YOUNGSTOWN — About 20 Youngstown State University students huddled inside St. Patrick Church over the weekend to learn about vermicomposting.

The process was explained by Deacon Jesse McClain, who led the demonstration Saturday for the group’s introductory meeting.

“St. Patrick has been a neighborhood beacon for over 110 years and that beacon shines the brightest when we work together,” McClain said. “Southside neighbors, churches, Community Corrections (Association), schools, Ohio State University Extension, neighborhood block watches and garden sponsors have forged a spirit that has transformed two acres in the heart of the city into vegetable and flower gardens and an apple orchard. This will be the city’s first vermicomposting farm, but hopefully not the last.”

The freshmen are volunteers from the Sokolov Honors College participating in a Campus Community Partnership course.

Mollie Hartup, director of the Honors College, also serves as an instructor for the partnership class, which is taught to all first-year honors students and gives them the chance to involve themselves in the community through volunteer work.

“One of the main aspects of the course is to work with the students through a project that allows them to engage with a community partner in the community,” Hartop said “We started working with community partners back during fall semester and we connected with Deacon Jesse McClain to ask, ‘What do you need and what can our students do to help you?'”

As part of the course, students are given several options for potential community partnerships, picking the one that engages them most and dedicating 10 hours of community service to their respective projects.

By the end of their class requirements, students will create and present a digital poster to tell the story of their experience. Hartup said she’d like to see students create “long-term relationships” that keep them active in community projects.

The course is only one small piece to a larger initiative, which according to Hartup incorporates community-engaged learning into the classroom experience for students. As outlined in the university’s strategic plan, this initiative will build toward the university applying for the Carnegie Foundation Elective Classification for Community Engagement, which gives universities the chance to gain recognition for community engagement.

FEEDING THE COLONY

McClain took students on a walk through the church’s community garden, where they learned the ins and outs of what they’ll be responsible for during their volunteer hours.

“As the worms eat through each layer of things like eggshells or paper they begin to excrement, which creates a rich composting known for being good for fertilizing your plants,” McClain said.

Further describing the process, McClain said the red wiggler worms will be kept in five layers of composting bins that will be placed inside the garden’s greenhouse next to the church.

The bins will be packed with dirt and worms will be placed in the last layer as they work their way up through the dirt to the top layer, which will have a feeder tray.

“The compost the worms make will help us to be organic, environment friendly and provide nutrients at no cost,” McClain said.

Students are made responsible for ensuring the worms are fed a nutritionally balanced diet centered primarily around fruits and vegetables but also can include cardboard, shredded paper and egg cartons.

By recommendation of worm feeding experts, starchy foods also can be used — including pizza crusts, pancakes, pasta, etc. — but moderation is advised when using foods heavy in starch because the food takes longer to break down inside the worms and students must use care to deter gnats that are attracted to those types of food items.

It’s advised to avoid a number of foods that can be damaging to worm colonies, including citrus foods, because of a chemical released in the peels called D-limonene — a chemical used in insect control.

Other avoidants are meats and bones; nonbiodegradable materials; dairy products; prepackaged foods; foods heavy in spices, salt, grease or fat; and pet waste.

Honors students will present their various volunteer projects at the YSU Office of Community Engagement’s inaugural community engagement conference on campus noon to 4 p.m. April 18 in Kilcawley Center.