Grand Blanc’s Native Garden

Written by: Learn and Serve – Michigan Team

Grand Blanc Community Schools do a lot of partnering between schools for their service-learning projects, so it came as no surprise when the elementary school and the high school decided to partner to build a native Michigan garden.

Elementary students helped with the garden by learning each plant had a particular purpose. They talked about the garden in their history classes and discussed what plants were used for what in relation to different time periods.

The elementary school and high school students then came together for a solar picnic to celebrate the environment and to share what they had learned. They intended to cook hot dogs with a solar cooker but subsequently learned that solar cookers take a while to cook food!

The garden is an ongoing service-learning experience that can be used year after year to teach students about Michigan and the environment we live in. Asa result, students have a sense of pride and ownership. They are willing to share with the Grand Blanc school board and the local community everything they have learned in relation to working with plants and working with their peers and other students.

Going green is so important. Michigan is focused on green initiatives and green jobs. It is in the forefront of our education. Recently, the state has taken on a leadership role in the field and around the state there are more and more service-learning projects involving the environment, solar energy, and the green movement.

Service-learning is great at incorporating real-world relevance into academics. It builds relationships and takes the classroom out of the school and puts it into the community.

Hear the story of Grand Blanc Community School’s Native Garden below:

Learn and Serve Challenge

Written by: Learn and Serve – Michigan Team

Learn and Serve Challenge [http://www.learnandservechallenge.org] is here! This week the Learn and Serve – Michigan team is giving you three ways you can celebrate Learn and Serve Challenge.

1. 1. Present to Your School Board

Your school board can be an important ally for your service-learning program. Present to your school board and show them the power of service-learning to increase academic achievement and strengthen school and community bonds.

Before any presentation it is important to know your audience. Luckily there are good resources out there that can help you develop your presentation. Take a look at this guide: http://nslp.convio.net/site/DocServer/TalkItUp09.pdf?docID=182 on how to make your school board your ally. Here is an excerpt:

“Because today’s school boards are focused on standards, testing, and accountability, advocates have to convince them that service-learning is an important vehicle for achieving both district and wider social goals.”

Show your school board research that service-learning can help increase academic achievement, attendance rates, and other important indicators. The National Service-Learning Clearinghouse has great fact sheet [http://www.servicelearning.org/instant_info/fact_sheets/k-12_facts/impacts] compiling the research on service-learning. Once you are ready to create your presentation they have a guide for presenting to school boards [http://www.servicelearning.org/filemanager/download/bll_tipsheets/Present_SL_to_your_School_Board_or_at_Another_Public_Meeting.pdf] as well.

1. Engage Your Local Media

Let your community know about the good work your school is doing. There are a lot of resources out there that will help you tell your service-learning story and build relationships with the media.

Perhaps the best resource is Sharing Your National Service Story [http://www.nationalservice.gov/pdf/Media_Guide.pdf]. This guide walks you through how to build relationships with reporters, draft press releases, deal with different mediums, and more.

1. Use Social Media to Promote Service-Learning

This week Learn and Serve – Michigan is celebrating Learn and Serve Challenge online. We’re using Twitter, Facebook, and this blog to get the message out. You can do that for your school as well.

Social media is a free way to promote your service-learning efforts but you need marketing know-how to make a splash. Take a crash course in promotion with the National Service-Learning Clearinghouse’s guide to Marketing 101: Using Social Media and Web 2.0 to Highlight Your Program [http://www.servicelearning.org/instant_info/marketing_101].

Learn and Serve Challenge is a great week to go out and show the world the great things you are doing in your service-learning programs. You don’t have to exhaust yourself with planning ambitious events and programs. Just choose one thing to do to help promote service-learning this week.

Speak Out for Understanding

Written by: Maureen Charron-Shea, speech-language pathologist in South Duxbury, Vermont

A few years ago, my friend Maura told me a story. That story planted a seed that changed my life.

Maura, whose son has Down syndrome, told me how heartbreaking it is when she hears the word “retard” used as a putdown. I thought about that and I knew things had to change. Around the same time, I discovered service-learning, an instructional approach through which students research and address real issues by applying skills and knowledge from their school curriculum. This approach enables students of varying abilities to work and learn together in meaningful contexts. It also gives students’ learning relevance. So, I gathered a group of high school students and asked:

• What if students with disabilities told their stories?
• Would they be treated differently?
• Would they be better understood?

The students decided to create a film to raise awareness about the challenges facing individuals with disabilities. The result was an award-winning documentary titled Speak Out for Understanding.

The film centers on four students who told their own stories for the purpose of bringing about change. It explains their challenges as students identified with Attention Deficit Disorder, Dyslexia, Down syndrome, and other disabilities. Problems with discrimination, stereotyping, difficulty learning, and social isolation are brought to light and students suggest actions to overcome these challenges.

Speak Out has been credited with starting a movement at our high school. Students are writing books, creating another documentary, composing rap music, and sharing their stories publicly and with pride. Thank goodness times have changed!

Disability awareness has now become my passion. My hope is for this project to be replicated to benefit and empower others. I see Speak Out as more than a learning experience and using communication skills to raise awareness. It’s about citizenship and engaging our community in meaningful dialogue. It’s about advocacy and speaking out for yourself and others. It’s about social justice and promoting a culture of tolerance and equity. Yet, at its heart, Speak Out for Understanding is about the power of individual stories to bring about change.

Maureen Charron-Shea, MS, CCC-SLP, speech-language pathologist at Harwood Union Middle/High School in South Duxbury, Vermont; and her students, winners of the 2009 State Farm National Service-Learning Excellence Award, have presented around New England, at the National Service-Learning Conference, and received awards and accolades for their creative service-learning work. For more information or to obtain a copy of Speak out for Understanding, check out:

http://speakoutforunderstanding.pbwiki.com/ 

http://www.tolerance.org/magazine/number-36-fall-2009/speak-out-understanding 

Email: charronm@harwood.org