Why is Detroit Service-Learning Academy Special?

Written by: Jaylon, Detroit Service-Learning Academy

Hello! My name is Jaylon, I am in the 7^th grade and I go to Detroit Service-Learning Academy (DSLA). DSLA is special because the school has a lot of after-school activities like skating parties and dances. It is also special because the Junior Academy all participate in service-learning together.

Last year I did a service-learning project helping the 8^th graders. The project helped 8^th graders decide what high school they wanted to go to. We did a research presentation on each school, and we helped them to see the kinds of classes each school offered. We then surveyed the 8^th graders to see what they thought about each of the schools. This service-learning project helped them plan their future.

Another special thing about DSLA is that we have SMART boards (interactive white boards) in all of our classrooms, and we use them for service-learning projects. For example, when we did the high school research project we were able to show each of the high school’s websites and navigate right on the board.

I really like service-learning because it teaches me a lot of things and it helps my community. It also helps classes work together where younger students get to work with older students, and vice versa. This allows us to get to know one another both inside and outside of our classroom.

About DSLA: DSLA is made up of three academies; Primary Academy grades K-2, Elementary Academy grades 3-5, and Junior Academy grades 6-8. DSLA practices a “full inclusion” teaching model, which encourages all teachers (both general and special education) to work together for the common good of all students. To learn more, visit their website: http://www.detroitservicelearning.org/.

About Jaylon: Jaylon is one of Learn and Serve – Michigan’s 23 Service Learning Youth Council (SLYC) members. He attended the retreat in early December, and can even be seen rapping in the video posted with last week’s post.

Service Learning Youth Council Retreat a HUGE Success!

Written by: Ellen King, Learn and Serve – Michigan AmeriCorps*VISTA

In early December, members of the Service-Learning Youth Council (SLYC) joined the Learn and Serve – Michigan team at the Michigan Community Service Commission’s office for a retreat. SLYC is the Michigan Community Service Commission’s youth advisory group. SLYC (pronounced "slick") was created in 2002 to connect young people with the organization’s youth-focused grantmaking program, Learn and Serve - Michigan. Each Learn and Serve - Michigan school-based grantee is eligible to nominate one young person to serve on SLYC. SLYC members work with the Learn and Serve team at the MCSC to further public support for service-learning in schools and communities across Michigan.

The SLYC members are a very diverse group, to say the least. They are students in the seventh to 12^th grades, come from as far as Traverse City or as close as Ionia, and every area in between. Out of 23 members, there are six returning from last year who attended this retreat and they include: Tylar, Jackson, Jackson, Shane, Cinque, and John. There were just three members who did not make it to the retreat. Also of note, one member who did make it recently returned from Europe the day prior to the retreat.

And who am I? My name is Ellen King, and I am the new Learn and Serve – Michigan AmeriCorps*VISTA. As a VISTA, I am supporting low-income communities by providing resources that encourage service-learning. One of my many responsibilities is coordinating the members of SLYC by hosting conference calls, assisting them with outreach, and guiding them in their development of service projects. I am really looking forward to serving these students.

The retreat focused on jump-starting the members on their 2011 Global Youth Service Day (GYSD) projects and helping them get to know each other through several team building and icebreaker activities. One of the first tasks they had was to identify problem areas within their communities which could serve as potential project ideas. This list was eventually narrowed down to child abuse, community violence, education, and environmental stewardship. Members joined the group they were most passionate about in order to brainstorm possible service projects.

SLYC members also discussed the importance of community partners, and how they can contact their teachers, peers, parents, and community organizations for assistance with this service project. They were broken into groups and asked to present valuable service-learning information as if they were presenting to one of those four resources. It appeared to me that after these presentations there was a light bulb that turned on in each of the student’s heads, as if they knew their project could include as many people as they wanted.

As an exploration of how they can use video for outreach and presentations, each student created a video explaining why service-learning is important to them and why others should get involved in service-learning. We distributed Flip video cameras, and asked the members to start recording. Before we got started with this project, I gave a presentation on the different types of leadership styles in Hollywood. This served to allow the students to have an idea of where each person was coming from as they worked together for the video creation project, but also in general, to start thinking about their respective leadership style. The four styles were: Director, Producer, Analyzer, and Editor. For me, it was important to convey to the members that knowing your leadership style is crucial to understanding how you work with other people at home, school, and as a SLYC representative – and for forming roles in their video teams.

The videos from the students were an enormous success. We had two distinctive groups rap about service-learning, one group included an underlying message of paying it forward, and two videos consisted of interviews of why the members participate in service-learning and why it is important to them. These videos, and many more from the weekend will be posted to the MCSC’s YouTube channel in the coming weeks and months. We will be sure to let you know when more are put up! In the mean time, check out the featured video below.

Another of the expectations of the SLYC members is to write a blog for the Learn and Serve – Michigan’s Resources Blog. The blog topics will range from their 2011 GYSD project ideas to telling their story about their interest in service. Stay tuned, because over the course of the next few weeks, you will see blog posts from Jaylon, Danielle, and Christopher. These posts are just the beginning of many to come!

College-Based AmeriCorps Members are GETTING THINGS DONE in Michigan!

Written by: Renee Miller Zientek, Executive Director of Michigan Campus Compact

There is nothing more inspiring than being witness to people helping one another with enthusiasm, genuine care, and basic kindness. In recent months, Michigan college campuses have recruited and placed campus-based AmeriCorps and AmeriCorps*VISTA members, reminding me of how much support these and other national service members offer to our communities. At any given time there are more than 75,000 national service members around the country working to improve community life in the United States. AmeriCorps members make a big difference by helping others and meeting critical community needs. These individuals are adults of all ages and backgrounds who serve through a network of partnerships with local and national nonprofit groups. Their service helps to make our communities safer, gives our children a second chance, and helps protect the environment. These are volunteers that get things done.

