Youth: Ethics in Service
Selected Service-Learning Project Stories

Hockanum Elementary | Harding High | Milford Alternative Program | High School in the Community | Common Ground High School | West Side Middle School | Doolittle Elementary | Multicultural Magnet School | Wilbur Cross School | Wapping Elementary School | Student Activists for Service Learning (SASL) | National Service-Learning Partnership Success Stories | National Youth Leadership Council Success Stories |YES Main Page

Hockanum Students Make Special Buddies

The fifth graders walked into Danielle Singleton’s class at Hockanum Elementary School in East Hartford, and the magic began. Eyes brightened, smiles spread across faces, hugs abounded.

The students in Mrs. Singleton’s class are children in grades K-2, most of whom have been identified as autistic; the remainder have other special needs. The fifth graders are a group of students who are “buddies” to the students in Mrs. Singleton’s class. This project was sponsored by The School for Ethical Education’s Youth: Ethics in Service, (YES), program.

Mrs. Singleton came up with the idea of pairing her students with fifth-graders. To get the program off the ground, each student in the fifth grade wrote an essay about why he or she would be the best candidate to be a “buddy.” Students were selected for the program based on their essays.

Once a week fifth graders LaTasha, Amanda, Emily, Luz, Ashley, Hector, Jalissa and Elizabeth, all students in Mrs. Ciganik’s class, spent 45 minutes with their buddies. Together they played games and worked on art projects, helped their buddies build towers, express words and jump on the trampoline. But the fun and games had a purpose. These activities were designed to help the special-education students with sensory integration (the nervous-system process that organizes sensory information for use in life situations).

To help the fifth-graders learn about sensory integration, occupational therapist Maureen Pollard conducted an in-service for them. The students purchased educational materials – with a small grant provided by SEE– to work with their buddies on sensory integration. They used team-building skills acquired through YES to come to a consensus about which items to purchase and with the remainder of their fifth-grade peers, used their math skills to figure out what they could afford. “It was a great math lesson – real and rewarding,” said Mrs. Singleton.

Each week the fifth graders reflected on their project experience in a student journal developed by The School for Ethical Education. “The reflection portion of this program is essential because you need to know how your older buddies are feeling,” said Mrs. Singleton. “You want all of the children to leave this experience feeling empowered and good. In addition, reflection activities can also be the perfect opportunity for you as the teacher to offer guidance and make suggestions when they are needed.”

Mrs. Singleton expressed her delight with the success of the program. “It has been so exciting to watch the looks on the faces of my children as the fifth-graders enter my class. They smile and make wonderful eye contact with their older buddies and often initiate the interaction by walking right up to them. These children, who are often reluctant to share themselves, give their fifth-grade friends hugs and share a general level of trust that is miraculous and beautiful.”

“The students in my class know that there are eight older children who recognize their beauty and love them for who they are,” she said. School staff who work with Mrs. Singleton’s students commented that the students seem to listen and behave better when they are with their buddies.

Clearly, the students in Mrs. Singleton’s special-needs class are benefiting from the buddy program. But what about the older students? “The fifth-graders have developed a strong sense of leadership, genuine care and love and kindness towards others,” said Mrs. Singleton. “They look forward to our sessions as much as the children look forward to their visits.”

The fifth graders were eager to articulate what they like about the program. “I wanted to do this project because I want to be a role model,” said Luz. Other students remarked that this project has helped them learn about differences among people and how other people learn. LaTasha adds that the buddy program “shows that kids can help people, too.” Said Luz, “We have all become a family, but we aren’t related.”

“With each meeting, I saw these fifth graders change by leaps and bounds,” said Mrs. Singleton. “Their excitement never dwindled, but their confidence soared. Before long, these eight fifth-graders had become little teachers, accomplishing more than many adults could hope to accomplish under similar circumstances.” She adds, “I sometimes wonder whether they realize just how much they have given to their little buddies, and yet I know they recognize all that they have received in return.”

Mrs. Singleton appreciated the opportunity and support given to her by SEE. And she has advice for others who want to initiate a similar project. “Keep the numbers low – with one-to-one ratios if possible. It allows the students to get to know one another better and avoids creating an environment that might be overstimulating for the students.” She added, “Allow your buddies to choose one another if possible. For our first meeting, we went outside and played together and then later did a craft project as a group. By the end of that first session, they had already chosen their buddies. Sometimes the kids know more than we do about good matches and the ‘right fit.’”

