1. Service-Learning Contact Information

2. Service-Learning Fact Sheet

Service-learning is infused in all grades in middle school and in the 9th and 10th grades in high school.

Breakdown:
Middle school: the service-learning curriculum is developed for selected units for each grade at the beginning of the school year.
High School: service-learning is offered in the 9th grade and the 10th grade.

Transfer Policy: All students transferring into high school without service-learning credit at the end of 10th grade and before the start of the 12th grade will be required to complete a service-learning project planned by the student and Career Center Counselor.

Reporting: Service-learning is not reported on student's report cards.

3. Teacher Fellows (see overview)

Darryl C. Calloway 2007, Sudlersville Middle School (social studies), 410-438-3151, callowad@qacps.k12.md.us  

Wood Duck Nesting Boxes, Sherry Unger Service-Learning Project Winner - August 2003

Kathy Fowler, 1994, Stevensville Middle School (reading and math), 410-643-3194

Serving Seniors, a service-learning unit infused in the math, science, social studies, and language arts/reading classes has a partnership with the Department of Aging. During the preparation component in social studies, students define service-learning , study citizenship, and become aware of the needs of the community. Through slides and guest speakers in science, students complete a sensitivity lab and learn about the changing physical and mental characteristics of aging. Several readings and research projects in language arts, and graphing data collected through surveys in math also prepare the students for the action component. Action, both direct and indirect consists of making holiday cards and sending letters and visitations to senior centers and nursing homes. Reflection, an ongoing process throughout the entire unit and employing several techniques, such as verbal and written responses, helps the students express what has been learned and what needs to be changed. All lessons can be adapted to meet your time frame, and all materials needed for successful completion of the unit are included.

• Meet a recognized need in the community: In order to understand needs within a community, students watch "Today's Heroes," and discuss and list community needs and locate articles depicting service. Students will send cards and letters to seniors during holidays. Time is also scheduled to complete oral histories or seniors, which are summarized and shared with the community. Monthly senior visitations are scheduled to bridge the gap between young and old. Since many seniors do not have family nearby, classes adopt a grandparent for a small fee, which provides assistance during the holidays.
• Achieve curricular objectives through service: Through math classes, students perform statistical computations using data, and graph data. In Language Arts/Reading, students define and list ways to communicate, and practice active listening. Both K-W-L and main idea/details webs are employed while reading stories to list problems the elderly may encounter and make decisions about old things losing value. Students use critical thinking skills and compare/contrast to show conflict in both our lives and that of the seniors. Students use decision-making strategies to complete an organizer about the problems and challenges seniors' face, and to learn about the pros and cons of making choices. Several readings provide the background for writing assignments. These strategies not only meet curricular goals, but provide performance-based activities linked to Maryland State Performance Assessment Program. In Social Studies, students create a career chart and write a summary about careers that involve working with the elderly. The sensitivity lab in Science, helps students better understand physical and mental changes related to aging. Linking curricular objectives with information about the elderly makes learning more fun.
• Reflect throughout service-learning experience: Oral discussions during each lesson helps students gain a better understanding about the material being presented, and helps prepare then for the visitations. Reflection also involves drawing conclusions about the things losing value, and using critical thinking skills to discuss what has been learned about conflict throughout history. After each visitation, students reflect about what was learned and if changes need to be make. A final reflection piece from a written prompt is completed and placed in a portfolio. Continuing to add to the photo album, articles in the local paper, and creating a display board are other ways used to engage students in reflection.
• Develop student responsibility: Being an active participant during this unit shows how the students are responsible citizens, helping others in the community. Students are given a choice I making cards and how the assignments will be completed. The writing assignments and the oral history presentation force the students to meet deadlines. When planning the visitations, students choose a committee and share responsibility with others in getting their jobs completed. Completing all the requirements for the unit results in gaining their Service-Learning credit for the year, and demonstrates responsibility, a lifelong skills.
• Establish community partnership: The teacher establishes connections with the Department of Aging in order to schedule visitations and gain a resource list of speakers. The Department of Aging speaker shares slides of the services provided to seniors, and explains how students can provide service. A panel of speakers (nutritionist, nurse, hospice worker, physical therapist, policeman, and others) discusses their career and the role they play working with seniors. A medical doctor and a panel of senior citizens are other partners who visit the school so the students can interact and gain from their experience. Teachers, students and community partners collaborate to make visitations a positive experience.
• Plan ahead for Service-Learning: Students are given the opportunity to develop questions to interview seniors for the oral history and panel discussions. Developing committees and meetings with community partners are means to plan ahead for the visitations. Varied pre-writing strategies are employed for the holiday cards and written assignments. All preparation lessons and oral discussions help the students plan for service.
• Equip students with knowledge and skills needed for service: Students discuss citizenship, rights and responsibilities as described in the Constitution and in the First Amendment. Citizens responsibility is further developed through "Build a Citizen," in which body parts denote aspects of good citizenship. The ability to produce charts and graphs to describe information gained form data collection and a panel of speakers is necessary in this unit. Students practice communication, active listening, and questioning techniques to complete oral histories and participate in visitations. The medical doctor provides the information about the physical and mental changes affected by aging, and the Department of Aging speaker provides the knowledge needed to understand the needs of and services for seniors. This knowledge and skills are a vital element.

Nancy Fox, 2001, Sudlersville Middle School, 410-438-3151, arnafox@dmv.com (no longer with this system)

To honor the memory of the school's principal who died the week before school started last year, students from Sudlersville Middle School decided to participate in the George Henckle Memorial Walk-A-Thon. The event generated scholarship funds to benefit former Sudlersville Middle School students who attend post-secondary education or trade school.

Meet a recognized community need: The memorial scholarship fund helps students who attend a post-secondary school or trade school that have attended Sudlersville Middle School in the past.

Achieve curricular objectives: The students met curricular objectives by planning the event, creating forms for community responses and pledges, contacting businesses and community resources to hold the event, organizing, cooperating and working with peers to make the event a success.

Reflect through the service-learning experience: The students reflected on the initial meaning the scholarships would have for students who knew Mr. Henckle and those that would want to know more about a man that did so much for education in his community. The students discussed and shared the responses that were received about the project, positive and negative, so that we could learn from the experiences of one another.

Develop student responsibility: The students were given the responsibility of calling Parks and Recreation for permission to use the park for the walk-a-thon, to gather pledges, recruit walkers, and coordinate the people at the park.

Establish community partnerships: The community partnerships that were established were with the Parks and Recreation, Chestertown Bank, Sudlersville Deli, Sudlersville Middle School, and the local deli.

Plan ahead for service-learning: Planning and preparation for the project had to begin early as is clear from steps outlined under the Develop Student Responsibility bullet.

Equip students with knowledge and skills needed for service: In preparation for the event the students discussed phone etiquette, and appropriate approaches for asking for donations or contributions to a worthy cause.

Patrick Keeney, 1998, Queen Anne's County High School (Science), 410-758-0500, queen3@access.digex.net (no longer with system)

My 9th grade Earth Science class was involved with a food drive and Empty Bowls Dinner. We obviously filled, and are filling, community needs related to hunger and hunger awareness, and planned campaigns for both. In the case of the food drive, I used past business experience to inspired leadership and pride in excelling at something that benefits others. We not only collected more items than any other class in the food drive, but also raised the bar for other classes by inspiring friendly competition. Upon reflection, students realized that service implies using the best of one's talents, be they organizational skills, leadership, people skills, or others. Curricular goals that were met include quantitative scientific study of events and phenomena.

Betty Lou LaBrie, 1994, Sudlersville Middle School, 410-438-3151 (retired)

1996: The students formed a community partnership with the St. Martin's House, a shelter for homeless women and children. The Interdisciplinary unit is covered throughout the year. There are three preparation lessons, the action is making school boxes, hygiene boxes, birthday boxes and infant boxes for the women and children of the shelter. Reflection is covered throughout the year.

1995: Queen Anne's County plan calls for integrated units infused across the curriculum. Serving Seniors is the 6th grade project or unit. Building Wood Duck Boxes is the 7th grade unit. And the 8th grade unit is serving a homeless shelter for women and children. I work with 6th grade students at Sudlersville middle School. They have a community partnership with the Crumpton Senior Center. The 6th graders learn about the aging process and the needs of seniors through integrated units across the curriculum. They have practical hands on experiences with them by sponsoring Senior Fun Days and Visiting the center. They plant and harvest a vegetable garden for them.

Margot Massie, 2000, Sudlersville Middle School (Science), 410-438-3151, massie@dmv.com

Our students have met many community needs, but our most memorable ones would be the landscaping of our town bank and post office and providing holiday joys for residents of St. Martin's House. The curricular objectives we met were through our projects were:

* demonstrating positive attitudes toward science and its relevance to the individual, society and the environment;
* the ability to apply science to solving problems and making personal decisions.

We reflected and celebrated by writing and receiving thank you notes. Our projects were also covered by the local media. We also discussed how changes to the actions might improve the projects in the future. My students are 8th graders who need little prompting to take full responsibility for making phone calls, preparing, acting and reflecting.

Planning and preparation are infused into our curriculum and are carried out during regular class periods. For example, wood duck and blue birdhouses are measured and marked in Math. Reading covers habits and habitat. Social Studies covers migration, and the boxes are constructed in Science.