, Maries, Dent and Phelps counties to have MRPC assist with the Census 2010 Statistical Area Program in those counties. Formed in 1969, MRPC is a voluntary council of governments serving Crawford, Dent, Gasconade, Maries, Osage, Phelps, Pulaski and Washington counties and their respective cities. A professional staff of 27, directed by the MRPC board, offers technical assistance and services, such as grant preparation and administration, housing assistance, transportation planning, environmental planning, ordinance codification, business loans and other services to member communities. The MRPC board will meet at 7:30 p.m. on Oct. 9 at its office at 4 Industrial Drive in St. James. All meetings are open to the public. |