Mrs. Singleton had a few other pieces of advice. “Offer a lot of modeling for your older buddies. If they learn the correct way of working with the children from the start, success is sure to follow. Plan well, have your time well spent when the groups are together.”

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Harding High Students Give H.O.P.E

A special group of students at Harding High School recognized that homelessness is a problem and decided to do something about it.

From October 2002 through June 2003 these 21 students – 16 seniors and 5 juniors –met during their Peer Leadership class, under the direction of teachers Sheena Graham-Owens and Kevin Muhammad, to learn about homelessness and how they could make a difference. The embarked on this on this project as part of The School for Ethical Education’s Youth: Ethics in Service Program.

The students began Project H.O.P.E. (Helping Other People Excel), the name they created for their endeavor, with research and planning. They decided to attack the problem of homelessness on a number of fronts, starting with clothing, toy and book drives. To publicize the drives, they posted flyers at school and in their neighborhoods. They planned a school-wide talent show for the school, which was held in March and raised hundreds of dollars to help those who are homeless. This event was the first evening student program at Harding High in over five years.

The students, while reflecting about their community service project, wrote poems in a journal provided by The School for Ethical Education. They decided to turn the poems into song lyrics and wrote music to go with the lyrics. The students ultimately produced a CD of these songs, called "H.O.P.E.," to raise additional funds for homeless families and to increase awareness of homelessness.

Starting in April, the students began working at a local homeless shelter that houses 12 families. The Harding High students read to the children living at the shelter and cleaned up the inside and outside of the building.

Copies of the “H.O.P.E.” CD can be ordered for $6, including postage, by e-mailing Sheena Graham-Owens at sheena.graham@sbcglobal.net. All proceeds from the CD will benefit homeless shelters.

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Milford Youth Take Care of the Environment

Twenty-two high school students from the Milford Alternative Program volunteered at the Milford Coastal Audubon since September 2002. Led by science teacher Annaliese Spaziano, landscaper Vincent Piselli and the Youth: Ethics in Service (YES) program, the students traveled to the Audubon twice a week to help survey, plot, remove and replace invasive plant species. The project was designed to help improve the health of the Audubon as well as educate the community on invasive species and their effects on the Connecticut coastline.

After several weeks at the Audubon the students expanded their environmental service to Wilcox Park in Milford. Working in teams, the students helped to restore more than five acres in the park. The students clean and rebuild areas that have been damaged by bikers and hikers not keeping to the existing trails.

As word spread about the outstanding job the students were doing, the City of Milford Tree Commission requested help to plant trees at Walnut Beach. The students worked a grueling three days digging holes and planting sourwood and serviceberry trees. According to Stephen Wing, the chairman of the Milford Tree Commission, the "project was good for the city, good for the students who did the planting, and good for the other volunteers who participated."

Since the school year began, the students have completed nearly 1200 hours of volunteer service. And what did the students think about the project? They were delighted by the amount of support they have received and amazed at how the project has effected them individually. Many students commented about how well this type of teaching helps them. One student said: “This project is great because it really lets us learn. Usually I am really bored in class, but I have learned more in this one semester than I ever learned in my regular science classes."

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High School in the Community (New Haven) Helps the Community

Two groups of students at High School in the Community in New Haven worked on projects with the support of their service-learning teacher, Eduardo Roman. One group initiated an academic mentoring program at a local elementary school; the other group provided support to a New Haven homeless shelter.

The service goal for the mentoring project was to help teachers improve the reading levels of primary students. Learning goals for the service-learning students included 1) to learn strategies to work with younger students from different cultures and 2) to gain project implementation skills to plan and complete a project. At the completion of each semester, the high school students recognized the reading improvement levels of their students and provided them with new story books purchased from project funds.

The group that focused on homelessness identified their service goal as providing labor and organizing fund drives for a local homeless shelter. Student learning goals for this project included 1) learning about the causes of homelessness, 2) improving personal leadership and organizational skills and 3) developing personal attributes to be successful at work. During visits to the shelter, students interacted with children living at the shelter and read to them, helped clean open apartments and hallways in the shelter, stocked canned goods in the pantry and did clerical work. The days not spent at the shelter were used to organize fund-raisers to put together care packages that included personal items such as deodorant, toothpaste and toothbrushes.

