Enhancing Education Through Service to the Community

Trainings and Technical Assistance for:

• Administrators
• Teachers
• Agency Staff
• Community Members
• Service Learning Partnerships

Why Service Learning?

Despite the excellent work of educators throughout our country, too many students leave our schools lacking the skills and values they need for success in today's complex and challenging world. Increasing numbers of young people feel irrelevant and are yearning to be recognized as contributors, as resources who are valued and respected.

Effective Service Learning programs provide concrete opportunities for youth to learn and apply new and relevant skills and to experience themselves as stakeholders. When schools integrate Service Learning into their academic schedule, students build self esteem, develop essential life and work skills - critical thinking, communication, problem solving - and experience a strong sense of belonging in their own community.

More comprehensive than community service, Service Learning has proven its value as a core educational strategy for improving educational outcomes. Not just another categorical program to be squeezed into a burgeoning curriculum, Service Learning is a powerful tool for educators; it expands the classroom to include the community, increases the resources available to schools and better prepares students for success in the new century.

Benefits of Service Learning

For The Students:

• Academic performance increases
  ... as learning becomes more tangible and relevant.
• Risk behaviors decline
  ... as the need for belonging, recognition and value are met.
• Life and work skills are strengthened
  ... as critical thinking, problem solving and working with others are practiced and applied.

For The Schools:

• Public perception of schools and students becomes more positive
  ... as the community benefits from service activities.
• School climate improves and problems such as vandalism, substance abuse, truancy decline
  ... as students feel a greater sense of ownership and pride in their school.
• Teachers develop new skills
  ... as they broaden their roles as facilitators and guides.
• Businesses increase their support
  ... as they see students contributing to their community.

For The Community:

• Students have an increased sense of civic responsibility
  ... as they are acknowledged for their contributions.
• The community becomes a healthier and safer place to live
  ... as young people are seen as resources, capable of addressing genuine community needs.

How to Implement or Strengthen a Service Learning Program

Technical information on Service Learning can be obtained from a number of state and national sources.

National: the National Service Learning Clearinghouse

California: Youth Service California and the California Department of Education's CalServe Office

Other States: most states support service learning program implementation through the state Department of Education

Community Matters provides support to the local partnerships that provide the school-community connection, vision, and planning that are essential for service learning programs to thrive.

Please contact us.