Service Learning Commons^™

Make Sure It's Service Learning, Not Just Community Service, Leonard T. Burns

Special Topics, General

Service learning may be made more beneficial to communities by allowing students to participate aggressively in various learning activities, while keeping them abreast with their own social responsibilities. Students must also be given adequate opportunity to reflect on their service experiences.

Elder Mentors: Elder Mentors And At-Risk Youth, Marc Freedman

Intergenerational

Many at-risk youth are growing up isolated from the range of caring and consistent adult relationships so important for navigating the treacherous course from adolescence to adulthood. An accumulation of longitudinal research suggests that adult relationships-- provided not only by parents, but by grandparents, neighbors and other interested adults--are a common factor among resilient children, who achieve success despite growing up in disadvantaged and stressful circumstances. An important, and not often addressed, question for social intervention is whether the circumstances of more at-risk youth could be improved through efforts designed to provide greater access to these relationships.

Transforming Service Learning: An Argument For The Radical Inclusion Of Young People, Dana R. Fusco

School K-12

While much has been written delineating the reasons for supporting service learning, rarely have students' views been included. As a result of creating collective dialogues with young people, this article presents service learning from their perspective. Further, the methodology by which young people could be heard is put forth as a tool for bringing service learning to a new level.

School-Based Service: Reconnecting Schools, Communities, And Youth At The Margin, Joan Schine

Service Learning, General

The sound of gunshots was not particularly unusual in Washington Heights, a section of New York City where drug deals were common and children learned early to be vigilant. But on a late summer day in 1992, the fatal shot came from a police revolver, and it was a Dominican, a drug dealer, who was killed. The ensuing turmoil, born of the immediate crisis but a reflection of the longstanding antagonism between the youth of the neighborhood and the police, soon become a riot. Most of the police in the local precinct were White. The overwhelming majority of the young …

History Of The Service-Learning It Requirement In Maryland, Kathy Megyeri

Service Learning, General

Schools in Maryland have long provided some opportunities for students to volunteer. There have been the usual walk-a-thons, canned-food drives, visits to the elderly, and tree-planting projects. Building on this tradition, in 1985 the Maryland State Board of Education enacted a requirement that all school systems offer courses and programs in community service, open to all students, for elective credit, to provide opportunities for students to reach beyond themselves to help others. Two hundred of Maryland teachers were trained by the state, and during the 198889 school year, over 1,000 students were engaged in community service projects for credit (Maryland …

Research Paper Youth Service, Douglas H. Stubbe

Special Topics, General

An assumption that most people would probably agree on is that service to community, on a voluntary basis, builds character, self esteem, pride toward one's self and his/her community, develops personal growth and respect or compassion for others. I don't think many people look beyond that. Does the service need to be voluntary? Is service a responsibility that goes with being a part of a community? Why is service a positive aspect of community life? What are the characteristics of service that make it a fulfilling experience? Should youth be required to serve their community? If so, are there other …

Project Northland: Outcomes Of A Communitywide Alcohol Use Prevention Program During Early Adolescence, Cheryl L. Peny, Carolyn L. Williams, Sara Veblen-Mortenson, Traci L. Toomey, Kelli A. Komro, Pamela S. Astine, Paul G. Mcgovern, John R. Finnegan, Jean L. Forster, Alexander C. Wagenaar, Mark Wolfson

Project Summaries

Adolescent drinking and other drug use remain major public health problems in this country, despite some encouraging declines in the prevalence of use.^1-7 Alcohol use among adolescents is widespread (e.g., 88% of 12th graders reported any lifetime use in 1992), even though drinking is illegal for essentially all high school students.³ Motor vehicle crashes are the leading cause of death for adolescents,⁸ with one third to one half of such crashes involving alcohol.⁹ Furthermore, early onset of alcohol and tobacco use is a risk factor for progression to more serious forms of drug use.¹⁰

Investigating Urban Community Needs: Service Learning From A Social Justice Perspective, Carol Wiechman Maybach

