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.