Through strong partnership, close teamwork, and a rich tradition of supporting and advancing civic engagement among Michigan’s college students, Michigan Campus Compact (MCC), with support from the Corporation for National and Community Service (CNCS) and the Michigan Community Service Commission (MCSC) has placed 300 AmeriCorps members on college campuses and in communities across the state through the Michigan Service Scholars AmeriCorps Program.

These 300 members across Michigan are serving to achieve maximum impact in the following three areas:

Teacher Preparation – Student teachers who will implement service-learning through pre-service teacher training in K-12 classrooms.

College Positive Volunteers – Students who will volunteer in youth-serving nonprofits and exposing youth to higher education through College Positive Volunteerism techniques.

Community-Based Service – Students who will serve in community/faith-based nonprofits with a focus on addressing local community needs through direct service and volunteer recruitment.

If you are a student who would like to join with other AmeriCorps members through the Michigan Service Scholars Program to make a difference in Michigan’s communities, please inquire with the community service office at your campus. Only campuses that are members of the Michigan Campus Compact are able to place students through the Michigan Service Scholars Program.

If you are a community member who would like to know how these AmeriCorps members might connect with partners in your community, please contact Michigan Campus Compact. We are more than happy to connect partners in all communities.

For more information about the Michigan Service Scholars Program, contact Shannon Zoet at szoet@micampuscompact.org, Assistant Director of Campus Partnerships for Michigan Campus Compact.

A Service-Learning Success Story

Written by: Jonathan Orlansky, LA Green Corps Crew Leader

Service-Learning can empower individuals to make a difference not only in their communities but in their lives as well. This story comes from the Louisiana Green Corps, a program that uses service to teach employment skills to disadvantaged youth. It is a great example of how service and learning can change a life.

After Chris Condy received his certificate of completion from Grace King High School in 2006, three years passed. In those years, Chris worked for wages a total of one week, milled around his house, and had social interactions with only a handful of relatives. Chris was stagnant.

“I guess I was just figuring out what I was doing,” he says of the period. “I knew what I liked to do, but I didn’t think I had the experience for a job. I didn’t know how work would be.”

Chris was born with a vaguely defined cognitive disability still referred to as “mental retardation.” He was in special education programs his entire life, and completed school with minimal ability in reading and math. His one job, as a stock clerk at Winn-Dixie, had ended after a confusing and embarrassing argument about sweeping the floor. In some ways, his trepidation about joining the real world was well founded.

Then, Chris caught wind of the Louisiana Green Corps, a program that teaches green deconstruction and salvage tactics to unemployed, underemployed, low income, or other disadvantaged youth in New Orleans. A cousin, aware of his fondness for working with his hands and concerned about his inactivity, alerted him to the program and helped him through the application process. Within a week, Chris and his mother had met with program director Suzy Mason, and he was in. In one month’s time, Chris would begin his first real job.

Chris took all this basically as it came. He was pleased with the idea of working with tools and being around people, and, appreciating the job as an abstraction rather than reality, undeterred by the startling newness of the experience to come. That aspect hit Chris squarely on his first day of orientation.

Chris walked into a room full of strangers; holding notebooks, reading, talking about long-term goals, hours accumulation, wages, and he was staggered. He needed to be prodded and cajoled into attending the week’s training. I met him that week, and along with a few other staff members, feared he might not last in the program.

My initial fears were buoyed in the first week of field work. He appeared listless and bored the first couple days, and outright upset the next few. We took long walks and talked about what was blocking him and how he might get over it. He seemed content, driven even, to go back home and watch DVD’s for the rest of his life. I tried to present the situation in the most dire of terms, that if he didn’t choose to grow up and be independent now, it would never happen. It appeared to be an argument I would lose. Every day he showed up in those first weeks, I was surprised.

Then, a stroke of luck. I figured the only way we could get Chris really involved was to give him the most exciting, involved job our work had to offer, and at what appeared to be the breaking point of whether he stayed or went, we started knocking down walls. I lined Chris up next to me, another crew leader, and two other corps members, and we pushed the west-facing wall of the house we were working on clear off the foundation. Looking up from the shattered glass and cloud of dust, I saw Chris really smile for the first time.

“It was like, when I pushed that wall down, I was knocking down my fears,” he says. “Once I broke through that wall, I was okay. It’s like a metaphor, or whatever.”

The smile didn’t dissipate. A total transformation of character and attitude occurred. Chris was energized. He became the most enthusiastic and hardworking member of not only my crew (the participants with disabilities), but of the entire 20-person corps. He also showed a natural gift for woodworking, and became a mainstay in our shop after hours working with the table saw on personal projects. He earned the universal admiration of supervisors and peers, received multiple accolades within the group, and was the first recommended for a new internship opportunity with TCA (Total Community Action) when it arose.

“It was an absolute joy to watch Chris grow from an unsure, quiet guy who didn’t want me to take his picture on the first day of work into our most productive and reliable crew member,” says Greg Aycock, Chris’s supervisor. “Chris’ work ethic and desire to learn will undoubtedly lead to him being successful in any endeavor he takes on.”

When asked how he felt about his well-earned praise, Chris responded “Probably real good. I have a lot more confidence; a big ego boost. You can never get too many compliments.”

I take heart in Chris’s accomplishments. The fact we could provide a circumstance where a young man discovered an outlet for his potential and is now functioning on a successful and independent level is a source of tremendous pride for my co-workers and myself. As long as Chris’s work ethic doesn’t fade, the compliments are likely to keep coming.