Service Learning, General

Homelessness, poverty, substance abuse, hunger, teen pregnancy, youth violence, and marginalization of the disabled are but a few of the complex social issues that continue to plague urban America. They are also issues that attract the attention of student service providers involved in service-learning programs across the country (Education Commission of the States, 1994). However, few of the higher education service-learning courses focus on the investigation of the needs of the individuals included in these groups in the urban community, and even fewer build service--learning projects around a model that is accountable for the results of the service experience on …

Adults As Allies, Barry Checkoway

Partnerships/Community

Young people are creating community change! They are tutoring in the schools, working in health clinics, and serving meals in soup kitchens. They are cleaning up the environment, rehabilitating houses for the homeless, and formulating strategies for neighborhood revitalization. They are solving problems, planning programs, and involving people in decisions at the community level.

The Prudential Spirit Of Community Youth Survey: A Survey Of High School Students On Community Involvement, Wirthlin Group

School K-12

Most of today's high-school teens (62%) feel their communities are good or very good places to live. But more say that conditions in their communities are getting worse (30%) than getting better (25%).

Crime and violence are the most pressing problems facing communities today, according to 36% of students. Other areas of concern are drug and alcohol abuse (cited by 18%), education (7%), economic problems (7%) and lack of youth programs (6%).

More than six teens in ten (62%) say the solutions to such problems lie in individual action rather than government programs. Only one in three (33%) favor government …

Yac Tracks: A Step-By-Step Guide For Organizing Community Youth Action Coalitions, Kansas Office For Community Service, Points Of Light Foundation

Special Topics, General

YAC Tracks, a step-by-step Guide for organizing Community Youth Action Coalitions, is the result of a ten month study on developing local youth service organizations. The first step for this manual was the discovery of: How to Start Your Own Youth Council", a publication of the New York State Youth Council. This information provided the base to create an outline for YAC Tracks in December 1995. Since that time, YAC Tracks has evolved and changed considerably! This manual consists of a process for mobilizing Community YACs at home and includes examples, activity ideas and practical suggestions. Contributors to t:his effort …

Community Partnerships: Collaboration For Youth Service Learning, Terry Pickeral, Beau Bassett, Rachel Vaughn

Conference Proceedings

On behalf of the Alaska State Community Service Commission, I would like to welcome you to a series of training, forums, and workshops on Learn & Serve America programs. These programs have great potential to impact the youth and adults of our community.

We are pleased to have Terry Pickeral and Rachael Vaughn with us for the week and hope to learn from them additional ways that the people of Alaska can help to create collaborative relationships for youth service, volunteerism, educational reform, and community involvement.

The Alaska State Community Service Commission has been developing a State Pan that proposes …

Senior Center In Seattle Applauds Service-Learning, Nola L. Freeman

Intergenerational

In the fall of 1992, the Pike Market Senior Center, an urban gathering place for a widely diverse community of low income elders, joined 30 other sites in the Seattle area in accepting an invitation from the Carlson Leadership and Public Service Office at the University of Washington. In accepting this invitation, these sites agreed to help the office accomplish the following mission: "To promote, support, and organize opportunities for undergraduates to become involved in effective public service, helping them to mature in their understanding of complex social, philosophical, economic, and political issues, and instilling in them a life-long commitment …

Creating A School And Community Culture To Sustain Service Leaming, Caroline Allam

Service Learning, General

"You guys have always done this stuff for us. It's our town. We're the ones that are going to have to run the town after you old guys are gone. We ought to get a shot at making some deicisions about the future (Lysen 1992, p. 8).

This strong sentiment came from a Bath Junior High School student who was working with peers, teachers, scientists, and other community members to conduct water quality tests on the Kennebec River in Maine. The statement reflects the desire and willingness of young people to work together, to assume responsibility and stewardship for their …

Seventh Annual Governor's Youth Service Recognition Day, Governor Arne Carlson, The National Youth Leadership Council, Lutheran Brotherhood

Conference Proceedings

Materials for the 7th Annual Governor's Youth Service Recognition/National Youth Service Day.