Both groups spent one hour, 3-4 days each week, at their respective sites. A fifth day was spent in group reflection about the project and in planning changes in the projects. In addition, the students created a Web page linked to their school Web site with a brief description of the homeless shelter project, a photo gallery and a collection of student reflections. Students set up their Web page to pass on lessons and observations for others interested in service-learning.

One of the student reflections posted on the Web page noted: "...Being there [at the homeless shelter] also makes you grateful for what you have. I like the work we do over there. Reading about how the program works is different from actually seeing all the work that goes into it. In the program one thing I like about it is that you feel like your doing something to make a difference. Another thing I like it the independence. We are given a lot of trust. I feel obligated to do the right thing since there are people who think that since I'm a student I'll need supervision. I think that in this program you need trust to make your group successful."

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Common Ground High School’s Voices of the Caribbean: Intergenerational History Project

Students from Common Ground High School with a Casa Otonal resident (March 2004)

The academic objectives of Common Ground's YES team were to learn more about the history of Caribbean immigrants in Connecticut, practice their Spanish listening and writing skills and make a social connection with seniors within the community. The needs addressed by the project were 1) the potential loss of life stories of older community residents, 2) the isolation of older community residents from youth, 3) the divisions between communities of different ethnicities and language backgrounds in New Haven and 4) authentic application of Spanish language skills. The service goals for the project were to act as companions and friends to elderly individuals, to share the stories of these elders with future generations and to build intergenerational connections between seniors and young people. The students reflected on their experiences before, during and after their service project.

The students traveled to Casa Otonal on three occasions to interview the seniors about their memories of the Caribbean, their experience in coming to the United States and life since arriving in this country. The students then drafted, revised and finalized both English- and Spanish-language histories of the seniors and prepared the stories for publication in a collected volume. During a final visit to Casa Otonal, the students presented their stories and celebrated with the seniors with games and food the students had prepared for the occasion. The students developed a bond with the seniors they interviewed. Several students expressed an interest in maintaining a relationship with the elder with whom they were paired.

Pass it On, Common Ground High School, New Haven 2004-05

Students in Common Ground High School’s combined history and English class participate in team-building activity as part of the training for their Pass it On service-learning project (October, 2004).

The twenty-four Common Ground students participated in a trimester-long service-learning project that included learning objectives to improve their own literacy, historical research skills, teaching strategies and presentation skills. Learning objectives for the second graders included improved literacy skills, enthusiasm for reading and learning about local history. Preparation for the project required the high school students to learn effective reading tutor strategies, methods of researching local history, and construction of displays and dioramas for their mini-museum. In the process, students learned-- skills to assess reading levels, how to teach reading to make learning connections with reading texts, how to locate resources available at local libraries and historical societies and craft techniques to create interactive exhibits.

In all, Common Ground students made six visits to Katherine Brennan Elementary and invested over 580 student-hours into the project. During four of the visits, each high school student was paired with a second grader to participate in reading tutoring using grade-appropriate reading material and the historical stories written by Common Ground students. The fifth visit was a summative experience for the high school and elementary students as the Common Ground mini-museum displays and activities were presented. A final visit was arranged as a celebration for all the students who participated in the program.

Common Ground students kept a “KB Folder” in which they set goals prior to each visit and reflected on challenges, successes and lessons learned after each visit. Students also participated in class discussion of their experiences after each visit. In addition, Common Ground teachers included a summative reflection essay about the project in their final exam for the course. Service-learning provided a terrific teaching strategy for high school students who Passed it On to second graders at Katherine Brennan Elementary.

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West Side Middle Senior Biographies

Students from West Side Middle School, Groton.

The class that originated the project with their teachers identified seniors at a local senior living facility. Seniors volunteered to be interviewed, and students conducted four different interview sessions with their senior partners. During the interviews students gathered information about the seniors' childhoods, their education, where they worked and played. Students then drafted the biographies and learned how to lay out text, graphics and pictures they collected using digital scanners and Power Point. After a draft of the biographies was completed, students returned to their seniors and provided them an opportunity to edit their text. During the process, one student said, "Editing, editing, editing... now I know the work of a writer."

