Dont take the Highway...

Take the Service road...

And enjoy the scenery!

Exiting the Highway can be a scary thing...

But the service road will be one of the most powerful educational experiences imaginable. It can take your class places theyve only dreamed of.

Service-Learning will broaden your students sense of community and allow them to think nationally and even globally!

*Service-Learning is a Nationally recognized instructional strategy for engaging youth to make a difference in their world!

So what is Service-Learning?
Lets take at look at Service-Learning through a comparison definition...

Community Service
Students Community

Students are helping their community in a meaningful way.

Community Service Profiles: Canned Food Drive or Toy Drives Trash Pick-up around the community

These are wonderful projects and great support for the community, but they are not curriculum based.

Service-Learning
Students Curriculum Community
Students are helping their community in a meaningful way THROUGH the use of the curriculum taught in your classroom! The TEKS become the focal point for hands-on, real-world learning!

Secondary Service-Learning Projects Examples from Humble ISD:

Art - The Memory Project Cross Curricular Childrens Book Projects ROTC - Wildcat Salute to Veterans District Cross Curricular H2JoJo Social Action H2Hope Clean Water for Haiti Latin - Learning Garden Cross Curricular - WWI Monument Restoration FFA Meet the Animals

Communications Applications - The Resume Project

To see more about these examples look in the Humble ISD Service-Learning Profile!

Authentic Service-Learning Profiles

FFA Meet the Animals

Wildcat Salute to Veterans

Meet the Animals

Pigs, lambs, goats, cows, turkeys, chickens and rabbits! Kingwood Park HS Agriculture students present their annual "Meet the Animals" videoconference. Over 700 students participate in the ten interactive sessions, and many more watch the sessionsviaLiveStream.Thisyear,the team connected with 30 elementary classesinHumbleISDandnineclasses from Michigan, Pennsylvania, New York, Laredo TX, and Canada. FFA students send learning kits to each participating school in advance including student made worksheets and interactive activities. Participating classes get an upclose look at several breeds of animals and learnwhatittakestoraisethemfrom the KPHS students. The interactive session then allows the elementary studentstoaskquestions.

Latin Learning Garden

LatinIIIHonors and Latin IV APclass students develop a themed garden Hortus Romanus plot in the Lone Star Community College Learning Garden. The students research andstudy the herbs, vegetables, and flowering plants enjoyed by the Romans during the first century A.D. They plant, tend, and harvest from their plot and also develop and document recipes and other medicinal uses for theirplants,eachoneresultinginapaperonthespecifiedplant,uses,andrecipes ifappropriate.Producewillbedonatedtolocalgroups.Theyalsoextendedthis project to include MOSAIC students who will be transitioning into the Lone Star Collegeprogram.

Panthers Lend a Paw to the Local Animal Shelter

9th Grade Advisory students planned a class servicelearningprojectwithVAPthelocal nokill animal shelter to hold an adoption dayatKPHS. Representatives from each advisory organized power points, media releases, communicated with local partners, and created awareness to the community abouttheneedsoftheshelter. Not only did VAP receive a lot of publicity which will help with more adoptions and volunteers in the future, the event helped eight dogs be placed in homes that day. Anotherbenefittothedaywasthatitwas awonderfuloutingforthedogssincethey are normally confined to cages at the shelter;manyofthestudentsvolunteered by running and playing with the dogs throughouttheday.

Childrens Books
DesktopPublishingclassespublishedoriginalchildrensbooks andreadthemtoelementarystudents.Booksaredonatedto theclassroomsandschoollibraries.

Sheldon State Park Wetland and Prairie Restoration Project

Students worked with volunteers to plant and re-establish a prairie/wetland habitat in order to bring it back to the way the land originally was before it was drained for agricultural purposes during WWII. Students also separated certain species of plants that were growing in the greenhouse, in order for them to be planted into the wetland at a later date. They had to learn to identify which species to keep and which ones to discard.

