I Get By With a Little Help From My Friends

Written by: Pamela Gent, Author of Using Service–Learning and Differentiated Instruction to Help Your Students Succeed

The Beatles sang, “How do I feel by the end of the day? Are you sad because you're on your own? No, I get by with a little help from my friends.”

At the end of the day, many students with disabilities are sad because they are alone. We all know of the benefits of service-learning in terms of academics, school attendance, and development of character traits. What we often don’t think about is that service-learning can help develop friendships. Developing friendships in school is critical for students with disabilities. Research shows many students with disabilities have no friends and are often rejected by their peers in school and, as a result, grow up to experience profound, soul crushing loneliness as adults. While we can’t make students befriend students with disabilities, we can make the situation ripe for the development of friendships by using inclusive service-learning where students without and with disabilities work together in service.

Experts tell us friendships are more likely to develop when students see each other as competent and similar, when they are in proximity to each other, when opportunities exist for continued interaction, and when appropriate supports are in place. Students without disabilities may have done a lot of helping of students with disabilities. This “helper/helpee” relationship unfortunately reinforces the idea that students with disabilities are not competent.

By jointly carrying out the same service, students without disabilities begin to see the abilities of the person with disabilities and the perception of competence is enhanced. By jointly carrying out the same service, students with and without disabilities have opportunities for sustained interaction and conversation. This, in turn, can help students see how they are similar. By using the support of structured reflection, students can see how they share many of the same feelings.

Inclusive service-learning doesn’t guarantee friendships will develop, but it does greatly increase the opportunities for the friendship seed to be planted. If we continue to use inclusive service-learning where students with and without disabilities share equally in the service, we can literally change the life stories of people with disabilities. Instead of lives overwhelmed by profound loneliness, people with disabilities will be able to say, “I get by with a little help from my friends.”

Inside the Outdoors

Written by: Kim Casey, Orange County Department of Education

Early in my junior year of high school, I tentatively raised my hand to become project leader for a service-learning project. The project was vaguely described to me in less than two minutes by representatives of an environmental education and service group, Inside the Outdoors as “essentially creating scavenger hunts in local parks.”

My high school, Sage Hill School, has melded service-learning into school curriculum and has students partake in projects ranging from cleaning up local beaches to avocado gleaning. Determined to find a project I would be passionate about, I jumped at the chance to do something with the outdoors. Four other students joined me and, along with our faculty advisor, we began with no idea where our efforts would lead us as this project was far more elaborate than simply picking up trash or packing food into boxes. Almost two years later, NSI (Nature Scene Investigators) has blossomed into a program that has been implemented in 11 Orange County, California parks and is complete with guide books, rubbing posts, a website, and prizes. (http://www.getoutdoorsoc.com/nsi.php)

The project’s success is due to a number of factors. It was created in collaboration with many other groups like Orange County Parks; the Orange County Health Agency; Orange County Libraries; the Latino Health Access; Friends of Harbors, Beaches, and Parks; and REI. The ability to harness all these different groups’ help was instrumental.

Orange County (unbeknownst to many who only know of the area in context of shows like ‘The OC’) is home to great and diverse parks with the potential to be used as locations for fun family activities. The balance our small group of dedicated students possessed really played a big part in our success. We had a strong, effective group dynamic and the right combination of people with various talents, including public speaking and art.

Being involved in the development of this program from day one has been an incredibly gratifying experience and taught me valuable lessons of how the real world functions. Coordinating efforts between private and public groups gave me great insight into bureaucracy and how nonprofits and government agencies function. Previous service-learning projects I had been involved in had obvious service components but always left me questioning whether I had actually learned anything from the experience. This project proved very educational and at times left me feeling like I was gaining more from the project than what I was putting in.

The most important lesson I learned is the key to any project’s success – in service, business, or anything else – is passion about what you are doing and willingness to see the project through to success.

Surfing AND Serving

Written by: Andrea Yoder Clark, Program Manager of SurfAid International U.S. Schools

SurfAid International is a nonprofit, humanitarian organization, whose mission is to improve the health, well being, and self-reliance of people living in isolated communities connected to us through surfing.

In 1999, physician and surfer Dr. Dave Jenkins went on a surf charter to the Mentawai Islands with one goal in mind: to find perfect waves. The surf was everything he hoped for, but he also found the Mentawai people dying from the ravages of malaria and other preventable diseases. Dr. Jenkins was unable to walk away. It was a defining life moment. He sought support from Dr. Steve Hathaway, an epidemiologist friend, and in January 2000 they co-founded SurfAid International.

Today, SurfAid develops health projects that enhance local capacities and promotes community-based self-help solutions, guided by the aspirations of its beneficiaries. SurfAid believes development should be sustainable; encompassing the social, spiritual, cultural, and economic well being of its beneficiaries.

