Compact for Learning and Citizenship
Overview

Helping students become citizens and communities become educators.

Students and volunteers cleaning pathway for trail, Airline Community School, a K-8 school located in Aurora, Maine, Nov. 15, 2000.

What is service-learning?

Service-learning is a method of teaching that does the following:

• Helps students learn and develop by actively participating in thoughtfully organized service which is conducted in and meets the needs of a community
  
  
• Is integrated into the academic curriculum
  
  
• Helps to foster civic responsibility
  
  
• Gives students the opportunity to use in real-life situations what they learn in the classroom
  
  
• Provides structured time for students to reflect on the service experience.

What students say about service-learning:

"Instead of just learning about things and taking tests, we actually got to put our knowledge to use." West Vigo, Indiana, high school student

"If I can do this now, I can do anything at any time of my life." Springfield, Massachusetts, 7th grader whose class project led to anti-pollution legislation

"A person can study and read entire books about psychology, but that does not mean that they will know what to do in a real-life situation." Community college student

"It feels good to give." California high school student

"I have enjoyed the unity of working together to make a difference.. The group has a sense of responsibility, belonging and friendship. It adds a lot to life." St. Paul, Minnesota, student

What Good Service-Learning Looks Like:

Auburn, Maine
Good service-learning doesn't stop when a dedicated service-learning teacher leaves. At Airline Community School, students were involved in an ongoing land preservation project when a new teacher came on board. How could she say "No" when the students asked if they were going to continue with it in the new school year? So, while waiting for formal paperwork on the land agreement to be completed, students honed their compass skills and learned to use a Global Positioning System. During the previous year they had worked closely with a forester and now had grant money for forestry tools. Says the teacher, "The kids have had the opportunity to explore the two bore increments, the clinometer, and the tape measures that we received. The clinometer especially allowed them to use higher level math skills, with which most of them were excited." After brainstorming ideas for what they wanted their land preservation project to look like, the first step was to lay a trail. Next came learning how to contacted businesses for donations. Even after carefully planning what they were going to say, they learned the hard way that asking for the manager saves time and a thorough explanation of their project gave their request credibility. Although the project isn't yet complete, affirms the teacher, it "is already a success. The enthusiasm the kids show and their self-direction is the sure indicator." Maine Learning Results (state standards) which are covered by this project include Career Preparation, English Language Arts, Health and Physical Education, Mathematics, Modern and Classical Languages, Science and Technology and Social Studies.

Portland, Oregon
How can butterflies help teachers and students meet state standards while engaging in service-learning? Students at Hosford Middle School, who created a garden to provide breeding habitat for butterflies, used mapping skills and drawing to scale to design their garden. But that's just the start! They tested the acid levels and clay content in the soil (science studies). Algebra came in handy when they had to calculate the amounts of soil amendments needed, and the cost. Democracy came to the forefront when the students voted for garden designs and the logo. Another important aspect of service-learning is community participation. Students, parents, teachers and neighbors turned out to help with installation of paths and water lines. "We are trying to give kids a real-life lesson in what we are teaching," explained the algebra teacher who spearheaded the grant proposal. And the state standards? How about the study of factors that influence/change the balance of the population in an environment? Use of scientific techniques? Effects of human activity on environmental change, collection of data and data summary, analysis, interpretation and conclusions?

Philadelphia, Pennsylvania
The Urban Nutrition Initiative (UNI) involves children from West Philadelphia in a school-based community health curriculum that strives to improve nutritional status and promote active learning. Nutrition is a pressing health concern in the community because of its relationship to many severe chronic illnesses such as hypertension, cancer and heart disease, which are disproportionately prevalent in West Philadelphia. Teachers in public schools become UNI participants by adopting an interdisciplinary educational program in which children design, build and operate fruit and vegetable stands at their schools. Classroom work including math, social studies, language arts and science reinforces the project through related activities such as cultivating vegetables and creating graphs to track the profitability of the fruit stand. UNI transforms education into an active and helpful process as children embrace health problems in their communities and seek to implement solutions. The self-esteem that is built through this project encourages children to make healthy choices about their diets and establish optimistic attitudes toward education.