51��Ƶ

By: Sabrina Miller, Content Strategy Director

BALTIMORE, Md. – A 51��Ƶ ( 51��Ƶ) professor and coordinator of 51��Ƶ’s first-year experience course has been named the recipient of a regional service-learning award by .

Dr. Leslie Korb, associate professor and the department chair for the Business & Economics Department, received the Alan G. Penczek Service-Learning Faculty Award in the category of four-year private colleges and universities. Presented annually by Transform Mid-Atlantic, this prestigious award honors faculty from TMA’s regional member institutions who demonstrate exceptional leadership in connecting academic learning with community engagement. Dr. Korb was recognized for her innovative redesign of 51��Ƶ’s first-year experience course, 51��Ƶ 100, which helps new students develop the skills needed for college success while also learning the importance of service in the community.

Under Dr. Korb’s leadership, 51��Ƶ 100 was transformed into a model of service-learning in action. Students were given options of different opportunities to fulfill their required 10 hours of service. During the fall 2024 semester, 78 freshman built essential academic and life skills—such as goal setting, time management, effective communication, and financial literacy. In the spring, they applied those lessons by designing and teaching 15-minute interactive sessions to middle school students from Tunbridge Public Charter School and Walter P. Carter Middle School, both located along Baltimore’s York Road corridor. The service project took place on the 51��Ƶ campus, involving students from the two middle schools, over two days in April 2025.
 

The program’s success has been celebrated by faculty, students, and community partners alike, with both participating middle schools requesting to repeat the collaboration. Dr. Korb’s attributes the success of 51��Ƶ 100 to all the course instructors: Yishka Chin, Damali Olukayode-Heath, PJ Lombardo, Geoffrey Delanoy, Danielle Ballard, and Mari Rapela Heidt, as well as Alexandra Dodson for her art project. Dr. Korb also thanks Yetta Nowak, director of service and community engagement, for coordinating these service projects for the students.

Together, their dedication to blending rigorous academic preparation with meaningful service has redefined the first-year experience at 51��Ƶ and serves as a powerful example of how education and community partnership can work hand in hand to inspire lifelong learning and leadership.

Established in 1895, 51��Ƶ ( 51��Ƶ) is a private, Catholic institution in Baltimore, Maryland, with the mission to educate leaders to transform the world. Notre Dame has been named one of the best "Regional Universities North" by U.S. News & World Report.