Across the nation, K–12 educators are using service learning projects to enhance curricula and provide students with opportunities to use academic lessons in a real-life context.
In 2003, upon hearing a rumor of students at Luling Elementary School in Luling, La., boasting about brutally beating a cow to death, enrichment teacher Craig Howart resolved to teach his students to respect life—in all forms. Howart developed an innovative service learning program, the Luling Land Lab, where students in grades 3–5 could care for a menagerie of native wildlife, conduct scientific research, and write reflective essays.
In one of the many student-led service projects at Quest High School in Humble, Tex., students worked with the University of Houston School of Law and The Innocence Project, a nonprofit legal clinic, to research a criminal case that may have resulted in a wrongful conviction.
Service learning is not a new concept. However, as schools focus their resources and efforts on preparing students for standards-based tests to meet the stringent requirements of No Child Left Behind (NCLB), many educators are reluctant to devote class time to experiential learning methods. Yet the benefits of this unique teaching tool stretch far beyond the measurements of standardized tests.
In successful service learning projects, students take the lead and teachers act as facilitators of the educational process, ensuring that projects tie into the curriculum. True service learning projects require students to identify a need within the community, conduct research, collect data, create work plans, and develop goals and objectives for the project. Service learning is much more complex than just participating in community service. According to the National Service-Learning Cooperative (1999), service projects must have "clear educational goals that require the application of concepts, content and skills from the academic disciplines and involve students in constructing their own knowledge."
Students also must use or develop critical thinking and communication skills to solve complex problems and overcome any obstacles along the way. By trusting students with the freedom to design and lead their own projects, educators empower them to be a positive force within their own communities. For young people, learning to serve others can instill hope and understanding of social responsibility.
Serving Together in the Lone Star State
In Texas, where everything is done on a bigger scale, even service learning is magnified. In a strategic effort to increase the practice throughout the state, the Texas Center for Service-Learning (TxCSL) trains administrators, teachers, and staff and provides technical assistance to enhance schools' abilities to offer quality service learning projects. TxCSL also awards grants to educational programs through backing from the federally funded Learn and Serve America program.
In the face of NCLB and increased pressures on teaching time, TxCSL Director John Spence encourages educators to invest the time and resources necessary to incorporate service learning into the classroom. "Fear around tests and test preparation curtails the willingness on the part of teachers and administrators to invest in [service learning]," says Spence. Although the investment may be risky, Spence insists it is important. "Service learning is the one intervention that, when done well, can address multiple outcomes that are imperative to the success of schools." Spence cites academic preparedness, civic engagement, career and character development, and resiliency among the benefits of service learning.
Service learning necessitates new ways of learning and teaching. "Teachers have to let students have a voice and take the lead in researching a problem and proposing a solution. A teacher has to act as a facilitator and also has to think about how the project fits into content standards," says Spence. For the students, he adds, "it is about taking ownership of an issue and wrestling with it."
At Quest High School, students participate in service learning projects in grades 9–12. The school was founded with a strong focus on service learning. "We are doing service learning to get the students engaged in the curriculum and to get [them] excited about learning—and possibly to extend that learning well beyond what we thought was going to happen," says humanities teacher Kim Huseman, who leads Quest's service learning coordination.
Quest students developed projects anchored in real-world learning, including a project investigating a criminal case with The Innocence Project. Another student group developed an outreach campaign to advocate for funding that would allow forensic specialists to process thousands of DNA samples gathering dust on police station shelves. The students drafted press releases and sent letters to state legislators and congressional leaders to obtain funds that would ultimately allow investigators to process the evidence and close unsolved cases.
A group of Quest seniors used biology and chemistry lessons to teach 5th grade students how to conduct testing in the tributaries and waterways of a local park. Students presented their findings to Texas Water Watch, a conservation organization. Because Quest students have numerous service learning opportunities, they are able to participate in projects that interest them and use a cross section of academic and social skills to provide valuable services within their community.
Learning in Luling
Across state lines, Howart also believes in the transformative power of service learning as both an academic and personal development tool. "I believe that service learning has tremendous potential to change the lives of children being raised in generational poverty," says Howart. "The children become exposed to new things. When you teach kids who are poor that they can serve others, it develops a sense of self-worth. Often, because of the constraints in their lives, they do not have that," he says. Even at a young age, students can grasp the importance of serving others and giving back to the community.
Located just outside New Orleans, in St. Charles Parish, the Luling Elementary Land Lab was filled with snakes, hedgehogs, turtles, small alligators, and four aquariums brimming with marine life. The living science lab provided the perfect link between science lessons and real wildlife, where students could observe, touch, tend, and learn from native Louisiana species. Students also planted and cultivated flowers and trees, and they engaged in projects with local community organizations, including visiting with senior residents. Through these activities, Howart and other teachers noticed that the students were learning a new respect for themselves.
Unfortunately, in August 2005, the Luling Land Lab was destroyed by the forces of Hurricane Katrina. When the students returned to Luling—which had sustained little damage other than the lab—they asked Howart, "When are we going to get the animals back?" Howart felt it was the perfect opportunity to create a learning experience for the students and the entire community.
Having read an inspiring article about rebuilding New Orleans' schools using a community school model, Howart contacted the author, Ronald Bogle. In turn, Bogle called his colleague Laura Kurgen, a professor at Columbia University. Kurgen came to Luling Elementary and facilitated planning sessions with parents, school administrators, community stakeholders, and, most important, students. Together, they developed a design for the renovation of the Luling Land Lab. Kurgen compiled the new design ideas, including the "Living Wall," where students will be able to care for and learn about a wide variety of plants, animal species, and insects, and use advanced technological resources.
Although the school has only been able to raise about one-fourth of the renovation funding, the service learning continues. Aquariums have been dispersed throughout the school, and many animals have taken up residence in Howart's classroom. "For us, service learning is more than just doing one thing. You can take the learning and change someone else and change the world around you," says Howart.
In addition to the benefits students receive from service learning, Howart also believes teachers have much to gain as well. When "teaching to the test," Howart notes, "Teachers don't get that enlightenment and sense of reward—but service learning allows them to receive the rewards of teaching."
In Texas, Huseman would agree that the benefits of service learning are extraordinary: "The thing about service learning that makes it so powerful is that because you change your role in the classroom, you change your relationship with the kids. Once you build strong relationships with kids, the power you have to reach them is incredible," she says. Service learning has the potential to provide educators with exactly what they hope for: engaged students who are eager to accept the next challenge.