In reflecting about the project, students noted their favorite activity was the time spent in interviewing the seniors. History connections were also made during the interviewing as students recognized how different society and technology were during the seniors' childhoods. Students were surprised to learn about root cellars, butter churning and the lack of TV - and the Internet! When asked for their impressions about these observations, one girl noted: "I am very thankful for everything we have. I am glad to be growing up today!"

On the fourth visit with the seniors, the students held a celebration that included the seniors' final opportunity to edit their biographies. The celebration also included cake and ice cream and entertainment by the school jazz band. The mayor, school superintendent, school principal and several reporters from local papers were invited and attended the event. The activities director for the senior center noted during her opening remarks: "The process has been remarkable bonding activity for the students and seniors. I have heard the seniors talk about 'their child' in reference to their interviewer." After the celebration, the students made their final revisions, print and send the biographies off for hard binding. The final biography will be presented to the seniors after the students return in the fall.

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Doolittle Elementary, Cheshire, CT

Fifth-grade students from Doolittle Elementary in Cheshire Conn. have participated in meaningful service-learning projects for years under the exemplary instruction of Tracy Ajello. Ms. Ajello has helped students implement excellent YES projects during her past four years of involvement with SEE. During the past two years their local paper, The Cheshire Herald, has recognized the value of the students service-learning work and published stories or editorials written by the students. Two examples of these publications follow and are used with permission by the Herald’s editor.

• Doolittle Class Incorporates Community Service Projects Into Every Day Lessons, Cheshire Herald, January 15, 2004 [PDF; 1519 KB]

• Students Asking for Support of their Teachers Efforts, Editorial in the Cheshire Herald, Fall 2004 [PDF; 139 KB]

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Multi-Cultural Magnet School, Bridgeport, CT

Representatives of the YAR team pause during their successful book swap (2005).

Beginning with the YES training workshop, the YAR team completed a survey of school administrators and teachers about the school’s needs. They discovered that test scores in reading were low and that the problem could partly be related to students not reading at home. Recognizing that low reading test scores was a real problem for the school, the YAR team set a goal to encourage more out-of-school reading. The YAR team students had learned through their survey that increasing student reading would have a positive effect upon reading fluency.

Following YES guidelines, the YAR team developed their plan to organize the book swap, which included: 1. Obtain principal approval for their plan, 2. Create and distribute a letter to teachers, students and parents explaining the steps of the book swap, 3. Create and post flyers and make PA announcements as reminders to students and teachers about the book swap, 4. Collect books, 5. Organize books by reading level, 6. Purchase additional books to ensure supply for all students, 7. Host the book swap, and 8. Celebrate and reflect on successes and possible improvements for the future.

A successful book swap was hosted on June 17 and the team ultimately served approximately 250 students through the event. The team was able to collect and organize grade-appropriate summer reading books for all of their younger classmates at the school. During a closing project reflection, students celebrated their success of providing students with books to help promote reading. The students were also pleased to note the success of their teamwork and how they were able to reach their goal by working together. The team recognized the Book Swap encouraged a spirit of cooperation and learning from one another. The teacher sponsor acknowledged in her evaluation form how the YES team training was essential in helping the students develop the plan and learn team skills to complete the project.

The Multi-Cultural Magnet YAR team has set a goal to become a service-learning generator next year by providing mini-grants to teachers to begin projects in their own classes. They also want to continue the Book Swap project. The YAR team recognized the positive impact of the Book Swap and wanted to continue the effort to encourage students to read more books. Additionally, the YAR team was so satisfied with their YES training; they would like to encourage YES team training for any new projects that they sponsor.

* The Youth As Resources (YAR) project is administered by RYASAP (an urban/suburban youth and community development coalition) in collaboration with local schools. RYASAP invited the School for Ethical Education to provide the training for their YAR activities

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Wilbur Cross School, Bridgeport, CT

Representatives of GearUp team at the Open the Door Symposium (May 2005).

The GearUp team was given the responsibility to plan the entire symposium. The students named their event Open the Door and chose a focus on positive character as key to opening the door for success. They also chose to include workshops with guest speakers. Many of speakers were graduates of Wilbur Cross who had become successful professionals. Planning for the Open the Door symposium required many hours and the GearUp team successfully maintained their academic performance while completing the project. A YES training workshop, and the planning tools included in the YES training guide, helped the GearUp students unite as a team and provided an outline to create their implementation plan.

