I am working with a group of five teachers from an urban alternative high school on implementing service learning.  It will consist of getting started on some pilot projects next school year with an eye on implementation into the curriculum the following year.

        I am looking for suggestions on where they should begin, what their immediate goals should be, what their ultimate goals should be? 
        I am also looking for resources for our training.  In a five day training session, what should we focus on?

Thanks

Dennis Lawrence
Washington High School
Kansas City, Kansas

Attached is a 2001/2002 Cal-High SIFE handbook. A 2002/2003 handbook will be
available in August.

Sincerely,

Curt DeBerg
Faculty Adviser, Chico State Students in Free Enterprise (SIFE)
cdeberg@csuchico.edu

My name is Angela and I am a VISTA Service Leader at Ohio Northern University.
Last year when I first started, my goal was to first come up with a
strategic plan.  What did I want to accomplish and how was I got to do it.
Then we worked on a marketing plan.  I need to think of ways to "sell"
service-learning.  I ended up creating a resource guide for the faculty that
had information guide to service-learning, brochures, and conference dates
that the professors could attend.  Although we are a University,
service-learning was never a "defined" word so getting this information out
was really important.  We also created a survey to see what faculty knew
about service-learning, if they were doing it, etc.

The biggest thing for your training session that I would include is
reflection.  A lot of classes I notice have the community service part down
pat, but the reflection process is not that effective.  Right now I am
working on revising my resource guide and added a lot more reflection ideas.

I am not sure that I helped that much.  If you were looking more on what
projects the students should do, maybe do an adopt a grandparent program
where the students go to a nursing home and spend time with one of the
patients for the year.  Another idea would be tutoring the junior
high/elementary students in a subject they are really good in.  Good luck!
 

~*Ange
a-campise@onu.edu

VISTA Service Leader
Ohio Northern University

A couple of key ingredients seem to affect success of implementation - one
is readiness, which is more than preparedness, both things that training
can help. 

One survey that was developed out of an attempt to help increase complete
staff implementation contained these questions.  1) Who is already involved
in sponsoring student leadership organizations that contain elements of
service? 2) Who has already included service in curriculum areas? 3) Who is
involved in community service? 

The last question seems to be the catalyst for increasing preparedness and
readiness in that service-learning allows these teachers to bring an
element of their lives into the classroom that they might not otherwise
have included.  Teachers of this ilk tell me that they sometimes even feel
selfish introducing service-learning because it meets their own personal
needs and values.

You're right about finding someone to support teachers throughout the year.
 I believe that this is crucial. 

And getting teachers for 5 days in training - how did you do this?  Are
these consecutive days?  One thing some of us who have been National
Writing Project recipients have identified is that the success of that
implementation was a result of the training occurring in segments separated
by practice.  It is 10 days throughout a school year. 
 

And, for those teachers who have not been involved in community service, it
is crucial that they experience that element of service for themselves in
reflective training sessions, giving them all kinds of chances to see/think
about how a service project could work in their curricular areas.  Another
couple of areas in which all teachers have not been trained nor had
experience in practice that are critical to the success of service-learning
are cooperative learning and project-based learning.  Having reflection
experiences throughout the training process in many transparent settings so
that teachers not only participate but are getting to examine the process
metacognitively seems to be another element for success.  Re-examining what
we know about student developmental levels and their readiness for learning
at various stages is helpful in encouraging teachers that none of us may
ever be at the same place at the same time, and, if then, only momentarily,
and that this is the art and science that can be developed by professional
educators through service-learning.
 

Let me know how else I can help - other resources - material or otherwise. 
Or a conversation
 

Andrae England, Advisor
ande@mail.utexas.edu
Southwest Exchange for Service-Learning Training and Technical Assistance

Dennis:  I would suggest starting with the faculty themselves and having them focus on their dreams, hopes, and objectives for a course, or smaller still, one unit for a course.  The idea would be to help them translate one piece of a course so that it could accommodate service learning.  I have found that faculty (although I work with college faculty, I believe this would be similar) need a lot of guidance regarding what service learning is and how it would work for them without overwhelming them.  They want to do something useful.  You might also find a few potential, if not partners, then associates/collaborators, community agencies, who would be willing to work with high school students.  That might come later after you've got the faculty thinking about what service learning might look like for them.

You might also give them some examples of what others have done with high school service learning.  You might hook up with a local college.  You could contact the college to see if anyone who directing the service learning component.

You might also talk to other high schools who are doing service learning.  I can give you a number in Massachusetts, someone who is charged with the service-learning component for her high school. 

Good luck, Sharyn Lowenstein 
SLowenstein@Lasell.edu

Bev Jackson
Marcojac@aol.com 
Service-learning Consultant
Salem, Oregon 

The main thing I would say is to involve some potential community partners (agency volunteer coordinators, etc.) in the training, so that they can share their needs with the teachers, for training purposes now, and eventually for planning purposes. 

Betsy
bwarrine@mail.pcc.edu 

I guess you're familiar with project-based learning, given your subject
heading... It would help to know what the teachers are already familiar
with, that relates to service learning....

I have a chapter on "Doing Service Projects in Urban Settings" in an
edited book by Alan Waterman, Service Learning:  Applications from the
Research.  You might want to take a look at that.  I've been involved in
service learning in urban settings (Philadelphia) for quite a while.
One of the most important things I've learned is that service projects
need to be connected to the students' interests in improving THEIR
community/ies -- unlike the way we tend to think about "service" for
middle class students.  In this regard, there's an interesting
Afrocentric program that was developed over some 8 years in a small
learning community in a local comprehensive high school.  The founding
teacher is currently a PhD student in our program -- I could put you in
touch with her, as wel.

Training?  I'm involved in a course for preservice teachers that has the
students BOTH do a service learning project AND apply it to their own
teaching.  We have a number of sections, which use different approaches
to teaching through service learning (Need in Deed; Kids Around Town;
project-based; agency/community -based; school-based).  Although it is
common to train teachers without having them do a project, I don't agree
with this approach.  I would start a training with at least a half-day
experience.  Service learning is a different pedagogy (read Rhoads on
this -- don't have the exact reference here right now) and the teachers
need to experience it, even a bit.  Among the readings we've used are,

Rahima C. Wade, ed. (1997).  Community Service Learning: A Guide to
Including Service in the Public School Curriculum.  Albany, NY: SUNY
Press.   ISBN 0791431843

J. Claus & C. Ogden (1999).  Service Learning for Youth Empowerment and
Social Change.  Peter Lang Publishers.  ISBN 0820438588.

These are complemented by other readings on urban issues (an article
from Utne Reader, "Cities don't suck"; Peggy MacIntosh, White Privilege;
fiction about urban youth; etc., etc.

I've attached a sample syllabus.  Let me know if you'd like some more
ideas... Good luck.
 

Novella Keith
keithnov@astro.ocis.temple.edu
Urban Education Program, Temple University

Katharine Kravetz
kkravet@american.edu
Academic Director, Transforming Communities Semester
Washington Semester Program
Tenley Campus - Dunblane 111
American University

Re Resources, if you don't know it, I would check out my Soul of a Citizen
book on citizen engagement. It's gotten really nice responses at high
schools in Buffalo, Seattle, and Spokane where they've been teaching it, and
an American Indian high school in  Oklahoma just ordered a bunch of books
for their students.  Here's some info, including how to get a free exam
copy...

Teachers with potentially relevant courses can get a free copy from the
publisher by emailing academic@hholt.com, and giving the title, ISBN
0-312-20435-3, and their position as well as the name of prospective classes
they'd consider it for. You can find classroom study questions and links to
service learning examples at
www.soulofacitizen.org/studyquestions.htm.

Paul Loeb" <Loeb@soulofacitizen.org> 

For help in your area Contact the National Service-Learning Exchange, 1-877-572-3924 / www.nslexchange.org / they can put you in touch with Peer Mentors. Stephanie Hill is a Baptiste Ed. Center in KC. 816 316-7167, stephanieh@hickmanmills.org 

Donna Halsband 
DHalsband@stlcc.cc.mo.us
Service-Learning Coordinator 
St. Louis Community College - Meramec

Robyn Gibboney, PhD
<rgibbone@iupui.edu>
Director of Development
Indiana University School of Nursing

I have just returned from a Prudential Youth Leadership Institute (Train the Trainer) program.  Please have a look at their program.   It may be a helpful framework for starting your students on a community service program.

More information may be available from Points of Light.  I do not have my program materials here today.  Let me know if you would like phone numbers or more detail.

Best regards,

Darlene Nadeau
Coordinator, Service Learning
Rivier College
420 Main Street
Nashua, NH 03060
dnadeau@rivier.edu

This is a tall order since we are just figuring out the process! Most of what we've done has been intuition, trial and error. However, upon reflection, we've learned much from this chaotic process.

We are working on a Community Needs Assessment which consists of community mapping and market research. Some of the data we are looking for is already available, it's just a matter of finding the source. For example, we observed that many students have no idea how to do their taxes. We contacted the IRS and found out that in our community, a bazillion dollars in Earned Income Credit was unclaimed last year because people do not file their taxes. We decided that this is a service we are capable of providing so we have decided to start a Voluntary Income Tax Assistance program next year to educate our community and help them file their taxes. 

Our next step is to determine which projects we want to work on next year. VITA is one of them.

Next, we held a retreat. We were sure to invite our community and corporate partners and any other adults with whom to partner. For instance, our lunch service is partnering with Peer Health Educators on a nutrition blitz, so we invited their representatives to our retreat. 

At the retreat, we completed a project template as a group. Then we broke out into various project groups and completed the template which consisted of identifity vision, goals, objectives, resources, obstacles, timeline, plan of action, and 5 critical factors for success. Once those documents are submitted to us, we will be sure to send them to you as a model. 

Does this help you? If you have never done this before, you should send your tentacles out for someone who has, such as a non-profit (always good to have a fiscal agent to process money outside of the school district) or graduate/PhD student conducting research at the local college. 

I have also attached a workshop which Curt recommended to me. It takes place in Indiana this summer. I plan to attend, since I have had little formal training in the area of service learning myself! 

Keep in touch, Dennis. Good luck. I encourage you to ask questions. Thanks. Amy

Amy Carpenter" 
<amybcarpenter@hotmail.com>

One - identify departments that resonante to this type of thing....Social
Work, Education, etc. (professional schools)...I STRONGLY recommend
including a discussion of what S-L is NOT....people THINK they know..."Oh,
yeah...internships...we do that...." PLUS...talk about they could simply
incorporate S-L into exisiting courses...it doesn't HAVE to be a new course.
 

Two - move away from departments and go after individual faculty who are
"like-minded" and are doing things similar to this.  Same messages as
above...just one-on-one.  
 

Three - solicit support and input from students....such as departmental
SACs....many students come from High School experiences and want to have
similar at college...it's amazing the impact (pressure) students can
have...let them be involved in the planning/recruiting...they get invested
from the get-go.
 

That's all I can think of off the top of my head.  Good luck!
 

Marshall Welch, Ph.D.
MWelch@saff.utah.edu
Lowell Bennion Community Service Center
200 Central Campus Drive Rm. 101
University of Utah
Salt Lake City, Utah  84112-9100