Grants to Expand
Great
Service Learning
By Anika Baumstone
SEE celebrates the award of $300,000 in funding over the next three years to sustain and expand our service-learning program entitled Building Ethical Communities which emphasizes ethical reflection. The Calder Foundation and the State of Connecticut's Learn & Serve program have each awarded SEE and our partner, Albert Schweitzer Institute (ASI) money to support student-leadership workshops, student project grants, follow-up technical assistance, and project evaluation. The program will expand to include 24 student teams for the 2000-2001 school year.
This great news follows the completion of a wonderful project year during 1999-2000. Ten school teams representing Branford, Bridgeport, Coventry, Ellington, New Britain, Norwalk, Wallingford, East Hartford, Trumbull, and Wolcott completed service-learning projects that were initiated during the previous fall workshops. The students and teachers of Wolcott High discovered a shared interest in the needs of the elderly and connected with the senior citizens in their community. To advance "Opening Doors and Windows -Bridging the Generation Gap", fifteen 9th grade students focused on getting the community to donate computers to the senior center and then wrote a basic computer literacy curriculum for the seniors. The mayor's office donated eight computers to the program and the students were able to secure additional money to buy a printer and software programs. The project was a great success for the students and senior citizens. "This project brings out (our) leadership and citizenship skills," reflected one Wolcott student. In this Connecticut town, the generation gap has suddenly become a little smaller.
Using a multiple-project approach to service-learning, the staff and students at West Rocks Middle School in Norwalk can look back on a year full of successful activity. Originally led by one teacher and five students, the "Sharing is Caring" project expanded over the year to include 35 additional students and two more teachers. Students completed projects ranging from a holiday gift program to designing a conflict resolution presentation. In addition, the students at West Rocks also conducted a drive that helped to buy supplies for women at the local Domestic Violence Crisis Center. The projects had a profound impact on the students and many stated during ethical reflection that they "like the feeling of being part of something that helps others with their personal problems."
Although Wolcott and Norwalk are only two of the programs highlighted, eight other schools from across Connecticut participated in service-learning projects. Many students who participated in projects finished the school year with a high degree of project satisfaction and accomplishment. SEE and ASI applaud the dedication of all the school teams who put ethics in action! The measure of this program can be seen in the smiles of the participants and the words of an Ellington teacher who summed up her project experience by saying, "once you get kids out doing these kinds of things they really feel good about themselves. Therefore it's very important to provide...these kinds of experiences. You hope that it will stick with them throughout their lives."
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