Almost 90 students attended the Open the Door symposium that was held on May 26. The GearUp team identified the character goals of respect, cooperation and responsibility on the cover of the symposium program. The students believed that individuals who demonstrated these character traits would find success in high school and beyond. Arthur West, Jr. of Clipper Magazine presented a keynote address for the full symposium and other speakers presented in workshops designed specifically for the young men or young women. A theme for all of the speakers noted strategies to successfully complete high school. The students were encouraged to commit themselves to finish high school and look beyond to the potential of post-high school education. In addition, speakers noted the following points to be successful in school and life-- stay true to themselves, learn to listen, stay cool in the face of adversity and chose to be successful through education and not the temptations on the streets. Evaluation responses from students were very positive at the end of the symposium. Many students noted the hope of pursuing post-high school education as a goal.

GearUp team members reflected on their preparation through the YES training as extremely helpful for developing their teamwork and providing them planning skills. Students noted that, “…teamwork was essential. We had to cooperate with each other and practice listening and respecting the opinion of others and not just push our own an idea.” The YES staff agrees that teamwork can be powerful and hope to collaborate again with GearUp in the future.

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Wapping Elementary School, So. Windsor, CT

We learned that working together makes a difference!” - 4th grade student during reflection activity

Students use teamwork to move food items to collection location (February, 2005).

Working with their teachers, students joined one of four teams to help plan and implement the project successfully. The teams included: (1) Strategic team to help coordinate all activities to help the project succeed, (2) Speaker recruiting team to identify and invite relevant speakers to speak in classrooms and assemblies about the food banks need, (3) Assembly team to plan and implement school wide assemblies addressing the Food Bank’s need, and (4) Communications team to create letters, flyers and posters for the school, parents and community.

The food drive was conducted in three collections—November, February and May. In each drive the students set goals to increase the volume of items collected. The resulting collection of items 318 in the fall, 845 in the winter and 1,562 in the spring exceeded all goals. A teacher noted a cheer went up through the school as the PA announcement reported the total items collected in May. In reflecting on their work and success, a student noted, “Doing good work or deeds puts a smile on my face.” Another student observed, “It is important to be organized, it helps.”

Teachers commented that the project became an empowering activity for the students and increased student participation. In one evaluation a teacher observed that the project increased student engagement through opportunities to work with others on completing tasks outside of the normal class day.

These observations by students and teachers are consistent with those that have been noted by YES staff in other Connecticut projects and by service-learning evaluators across the nation. Service-learning is a powerful strategy to engage students in positive teamwork and experiential learning while completing a useful service for their community.

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Student Activists for Service-Learning (SASL) 2004-05

Representatives from SASL board attended CT’s Service-Learning Conference at Connecticut College May 17, 2005.

Projects funded by SASL included the Learn and Serve categories of Education, Human Needs, Environment and Health/Nutrition. Selected examples include—(1) an education program at Amity High School where a math teacher sponsored a team of high school girls to meet and mentor junior high girls and encourage their interest and ability using math; (2) a health project where a student council led team from Wolcott High school planned and hosted a blood drive (including an information assembly) that resulted in close to 100 blood donors (many of them students) supporting the effort in recognition of a local student who requires many blood transfusions; (3) an education and human needs project led by students from Hopkins High who met weekly with local seniors to interview them about their past and create an anthology of their historical biographies; and (4) an educational and environmental project sponsored by Common Ground High school where students helped in a large landscaping project completed on the school grounds.

Representatives of the SASL board also participated in several other activities that related to their work on this youth philanthropy board. Board members presented the mission and objectives of SASL at a statewide hearing in Hartford about after-school programs, SASL board members engaged in the writing of two different grant applications to help continue funding the SASL project, four board members presented SASL’s grant evaluation rubric to peers and adults at a New Haven Youth Development Conference and four board members attended the Connecticut Service-Learning Connections conference at Connecticut College in New London. All of SASL’s activities, which account for 352 hours of participation, continue to support the development of leadership skills, an understanding of philanthropy and an ethic of community support and engagement. SASL is demonstrating great effectiveness to keep “ethics in action” and welcomes the application of new student board members from New Haven County high schools.

Funding for this project came from Connecticut’s Learn and Serve program, The Community Foundation for Greater New Haven, Connecticut Assets Network, Wright Investors’ Service and private donors.

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