Gannon receives Academic Service-Learning Award at WWU

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Katie Gannon

FULTON, MO (05/21/2013)(readMedia)--  Katie Gannon of St. Louis, Mo., received the Academic Service-Learning Award at William Woods University during the academic convocation April 24. She was honored specifically for work she did with Callaway Senior Center to create a functional website.

The Academic Service-Learning Award is presented to the student who has best exemplified an exceptional commitment to service-learning within a course containing an academic service-learning component during the academic year.

Professors may nominate any full-time William Woods student who holds a 3.40 GPA or better and who has not only fulfilled the course's academic service-learning requirement, but also has made an exemplary contribution to the project or to their community as a result of the project.

Recipients must demonstrate intrinsic motivation to serve beyond self-promotion, serve as a role model for their peers, embody a dedication to learning, produce exemplary work in conjunction to the project, engage in critical reflection of the service and the related learning, or a combination of these elements.

Gannon worked with the Callaway Senior Center for two semesters to create a website that would help the organization function more efficiently. The center needed a site that would allow the organization to do several things: accept volunteers, issue the lunch menu, communicate with an events calendar and give basic information about the organization.

However, there were no funds for the project. Gannon was able to secure a free website portal that still had all the functionality needed for the organization to function well and made sure the website coordinated with the United Way website so there would be a cohesive design.

Gannon was also one of 14 WWU students selected for the 2013 edition of "Who's Who among Students in American Universities and Colleges." A campus nominating committee and editors of the annual directory chose the students based on academic achievement, service to the community, leadership in extracurricular activities and potential for continued success.

By being listed in "Who's Who," she joins an elite group of students from more than 2,300 institutions of higher learning in all 50 states. Outstanding students have been honored in the annual directory since it was first published in 1934.

In addition to what Gannon has done for the Callaway Senior Center, she has volunteered at Joplin-Bring the Flowers Back, Stray Rescue of St. Louis and the Coalition Against Rape and Domestic Violence (CARDV).

Gannon has maintained a 3.75 GPA throughout her college career while serving as director of SWAT (Student Website Advancement Team), marketing director for Campus Activities Board and vice president of recruitment and marketing for the Panhellenic Association. She is also an active member of Alpha Chi Omega sorority, Student Alumni Council, Order of Omega Greek honor society and College DECA student marketing organization.