Service Learning For All Students, Carl I. Fertman

Service Learning, General

We are witnessing a transformation in education. Again and again we hear that we are in times of diversification, collaboration, systemic change, and transition. Although these terms apply to cooperative efforts between groups, they stem from the realization that such efforts can efficiently support and prepare students to face increasingly complex challenges, opportunities, and problems. Service learning is a part of this transformation.

Service learning rightly has been called the education of empowerment. It builds self-esteem, renews curiosity about learning, develops interpersonal skills, stirs leadership development, rekindles work and service ethics, and brings the world of careers closer to home. …

Topic Bibliography On Behaviorally And Emotionally Disordered Youth And Service, Robin Vue Benson, Robert D. Shumer

Bibliographies

The sources listed on the following pages are in response to requests for information on the behaviorally and emotionally disturbed youth and service-learning. They were obtained by conducting searches of the ERIC database on CD-ROM. Broad topics were chosen for a comprehensive selection of references. With several hundred records identified, only those with direct relevance are included here. In addition, references from several service-learning bibliographies are included. The search for more sources of information on this topic is ongoing and this compilation will be updated periodically.

Challenges Of Replicating Success, Jay Altman, Tom Malarkey

Service Learning, General

Khrishnamurti used to tell a story about Man walking along the shore of the sea of life looking for the shell of truth. God and the Devil are watching from atop the cliffs rising far above the sand and water. Man finds the shell of truth in the roaring surf and picks it up. God turns to the Devil and says, "I've got you now, for Man has discovered truth."

I'm not worried," replies the Devil. "Just wait until he organizes it."

Although we hope no one would ever presume to have found the truth, most of us in the …

Service And Volunteerism: Working Together For Our Future, Youth Service California, Volunteer Centers Of California, Inc., Calserve

Conference Proceedings

As you gather for this important Conference, you have the best wishes of the White House Office of National Service -- and the full expectation that you will re-double your efforts on behalf of service.

President Clinton, at the ceremony signing the National and Community Service Trust Act of 1991, said, "I hope, believe and dream that national service will remain throughout the life of America, not a aeries of promises, but a aeries of challenges, across all the generations an4 all walks of life, to help us to rebuild our troubled but wonderful land....Today we are taking a stand …

Looking For Young People Listening For Youth Voice, John Beilenson

Service Learning, General

Where are the young people? This is the question I find myself asking as I make my way around the offices of national and community service programs in Washington and across the country. I have worked in and for youth service and youth serving organizations since 1985, so I have few illusions. Offices are for adults. If you want to find the youth in youth service, you generally have to get out to project sites-schools and playgrounds and parks where young people are actually doing service.

Public Law 103-82 [H.R. 2010] September 21, 1993 National And Community Service Trust Act Of 1993, Corporation For National Service

Special Topics, General

An Act To amend the National and Community Service Act of 1990 to establish a Corporation for National Service, enhance opportunities for national service, and provide national service educational awards to persons participating in such service, and for other purposes.

Summary Of National And Community Service Trust Act, Serve America

Special Topics, General

The national service initiative is designed to address the nation's problems by mobilizing Americans of every background, but particularly young people, in service to our communities and country. The programs support service extending from our youngest elementary students to our oldest citizens, and will fund service ranging from part-time volunteer activities to full-time public service with educational awards.

National Youth Service: A Developing Institution, Donald J. Eberly

Service Learning, General

Twenty years ago, it was rare to find students integrating community service with their formal education. The phrase "service learning" had been born only a few years earlier, and was not yet in common usage.

Today, service learning is fairly common in high schools and their surrounding communities. Many high schools and a few school systems have made it a requirement for graduation. And the federal government now supports service learning both with exhortation and with dollars.

