The Importance of Community Service Learning
Tell students: "Today in Learning for Life we are going to discuss the concept of service learning and explore opportunities for you to make a difference in your school and community.
"The civil rights leader Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. said, 'Everyone can be great because everyone can serve.' Across the United States, and around the world, millions of young people are making a difference in their neighborhoods, schools, and communities. They are 'adopting' senior citizens, doing ecology projects, tutoring younger students, and aiding the hungry and homeless. They are working alone and in groups to identify problems and come up with solutions.
"If you are tired of seeing graffiti on walls of buildings, if the thought of homeless children touches you, if you are concerned about our planet's resources being slowly used up and destroyed, if you are worried that your community is becoming an unsafe place to live, work, and play, a service project is an effective way for you to bring people together to build a sense of community.
"Has anyone been a volunteer before? Where did you volunteer? How did it make you feel? What type of activities were you involved in? What did you learn from the experience?
"In November 1990, President George Bush signed into law the National Community Service Act which budgeted $62 million to promote service learning activities to young people. President Bill Clinton continued the support of this legislation and the growth of service learning for youth continues to grow.
"Service learning goes beyond community service. It is a teaching and learning methodology in which young people learn and develop civic responsibility through active participation, by meeting community needs, in collaboration with schools and communities and through school curricula; by helping care for others; by using academic skills and knowledge in a real world setting; by extending learning
to outside the classroom; and by reflecting on the activities accomplished.
"One way for people to be greater than they are is to serve."
Activity 1: Give each team a Service Learning Planning worksheet. Explain to students that they are going to explore the components of a service learning experience. Ask them to form cooperative learning groups of four or five students. Have students work together to complete the worksheet and to make plans for implementing the project.
Activity 2: Give each student a Service Learning Reflection worksheet. Ask students to think about their service learning experience and complete Activity 2. Advise students that there are many other options for reflecting, such as speaking to groups; writing reports and articles; and making photographs, paintings, and music.
Closure: Tell students: "Former President of the United States George Bush said, 'From now on in America, any definition of a successful life must include serving others.' As you reflect on the service learning activity, it is hoped that the ethic of service that it introduces will guide your actions through your entire life."
Team Members: ______
Service Learning Project
1. What are some of the needs in our community?
2. How should those needs be prioritized, or ranked in order of importance?
d.
3. What two projects can this group do to meet the need or solve the problem described above?
4. Which project of the two listed above will your group choose to do?
5. What is needed to get started to accomplish this goal?
People (who can help? Who should be involved?):
Resources (money, transportation, materials):
Training (what skills and information are needed?):
Recruitment (how to get others involved?):
Public relations or newspapers (how to inform the community?):
6. What is the group’s plan?
Goals (what you want to accomplish):
Objectives (what are the steps to reach the goal?):
Person Responsible Completion Date
Needs assessment:
People involved:
Training:
Recruitment:
Public Relations:
Other objectives:
Name: ______
Service Learning Reflection
Type and date of service activity: ______
Describe your service experience: ______
Describe something new you learned or experienced during this activity: ______
Reasons for recommending this type of activity to another student: ______
Explain how you used academic course skills during this activity (writing, computing, translating, science, technology, etc.) ______
Other comments: ______