Students gave back to the environment in a lasting way, and in turn, have a better understanding of the structure of wetlands and prairies, the type of plants found there, and the living conditions required to keep them established. This (hopefully) increases their appreciation of these habitats.

Students learned the history of the Sheldon Park area, in terms of how the land has changed as a result of human manipulation and physically replanted over a football field sized area of plants, helping to reestablish native species to this area. They learned about invasive species, how they negatively impact wetlands, and the importance, functions, and negative impacts of wetlands.

H2Hope
Clean Water for Haiti

A group of four students at AHS responded to the crisis in Haiti by raising funds to purchase a water purifier that could purify up to 50,000 gallons of water a day utilizing simple plumbing parts, a car battery, and a few handfuls of table salt for a group of more than 2,500 displaced persons. This unit was purchased, shipped and installed by our partner, New Life International. The students built awareness through curricular ties in science and social studies classes, and trained their fellow students to become advocates not only for those devastated by the earthquake in Haiti, but for the water crisis worldwide.

One of the four students even traveled to Mozamique and Malawi, Africa to continue installing purifiers and training locals to manage their own water improvement resource.

H2JoJo
Clean Water for South Africa
In December of 2010, the H2JoJo service learning team from Humble ISD traveled to South Africa to provide and install JoJo cans on five primary school campuses. This was the first international service learning project supported, not sponsored, by our district where students and teachers actually traveled to and completed the project with the help of local partners in the US and South Africa. The team was made up of 5 teachers and 7 students from across the district spearheaded by Tara Bain, ESL teacher at Atascocita High school. Truly dedicated, participants gave up Christmas and New Years with their families to complete this project.

Fundraising and awareness activities included a cell phone recycling drive with T mobile, a carwash, bracelet sales, jeans weeks, a charity dinner and silent auction, the sale of the vapor anti-bottle, dances, a walkathon, a garage sale, t-shirt sales and requests for private donations. Organizations and classes from across the district participated in the fundraising and awareness events creating a sense of family throughout the district. Every event brought donations AND awareness about the lack of access to clean water for vulnerable populations in South Africa and the dire consequences it has on those populations.

Through this project we directly affected the lives of at least three thousand South African children and the Humble ISD students and teachers. We have impacted the families of all of those children by taking away one obstacle to their success in the future. We have impacted all of the Humble ISD family and community who helped bring the project to fruition. Currently, participants are presenting at the schools in our district whose students were a part of the project, part of fundraising, and/ or part of awareness. It started with one idea and one person and became an international success story!

Spanish Storybook Project

Each year, the Spanish II Honors students improve their writing skills by writing, designing and producing children's story books in Spanish. The project started as a creative way to increase their writing proficiency, but with the need for strong role models for younger students, we decided to share the books with younger children in our community. This also allows them the opportunity to practice their speaking abilities. Though the process was devised to help guide them, all stories and products are designed entirely by the students. We read the stories to both Spanish-speaking and non-Spanish speaking students, and it provides a learning experience for all involved. involved

The books allow students to meet four of the five C's of foreign language learning: Communication, Culture, Connections, and Community. It also allows them to scaffold their learning, compiling all of their knowledge about grammar and often adding to their vocabulary.

The involved students, both high school and elementary, have a wonderful time with this experience. The older students feel knowledgeable and have a chance to practice their speaking and show off their learning as they get to be positive role models. They lose some of their fear of using Spanish as they often interact with native and heritage Spanish speakers. The teachers at the elementary schools also talk about what a positive experience this is for their students and how it reinforces what they are teaching at their schools, from writing to sharing learning, etc. One of the favorite impacts deals with the bilingual students; not only do they feel validated because these 'big kids' are speaking their language, but the teachers have also asked that some of the books be donated to their libraries.

The Guiding Elements and Principles of Service-Learning

Description/Purpose TEKS/Benchmarks Action Plan/Timeline/Calendar Research/Community Partners/Guest Speakers Rubric for evaluating products & tracking progress

Reflection/Celebration Activities

How do you get started?

