Both Upper Arlington and Grandview Heights school districts have worked hard at implementing service learning into the schools' curriculum.
Not all learning happens inside the classroom.
Grandview Heights and Upper Arlington schools have a long history of implementing service learning into the school days in hopes of helping students learn in a more hands-on way – all while giving back to the community.
“Our goal as a district is to have every student involved in a high-quality service learning program every year, and that’s a big challenge,” says Jeanne Gogolski, who has served as Upper Arlington’s career development and service-learning coordinator since 2002.
Students working at Heart to Heart Food Panty
Gogolski works with teachers to brainstorm service learning ideas and help them plan events, and provides other resources such as transportation or funds from her own budget.
She says there’s a fine line between community service and service learning. Service learning has a stronger emphasis on preparation and reflection, as well as tying it into the school’s curriculum.
“Service learning is really a teaching strategy that connects real-world activity to what is being taught in the classroom. It makes learning relevant,” Gogolski says.
To illustrate what life is like for people who don't have immediate access to clean water, UA elementary students took part in a “water walk,” in which they carried gallons of water while raising funds to build a well in a needy area. Older students wrote a grant and requested donations to make sack lunches for the homeless, which they then assembled and distributed. Some students also interviewed veterans at local nursing homes in an effort to learn more about history.
Service learning is a relatively new and growing program for Grandview Heights Schools.
Fifth grade math teacher Roni Pettit says it’s a cause that Superintendent, Andy Culp is passionate about.
Jones Middle School students pack lunches for the homeless
Jones Middle School students collect stories from veterans for a social studies class
In summer 2015, teachers from each building in the district were sent to training through the “Growing Together” Network, where they learned about incorporating service learning into preexisting curriculum.
Pettit and Jill Walker, who teaches fifth grade science, attended the workshops and brought their ideas back for service learning at Edison Intermediate and Larson Middle schools.
“This year, I would say it really had more to do with service projects. Next year we’re wanting to make it more … a part of our curriculum,” Walker says.
They decided to implement the service projects in small groups, with a staff member meeting with about two students from each grade. Activities included sending cards and collecting leftover Halloween candy to send to troops, as well as making birthday bags with cake supplies, decorations and toys.
The staff and students were able to see the effect the projects had on the students when, after assembling bags of toiletries and mats for the homeless, they were invited to come together and share their feelings on the event. Some of the children shared personal information, such as their families being on food stamps.
“It was very powerful,” Walker says
At the end of the year, school administrators took note of the causes students indicated they felt passionate about. They hope to pursue those passions in the coming school year.
“We’re definitely looking for bigger and better, but we feel good about what we did this year,” Pettit says.
Hannah Herner is a contributing writer. Feedback welcome at hbealer@cityscenecolumbus.com.