SurfAid's primary programs include the Malaria Free Mentawai program, the Community Based Health program, and the Emergency Preparedness program.

Prior to SurfAid, malaria control and treatment in the Mentawais was virtually nonexistent. In 2001, SurfAid began piloting the Malaria Control Project in one village. By 2004, SurfAid had expanded the project to more than 13,200 people in 17 villages led by 24 local field workers. Today, SurfAid's Malaria Control Project has resulted in a 90 percent reduction in malaria-related death and suffering in target areas.

Now schools can get involved in these important efforts through the SurfAid Schools Program. This program offers service-learning opportunities for schools through free online curriculum targeting teachers in grades fourth through 12^th. This curriculum uses SurfAid International as a case study for examining global health issues and integrates service-learning with global issues such as malaria, environmental education, and global citizenship.

The best part is the curriculum is available for free! For more information contact the SurfAid International US Schools Program Manager, Andrea Yoder Clark at andrea@surfaidinternational.org. Or visit the SurfAid Schools Program website at http://schools.surfaidinternational.org.

Seeds for Change

Written by: Kathrine Levensailor, Inside the Outdoors

In November 2008, the Freeway Complex Fire burned 30,305 acres of land between Corona and Brea, California. More than 350 structures were destroyed, including buildings at Brea Canyon High School. As a result of the fire, both Brea Canyon and Brea Olinda High School campuses lost all their landscaping. It was the goal of the school administrators and 50 members of the Friends for Change Club at Brea Olinda High School to restore the schools’ landscaping with California native plants. But there was only one problem: where would they get the 4,000 plants needed to complete the restoration project?

Less than a year later, more than 4,000 native California plant seeds were being planted by VoluntEARS at Disney’s D23 Expo. During this Disney Fan Convention, thousands of VoluntEARS worked with Inside the Outdoors, a program administered by the Orange County Department of Education, to get the planting done. Disney donated more than $2,000 to provide the seeds and planting materials. The intent was to use some of these plants for a teaching garden for Inside the Outdoors while the remaining plants would go to local schools to introduce students to native plants and their role in the local ecosystem.

Shortly after the event, The Friends for Change Club at Brea Olinda High School contacted Inside the Outdoors as a result of a newspaper article about the D23 Expo and VoluntEAR project. The club members wanted to develop a student-led service-learning project to restore a portion of the Brea Olinda and Brea Canyon High School campuses. The timing could not have been better! The students’ idea for the restoration project matched the mission of Inside the Outdoors. The project would create awareness and knowledge about the environment and give the community a chance to put the knowledge into action. Working with Inside the Outdoors, the connections were made once again with Disney.

Once Disney heard about the club’s goal they jumped on board as a partner to support and facilitate this large scale restoration project. On March 28, 2010, more than 100 volunteers, including Disney VoluntEARS, came together to work on this project. The event was put on with the support of the Brea Olinda High School Friends for Change Club, Inside the Outdoors, Disney’s Friends for Change: Project Green, Disney VoluntEARS, Village Nurseries, Tree of Life Nursery, and California Native Plant Society.

Even Nicole Anderson from Disney’s “JONAS” came out to get these plants in the ground!

Approximately 2,000 plants that had started out as seedlings at the D23 event were planted on the once burnt hillside. Looking at the hillside, there is no doubt these plants are where they were meant to be. Inside the Outdoors is currently working with the Brea Olinda High School Friends for Change Club’s presidents: Lauren Kelley, Andrew Daedler, and Jacqueline Cortes to finish planting the remaining 2,000 plants. The work of these students is inspirational and sets a high standard for future service-learning projects.

When Students See a “Call to Action”

Written by: Learn and Serve – Michigan Team

Three years ago the community of Inland Lakes was not recycling. Other communities were but Inland Lakes had opted out. But the town was holding a vote to discuss this, and the students of the community saw this as the perfect call to action.

As a result, the students started to recycle in their school. They handed out signs and cookies and attended the meeting. They put up signs in their schools. They raised awareness about the impact recycling could have on their community.

When the township board voted it was passed overwhelmingly – thanks in part to the work of the Inland Lakes students. But their work was not done yet! Now they have to get people to use the system. They encourage their parents to recycle and teach their peers about the value and importance. As a result of their work Inlands Lake is now recycling.

Service-learning brings kids’ studies home and it makes it real. Even the students who have trouble engaging on a day to day basis do better when they’re getting hands-on learning. The students of Inland Lakes learned they could make a real difference and that inspired them to take action.

Hear the story of Inland Lakes’ Recycling Project: