Learning, In Deed

Service Learning Projects Help Students Grow

By Cindy Long, NEA Today

Henry E. Lackey High School sits in Prince George’s County, Maryland -- one of the lowest socio-economic areas of the country – where crime, drugs, and poverty are very much a part of life for kids growing up in this Washington, D.C. suburb. But despite the obstacles -- or maybe because of them -- students at Lackey High are making a positive difference in their communities.

Charlene Haynie, a psychology and sociology teacher, is the school’s service learning coordinator. “The students and I take a look at the community and determine what’s needed, and then they choose their own projects,” she says. “Many of them are already active in the community – some are volunteer firefighters and emergency medical technicians, others are active within their religious organizations.”

The students have participated in a wide range of service activities – they’ve visited veterans hospitals, taken part in school yard cleanups, held food drives, and set up letter writing campaigns to the servicemen and women in Iraq and Afghanistan.

One student decided to record library books for first-graders. That way, young students who were learning to read could check out the library books and page through them along with the recording, turning the pages when the recording indicated.

According to the National Service-Learning Partnership, a national network of members advancing service-learning as a core part of education, service-learning is a teaching method that engages young people in solving problems within their schools and communities as part of their academic studies or other type of intentional learning activity. The student who set up the book recording campaign recognized that many children in the community didn’t have parents who could read to them and came up with a solution.

But beyond solving problems, Haynie says service learning instills a sense of accomplishment, of self-worth, and of compassion for others. “They grow as people after completing their service learning projects,” she says.

Maryland was the first state in the nation to require high school students to engage in service-learning activities as a condition of graduation. Each of the 24 school districts in Maryland implements the requirement differently, because they tailor their program to the specific needs of their students and the needs in their communities.

According to The National Center for Education Statistics (NCES), sixty-four percent of all public schools, including 83 percent of public high schools, had students participating in community service activities recognized by or arranged through the school.

Haynie is a fellow of the Maryland Student Service Alliance, which is part of the Maryland Department of Education. Fellows are teachers who create service-learning experiences for students, share their expertise with colleagues, and promote the use of service-learning as an effective teaching tool.

As a fellow, Haynie and the Special Education department set up a “best buddies” program in which service-learning students were paired with special education students.

“Some of the kids in the program were very challenged, and there was a young man that worked with one of the most challenged students in special education,” she recalls. “He sat with him to talk every morning, and he ate lunch with him every day. When the prom approached, he even taught the student to dance and lined up a date for him. Those daily interactions – those displays of friendship – made all the difference. We didn’t know if this student would make it, but after spending time with his "best buddy," there was such a profound change. He really made a difference.”

Below are some resources to help you set up a service learning project or program at your school:

• Learn and Serve America
• National Service Learning Clearinghouse
• National Service Learning Partnership