Standards Of Quality For School-Based Service Learning, Alliance For Service Learning In Education Reform

Service Learning, General

Service-learning is a method

• by which young people learn and develop through active participation in thoughtfully organized service experiences that meet actual community needs and that are coordinated in collaboration with the school and community;

• that is integrated into the young person's academic curriculum or provides structured time for a young person to think, talk, or write about what he/ she did and saw during the actual service activity;

• that provides young people with opportunities to use newly acquired academic skills and knowledge in real-life situations in their own communities; and

• that enhances what is taught …

Outline Of Legislation: National And Community Service Trust Act, Corporation For National Service

Special Topics, General

The national service initiative is designed to tackle the nation's problems by mobilizing Americans of every background, and particularly young people, in service to our communities and country. The programs extends support for service from the youngest elementary students to our oldest citizens, and includes everything from part-time volunteer activities to full-time public service jobs. The centerpiece of the effort to support service is a new program to offer educational awards to Americans who make a substantial commitment to service.

Fairy Tale Friends, Mary Chamberlain

Special Topics, General

As students grow into responsible citizens. they need to realize that the quality of their lives is affected by the quality of the relationships in their lives.

This Community Service learning Unit - Fairy Tale Friends - was designed as part of the language Arts, English and Reading, curriculum. Middle School students will work on a Fairy Tale Unit. They will learn characteristics of Fairy Tales and fiction, using strategies of the writing/reading process. and cooperative learning. After the completion of the unit, they will work with elementary students, helping them write Fairy Tales.

Part two of their instruction will …

Elder Mentors: Giving Schools A Hand, Marc Freedman, Natalie Jaffe

Intergenerational

Mentoring is threatening to become a buzzword without meaning. We hear about mentoring for principals, for teachers, for students, for employees in a wide range of businesses and industry. There is mentoring by principals, by teachers, by students, by corporate executives, by members of the community. There is mentoring designed to help adult "mentees" (an ungraceful word) be better administrators, teachers, practitioners, or employees; to help youth adjust to society after incarceration or institutionalization; to do better in school, take good care of their children, not get pregnant in the first place, stay out of jail; stop taking drugs-and on …

Phi Delta Kappan - Special Section On Youth Service, Joe Nathan, James Kielsmeier

Special Topics, General

This Special Section on Youth Service features: The Sleeping Giant of School Reform; School-Based Community Service: What We Know from Research and Theory; Project Service Leadership: School Service Projects In Washington State; Gadugi: A Model of Service-Learning for Native American Communities; Citizenship, Service, and School Reform in Pennsylvania; Community Service Learning And School Improvement in Springfield, Massachusetts; Community Service and Civic Education; SerVermont: The Little Initiative That Could; and National Service and Education for Citizenship.

Community Service Learning And School Improvement In Springfield, Massachusetts, Virginia Anderson, Carol Kinsley, Peter Negroni, Carolyn Price

Service Learning, General

Calls for changes in the education system continually issue forth from various segments of society. Each outpouring of public concern challenges educators to address the needs of young people and to achieve school renewal. The current literature on school reform advocates an agenda of improvement efforts aimed at creating effective, caring schools that will provide active learning opportunities for students. develop learning communities, expand learning into the community. foster collegiality among staff members, and enable teachers to become "orchestra conductors" in the classroom rather than lecturers. But educators ask, "How can all of this be achieved?"

Turning On Youth To Politics; Beyond Community Service, Harry C. Boyte

Civic Engagement

Studies by the Times Mirror Center ("The Age of Indifference") and others purport to reveal that today's teenagers and young adults view politics with nearly universal hatred and express apathy toward public affairs generally. A little more probing uncovers a more complex set of attitudes. Allan Moyle's film Pump Up the Volume, based in part on workshops with teenagers in New York, reveals a generation not so much apathetic as disgusted with adult hypocrisy, furious at adults' apparent inaction on mounting social problems, cynical about 1960s-style protest and uncertain about what else there is to do. But it is clear …