There are a number of ways to transform your classroom by using Service-Learning pedagogy. Service-Learning is not a project, but rather a hands-on, real-world experience with the TEKS/curriculum. Its a teaching strategy that engages youth with both the curriculum and with their world.

Points of Entry for Service-Learning

Identify an existing program or activity to transform into authentic service-learning. Example: Canned Food Drive Use it to study:
Childhood Nutrition (Health/PE) Study of Poverty (Government/Econ) World Hunger Issues (Social Studies)

Points of Entry (cont)

Start with the curriculum, content, and skills and then find a natural extension into service. Example: Resume Project Comm. Apps./Speech
Students take the curriculum skills taught on how to prepare resumes and apply it to a real-world situation They do this by preparing resumes for people living in homeless shelters trying to find employment.

Points of Entry (cont)

Attach Service-Learning to a Theme or Unit of study by identifying content and skills connections. Example: WWI Monument
Students studying WWI become involved with advocacy for the restoration of the National WWI monument. They work to raise both money and awareness of monument and the heroes of WWI.

Points of Entry (cont)

Start with a Student-Identified need. Example: Collecting clothes for a family in need or providing tutoring to students in lower grade levels.
Students see a need in their community, bring it to the class, and link it to the curriculum.

Points of Entry (cont)

Start with a Community-Identified Need Example: Childrens Books
Budget cuts have reduced the amount of money school libraries have to purchase books for reading in the classrooms. Students create books that can be used in the classroom during reading time, and then, they can be given to younger students to take home for summer reading.

No matter where you start

With a little planning and creativity plus a true heart for learning and service

Service-Learning can be as easy as A-B-C

A B

Example: Childrens Books

ttach an idea to the curriculumHave students create books according to a guided rubric specifically designed for your curriculum content. Incorporate your TEKS into the learning and your imagination into the service!

ooks for service: Create a link to someone in your community

-Partner with an elementary school for a story time or a local day care -Donate books to a reading recovery teacher. -Host a story time in your school library.

elebrate your service project and Reflect on learning and the experience!
Reflection can be verbal, written, or just about anything that allows kids to share their experiences!

 Use a standard Basic Lesson Plan format to get started. It will help you think through the who, what, when, where, why and how. This is also a great way to share what you doing with others!

So why Service-Learning?
Lets take at look at what Service-Learning can do for your students...

The Portrait of a High School Grad.

Effective Communicator Proficient Problem-solver Self-directed Worker and Thinker Culturally Aware in a Global World Knowledgeable of Worldwide Issues Cooperative Team Member Efficient Technology-user Responsible Citizen

Humble ISD
is a recipient of the Learn and Serve Grant and were proud to mentor

Service-Learning Efforts
Learn to serve something greater than yourself!

In 2004-05 the Humble ISD Vision was changed and service-learning was presented as a part of the district vision during all in-service training:
Humble ISD Vision Dr. Sconzo Superintendent Academic and Affective Learning Professional Learning Community

Service-Learning

Leadership Learning

It remains today one of the principle strategies for learning in our schools. Learning in all its forms is all that really matters!

Structural change that is not supported by cultural change will eventually be overwhelmed by the culture, for it is in the culture that any organization finds meaning and stability.
Phil Schlechty

Service-Learning creates a culture where Learners are:

Conscience about their own learning and engaged in their classroom Aware of their world and the part they play in it Caring about others and their community

And in the endthey become better students and better citizens; ready for college and life beyond!

So when all is said and done

Take your time and take the road less traveled

The Service-Learning road will take you and your students places you never dreamed possible!

Humble ISD Service-Learning Contacts

AHS kap.mcwhorter@humble.12.tx.us HHS stacey.hamlet@humble.k12.tx.us KHS barbara.campbell@humble.k12.tx.us KPHS carla.atkinson@humble.k12.tx.us Quest ECHS bobbie.rogina@humble.k12.tx.us SCHS julie.sahmel@humble.k12.tx.us